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In
the graduate courses associated with On Course Workshops, we will use Blackboard
(BB), the Internet education platform, to read Project Reports and to engage in
discussions of those reports. With this feedback, authors can improve their
Project Reports for possible publication in the On Course Newsletter
where they will be read by many thousands of college educators. After
you register for the course, you will receive a USERNAME and PASSWORD from Now,
here's how you use Blackboard. NOTE: Because BB keeps updating their program,
let Skip Downing know if anything here does not work at described. 1.
Using your Internet browser, go to http://blackboard.goucher.edu 2.
On the BB Academic Suite Page, click on “User Login.” This
takes you to the BB login page. 3.
To login, enter your USERNAME and PASSWORD. This takes you to your
personal 4.
Click on our course title. This takes you to our course site, starting
with the instructor's ANNOUNCEMENTS page.
Read any announcements that may have been posted since your last visit. New
announcements may be on the bottom, so scroll down and take a peek.
5.
Notice the menu of buttons on the left side of the page. You
navigate the course site by clicking these buttons, which will always be visible
while you are working on the course. Here’s a brief explanation of these
buttons: ANNOUNCEMENTS:
You automatically arrive on the announcement page when you click on the course
title; here you'll find announcements that your instructor has posted for the
course. SYLLABUS contains
the course syllabus, which you might need if you want to transfer the Goucher
credits to another institution. FACULTY
provides brief information about course instructors, including their email
addresses. Some faculty members listed may not be teaching this semester. ASSIGNMENTS:
Here you will find detailed information about each assignment listed in the
Syllabus. This is the most important document in the course. You would be
wise to print it for future and frequent reference. Hint, Hint! DISCUSSION BOARD
takes you to the page where you will give and receive feedback on Project
Reports (and Book Reviews, for ED 588). Use feedback you receive to revise your
work before final submission to your instructor and possible publication in the On
Course Newsletter. (See detailed directions below for using the
DISCUSSION BOARD.) PROJECTS:
Here, each student will have a color-coded folder where his/her Project Reports
will be posted as they are completed. This button takes you to those portfolios
where you will read the projects written by members of your Project Team and
they will read yours. (See detailed directions below.) All members of a
Project Team have the same color portfolio (e.g., Red Team, Blue Team).
ED 588 students will also have their Book Reviews posted here. EMAIL
allows you to send e-mails to one or more classmates, to your entire Project
Team, and to your instructor. HOME PAGE
is the site where you will post a personal introduction. Help us create a
community of learners by letting your classmates get to know some important and
unique things about you. Consider sharing your goals for the course. ROSTER
lists all of the students presently enrolled in this course; by finding and
clicking on a classmate’s name on the roster, you will access that person’s
homepage where you can read his/her personal introduction. ON COURSE WEB SITE
opens a new window containing the On Course Web Site. There you can read many
student success strategies, many of which were originally written for ED 582.
You’ll be able to tell which those are by the format (which is described in
the ASSIGNMENTS document). 6.
How to Post Your Project Reports. When you finish the first draft
of a Project Report, email it to your Project Team Instructor as an attachment.
Faculty emails are available by clicking the FACULTY
button. Send
your attachment using direct email. DO
NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS THROUGH BlackBoard…we
have had difficulties in the past that aren’t worth the hassle. (This is also
true of your Journal Entries.) Your
instructor will post your Project Report in your color-coded folder in PROJECTS
and create a related discussion Forum on the DISCUSSION
BOARD. It would be wise to email your Project Team telling them
you have a new Project Report posted that is awaiting their feedback. Use
the EMAIL button to send one message to
numerous recipients. After
14 days (not sooner) from the posting of your Project Report, you may rewrite
it, incorporating the feedback you receive on the DISCUSSION
BOARD. E-mail your revised Project Report to your Project Team
Instructor (again using direct email), who will post it for the final points. 7.
How to Read Other Students’ Written Work: Regularly check the folders of
your Project Team members. If someone has the same color folder as you do
in the DISCUSSION BOARD, you know that
person is on your Project Team. To access a team mate’s work, take these
steps: 1) Click on the PROJECTS button,
2) Scroll down to your color-coded Project Team folders and see if a new project
has been posted in a teammate's folder, 3) If there is a project on which you
have not given feedback, click on the author’s name, and 4) once in the
folder, click on the project, e.g., Project 1: Time Savers (Posted
February 15). The date in parentheses tells you when the project was
posted. You can now read your teammate’s project.
8.
How to Give Feedback on Other Students’ Written Work (or read feedback on
your own). To read or contribute to the discussion of a completed
assignment, take these steps: 1) Click on the blue DISCUSSION
BOARD button. 2) Scroll down to find the appropriate student’s name
and project (e.g., John Smith (Green Team) – Project 1: Time Savers),
and 3) click on the student’s underlined name to join a Forum (i.e.,
a focused discussion of that one project). Once you access the Forum, you
have two options: 1) You can offer a comment on your
classmate’s assignment. To do so, click the “Thread” icon, write
your comments, and then click “submit.” 2) You can read and respond to a
comment in a thread that someone else has started. To read the comment, click on
the underlined subject of the message that you’re interested in reading. To
respond to someone else’s comment, click “reply,” write your response to
the previous message, and then click “submit.” (This is also how
you’ll respond to a question asked about one of your projects.) For
ease of editing your responses, consider composing, then spell/grammar-checking
your message in Microsoft Word (or another word processing program); then,
cut/paste your message into the Forum submission box. IMPORTANT
NOTE: Remember that authors will be revising their work after it has been
posted for 14 days. When an assignment is revised, the corresponding DISCUSSION
BOARD will be closed and you will no longer be able to give feedback.
You will lose points for not having made a meaningful contribution to the
discussion of that project. Note:
Be sure that your instructor has the email address where you want to receive
correspondence for this course. Note:
Blackboard is quite simple once you play with it a while. However, if you ever
get confused, click the Help icon at the top of the screen to access
on-line documentation and the |