Copyright Statement Jason Rhode and Carol Scheidenhelm 2006

Copyright Statement ©Jason Rhode and Carol Scheidenhelm. 2006. This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the authors. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the authors.

Collaborative Technology Support Can’t We All Just Get Along? Educause Midwest Regional Conference 2006

Session Objectives n n Explore the history of technology and technological decision making at NIU Describe the formation of the Blackboard Administrative Team Outline institutional strategies for multi-user support Propose future plans for expansion of the system and continued collaboration

Overview: Technology at NIU n n Systems traditionally supported--and determined--by campus technology unit with little input from users. Separation of academic and technological units q n n No single, unifying agency Student fees directed largely toward other projects Colleges and departments have own initiatives

And then came Blackboard n n Provost appointed committee to select course management system Joint decision platform Support personnel organized themselves Decisions shared by support team

Current Support Team n Information Technology Services (ITS) q q n n Technical team Customer Support team Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center Registration and Records E-Learning Services Transaction System

Continuing Challenges n Lack of resources q q n No full-time Bb support people (techs or customer support) q n No central office making decisions re: instructional technologies Funding responsibility shared and problematic “Other duties as assigned” Policy and procedures by ad hoc committee

Blackboard Cooperative Processes n A place holder for each scheduled section q n Faculty information q n Automated process supported by ITS Support for faculty: pedagogical issues, online materials, workshops q n Matched from Human Resources database Faculty course activation requests q n Imported from Registration and Records database Faculty Development Student support and faculty tech support q ITS

http: //webcourses. niu. edu

Tech Supplied by ITS n Blackboard software and servers maintained by ITS. q q Currently configuration: Bb 6. 3. 1. 505 Windows 2003 SQL 2000 sp 3 a 2 web/app servers and 1 collaboration server n q q Load-balanced cluster NAS and database servers connected to a SAN for storage Behind a Cisco PIX firewall

Student Support: ITS http: //www. helpdesk. niu. edu/its/helpdesk/blackboard_support. shtml

Quick Guide n n Student Quick Guide Faculty Quick Guide

Faculty Development n Faculty workshops, consultations, phone and email support q q n Emphasis on pedagogy Since July 1, 2003 --also responsible for training and support Graduate Teaching Assistants Online materials http: //www. facdev. niu. edu

Workshops http: //www. facdev. niu. edu/facdev/information/workshops

Online Resources for Faculty User guide n Site search n Ask a question n FAQ n Tutorials n RSS Feeds n http: //www. blackboard. niu. edu

User Guide: Instructional Materials

Searchable Resources

Ask a Question http: //www. blackboard. niu. edu

Tutorials (Captivate) http: //www. blackboard. niu. edu

RSS Feeds http: //www. blackboard. niu. edu/blackboard/rss

http: //webcourses. niu. edu

Growing Number of Users n n 1999: @ 24 Blackboard. com courses and 12 in-house Spring 2002: @ 250 courses migrated to new system Fall 2003: over 760 courses and 12, 000 students Spring 2006: 1275 courses and 19, 258 students

Future Plans n n Testing for Blackboard 7. 1 Strategies for implementation of the Blackboard Content System Portal and community policies Investigation and evaluation of Building Blocks

Can’t we all just get along? n n Blackboard is first NIU initiative when campus agencies have worked together. Efforts have enhanced collaboration among groups on other projects q q Smart Podia General access lab configuration Classroom response systems One card system n Joint meeting May 16 -17

NIU Blackboard Support Blackboard Portal: http: //webcourses. niu. edu n Faculty Help q n http: //www. blackboard. niu. edu Student Help q http: //www. its. niu. edu/its/helpdesk