Dialogue, Discussion, and Donuts with DLIT - Recap

On Wednesday, October 10 from 8:30 to 10 AM, DLIT hosted a “Donuts and Distance Learning & Bagels and Blackboard” event on the Snedan Campus.  This informal gathering of faculty and staff has become a popular time to discuss and share best practices as well as to network with peers from across the campus!

Each month this event is held with a unique theme.  This month’s theme was a “Listening Session” where faculty can share and discuss what is working well and what can be improved with Blackboard, instructional technologies, and online learning.  Full time, adjunct faculty, and staff attended this event from departments that included Mathematics, Economics, Criminal Justice, and Language Arts as well as attendees from the DLIT and IT departments.

Topics discussed at this event centered around:

* Ideas for improving faculty support and communication around new features and “how to” information for faculty.  Suggestions included a “friday tips” email, and enhanced organization of current tip sheets that are available.
* Areas of suggested improvement included problems with some classroom computers displaying missing plugin information in Firefox, timely browser updates, and problems in displaying item tracking reports in Blackboard.  These concerns were received and are being tracked for resolution.
* New features in Blackboard that faculty are finding benefit include the course themes, fast course switching, and a new signup tool that will be available soon was shared.
* Interest in expanding awareness around open education resources, YouTube EDU, Kahn Academy, and Camtasia Relay.
* Strategies for working with Blackboard assessments were also shared during this event such as using a password on quizzes to allow for students that need extra time or an extra day to complete the assessment after the deadline.

Join DLIT for next month’s donut event where the focus will be on creating exemplary courses in Blackboard!  See: http://www.grcc.edu/donuts for details.

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