Are you working on your course for next semester? Save yourself an annual headache by rethinking how you post when items are due in your Blackboard course(s).
In order to provide our students with “at your fingertips” contextual information, we have often posted assignment/activity due dates directly in the assignment/activity descriptions or unit introductions. While this may be beneficial to our students, it provides more whack-a-moles for us to go after when it is time to get our courses ready. In other words, we spend more time updating due dates than making other important changes for the new semester.
Blackboard Due Dates
Blackboard already provides a great way to let students know when an assignment/activity is due with the Due Date checkbox.
Not only does the due date show up when the students look at the assignment/activity, it also has the added benefit of notifying the students via email, dashboard and mobile app a week prior to the due date.
#DayNotDate
When placing due dates in unit introductions or assignment/activity descriptions use the due DAY not the due DATE. Our due days will change much less often than our due dates.
For example:
instead of saying that the discussion activity for week 1 is due Thursday, March 1st by midnight…
say
…the discussion activity for week 1 is due Thursday by midnight.
This practice will provide students with the “at your fingertips” contextual information they desire, as well as creating a more efficient method for ensuring your course is ready for the next semester.
Bonus – The Date Management Tool & Set Grade Center Due dates
Since you are setting due dates using Blackboard’s Due Date feature, you can now change those due dates in ONE PLACE! Blackboard provides you with two different methods for adjusting your due dates each semester:
Both of these Blackboard tools keep you from searching through your entire course to change due dates.
So remember, cut down on the some of the stress of getting your course(s) ready for a new semester by using Blackboard’s Due Date feature and use the #DayNotDate when writing assignment/activity instructions and unit introductions.
Did you know that instructors can allow students to rate each other’s posts in Blackboard discussion forums? It works the same way that one would rate movies, books, apps, and things purchased in an online storefront like Amazon.
These sessions can be 5 minutes to an hour and can take place in your office, ours, over the phone and online. Use the same link to sign up for face-to-face or one-on-one sessions. Just select a topic or come up with one of your own and we’ll do it!
Your students spend a large amount of their time with their faces pointed toward a mobile device. Why not have them spend some of that time looking at push notifications from your course? Connect your students to the Blackboard App and increase student engagement. Students will be updated when they have a test coming up, an assignment is due as well as when new grades are posted. The push notifications can engage your students and drive them to your course. The Blackboard App provides your students with:
A Video Introduction performs an important function in any online course. One of the drawbacks to digital communication is that it divorces the person from the medium. An e-mail, discussion post or instant message cannot convey meaning or tone of voice. A Video Introduction allows you to speak to the student as you would speak to them in your office or in class. They get to hear as well as see “you” rather than just a paragraph or two of text welcoming them to the course.
Research shows that students who feel they have contributed to a course, or have “co-ownership” of their learning, report a higher level of satisfaction with the course and instructor. One way to start your students contributing early on, is to have them participate in an introductory activity. The activity serves multiple purposes. First it does what it says it does and allows your students to get to know you and each other. Doing this helps them break the ice and feel less wary about reaching out to each other as the semester progresses. Secondly it shows them how to use the tools in the course and gets them in the habit of interacting with each other in the manner set by your instructions. Finally, it gets them started and active in the course. Student who feel like they are not just sitting around, report a higher level of satisfaction and are more likely to finish the course.
Expectations of Students
In a brick and mortar class the first day is usually spent covering course expectations, policies and yes the syllabus. You have a captive audience at least for the hour or hour and a half that you have your students in the classroom. Even if the students didn’t seem excited about being there, you know they at least heard you go over the information. In online courses it can be difficult knowing if the students have even looked at your syllabus even though it may be prominently displayed in your course.
Let us take a quick look at the various features of the app. This is not the primary focus of this blog post, but I am getting ahead of myself. Here is a quick look at the Blackboard app feature set:
Grades