1. Blackboard Next Generation (Version 9.1) Upgrade
NIU Faculty Support Plan
Slides available for download from

2. Blackboard Usage at NIU2

3. Blackboard Usage at NIU
As of Fall 2010:
97% of students
75% of instructional Faculty/Staff/TAs
50% of course sections
3.6 course sections/student on Blackboard
More details:

4. Use of Blackboard by (individual) Students
23,040
Usage % for fall ‘10 with 23,795 enrolled is 96.8% of total number of students

5. Use of Blackboard by (individual) Faculty/Staff/TAs to Teach
1,320
Usage % for fall ‘10 with 1,761* faculty/instructors/TA/teaching staff is 74.96% *1,761 includes only those providing direct instruction

6. Number of Credit Course Sections in Blackboard
2,514
Usage % for fall ‘10 with 5,106* sections is 49.23% *No. of course sections including thesis, dissertation, and independent studies is 5,106

7. Number of Course Enrollments in Blackboard
87,687
Students enrolled in several courses that use Blackboard in a semester

8. Blackboard Next Generation Upgrade Faculty Support Plan

9. Current Blackboard Support
The comprehensive support provided by our Center on teaching with Blackboard includes the following:
Hands-on workshops (series of 40+ different workshops)
Individual consultations (In FY10 alone, 523 consultations on Blackboard were offered to 230 unique individuals)
Usage documentation (250+ webpages)
(9,800 unique visitors per month to the help site in FY10)
246 answers to Frequently Asked Questions (searchable)
37 step-by-step online tutorials (searchable)
Podcasts (23+ episodes) on teaching with Blackboard
Quick Guides on using Blackboard
24 archived online workshops, Ask-A-Question, etc.
Over the past 10 years, our Center has developed comprehensive support on teaching with Blackboard tat includes:
Series of over 40 different workshops
Individual consultations. For example, in fiscal year 2010 alone, 523 consultations on Blackboard were offered to 230 unique individuals
Online documentation customized to NIU consisting of over 250 webpages. In fiscal year 2010, the site averaged unique visitors per month
Searchable directory of over 246 answers to frequently asked questions
Searchable collection of 37 step-by-step online tutorials
Podcasts on teaching with Blackboard
Printable Quick Guides on using Blackboard
Growing collection of archived online workshops
and an “Ask-A-Question” online form where faculty can submit a Blackboard question and receive prompt assistance
(Show preview of each of these in Chrome, time permitting. Then return to this slide)
Here’s what one of our NIU instructors had to say about the support she has received from our Center…

10. Faculty Support Plan Phases
Install new system on a development (BbDev) server
Test new features and system interfaces
Create upgrade page to document new features, changes, and include links to applicable support materials provided by Blackboard
Update Teaching with Blackboard support site (niu.edu/blackboard) to reflect new features major interface changes
Convert site from WebCRMA to new Cascade CMS as part of the redesign update process
Outline of features and pre-existing support materials at niu.edu/blackboard/ng
Articles in Fall ’10 & Spring ’11 newsletters and campus media
Episodes on Teaching with Blackboard Podcast devoted to changes
Notices of new features posted to FacDev blog, Twitter, and Facebook, and notices to users
Screencasts and/or quick tip highlighting changes
Online preview sessions archived for on-demand viewing
2 invite-only hands-on preview sessions for support staff and faculty power users [3/29,4/6]
3 online preview sessions [60 min] for faculty/staff & TAs via Wimba Classroom [3/29,4/12,4/26]
3 hands-on preview sessions for faculty/staff & TAs [4/8,5/3,5/18]
2 invite-only hands-on preview sessions for faculty teaching during intersession [4/28, 5/16]
10 Bb Tune-up sessions for experienced users offering hands-on overview of changes and new features [6/6, 6/7,7/19,7/27,8/4,8/9, 8/11,8/17(2),8/19]
7 Bb I & II hands-on sessions for users new to Bb [6/2,6/15,7/13, 7/21,8/15,8/19]
2 Bb NG Boot Camps (4 in-depth hands-on sessions for faculty/staff on 9.1 new feature sets) [6/3,8/10]
Blackboard Open Lab sessions [11AM-1PM] each day during 1st week of summer & fall 2011 terms [6/13,6/14, 6/15,6/16,8/22,8/23, 8/24,8/25,8/26]
College-specific sessions available upon request
Consultations with individual faculty/staff and TAs upon request
Phase 5: Open Labs & Special Sessions
Phase 4: Hands-on Face-to-Face Workshops (Beginning Summer 2011) All workshops 90 mins
Here you see on the screen and you also have in your handout a copy of the 5 phases of the support plan and an overview of the various support services that will be offered to faculty at the different phases of the support plan
Phase 3: Preview Sessions (Beginning Spring 2011)
Hands-on preview sessions 90 mins each; Online preview sessions 60 mins each
Phase 2: Communications of New Features and User Interface Changes (Beginning Fall 2010)
Phase 1: Documentation and Support Materials Preparation (Beginning Summer 2010)
Hands-on preview sessions and face-to-face workshops will be 90 minutes in length; Online preview sessions will be 60 minutes in length

11. Faculty Support Plan Timeline
Version 9.1 installed on bbdev.
FacDev & ITS begin testing system
Support plan drafted & shared with Provost, Council of Deans, and Faculty Development Advisory Committee
Initial draft of redesigned support site ready on new CMS
Preliminary info on 9.1 available on current support site
New support site goes live
New tutorials, quick guides, etc. developed in response to questions received
New features in 9.1 covered in all future Blackboard workshops
Consultations with individual faculty/staff and TAs upon request
Outage / Upgrade to Bb 9.1 (5/29 - 5/30)
Redesign of existing support site begins
2010
2011
9/ / / / / / / / / / / / /11
Phase 1: Documentation and Support Materials Preparation
Phase 2: Communications of New Features and User Interface Changes
You’ll also see in your handout the timeline of the support plan depicting the schedule for the implementation of the support plan over the coming months.
Phase 3: Preview Sessions
Phase 4: Hands-on Face-to-Face Workshops
Phase 5: Open Labs & Special Sessions
Last updated: 11/7/10

12. Workshops Scheduled
40 workshops currently scheduled for Spring & Summer 2011:
10 preview sessions prior to upgrade
8 hands-on workshops for new users
10 “tune-up” workshops for experienced users
2 “boot camp” days of in-depth advanced sessions
open lab sessions every day of the first week of summer and fall semesters for individual assistance
Capacity planning to meet training needs
Some workshops will also be offered online
A key component of the support plan will be the 40 workshops that we have scheduled to be offered during Spring and Summer In your handout you see a spreadsheet detailing each of these workshops that we’ve scheduled along with the type of workshop, location, and capacity for each session.
We’ve scheduled 10 previous sessions prior to the upgrade, most will be face to face but a few will be offered online, offering faculty and support staff to get an overview of the significant changes and new features that are coming with the upgrades.
Following the upgrade in May, we’ll be offering over the next 3 months 8 hands-on workshops for new users, 10 “tune-up” workshops for experienced users and 2 “Blackboard Boot Camp” days of in-depth advanced sessions for faculty.
In addition, we will be offering open lab sessions every day of the first week of summer and fall semesters for individual assistance
As you can see in the handout, we’re keenly aware of the training capacity and will be offering some workshops online and making archives of these sessions available for online viewing to increase our training capacity.

13. Faculty Support Plan Challenges
Updating over 80% of existing documentation
Designing new documentation for new features
Priority training for those teaching intersession courses that overlap the upgrade in May 2011
Training nearly 1,300 instructional faculty/TAs during summer 2011 (when they are not on contract!)
Retraining current basic to advanced users
Training new faculty/staff/TA users from Aug 2011
Responding to increased faculty support requests
Staffing and facilities for handling all these needs
Included in this Faculty Support Plan are some notable challenges that we face:
Due to the vast changes, we must update over 80% of our existing support documentation
We must design new documentation for the new features added
We also recognize the importance of providing priority training for those teaching intersession courses that overlap the upgrade in May 2011
We need to train nearly 1,300 instructional faculty/TAs during summer 2011 (when they are not on contract!)
We also must retrain current basic to advanced users that we have already trained over the past 10 years
From August 2011, we’ll need to train new faculty/staff/TA users of the new features in Blackboard NG as well as the new Blackboard Mobile Learn apps
We undoubtedly will see an increase in the number of faculty support requests that we’ll receive and need to respond to
And we face challenges in staffing and facilities for handling all these needs

14. Communicating The Change

15. Presentations on Campus
Provost – Oct. ‘10
Council of Deans – Nov. ’10
President’s Senior Cabinet – Jan. ’11
College of Engineering & Engineering Technology Faculty – Jan. ‘11
Computing Facilities Advisory Committee – Feb. ’11
College of Health & Human Sciences Faculty – Apr. ‘11

16. niu.edu/blackboard/ng
Website
niu.edu/blackboard/ng

17. youtube.com/watch?v=ei8ufG8amk8
Quick Tip Intro
youtube.com/watch?v=ei8ufG8amk8

18. Newsletters
niu.edu/spectrum

19. s

20. Blog
facdevblog.niu.edu

21. Twitter
twitter.com/facdev

22. Facebook
facebook.com/facdev

23. niu.edu/blackboard/podcast23

24. Postcard

25. Online Workshop Archives
niu.edu/facdev/programs/archives.shtml

26. Blackboard Login Page
webcourses.niu.edu

27. Technical Considerations

28. Technical Considerations
Legacy Storage vs. Content System Storage
Building Block Compatibility
User Interface for Custom Building Blocks
Testing Service Packs
Timing of Outage for Upgrade
Others?…

29. Slides available for download from http://j.mp/niubbngplan
Additional Comments
Slides available for download from