This one hour Illinois Compass 2g workshop is designed to provide Teaching Assistants, Graders and Staff with a basic familiarity of the commonly used features associated with their roles. Topics covered in this workshop will be emailing students from within Illinois Compass 2g, adding users to the course, creating assignments and grading in the Grade… Continue reading Key Features for Teaching Assistants, Graders and Staff
Tag: Blackboard Learn
Export Your Course Archive
A necessary, although restrictive customization with our Blackboard Learn isntance is the inability of course owners to export an archive of their course. There is a very good policy reason for this, but it is not well known (even by our first tier staff). I created some public-facing documentation to inform both our central IT… Continue reading Export Your Course Archive
Using a Mind Map to Visualize Grade Center Calculations
An instructor contacted me because she needed help figuring out where her grade center calculations were going awry. I have since learned that this grade center has over 200 columns! Anyway, I had the idea of using Mind Mapping software to visualize which columns feed into which calculations. I used mindmapmaker.org and I really like it! It… Continue reading Using a Mind Map to Visualize Grade Center Calculations
Where are the Discussion Boards?!
Every so often my group gets an email from a student that says that all their Discussion Boards are gone! It turns out that this is because somehow they set it up to only display drafts. Cases like this need not get escalated above tier I. https://answers.uillinois.edu/78883
Respondus and Internet Explorer
Ever since we moved our authentication method to Shibboleth, Respondus will not likely connect to our Blackboard Learn environment unless Internet Explorer is running in the background. The process of troubleshooting with people over the phone, working with Respondus support, and re-using this documentation over and over has taken up more time than I’m willing to… Continue reading Respondus and Internet Explorer
I want to share a file, but I don’t want my students to download it
It’s a very common use case that an instructor will have some scholarly work that they want to share. This document may very well not be a final draft, so they don’t want their students to download it. This functionality is not native to Blackboard Learn, but it’s certainly possible to achieve this by using… Continue reading I want to share a file, but I don’t want my students to download it
Respondus and Online Tests
Respondus is Windows-only software that lets instructors author and configure online tests while offline. Respondus not only runs on just Windows, it looks like old software, but it’s hard to dispute it’s value. I wrote this documentation years ago and it’s still useful today, mostly because the software really hasn’t changed. I also created a… Continue reading Respondus and Online Tests
Print an Online Test!?
Yes, there are many reasons why someone would want this. I spelled it out on the Blackboard Community Website. Until it’s a native feature within Blackboard Learn, we are going to need to maintain documentation on how to use Respondus to print out a Blackboard Online Test. https://answers.uillinois.edu/65113
Help! Students can’t see the test!
Many instructors give high stakes tests online (think midterms or finals) after hours. Thanks to automation, an instructor can release an online test after standard business hours. Unfortunately, this is the worst time to have tech issues, but it happens. People using automation tools to release exams nested in folders that have their own date/time… Continue reading Help! Students can’t see the test!
The Illinois Compass 2g Advisory Group
Spring 2014 IT Professionals Forum In October 2012 during the migration to Blackboard Learn, Technology Services reached out to departments and individuals across campus to establish the Illinois Compass 2g Advisory Group. This poster covers strategies used to promote the involvement of faculty, students, and staff to increase alignment between their needs, campus services and… Continue reading The Illinois Compass 2g Advisory Group