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[polly_mer]

I loved this tracking feature, as it was absolutely reliable.  (My wonderful system administrators do thorough testing every semester.)  Does Blackboard not have this feature?

Technically, Blackboard has a similar feature, but the use of such a feature in Bb9.1 is such a huge pain that I seldom use it.  What you have to do is set the "track statistics" feature for every item that you want to be able to later examine.  Then, you have to choose to run the statistics for that item, which may take a few minutes, and the results come back in a format that shows someone's love of random garbage "statistics".  However, part of the results are a list of student names with the dates on which they accessed that particular item.

I don't know that one can have a handy window with student names, columns of each item, and a date of last access the way a sane person would track activity.

Thanks, polly.  I've already set my upcoming course to "track statistics" for every element (not too painful if you set it up that way as you go), but you're right: Tracking who has accessed each feature is not nearly as useful as tracking everything (in one place) that a particular student has done.  WebCT did this very, very nicely!  I'd get a nice summary report, with each row representing a student and each column representing a course element.  Many of the cells contained links to more detailed statistics for the intersecting student and course element.  I'm really going to miss that, if Blackboard doesn't have it.  Rats.

On the plus side, Blackboard does have a "date of last course access" column in the grade book.  If someone hasn't logged in for a week, then the probability is pretty small that the person did the activities/saw the lecture/did the reading that were only posted this week.  People can get together in groups and watch a lecture or try an activity, but that's rare in my residential college, let alone a mostly online environment.

You could also set a dependent release, which again makes access of later things very unlikely if the student is still not credited with finishing the quiz or assignment earlier in the semester that makes later items available.

[infopri]

I loved this tracking feature, as it was absolutely reliable.  (My wonderful system administrators do thorough testing every semester.)  Does Blackboard not have this feature?

Technically, Blackboard has a similar feature, but the use of such a feature in Bb9.1 is such a huge pain that I seldom use it.  What you have to do is set the "track statistics" feature for every item that you want to be able to later examine.  Then, you have to choose to run the statistics for that item, which may take a few minutes, and the results come back in a format that shows someone's love of random garbage "statistics".  However, part of the results are a list of student names with the dates on which they accessed that particular item.

I don't know that one can have a handy window with student names, columns of each item, and a date of last access the way a sane person would track activity.

Thanks, polly.  I've already set my upcoming course to "track statistics" for every element (not too painful if you set it up that way as you go), but you're right: Tracking who has accessed each feature is not nearly as useful as tracking everything (in one place) that a particular student has done.  WebCT did this very, very nicely!  I'd get a nice summary report, with each row representing a student and each column representing a course element.  Many of the cells contained links to more detailed statistics for the intersecting student and course element.  I'm really going to miss that, if Blackboard doesn't have it.  Rats.

On the plus side, Blackboard does have a "date of last course access" column in the grade book.  If someone hasn't logged in for a week, then the probability is pretty small that the person did the activities/saw the lecture/did the reading that were only posted this week.  People can get together in groups and watch a lecture or try an activity, but that's rare in my residential college, let alone a mostly online environment.

Yeah, that's not as useful to me, though.  I've often had students who logged on and poked around, looking at the various learning-module entry screens--but never opening any of the actual learning components (lecture, readings, links to external websites, discussion threads, etc.).  I see your point, but I need a much more detailed view, since just logging into the class isn't usually the issue--it's what they do (or don't do) once they're in.

It's not only for "gotcha" purposes, though.  More than once (although not frequently), I've had a students swear that s/he submitted an assignment that the system says isn't there.  (Submitting an assignment is a three-step process on WebCT: upload the document from your computer to WebCT, attach it to the the assignment-submittal page, and then click "submit.")  When I used WebCT's tracking feature, I was able to confirm that the student had, in fact, uploaded the assignment before the deadline, but probably forgot to hit the "submit" button on the assignment-submittal page.  In such cases, I would accept the assignment late on this one occasion (with stern warnings about the future), as long as the file's "date modified" stamp was before the deadline.  (Yes, I know this can be fooled with, but I'm usually willing to trust it for reasons not relevant here.)

You could also set a dependent release, which again makes access of later things very unlikely if the student is still not credited with finishing the quiz or assignment earlier in the semester that makes later items available.

Now this might be worth exploring.  WebCT's dependent release depended only upon the date/time.  Are you saying I can make the release of Item B depend upon the student's having already accessed Item A?  It doesn't take the place of tracking, at all--but it still would be an interesting feature, if I'm understanding correctly!

[polly_mer]

You could also set a dependent release, which again makes access of later things very unlikely if the student is still not credited with finishing the quiz or assignment earlier in the semester that makes later items available.

Now this might be worth exploring.  WebCT's dependent release depended only upon the date/time.  Are you saying I can make the release of Item B depend upon the student's having already accessed Item A?  It doesn't take the place of tracking, at all--but it still would be an interesting feature, if I'm understanding correctly!

That is exactly what I'm saying.  No, it doesn't take the place of tracking, but it can be useful for scaffolded items.  The student cannot see Item B until the criteria are met for the successful completion of Item A.  Criteria can include things like successful uploading of an assignment, taking a quiz, a grade of a given value on an automated quiz, or instructor toggling the ok button after grading something.  

When I took an online course in how to teach online courses, the requirement to submit a minor assignment to be able to access the next part of the learning module wasn't at all onerous.  However, I can see it being effective in making students do the reading or watching the lecture, answer a handful of straightforward "did you mindfully read it?" multiple choice/short answer/true-false questions, and only then be allowed to access the next reading/lecture.  People who haven't finished the Nth assignment can only have accessed the N+3th reading under that system if they have a friend who is at that level and that friend for some reason lets them do the reading at the same time.

The specific Blackboard terms are adaptive release and advanced adaptive release, which are both available from the pull-down menu (the one that contains edit item) on each item.

[infopri]

The specific Blackboard terms are adaptive release and advanced adaptive release, which are both available from the pull-down menu (the one that contains edit item) on each item.

Thanks, polly!  I've seen the adaptive and advanced adaptive release features, but didn't really look at them because I assumed that they were simply date-dependent (and for now I've been focusing on just learning the basic how-to stuff on the system, as it's new.)  But I will go look at them this weekend!

[polly_mer]

The specific Blackboard terms are adaptive release and advanced adaptive release, which are both available from the pull-down menu (the one that contains edit item) on each item.

Thanks, polly!  I've seen the adaptive and advanced adaptive release features, but didn't really look at them because I assumed that they were simply date-dependent (and for now I've been focusing on just learning the basic how-to stuff on the system, as it's new.)  But I will go look at them this weekend!

Unfortunately, I don't use those features so I can't help with details, although I'm sure that someone around here could if you need that kind of help.  However, I did go to the training this summer as we transitioned over to the new system and I took notes as my colleagues asked detailed questions about how to do what they used to do with adaptive release in the new system.  While I don't see those features being useful to the classes I currently teach, I have ideas about how they could be useful next time I teach blended, hybrid, or online classes.

[antiphon1]

reneer06, the technicalities don't matter.  She didn't get the test taken before the deadline.  Trying to take an online test or complete an assignment on the final day is asking for a technical difficulty whether real or manufactured.  Give her a zero and move on.  

[infopri]

The specific Blackboard terms are adaptive release and advanced adaptive release, which are both available from the pull-down menu (the one that contains edit item) on each item.

Thanks, polly!  I've seen the adaptive and advanced adaptive release features, but didn't really look at them because I assumed that they were simply date-dependent (and for now I've been focusing on just learning the basic how-to stuff on the system, as it's new.)  But I will go look at them this weekend!

Unfortunately, I don't use those features so I can't help with details, although I'm sure that someone around here could if you need that kind of help.  However, I did go to the training this summer as we transitioned over to the new system and I took notes as my colleagues asked detailed questions about how to do what they used to do with adaptive release in the new system.  While I don't see those features being useful to the classes I currently teach, I have ideas about how they could be useful next time I teach blended, hybrid, or online classes.

Oh, I can figure it out, now that I know it has the capability.  As I said, I just noted that there was something called "adaptive release" and moved on, as I wasn't ready yet to explore a time-release feature (which is what I thought it was).  I'm pretty savvy about figuring out software, and if I get stumped, we have excellent IT support that I can call upon.  But you gave me the key, which was the knowledge that this application of the feature exists.  Thanks!

As for tracking, I've already called our IT people with the question/hope/complaint/whatever, and I'm waiting for them to get back to me on Monday.

I've also put in an inquiry about Blackboard changing test answers, to see whether we've had that problem here, too.  I haven't given an exam in years, and never online, but I was planning to do so (with a heavy weight in the final course grade) this spring, so I want to make sure there are no technical glitches before I commit to that plan.

[polly_mer]

As for tracking, I've already called our IT people with the question/hope/complaint/whatever, and I'm waiting for them to get back to me on Monday.

Report back what you find.  If such a feature exists, then I would love to use it over the very unhandy statistical reports for each item. 

[caesura]

Next term, add to your Bb problems policy:

Keep copies of all emails sent and received about a problem until the problem is resolved(or until the end of the course, if you think that might be necessary). 

[bamabound]

I teach only on-line and since the very first class, my syllabus has stated:
1) Technical difficulties are not an excuse for late work
2) Don't wait until the day (or hour!) that an assignment is due because if you have technical difficulties, you will be out of luck (for example,  if your whole town is out of power because of earthquake/tornado/hurricane/flood/blizzard...happened to me in 2008)
3) Identify two or more back-up computers
4) I drop the two lowest quiz scores for each student to account for the vagaries of life (e.g. technical difficulties, illness, sick child, having to work overtime unexpectedly)
5) I don't make exceptions to this and don't allow make-up quizzes

For papers and projects, I accept them late with a stated percentage penalty. 

These policies ensure that I never have to argue with a student about a missed on-line assignment and don't have to determine if someone's parent/child really was sick or if their excuse is real or not. 

This saves my sanity and preserves my energies for teaching.