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Nieuwe functionaliteiten voor onze gebruikers

posted on May 23, 2006 by in Blackboard
Op verzoek van Onderwijs en Studentenzaak heb ik een overzicht gemaakt van alle nieuwe functionaliteiten die onze gebruikers krijgen na de zomer, oftewel wat is het verschil tussen versie 7.1 en versie 6.2.  Dit is een behoorlijk lange lijst geworden.
Opvallend is wel dat er maar weinig aanpassingen aan het Content System zijn.

Here is an overview of the new features of Blackboard in version 6.3, 7.0 and 7.1 combined.

Changes to the Learning System

  • Advanced Course Menu and New Course Map [6.3]
  • Additional Blackboard Content System Integration [6.3]
    This release includes new functionality to allow instructors, content developers, and students to use the storage, search, and sharing capabilities of the Blackboard Content System. When uploading Assignments, SCORM, IMS and NLN content, file response (a new question type in Assessments), and Question Pools, users have the option of selecting a file from the Blackboard Content System or their local computer.
  • New Discussion board [7.1]
    • Forum and thread grading
    • Discussion board statistics
    • Forum moderation and user management
    • Rate posting
    • Thread Subscriptions
    • Enhancements of existing features
      • Instructors can copy Discussion Board forums to the same Discussion Board or to another Discussion Board in the course
      • Users can save posts as drafts, allowing them to work on a post over more than one Blackboard session until the post is ready for publishing.
      • Instructors now have an availability option for all forums on the Add/Modify Forum page. The availability option replaces the functionality of archiving forums. Forums that were archived before an update to 7.0 Application pack 1 will become Unavailable after the update process.
      • The Discussion Board uses Adaptive Release rules and other availability rules such as Date set on any tool links to the Discussion Board.
      • Searches can be limited or expanded to include current forum, current thread, or all forums in the course.
      • Users can group posts into Collections. Collections can be sorted and filtered to customize the Collection for easy viewing and printing.
      • Instructors can now "lock" a forum to prevent additional posts, but allow users to read existing threads. This feature replaces "archive" forum.
  • Assessments and Gradebook
    • Performance Dashboard [6.3]
      The Performance Dashboard is a course tool that allows Instructors to see key information and outcomes for all course users. It displays the last time users logged in, their course role, content availability by user based on Adaptive Release criteria, Review Status for content items, and a direct link to the Gradebook: User Grade List page for individual users.
    • Advanced Assessment Questions [6.3]
      Instructors may choose from ten additional question types, including: Calculated Questions, Numeric Response Questions, File Response Questions, Hot Spot Questions, Multiple Fill-in-the-Blank Questions, Jumbled Sentence Questions, Opinion Scale Questions, Short Response Questions, Either / Or Questions, and Quiz Bowl Questions.
    • Gradebook Null Option [6.3]
    • Download Assessment Attempts that Include All Questions [6.3]
    • Assessment Question Completion Status [6.3]
    • Randomize Multiple Choice Answers [6.3]
    • Assessment Creation Metadata Options [6.3]
    • Multiple Attempts [7.1]
    • Self-Assessment Options [7.1]
    • Test and Survey Import/Export [7.1]
    • Extra Credit [7.1]
    • Customized Feedback [7.1]
    • Enhanced Submission Reports [7.1]
  • In Blackboard Academic Suite (Release 7) the import, export, archive and restore processes are asynchronous. This means that users do not have to wait in the browser window while the operation takes place. This is more efficient for users because the operations are queued and managed in the background. When one of these tasks is executed, the system completes it in the background and sends the user an email upon completion. The new process for Export and Archive matches the process for Course Copy. [7.0]
  • Changes to Send Email [7.0]
    • Email logs, not included in the Blackboard Academic Suite (Release 6.2 and Release 6.3), returns in Release (7).
    • Improvements have been made to the handling of users and attachments in emails.
    • The Email tool is applied consistently using the same interface and options throughout the application.
  • Adaptive Release [6.3]
    Adaptive Release allows an Instructor to create custom learning paths through course content and activities. Content items, discussions, assessments, assignments, or other activities can be released to Students based on a set of criteria including: date and time, specific users, group membership, grades or attempts on a particular test or assignment, or Review Status of another item in the course.
  • Review Status [6.3]
    If Review is enabled for a content item, users see a Mark Reviewed icon from the course view. When users have completed their review of the item, they click the Mark Reviewed button. The item then displays a Reviewed icon. The Instructor can view progress from the Performance Dashboard or the User Progress page in the Control Panel.
  • Syllabus Builder [6.3]
    The Syllabus Builder is an easy-to-use content item that makes Syllabus creation the most basic element of any course simple for Instructors of all levels, with a feature that allows them to easily apply designs to their work. Syllabi can contain general class information such as dates and times as well as an overview of each lesson.
  • Support for SCORM 2004 [6.3]

Changes to the Community System

  • Direct Access Branding [6.3]
  • What's New Module [6.3]
    The What's New module alerts users of any key changes or updates since the last time they logged in. Examples include: added/changed assessments, assignments, content items, surveys, discussion board postings, Blackboard Messages, calendar events, and announcements for each course that the user is enrolled in.
  • Module Tab Enhancements [6.3]
    Enhancements to tab controls allow Administrators to create module tabs with one to three columns. Administrators may also add a header and/or footer of variable width to any module tab, and designate module themes for the tab menu.
  • System Dicussion Boards are improved [7.1]
  • Course and Organisation catalogs by Role [7.1]
    • Customize catalog views by Institutional Role
    • Catalog can be made available on any tab
  • The Courses, Community, and Services tabs are now module tabs. This allows users to have more control over the content and layout of these tabs. [7.0]
  • Users may now upload images and other types of files to HTML modules through the Visual Text Box Editor. [7.0]
  • A number of new modules were created. These include a Discussion Board, a Course Catalog module, and an Organization Catalog module. These new modules may be placed on other tabs and will appear in the Manage Modules page. [7.0]
  • The My Courses module now includes Instructor names for each course, and allows Administrators to enable or disable the display of any of the information in the My Courses module by default. It is also possible to enable the display of unavailable courses in which students are enrolled. [7.0]
  • Guest access to the Courses Tab is toggled on and off from the Tab Properties page. In past releases, Guest Access to the Courses Tab was enabled from the Manage Tools page on the Administrator Panel. [7.0]
  • Administrator pages for allowing users to create Courses, Organizations, and Discussion Boards (on the Community tab) have been replaced with three new modules; the Course Creation module, the Organization Creation Module, and the Discussion Board Creation Module. [7.0]

Changes to the Content System

  • Assessment Import/Export. [7.1]
  • Folder View only displays the contents of the first content area. This improves performance. [7.1]
  • The lifetimes for Passes and Portfolios shared with external users is user-definable in Release 7. [7.0]

General enhancements

  • Multibyte character support [7.0]
    Multibyte support involves behind-the-scenes changes to the database and files throughout the system. Multibyte characters support languages that use characters other than the Western European characters supported by the ISO-8859 standard.
  • Visual Text Box Editor [7.1]
    • The VTBE works on Windows in MS Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Netscape. The VTBE works on Mac in Safari (in lite version) and Firefox.
    • Additional Locations for the VTBE.
    • Opt-In Setting for the VTBE.
    • Enhancements on WebEQ and MathML.
  • Manage Language Packs [7.0]
  • Language Pack Editor [7.0]
    The Language Pack Editor provides clients with the functionality necessary to create new Language Packs or modify existing Language Packs. Clients can now share and customize Language Packs to meet their individual, national, international, and consortium needs. Administrators may copy or import an existing Language Pack and use the Language Pack Editor to modify the existing text bundles and text strings.
  • Embedded Quick Tutorials [7.0]
    Quick Tutorials consist of a set of modules and links that direct Blackboard users to a series of self-guided multimedia tutorials.
  • Blackboard Backpack [7.0]
     Blackboard Backpack is a software application that enables users to synchronize their Blackboard materials for offline use. Using this powerful learning tool, Students can access their learning materials from anywhere at anytime, without having to have an Internet connection.
  • Enhances Administrator Pages for Course, Organisation and User Management. [7.1]
  • Flexible Roles and Privileges [7.1]
    • Privileges
    • Multiple System Roles per User

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