SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning to help you more masterfully manage yourself personally and professionally, improve your effectiveness in managing your work, and support you in skillfully leading your teams. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is Facing Virtual Team Challenges.
Facing Virtual Team Challenges (27 min)
Virtual teams can face the same difficulties as other teams, but also have unique challenges. In this course, you'll learn how to handle challenges facing your team, and how to evaluate your own style.
TO LOGIN:
Using Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, Login to SkillPortusing your FULL UMBC email address for both the username and password boxes.
Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.
UPDATE: Bb Annotate has been staged back for deployment — US East Cost is slated for June 3rd.
Available for summer courses, Blackboard’s new inline grading tool, allows instructors, teaching assistants, and graders to embed feedback, such as comments, highlights, and even drawings, directly on a converted view of student assignments in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and PDF file formats. Bb Annotate’s enhanced commenting tools offer faculty a robust feature set to provide valuable feedback to students about their progress in a course.
The current interface for the inline grading tool is powered by a third-party conversion tool from Box. This version of the feedback tool was rolled out about two years ago. Recognizing the limited functionality of the Box-based tool, Blackboard initiated the development of a new tool last summer. Bb Annotate is the product of extensive research into faculty grading needs.
Available for both Original and Ultra courses, Bb Annotate offers expanded toos to provide customizable feedback to students. Features include a sidebar summary view, highlighting, freehand drawing and shapes, various color selections, a reusable comment bank across courses, and much more. This overview video shares some of the exciting changes:
View this webinar recording, Getting Started with Bb Annotate.
Please check the FAQ collection after May 20 to learn more about specific functionality. Instructional Technology staff are updating documentation and linking to Bb resources.
No planned downtime is expected on May 25, 2020 when Bb Annotate is enabled for UMBC. The file migration will begin in the background and could take some time to complete depending on the number of annotated files that need to be migrated. However, the current inline grading tools will remain available and all pre-existing grading comments will be migrated and visible in Bb Annotate. Please review additional information about the transition to Bb Annotate on this FAQ.
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups
Request a consult with instructional technology staff
VoiceThread is a learning tool for enhancing student engagement and online presence. With VoiceThread, instructors and/or students can create, share, and comment on images, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, videos, audio files, documents, and PDFs, using microphone, webcam, text, phone, and audio-file upload.
VoiceThread is offering the following training sessions:
Humanize Your Online Course with VoiceThread
When: May 19, 2020 1:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time)
Creating engaging online courses is not easy. In many discussion-board based courses, students feel isolated and disconnected from their instructors and classmates. VoiceThread bridges the gaps in social presence typically found in online courses. In this workshop, educators will learn how to establish a social presence and connect with their students using VoiceThread to improve course satisfaction and student learning.
VoiceThread Basics 1: Upload, Comment, and Share
When: May 26, 2020 1:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Participants will learn how to upload media, comment and annotate on that media, and share it with others. This will be a slow paced, step-by-step, hands-on workshop. It is open to both VoiceThread license holders and free accounts.
Using VoiceThread in Blackboard
When: June 2, 2020 1:00 pm (Eastern Time)
In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to create VoiceThreads and then add them to your Blackboard course as lessons or assessments.
]]>Blackboard has announced a webinar series to help faculty transition to remote instruction. Click here to sign up for the options described below.
Who are these webinars for?
This webinar series is designed for Instructors who are just getting started with teaching using Blackboard Learn and Blackboard Collaborate, as well as those who have started to transition to deliver instruction remotely and are looking to make some improvements.
About the webinar series
Many of you had to quickly transition to remote teaching in response to growing concerns on the spread of the coronavirus. The journey to teaching remotely is a process, and we want to ensure you have the tools you need to be successful for both you and your students.
Whether you are brand new to teaching online or looking to make some improvements to what you have started, we designed a set of webinars from basic topics to advanced. We added more topics to help you as you prepare for your next semester.
Getting Started with Blackboard Learn Original Course Experience - Do I have Learn Original?
This webinar is designed to provide you easy step-by-step instructions on how to upload course content, create discussion boards for students to communicate, and provide an overview on the types of online assessments available in Blackboard Learn’s ORIGINAL course experience.
Getting Started with Blackboard Learn Ultra Course Experience - Do I have Learn Ultra?
This webinar is designed to provide you easy step-by-step instructions on how to upload course content, create discussion boards for students to communicate, and provide an overview on the types of online assessments available in Blackboard Learn’s ULTRA course experience.
Getting Started with Blackboard Collaborate
Moving from in-classroom instruction to the virtual classroom does not have to be difficult or stressful. Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a web-based communication tool that allows you to continue to engage with your students in real time or even to record sessions for students to watch at a later time. In this 30-minute session, we will review the Collaborate interface and tools that support engaging teaching online.
Getting Started with Bb Annotate: Inline Assignment Grading in Blackboard Learn
Blackboard Learn’s inline assignment grading functionality, currently delivered through a technology called New Box View, will be replaced over the next few months with a new tool called Bb Annotate. Created in partnership with clients around the globe, Bb Annotate will offer a more robust feature set to provide customizable feedback to learners, including a sidebar summary view, freehand drawing tools, various color selections, and much more. Join this webinar to see a demonstration of the new tool and get your questions answered by Blackboard experts.
OFFICE HOURS: Ask the Experts About Blackboard Learn and Collaborate
Have a question on how to do something in Blackboard Learn or Blackboard Collaborate? Join this live Office Hours session where Blackboard experts will be on hand to answer questions, demonstrate workflows and provide guidance on teaching remotely.
Intermediate/Advanced Topics
Assessment & Assignments in Blackboard Learn (Original Course Experience)
This intermediate session will provide a deeper dive into setting up assessments, utilizing different types of assessments and creating gradable assignments within a Blackboard Learn Original experience course.
Guide to Building Mobile Content (Original & Ultra Course Experiences)
Many students prefer to consume course content on their mobile phone. This webinar is designed to provide you with basic fundamentals for preparing online course content for mobile delivery. Additionally, we will review Blackboard mobile apps and provide you with a helpful worksheet on mobile content development.
Improving Student Engagement (Original Course Experience)
In the new world of social distancing and limited interaction with others, instructors and students may be missing some accustomed modes of interpersonal communication in courses. Join a team of Blackboard experts who understand first-hand the demands of a fully online teaching environment—we are eager to help you discover how utilizing tools within Blackboard Learn can encourage meaningful engagement among students and between your students and you! Effectively use discussion boards, engage students with interactive lectures and quizzes and challenge them to collaborate together in teams and then present their work back to the larger class. Blackboard’s team of academic professionals have plenty of ideas to share with you and are eager to support you as you consider different ways to promote communication, get your students involved, and to keep them engaged in online classes.
Setting up the Gradebook (Original Course Experience)
As you prepare (or continue) to deliver instruction remotely this summer, empower yourself to do so with maximum efficiency by understanding Blackboard Learn’s powerful Grade Center. The Grade Center is more than just a location to record students' grades--it is an interactive tool that allows faculty to filter, sort, and access data , calculate grades, and monitor student progress. Join this session to learn the basics of efficiently managing your students’ work and grades.
Grading Workflows for Discussions, Assessment & Assignments (Original Course Experience)
Let’s face it – grading is possibly one of the least ‘fun’ parts of teaching. However, now that you’ve created assessments, assignments, and quizzes in Blackboard Learn, the grading process can be easier than ever. In Blackboard, instructors can provide feedback, post grades, and check the originality of student work with ease. Discover how much easier it can be to grade papers when you can annotate right within the online course. You can even provide audio feedback to the student, helping them understand areas of the paper that may need some attention. Want to set up a quiz to be automatically graded? You can do that too! Join us in this informative session on how to use Blackboard’s course tools to make your online teaching experience more efficient, more engaged and less time consuming!
Click here to register for any of the sessions.
Session Dates
Getting Started with Blackboard Learn Original Course Experience - Do I have Learn Original?
· Monday, May 4 | 9:00–9:30 am ET
· Monday, May 11 | 1:00–1:30 pm ET
Getting Started with Blackboard Learn Ultra Course Experience - Do I have Learn Ultra?
· Monday, May 4 | 10:00–10:30 am ET
· Monday, May 11 | 2:00–2:30 pm ET
Getting Started with Blackboard Collaborate
· Monday, May 4 | 11:00–11:30 am ET
· Monday, May 11 | 3:00–3:30 pm ET
Getting Started with Bb Annotate: Inline Assignment Grading in Blackboard Learn
· Tuesday, May 12 | 2:00–3:00 pm ET
· Wednesday, May 13 | 9:00-10:00 pm ET / Thursday, May 14 | 11:00 am–12:00 pm AEST
· Thursday, May 14 | 9:00–10:00 am ET
OFFICE HOURS: Ask the Experts about Blackboard Learn & Collaborate
· Thursday, May 14 | 11:00 am–12:00 pm ET
· Thursday, May 28 | 11:00 am–12:00 pm ET
Assessment & Assignments in Blackboard Learn (Original Course Experience)
· Tuesday, May 5 | 9:00–9:45 am ET
· Tuesday, May 19 | 2:00–2:45 pm ET
Guide to Building Mobile Content (Original & Ultra Course Experiences)
· Wednesday, May 6 | 9:00am - 9:45am ET
· Wednesday, May 20 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm ET
Improving Student Engagement (Original Course Experience)
· Friday, May 8 | 9:00am - 9:45am ET
· Thursday, May 21 | 3:00pm - 3:45pm ET
Setting up the Gradebook (Original Course Experience)
· Thursday, May 7 | 9:00am - 9:45am ET
· Thursday, May 21 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm ET
Grading Workflows for Discussions, Assessment & Assignments (Original Course Experience)
· Wednesday, May 13 | 9:00am - 9:45am ET
· Wednesday, May 27 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm ET
Click here to register for any of these sessions.
Looking for recordings?
Click here to watch past webinar sessions.
SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning that supports you in navigating complex challenges in personal and professional life, helps you to increase your effectiveness, and to improve your relationships. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is Take a Deep Breath and Manage Your Stress.
Take a Deep Breath and Manage Your Stress (22 min)
When you're constantly adding items to your never-ending to-do list, feeling overwhelmed at work and home, and finding your health and relationships negatively impacted, you are likely experiencing stress. Stress is produced by your own feelings and reactions to certain external events, rather than by the events themselves. But while you may not always be able to control the external events causing your stress, by applying mindfulness techniques, you can control your reactions to them. This course explains the physiological, behavioral, and psychological signs and symptoms of stress and where it can come from. It outlines strategies for maintaining work/life balance and managing stress. It also covers ways to change your responses to stress and make them more positive and how to use relaxation techniques and adopting mindfulness to help you focus.
TO LOGIN:
Using Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, Login to SkillPortusing your FULL UMBC email address for both the username and password boxes.
Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.
SkillSoft Spotlights focus on just-in-time online learning to help you more masterfully manage yourself personally and professionally, improve your effectiveness in managing your work, and support you in skillfully leading your teams. Each course is 30 minutes or less and is curated to provide tools, strategies, and practices to accelerate your success.
This week's spotlight course is Influencing Through Positive Leadership.
Influencing Through Positive Leadership (26 min)
An organization's social and political landscape can provide opportunities for positive leadership, influencing others in order to accomplish team and company goals. In this course, you will discover methods and strategies for effectively influencing a team to accept your ideas. You'll be introduced to the importance of political awareness and the essential skills involved in utilizing positive influence, while avoiding the negative, when persuading others. You'll also have an opportunity to practice methods for influencing effectively and ethically.
Participants will learn to:
TO LOGIN:
Using Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, Login to SkillPortusing your FULL UMBC email address for both the username and password boxes.
Once logged in, simply type the name of the course in the search bar.
Need Login Assistance? Email hrtraining@umbc.edu to set up your account and to help with login difficulties. UMBC faculty and staff accounts are set up within 1 month of hire.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit our UMBC SkillSoft page for information on UMBC’s curated role and topic-based certificate tracks as well as professional industry certifications that align with SkillSoft courses.
| Instructor Training: LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor |
| LockDown Browser is a custom browser that prevents digital cheating during an online exam. Respondus Monitor is a companion application for LockDown Browser that deters cheating when students take online exams in non-proctored environments. Students use their own computers with a standard webcam to record assessment sessions. |
This comprehensive training webinar is intended for instructors who plan to use LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor with online exams. The session provides a detailed demonstration of both applications, including enhancements that make Respondus Monitor even more effective and easy to use.