This week’s tip is inspired by Professor Zhongzhou Chen’s recent talk, Leveraging Machine Intelligence for More Human Touch in Teaching and Learning, hosted by the UB Office of Curriculum, Assessment, and Teaching Transformation. Professor Chen’s research shows that when used thoughtfully, AI can help faculty spend less time grading and…
What It Is Respondus LockDown Browser is a secure web browser that prevents students from printing, copying, visiting other websites, or opening other applications during an online exam in Blackboard. When a test requires LockDown Browser, students must open the exam inside that special browser rather than through a regular…
Why Build Tests and Grades in Blackboard? As educators, we have the opportunity to lead by example and show students what learning looks like in a modern, connected world. Blackboard Ultra gives us the tools to teach smarter, not harder, by automating grading, organizing assessments, and making course expectations clear….
Starting Strong:The first weeks of the semester set the tone for the rest of the course. This is an ideal time to pause and make sure your course learning objectives (CLOs), materials, and assessments are all pulling in the same direction. Strong alignment not only supports student success but also…
Even if you’re teaching face-to-face or hybrid this semester, Blackboard can save you time and make the learning experience more consistent for your students. Instead of drafting quizzes or exams in Word, printing them out, and grading by hand, consider building them directly in Blackboard. Most question types can be…
Where are they? There are so many things you can do on Blackboard, it can be overwhelming. Thankfully, there are video tutorials to walk you through everything you need to know to build and run your courses, step by step. This tip will point you to two playlists of tutorials….
What is it and why should faculty use it? Some students do not know how to participate, others are afraid to communicate, and a handful of students don’t think they have to in order to succeed. When students have clear guidelines coupled with incentives, they will rise to the occasion…
Do you have a test, quiz, midterm, or final saved as a Word document? Good news! You don’t have to build it question by question in Blackboard. There’s a tool that lets you convert your document into an assessment file you can upload directly to your course. Here’s how: Some…
Is the overall grade setup for your course in Ultra complete and correct? A properly configured Gradebook ensures your students see an accurate course grade and minimizes confusion or grade disputes. Why Set Up the Overall Grade? The Overall Grade column in Ultra calculates a running tally of a student’s…
Faculty at Daemen have created rich, engaging courses. Now it’s time to make sure every student can access and benefit from them. The Accessible Course Design Checklist, aligned with Quality Matters (QM) General Standard 8, gives you a clear path to review and revise your course with accessibility in mind….