New eLearning programs have been made available to NIC students and faculty as part of the transition to Blackboard.
The move to Blackboard that took place this semester comes with products and systems that students were asking for, such as Blackboard Instant Messenger (BBIM), Blackboard Connect, voice based tools and Blackboard mobile.
BBIM allows students to communicate with classmates and instructors in any class that students are in as well as numerous departments on campus.
Blackboard Connect, which is an emergency notification system that sends text messages, alerts to NIC students and faculty when emergencies arise on the NIC campus.
Through Professor Notification on Blackboard Connect instructors now have the ability to send students text messages, voice messages and emails about classes.
New voice-based tools are also being offered on Blackboard.
“We are finding new ways for your instructors to record their classes and put the recordings online and also ways for students to record and put those recording online,” said Director of eLearning and Outreach, Jamie Green.
Also built into Blackboard Is a new enhanced web conferencing ability called Collaborate and it allows synchronized meetings with students, instructors and classmates.
Blackboard mobile is available to all students that have smart phones or tablets; and it gives students the ability to access online classes as well as web conferencing on mobile devices.
On the App market students can now find Blackboard Mobile Learn, which allows students to do work on the go.
“eLearning is working with student services to expand the number of services available to online students,“ Green said
eLearning is putting together an advisory committee which will include student representation on that committee.
Some NIC students have been asked to be part of the advisory committee to help represent the student body as eLearning and the online presence grows.
“We want to know how its working and where students want us to go, what tools they want what services they need, what training they need, we want to hear from the students, it’s all about you,” said Green
Now that Blackboard has been adapted to classes there are three types of classes. Internet, which is a fully online class, then there’s hybrid courses, an online class with some scheduled face to face meetings, then there is web enhanced courses, on campus class with some online components.
In the future NIC is hoping to get the campus interested in a new delivery method called Live Online, which is fully online but uses web conferencing tools to meet at the same time online.
On Live Online students would have video capability, audio capability, text chat, sharing content, which blends the best of live and online class.
“You can still be at home and take the class or anywhere you might be traveling but you still get that connection with the other people in the class,” Green said.
The Department of eLearning and Outreach is hoping to have a pilot for Live Online as early as the spring of 2013.
