Upcoming Blackboard Collaborate Training & SLMS Search Update(Archive)

In this article:

• Blackboard Collaborate Training
• Important Transition Dates
• SLMS Search Update

Blackboard Collaborate Training

Blackboard Collaborate is the newest version of Elluminate and will be available for use beginning May 14. Don’t worry! Elluminate will continue to be available for live sessions until August 8.

Current Elluminate moderators will be relieved to discover that Blackboard Collaborate contains all their favorite functionality, with the added benefits of a streamlined interface and functionality improvements. We encourage you to get your feet wet with Blackboard Collaborate this summer!

Get started by attending Blackboard Collaborate workshops during DELTA’s Summer Shorts in Instructional Technologies, May 14-18. Visit http://go.ncsu.edu/summershorts to register.

Transitioning to Blackboard Collaborate
Offered twice! Tuesday, May 15, 8:45 – 10:15 am,  and Friday, May 18, 10:30 am – 12 pm

This workshop is intended for existing Elluminate moderators who are transitioning to Blackboard Collaborate. We’ll outline the important interface changes and guide moderators through the major differences between Elluminate and Blackboard Collaborate to help them transition quickly and effectively.

Blackboard Collaborate I: The Essentials
Monday, May 14, 8:45 – 10:15 am

This workshop is intended for instructors new to synchronous learning management systems, not for existing Elluminate moderators. Are you interested in moving office hours, classroom discussion, exam reviews, or other instruction into an online synchronous environment? This workshop introduces you to Blackboard Collaborate, where you can host class sessions and meetings online in real-time. This workshop teaches you how to create Blackboard Collaborate sessions and how to use some of the essential tools, including audio, video, chat, whiteboard, and content upload. This workshop provides the foundation for you to use Blackboard Collaborate at a basic level.

Participants are encouraged to enroll in Blackboard Collaborate II: Tools for Building Interactivity to learn additional important functionality.

Blackboard Collaborate II: Tools for Building Interactivity
Thursday, May 17, 8:45 – 10:15 am

This workshop is intended for instructors new to synchronous learning management systems, not for existing Elluminate moderators. This workshop builds on the skills you learned in Blackboard Collaborate I: The Essentials and teaches you how to use some of the many interactive tools available in Blackboard Collaborate. Topics include conducting polls, creating and saving interactive whiteboard files, sharing desktop applications, guiding participants through websites, using breakout rooms, and transferring files to session participants.

Prerequisite: Blackboard Collaborate I: The Essentials

Register now!

All workshops will be offered in the D.H. Hill Library ITTC Lab 1. We will also offer an online practice session, Blackboard Collaborate III: Putting It All Together, to lock in your new knowledge during the following week. Registration for the practice session will be available during the Blackboard Collaborate Summer Shorts workshops.

Summer Shorts has lots of other great workshops and seminars. Session topics include: Moodle Assessments, Google Apps, Mobile Initiatives, an Update of NC State Enterprise Learning Technologies, the Quality Matters Rubric, Communication and Interaction in Moodle, an orientation to teaching a Distance Education (DE) course, Moodle best practices, and more! For more information, visit https://delta.ncsu.edu/learn/workshops/summer_shorts/.

Can’t make it to Summer Shorts? Blackboard Collaborate workshops will be available throughout the summer and fall.

Important Transition Dates

• Blackboard Collaborate will be available for use beginning May 14, 2012. Extensive training and support options will also be available at this time and throughout the summer.
• Elluminate will continue to be available for use until August 8, 2012, when live sessions will be turned off during scheduled LMS maintenance. Beginning August 8, you will no longer be able to attend or create sessions using Elluminate.
• Moderators will be able to download Elluminate recordings using Elluminate Publish (for archival purposes and for delivery through other resources such as WolfWare Classic media lockers) beginning in late June 2012 and ending December 18, 2012, 7 AM.
• Elluminate will be turned off completely on December 18, 2012 during scheduled LMS maintenance.

SLMS Search Update

The SLMS finalists have been narrowed to WebEx Meeting Center, Saba Centra, and Blackboard Collaborate. These choices were selected primarily based on

• Elluminate survey feedback
• accessibility options for users with disabilities
• benchmarking from other regional universities’ SLMS search results

The SLMS campus committee will thoroughly test and evaluate the SLMS finalists over the summer. From this evaluation, we will make a recommendation for pilot or adoption to the LMS governing committees.

Questions? Please contact LearnTech at learntech@ncsu.edu or (919) 513-7094.