Transcript Blackboard Collaborate

Dr Leigh Harris, Assistant Dean,
Center for Academic Enrichment (CAE)
Dr Anastasia Logotheti, Director,
Teaching and Learning Center, CAE
15 June 2013
Blackboard Collaborate™ platform at DEREE, ACG
• Adopted Spring 2013
• As synchronous tool through which courses would be
connected with similar courses in Global Liberal Arts
Alliance colleges.
• The Global Course Connections Project (GCC): initiative of
GLAA piloted in 2012-13
• designed to enrich each connected course with an
international perspective through direct exchange
between students and faculty in two countries progressing
through similar material of connected courses
• 18 faculty members from 11 GLAA schools have or are
teaching 10 pairs of connected courses in this first year.
Web Conferencing
An online tool that allows multiple users to view content, exchange ideas,
and work collaboratively. Web conferencing can include online “real time’
(synchronous) activities such as conducting lectures, inviting guest speakers
to share their expertise from a remote location, pushing out content for
students to download for review, holding weekly office hours, offering a
venue where colleagues can hold meetings to discuss professional or
research interests, or providing students with a virtual location to conduct
collaborative activities for group assignments. Faculty wanting to utilize
useful online resources during a session can take their students on a web
tour, walk them through specific websites, or allow students to explore on
their own. Regular web conferencing sessions in online courses can help to
foster a learning community among students who may never meet face-toface. Thus, web conferencing is recognized not only as a mechanism to
distribute content, but as an opportunity to implement learning strategies that
engage students, increase interactivity, and promote collaboration.
Dan Cabrera, Oct 2012, http://facdevblog.niu.edu/usingBbCollab
Origins of
Blackboard Collaborate™
• 2010 Blackboard bought Eluminate and
and its main competitor Wimba
• “Collaborate appears to be a combination
of the slightly less cluttered interface of
Wimba and the greater functionality of
Eluminate.”
http://b2fxxx.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/open-university-turn-to-blackboard.html
Blackboard Collaborate™
On the company website, Collaborate is presented as
• providing a comprehensive online learning and collaboration
platform designed specifically for education;
• helping thousands of higher education, K-12, professional,
corporate, and government organizations worldwide deliver a
more effective learning experience through online, blended,
and mobile learning;
• assisting the creation of “virtual classrooms, offices and
meeting spaces that open more possibilities to more students,
wherever they are;”
• promising “exciting new approaches to learning” as it
“involves each student on an individual level.”
https://www.blackboard.com/platforms/collaborate/overview.aspx
Blackboard Collaborate™
offers the potential
to “keep everyone engaged
like never before.”
https://www.blackboard.com/platforms/collaborate/overview.aspx
.
The Challenge of Blackboard Collaborate™
• In addition to its primary function as promoted by
the company, does Collaborate offer other
opportunities to an institution of higher learning?
• How can this platform, once adopted, also be
used for purposes such as training instructors and
staff?
• How can Collaborate enable staff meetings and
team projects to take place in a virtual
environment?
• How is communication enhanced in an online
setting through new media?
CAE: New academic unit at DEREE
Foundational programs
& academic support services
• English for Academic Purposes
• Writing Program
• International Honors Program
• Teaching & Learning Center
• Student Academic Services
•(Writing Center + Peer Tutoring)
Leadership: DEREE faculty members
who also hold administrative posts in CAE
CAE Staff Meetings
• Composition
• Frequency
• Duration
• Content
• Process
• Perks
• Use of a web conferencing tool as an alternative
method of communication: ideal for staff meetings
on Collaborate.
CAE Staff Meetings on BbC
• Composition: varied
• Frequency: six times
• Duration: over 12 hrs
• Content: affected by medium
• Process: linear; imposed by BbC rules
and etiquette
• Perks: multi-tasking
Initial Complexities
(prior to use and during BbC sessions)
• Technical equipment and support
• Knowledge of and familiarity with
the platform
• Training
Further Complexities
(during BbC sessions)
• Learning BbC Etiquette:
• Order of speaking (raising hand, waiting
for turn, clicking talk button on and off);
• Understanding Roles of Moderator vs.
Participants;
• Establishing communication depends on
good speaking and listening skills
• Successful discussions need to be
shaped as activities
Achievements using BbC for Meetings
• Engagement with task necessary
• Effectiveness and focus on task required
• improved time management;
• accomplishment of goal;
• orderly exchanges: encouraged to think
and synthesize while waiting to talk
• Location virtual
• Multitasking possible (Away button)
• Excitement generated through learning a
new digital tool
Challenges Affecting Use of BbC for Meetings
(Or how the medium affects the message)
• Moderator needs to know and use the platform
effectively
• Moderator must keep the visual (screen, tasks)
and the audio (talk, tasks) exciting!
• Mode of communication seems restrictive: no
body language (emoticons); less energy/buzz
from sharing; using Chat and emoticons while
paying attention to content is hard; perks of real
meetings disappear
Personal and Cultural Challenges
Affecting Use of BbC for Meetings
•Cultural paradigms regarding
communication affect use of BbC
• Personalities and personal habits
regarding communication affect use
of BbC
Conclusions
from Use of BbC for Meetings
Meetings can effectively take place on BbC
after sufficient training/practice
Certain types of meetings
may be more efficiently managed on BbC
“Like Never Before”?
?YES!
!NO?
Thank You for your Participation!