Vista 4 to Vista 4 Course Migration Process

I've written a new tutorial detailing how to migrate an existing course from one Blackboard Vista 4 server to another Blackboard Vista 4 server--much like we have to do to 100+ courses before the semester begins in two weeks! This tutorial ain't pretty, but it should do the job.

How to Manually Move a Blackboard Vista 4 Course from One Server to Another

This tutorial is especially relevant if your new Vista 4 server has automated or semi-automated course/section/enrollment management like ours does.

LI Courses for Summer 07 Vista Migration

Because LI courses are not offered in the Summer, make a Vista backup and save it to the "G" drive in the course's 073 folder for storage until Fall.

Current Moodle LMS Usage Policy

UVSC's new open educational resources efforts will be officially published through the Moodle learning management system using the Moodle Open MetaMod. In order to justify maintenance of the Moodle server on campus, we will be asking all instructors who wish to use Moodle to make some or all of their content available as opencourseware under a Creative Commons license.

Instructional Design Services' Primary Responsibilities

These have been condensed or expanded from the previous draft of IDS' Role Statement. Note that Setup and maintenance of DE Web and Intranet servers will be moving to Monty's Operations unit:

1. Design, develop, and maintain Distance Education courses and technology-enhanced learning media


2. Ensure the accessibility of all Distance Education learning materials


3. Investigate, research, test-pilot, and report on new distance education technologies and practices to DE faculty and staff


4. Innovate in the fields of instructional design and educational technology


5. Encourage faculty to engage in effective teaching practices through the use of technology


6. Foster openness of educational resources through OCW participation


7. Present to and collaborate with peer institutions and organizations to foster research, innovation, and best practices


8. Spearhead the TTIX conference


9. Support Distance Education units in the accomplishment of their objectives by developing and maintaining Internet-based workflow solutions such as Web sites and Intranet sites

And, of course...

10. Outwit the limitations of time and space

Notes on Blackboard Vista 4 (AP1) Rebuilds

Based on our collaborative construction of ENGL 2010 IN on Blackboard Vista 4 with App Pack 1 last Tuesday, here are some more guidelines and standards for future rebuilds of courses in Vista:

• Quizzes should be exported from CE and imported into Vista at the first Vista screen.


• Course Content Map setting should be set as follows: Manage Course > Course Menu > General Settings > Course Content Map: Display as drop-down


• All HTML content pages must have appropriate but simplified titles, e.g. "Lesson 1 Objectives and Tasks" rather than "ENGL 2010 - Intermediate Writing - Objectives and Tasks", certainly not "[course_#]: [course_title] - page name"


• Remove all WebCT CE hack hyperlinks to activities, e.g. <a href="#" onclick="discussion('Topic 01: Introductions',190023569)">Topic 01: Introductions</a>


• Begin putting all upfront materilas in a Learning Module on the home page called "Course Orientation"


• Learning Modules (lessons) should also be linked directly from the home page in most cases (use a "Lessons" folder if that makes more organizational sense)


• Learning Module's should have, for example, "Lesson X" for title and "Introduction to Z" for description


• Discussion links should be labeled with a "Discussion:" prefix, e.g. "Discussion: Practice Paraphrase"


• Assignment links should be labeled with an "Assignment x:" prefix, e.g. "Assignment 07: Learning to Paraphrase"


• Create and apply Goals to Learning Modules based on stated objectives. Try to identify objectives in collaboration with instructor if necessary.


• Go through each and every page, assignment, and assessment and create and associate Goals as part of a full revision process. This should be done collaboratively with the instructor.


• Create and use Grading Forms collaboratively with the instructor. This can be sold by demonstrating the efficacy of grading with such forms.

I will eventually compile these into a master document with previous notes and guidelines.

IDS Objectives and Measures for Summer 2007

At our end-of-semester planning meeting, IDS discussed the following objectives for Summer semester 2007:

Objective 1
Complete 3 course redesigns in Blackboard Vista.
Measure(s):

• Redesigned courses have superior usability over CE versions
• Significant new features of Vista are properly utilized
  
• Faculty guidance, input, and feedback is implemented
  
• Instructional Designers' all review redesigned courses
  

Objective 2
Active engagement in opencourseware/open education movements
Measure(s):

• Official OCWC membership status for UVSC
  
• OCW server running public
  
• 10 OCW courses on server
  
• Faculty buy-in

Objective 3
by Janel M
Publish Online Faculty Orientation Modules on the Web.
Measure(s):

• Relevant DE orientation content available via the Web
  
• Some number of assessments or interactions to gauge effectiveness
  
• Integrate Web content into DE Faculty Orientation process
  

Objective 4
Ensure ongoing quality learning experiences for all IDS staff.
Measure(s):

• Monthly 2-3 hour training/dev experience on topic of interest or use to all IDS staff
  
• Each staff member to host 1 (breakfast?) training per year.
• Schedule:
• April - Rick C.
• May - Golf P.
• June - Eric L.
• July - Janel M.
• Aug - Cheri D.
• Sept - Jared S.
• Oct - Marc H.

Objective 5
Create a Distance Education Intranet system for all units .
Measures:

• Increased access to departmental information.
• Better facilitation of departmental communication.
  
• Staff/area usage statistics and general feedback.
  

Objective 6
Begin creation of online task/project/error tracking system, (bugzilla).
Measure(s):

• Project assigned and planned.