When we did our Blackboard student survey in the spring, we discovered that many stu-dents really like the Calendar feature and find it easy to use. They particularly like the fact that many teachers put their assign-ments on the calendar since it consolidates assignments into one place. It is useful when a student has to miss a class. Students are also able to add assignments and activi-ties.

There are two ways for teachers and moderators to add to the calendar. You can click on the due date and add your assignment, or you can add a date when you create your assignment. Once you have the assign-ment in, it is easy to drag the due date to a different date if need be. Assignments are color coded by classes.

Need more help? Click here or make an appointment with a member of the ITeam. Having your syllabus posted on Blackboard or using the Cal-endar is one of the Blackboard Minimum Standards. We’re here to help!

Sept. 22, 2015 Volume 4, Issue 4

Webinars: 5 Ways to Use DE (Sept. 28th, 6pm) and Univer-sal Design for Learning (Oct. 1, 6pm) hosted by Discovery Education (select date on calendar and register here.)

BL’s Web-based Work-shops and Software Train-ing (ongoing) for BL em-ployees on Blackboard In-structors Course.

Day of Discovery - For those using Discovery Educa-tion - Region 10 (Oct. 9). Click here to register.

Thanks to everyone who completed last week’s challenge!

CALENDAR—Yes, it is there and can be a great way to add in an extra line of communication for your students.

It’s easy to use! Click on “Calendar” and then the “+” in the upper right corner. Fill in the Form when it opens and hit “save” when you are done! Notice the drop-down—you determine which class sees it!

To complete this challenge, add your birthday to one of your class calendars and take a “snip” or screen-shot of it and upload it in the Blackboard In-structors Class—Tech Tuesdays—Challenge Corner! Who knows, maybe you’ll get cards and well-wishes from your students!

Blackboard Survey, May 2015 (50 responses)

Q: What could be done differently to allow you to use Blackboard more efficiently?

A: There are too many pages and it is sometimes hard to find the specific thing that my teacher as-signed.

A: If all teachers posted the homework on Black-board instead of just saying it in class.

A: All teachers need to keep up with it...some info is outdated

A: Sometimes teachers don't always upload docu-ments that would really help until it's almost too late. The biggest problem is on some of the assess-ments...that have fill in the blank...questions. If the teacher makes a mistake (which can be with some frequency) the student is unable to replicate the mistake and...can't get the question correct.

A: We could have more class discussions and as-signments to turn in to Blackboard.

STUDENTS SAY... Challenge Corner

TECHNOLOGY for TEACHING

E-PD for You and Me