2. Using Blackboard Collaborate to create
interactive audio-visual learning
experiences
Catherine A. Bliss

3. Outline
Feedback
Rationale Strategies
& Data

4. Our students are changing…
Previous barriers to higher
education are dissolving:
– Location
– Financial
– Gender & race
– Physical disability
– Learning disability / style
…Which is wonderful, but also Image: www.uwi.edu
brings new challenges

5. Landscape of knowledge is changing…
Storage of knowledge: Then vs. now
Globally negotiated meaning and
information sharing
Open source tools
Knowledge creators are changing
Pace of knowledge creation and
sharing is changing
*Interactive audio-visual sessions
emphasize process in addition to
content
Image: www.ChrisHarrison.net

6. Our courses are changing…
• Moodle transition coming soon
• Addition of many new, upper level
courses which may not have the
support features (i.e. MyMathLab)
• Wonderful instructional technology
team makes resources
• …but why not put the power of
creation also in the hands of
instructors?
• Allows for adaptability, development of
community of learners
• Captures the synergy often found in
synchronous exchanges

7. Where to start?
Prior learning experiences impact
how students address “Where
do I begin?”
-Beginning in Face-to-face vs. Online
Image: www.catalogs.com
-Student post “I am working both days
until 7 p.m. So 8 or 9 p.m will be better for
me. Thanks a lot for giving us the
opportunity to talk to you. As this
education system is totally new for me, I
have no idea what's going on.”

8. Tool: Desktop sharing
[In the presentation, we will explore the
Desktop sharing feature]

9. Tool: Desktop sharing

10. Tool: Desktop sharing
• Synchronous
discussion (foreign
language, proof writing,
skill building)
• Virtual tours
• Help sessions (math,
writing workshop)
• Interactive tutorials
• Library research skills
*A dynamic alternative to
text!

11. Tool: Whiteboard
• Create open educational
resources that are mobile
friendly!
• Recommendations
– Viztablet
– Headset
– Black background
– BB Publish (to make
recordings mobile friendly)

12. Data
100
90
“From posts to patterns: A metric to
% Student participation
80
70
characterize discussion board activity 60
in online courses” (Bliss & Lawrence, 50 Ask a Quest.
40 Livechat
2009) 30
20
– Participation – How many enrolled 10
students participated in the discussion? 0
Ask a Quest. Livechat
– Quantity (student) – How active were
students, once they decided to 16
14
participate?
No. posts/per participating
12
– Quantity (instructor) – How many 10
student
posts did an instructor make, per 8 Ask a Quest.
participating student? 6 Livechat
– Quality – Were posts on/off topic? 4
Educationally valuable or Educationally 2
Less Valuable 0
Ask a Quest. Livechat
Ask a Question: Asynchronous
Livechat: Synchronous

13. Student feedback
This was the first
time that I This has been the best CDL course I
have ever taken ever.... I have never
actually felt like had a professor as helpful and
I was in a class! actively engaged with their students
as her. It is the teacher that sets the
mood of the classroom and she was
able to positively accomplish that in
a distance learning environment
whereas some can't even do so in a
face-to-face classroom. We are lucky
to be her students. I highly
appreciate that she even did live
whiteboard sessions with us to make
I was very nervous when I
sure we understood every concept.
started, because I wasn't sure
what to expect... I was pleasantly
surprised when I started this
class and immediately we had a
live chat…This has been my most
pleasant experience with online
math classes…

14. Final considerations…
• Participation optional?
• Sessions recorded
• Setting tone / common agreements
• Frequency
• Rotating days/times
• Ensuring all students have a voice
• Access (don’t rely too much on
voice, nor on text)
Open the door for all to succeed!