Introduction
Welcome to the start of another semester at NAU! If you are new to NAU, or even if you are an oldtimer here, you are receiving these monthly newsletters from the e-Learning Center if you are listed as an instructor or designer in Bb Learn. The purpose of this newsletter is to keep you up-to-date on helpful information about educational technology at NAU.
The e-Learning Center helps NAU faculty design and build engaging and effective courses. If you teach in person, online, or in a blended format, we’re your go-to support team for the latest information and best practices for learning design and teaching with technology.
You can learn more about what we do here: nau.edu/elearning.
News
Faculty Tools Clearinghouse
You asked, we listened! Instructors have been asking for one website where they can find links to the resources they need for teaching. The Retention Task Force created a handy index of tools: Faculty Tools Index. You may want to bookmark it! A description of many of those tools may be found at the main site: Faculty Tools. To suggest new items for this index, or to make corrections to existing items, please contact the e-Learning Center: elc-help@nau.edu.
Blackboard Upgrade
On August 19, NAU’s Blackboard Learn instance was upgraded to Blackboard 9.1 Q2 2017. This upgrade includes a couple of new features you should be aware of, as well as the inevitable “known issues” (bugs):
Assignment Submission Receipts
Many of you are familiar with the “Blackboard ate my homework” pleas from a student: the student is certain their assignment was submitted, but they have no proof, and there is no evidence in Bb Learn that the student really submitted (often, the student will start working on the assignment and upload a document, but will forget to submit). The new Submission Receipt will help! Students will receive an email when an assignment is submitted. They can also view old submission receipts at any time in the My Grades tool. Instructors can see submission receipts from the Reports menu in the Grade Center.
Drag-and-Drop
When instructors create content items, assignments, and web links, they can drag files from their computers to the “hot spot” in the Attach Files area. They can also drag files into the Content Collection by selecting “Upload Files.” Students can also drag files to upload when they submit assignments.
Open Labs
Open Labs for Fall 2017 are now scheduled for this week and next! Sign-up/enrollment for Open Labs is not required. Bring your own laptop if you wish. Drop-ins welcome. See the full schedule on our Workshops page.
Start of the Semester
Helpful Knowledge Articles
Bb Learn Roles and How to Add Them
Emailing students outside of Bb Learn or before class begins
Getting started with Bb Learn at NAU
Using recommended browsers in Bb Learn
Accessing the Preview Student in Bb Learn
Enabling tools in a Bb Learn course
For more e-Learning Center Knowledge Base Articles regarding Blackboard and other instructional technologies, please visit the ServiceNow Knowledge Base.
Course Copies and Combinations
Don’t forget to ask for your course copies or any course combination changes before your fall courses start. You can use the course copy request form to ask for course copies. Please review our Knowledge Base article about course combinations for more information on how they are set up in Bb Learn.
iClicker Classic Version 13, iClicker Cloud 4.0, iClicker Reef 4.0
Version 7.13 of the iClicker Classic software (formerly i>clicker 7) is now available and will be the version to use during Fall 2017. This version reflects the new product branding for iClicker.
Please click here to submit an iClicker adoption form.