What's in This Edition - Fall 2017 Vol. 1

1. Cleveland State's Transition to Blackboard Ultra
2. Academic Integrity
3. VoiceThread
4. Quality Matters Update
5. Center for eLearning Training Schedule

Cleveland State's Transition to Blackboard Ultra

Wait, wasn’t Blackboard green last semester? Why is the layout all narrow on my webpage…ohhhh, it adjusts with my browser? WOW, Blackboard is now responsive and hip?

Blackboard is evolving and the result is a cleaner look, better functionality for mobile course delivery, and a fully accessible design according to WCAG 2.0 principles! You may have already noticed these updates at the beginning of Fall 2017, and there will be more changes to come as we continue to transition to Blackboard’s new “Ultra” interface for the 2018 Academic year.

The Center for eLearning has created the Blackboard 2018 webpage to keep you all informed of the changes to come! On this page you’ll find a detailed explanation of the three phases of the transition from the current Blackboard Learn layout to the Blackboard Ultra experience. We have also laid out some of the changes you can anticipate through each phase. Be sure to check out the changes as we plan to run an Ultra pilot in either the Summer or Fall of 2018. For a preview, Faculty can register with Blackboard in order to access the Ultra Experience today!

If you any questions you can contact us at elearning@csuohio.edu, by phone at 216.687.3960 or you can come visit us at our offices in Rhodes Tower Room 201!

Academic Integrity

Are you wondering if the plagiarism and academic dishonesty portions of your syllabus are having impact on your online student’s opinions towards cheating? Last year, Faculty Senate developed and approved Required Procedures and Recommended Practices to Address Security and Quality of Online Courses. The Center for eLearning provides several resources to assist Faculty in reaching the standards outlined by Faculty Senate. These resources range from the use of proctoring tools like Respondus LockDown Browser, Respondus Monitor and Tegrity Remote Proctoring to plagiarism prevention tools such as Turnitin and SafeAssign. 

By working closely with the Center for eLearning, you can take the necessary steps to prevent academic dishonesty in the classroom. We are currently seeking proposals from faculty to participate in a pilot of courses that utilize practices and technologies to prevent plagiarism and cheating in online courses. More information about the pilot as well as a full list of test proctoring and security solutions provided by the Center for eLearning can be found on our Test Protoring and Security page.

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VoiceThread

This year Blackboard added a new tool, VoiceThread, to Blackboard Learn. VoiceThread is an interactive collaboration and sharing tool that enables users to add images, documents, and videos, and to which other users can add voice, text, audio file, or video comments. You can post your VoiceThread on your website or export it as a file to be shared.

The Center for eLearning has posted guides for VoiceThread to its webpage. At the link provided you’ll be able to review Faculty and Student guides on how to get started with VoiceThread as well as reference several videos demonstrating the tool’s use!

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Quality Matters

To help ensure Cleveland State University continues to provide quality online education the Center for eLearning promotes Quality Matters (QM) standards in the design of our courses. QM is a nonprofit organization that has been assuring the quality of online courses since 2003. Through peer review, the design of online courses is certified by QM when a course meets 80% of the 43 Specific Review Standards in the QM rubric. Over 1,300 colleges and Universities nationwide rely on the QM rubric to ensure students are provided with the necessary tools and information to be successful with their online courses. You can find out more about QM on the Center for eLearning's webpage. 

In 2017, we have had 6 courses pass review and become recognized by QM:

In addition, the following courses have recently gone through review for recertification from QM:

The Center for eLearning wants to thank all of those who have actively engaged in Quality Matters and have worked to ensure their courses meet the QM standards.

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Center for eLearning Training Schedule

The Center for eLearning provides training for Faculty and Staff each semester. Training occurs in face-to-face and online formats. The Faculty Online Teaching and Design course as well as the Introduction to Teaching with Blackboard course will be offered again in Spring 18, so if you feel a bit overwhelmed this Fall join us next semester! We’d like to thank the Center for Faculty Excellence for their continued support of many of our face-to-face workshops! You’ll find a complete list of our offerings below.

You can register here for any trainings you know you’d like to attend!

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