Louisiana Tech University

University Senate Agenda  

Dec 10, 2007

4:00 p.m.

 

 

 

November 30, 2007

To: University Senate members

Submitted by: Debra Blackman

Subject:  Blackboard Issues Discussed at the November University Senate Meeting

 

At the November University Senate meeting several technical issues with Blackboard were discussed.  I took those issues to the Blackboard Advisory Committee and received the following responses (mostly from Danny Schales, but some others as noted below):

1.         VISTA incompatibility.  

           There appears to be an incompatibility between Blackboard and Vista.  The textboxes do not display.  Many students have newer 
           computers with Vista. Is there a fix for this problem?

            Response:

          We believe this is not really a VISTA incompatibility, but an incompatibility between Blackboard Basic V6 and Internet Explorer 7
          which comes with VISTA.  The version of Blackboard that we have (V6 Basic) is old and does not work with IE7.  Furthermore, since 
          it is an old version, Blackboard is not going to upgrade it to be compatible with IE7. 

            This problem will be resolved when we upgrade to Enterprise Blackboard V7 because Enterprise Blackboard V7 is
            compatible with Internet Explorer 7

         In the mean time, you may consider installing and using the Firefox browser on your VISTA systems.

2.         Office 2007

            Blackboard appears to zip any file that was created using Office 2007.  Again, many students have newer computers with Office
          2007.  Is there a fix for this?

            Response:

          Actually, this is not Blackboard.  Office 2007 files are saved as a collection of XML files by Office 2007.  The fix is to either get 2007
          (see next), get the 2007 viewing tool from Microsoft Downloads, or require students to save the files in XP/2003 mode.

            Maybe, the real issue here is when will the university upgrade to Office 2007?

            Response:

          We don't generally upgrade the University as a whole.
            Office 2007 can be installed upon request to your technical support person or by contacting the CC helpdesk at x2904.

            You may upgrade to Office 2007 and you will be able to open/use files that were created with prior versions of the
            Office Suite.  However, if you do upgrade and need to share a file with a colleague (or student) who still has the old
            versions, you must save the file in 2003 compatible format.

3.         Blackboard gradebook weakness.

          The gradebook part of Blackboard lacks needed functionality.  It does not allow formulas for weighting grades (only linear ratios)
          or grouping of grades (such as average all quizzes and count as a test grade), among others. These weaknesses prevent some
          faculty from using Blackboard from posting grades.  What mechanism do we have for reporting these shortcomings to Blackboard
          and getting a response from them?

            Response:

         We can send enhancement requests to Blackboard through our normal reporting channels.

         Danny Schales in the Computing Center and Deborah Simmons in the CITDL can enter "bug reports" to Blackboard.  Usually, this
         process is used to report errors, but they can also mark entries as "Enhancement Requests".

         We do expect some better features in Enterprise Blackboard V7, but do not know if the specific gradebook issues are included in
         Enterprise Bb V7,

4.        FERPA concerns. 

         a.       Is there a risk, if a student is viewing their grades in Blackboard in a lab environment and leave without logging out of
                   Blackboard, that others can see their grades?

                         Response from Bob Vento

                   Yes, but that particular situation is the student's responsibility.

                   Using the standard Gradebook facility in Blackboard to post grades IS FERPA-compliant because the student has to login
                   using a userid and password and the grade is posted to an individual student's domain.  It is the student's responsibility
                   to safeguard their information if they pull it up on a screen and then leave the screen just as it would be their
                   responsibility if they had pulled up their banking information and left it on the screen.

         b.      If we allow Blackboard to host for us, what guarantees do we have of the privacy of the grades posted on Bb?  Is there a
                  FERPA exposure?

                        Response:

                  Roy Waters said he will see to it that this is covered in the Blackboard contract.

5.          Setting a default course profile.

              Professors have preferences about what to include in their courses on Bb.  But, every quarter, they must go in a customize every
             course.  Is there a way to set up a default course and copy the settings into new courses?

             Response:

           You can copy just about every part of one course to another course.

          The only changes I make for the course I teach at Barksdale from quarter to quarter as I copy the course forward is to go in and
         "hide" materials until I want them accessed.

Contact CITDL at x 2912 if you need help learning how to do this.

Please spread the word that, if you have technical issues with Blackboard, call the Computing Center Help Desk as x 2904.  They will route the question to the correct person.