Instructional Technology & Center for Accessibility Training

Blackboard Ally is integrated in Blackboard Learn and assists faculty with making digital course resources more accessible. Blackboard Ally helps you approach accessibility in a way that is beneficial to all students. In this session we take an in-depth look at Ally’s 3-step model for improving accessibility. We will uncover Ally’s many capabilities such as its ability to automatically provide alternative formats for digital course content. We will explore what Ally is, how it works, how it scores digital course content within Blackboard and its positive impact on students.

Blackboard Ally Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Tuesday, March 8	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, April 29	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)

Many instructors who teach face-to-face, remote and hybrid courses use attendance data as part of their students' overall grades. In this session we will look at the new Blackboard Attendance tool. You will learn how instructors can use the new Blackboard Attendance tool for each class meeting to mark whether a student is present, late, absent, or excused. You will learn how instructors can use attendance as part of grade calculations just as you can for an assignment grade column. You will see how profile pictures are available on the Attendance page so you can easily identify students. You will learn that when using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, attendance data can be sent directly to the Attendance tool in the course. Lastly, you will learn how Attendance data can easily be exported at the end of the semester as a CSV file for record keeping.

Blackboard Attendance Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Friday, January 28	4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.	CANCELED
Tuesday, March 22	12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Tuesday, April 26	12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)

Blackboard Collaborate is an interactive and collaborative web conferencing tool built inside of Blackboard. In this session, you will learn how to add the Collaborate tool in your course as well as how to create a Collaborate conferencing session. You will explore the basic design interface of a Collaborate session as well as do a deep dive into the session settings. You will learn how to share content, interact with students using the chat channels and utilize the whiteboard feature to maximize engagement with your students. Finally, you will learn how to record your Collaborate sessions as well as access those recordings and attendance reports.

Blackboard Collaborate for Beginners Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Tuesday, February 1	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, April 1	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)

During this session we will take an in-depth look at the Blackboard Grade Center. You will learn how to create columns and categories, enter grades, monitor student progress, and how to communicate information to students using the Blackboard Grade Center. Finally, you will learn how to create reports and export your grades from the Blackboard Grade Center to an Excel spreadsheet.

Blackboard Grade Center Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Tuesday, January 25	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, February 25	2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, March 25	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Tuesday, May 3	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)

Rubrics make the process of assessing students’ work consistent, effective, objective and efficient. In this session you will learn how to create, edit, copy, associate and manage rubrics in Blackboard. We will examine setting up rubrics for discussions and assignments, as well as associating a rubric with a Blackboard Grade Center column that could be used for projects and assignments delivered in class. Finally, we will examine reusing and sharing rubrics in other Blackboard courses by using the exporting and importing option.

Creating and Using Rubrics in Blackboard Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Tuesday, February 22	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, April 22	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)

Planning is everything. Learn how to “plan” and “design” your course on Blackboard. Using the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Rubric, faculty are able to plan and design a Blackboard course that conforms to the best practices for course design. 

In this session, you will explore the first of the four individual standard categories specifically addressed on the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Rubric, Course Design. Course Design, addresses the elements of instructional design, which include the structure of the course, learning objectives, content organization, learner engagement, and technology use. Sample courses will be shown to illustrate the various design topics on the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Rubric. The Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Rubric will be provided as a handout as well as a course design checklist and best practices for students.

This webinar is for Blackboard beginners or any faculty who want to improve their current Blackboard course by examining the important concepts of design.

Designing an Exemplary Course on Blackboard Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Tuesday, March 1	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Tuesday, April 19	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)

All Atlantic Cape faculty are required to attend our Getting Started with Blackboard Learn training session prior to using Blackboard at Atlantic Cape. In this session you will learn how to request Blackboard course shells each semester and how faculty and students access Blackboard. You will learn how to navigate the My Blackboard page, navigate the Blackboard course menu, and utilize edit mode and student view within your course. You will learn how to add content to your course and the importance of making sure that your content is accessible to all students. You will also learn the difference between the Course Messages and Send Email tools, learn how to use Discussions, learn how to send Announcements, view the Grade Center, and more.

Getting Started with Blackboard Learn Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Friday, January 21	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, February 4	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, March 4	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, April 8	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, May 6	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)

Simulating the in-class teaching experience in your remote or online course can be challenging. Fortunately, Blackboard Collaborate has a variety of built-in features that promote student engagement and can help smoothly translate your course online. In this session, you will learn how to utilize the Breakout Groups feature to engage students in live and collaborative group work. We will examine how to use the content editing tools and the Whiteboard feature to encourage active participation from your students. We will take an in-depth look at how the polling feature can be used to monitor real-time feedback or serve as a knowledge check. Finally, you will learn how to incorporate web-based media into your Collaborate sessions as a method of livening up your teaching routine.

Maximizing Student Engagement in Blackboard Collaborate Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Friday, February 18	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Friday, March 11	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)

Are your students submitting their assignments through Blackboard Messages, email or paper? Are you downloading endless attachments to grade, and then inputting the grades in your Blackboard gradebook? Learn how utilizing the Blackboard Assignment tool can streamline this process for you and save you time. Students can view and submit their assignments all within Blackboard and all of your grading will take place directly through the Blackboard Grade Center. You will learn how to create, edit, and grade assignments in Blackboard. Utilizing Turnitin Assignments in Blackboard will also be demonstrated.

Time to Assign Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Friday, February 11	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Tuesday, March 29	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)

Increase, engage, and track your students' class participation by using the Discussion Board in Blackboard Learn. In this session, you will learn how to create a link to the Discussion Board, set up graded forums, post and reply to threads as a student, grade posts and provide feedback, close forums, and lock threads.

Using Graded Discussions in Blackboard Learn Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Tuesday, February 15	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Tuesday, April 5	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)

Zoom is an audio and video conferencing platform that is utilized for remote education. In this session, you will learn how to schedule a class meeting through Zoom as well as how and where to post your meeting information inside Blackboard. We will take an in-depth look at the Zoom interface and the various interactive teaching tools. Finally, you will learn how to view and download participation reports from your Zoom meetings.

Zooming Through Remote Teaching Session Dates

Date	Time	Location
Tuesday, February 8	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)
Tuesday, April 12	12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Webinar (online)

Open to all faculty and staff, this session provides information on how accommodations are facilitated at Atlantic Cape. We will explore what accommodations mean, how one obtains accommodations and the responsibilities of the student, the faculty, and the staff within the process.

Accommodations at Atlantic Cape Session Dates

Day	Date	Time
Friday	25 February	10:00 a.m.
Friday	25 March	12:00 p.m.
Friday	22 April	10:00 a.m.

Learn how to make documents that are accessible to all students to ensure equal access to the learning experience and success. In this session, you will learn the meaning of accessibility and best practices for creating accessible documents.

Creating Accessible Documents Session Dates

Day	Date	Time
Wednesday	16 February	12:30 p.m.
Monday	28 February	5:00 p.m.
Friday	11 March	12:30 p.m.
Tuesday	22 March	6:00 p.m.
Wednesday	6 April	12:30 p.m.
Thursday	21 April	7:00 p.m.