FAQ's - Review a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the move to Bb 6.3 here
Upcoming Showcase - Want to see the new Bb 6.3 features demonstrated? Come to the "Bb 6.3 Showcase" the first and second week of November 2006. Click here for a schedule of events!
Overview - Blackboard 6.3 offers new and exciting options not found in older versions. Click here for a quick overview.
Fast-Track Instructions - These are designed to provide fast and easy instructions for specific functions in Bb 6.3. Click on the title of each to access.
Tutorials - Click on the title to view a brief tutorial.
Outcomes based tracking is an important feature to most Blackboard clients. Today, Instructors can track item hits on a user-by-user basis, but Students have no automated way of explicitly notifying Instructors when they review an item.
If Review is enabled for a content item, students see a Mark Reviewed icon from the course view. When users have completed their review of the item, they click the Mark Reviewed button. The item then displays a Reviewed icon. The Instructor can view progress from the Performance Dashboard or the User Progress page in the Control Panel
The Performance Dashboard is a course tool that allows Instructors to see key information and outcomes for all course users. It displays the last time users logged in, their course role, Adaptive Release criteria, Review Status for content items, and grades.
When creating Assessments in the Blackboard Learning System, Instructors may choose from ten additional question types, including: Calculated Questions, Numeric Response Questions, File Response Questions, Hot Spot Questions, Multiple Fill-in-the-Blank Questions, Jumbled Sentence Questions, Opinion Scale Questions, Short Response Questions, Either / Or Questions, and Quiz Bowl Questions.
Two views of the Course Menu are now available to users; the Quick View (the original menu design) and the Detail View. The Detail View lets users expand and collapse the Course Menu, and displays a clickable link to each item in the course. If allowed by the Instructor, users may toggle between these two views. In addition, commonly used tools are separated from the Course Menu to make them easier to find and use.
The Course Map has been completely redesigned for Application Pack 3. It displays new icons based on the item or tool, and shows only the content available to the current user.
Review status of another item in the course.
This feature may be used by all Instructors and course developers. Some Instructors and course developers may choose to take advantage of advanced rule functionality to create sophisticated combinations of release rules on items. Others may utilize the basic rule functionality to release content to specific users or groups and/or to allow users to view content based on their performance on an assignment.
The following options are available:
Adaptive Release – Create basic rules for an item. Only one rule per item may be created.
Adaptive Release: Advanced – Create advanced rules for an item. Multiple rules may be created.
User Progress – View the details on an item for all users in a course. This page includes information on whether the item is visible to the user and whether the user has marked the item as reviewed.
Current Gradebook calculations for Total and Weighted Total include items that have not been taken or graded. A new option to exclude untaken or ungraded items when calculating the Total and Weighted Total is now available. The Running Total and Running Weighted Total columns display Student performance only on completed items.
If you have any questions, please contact Jerry Voltura: afjav@uaa.alaska.edu or call (907) 786-4678 or (907) 632-0883.
The full release notes for Blackboard 6.3 are available
here.
