As the campus continues to move forward using Brightspace for the fall semester, the Digital Learning Environment (DLE) transition team would like to provide some updates in regards to where we currently stand with the migration and what lies ahead.
Of special note: Blackboard will be officially decommissioned on Dec. 9. Campus members will not be able to login to Blackboard after this date. Faculty should prepare for this by:
- exporting any courses in Blackboard they would like to keep that won’t be migrated to Brightspace (written exporting instructions, video exporting instructions).
- downloading individual course evaluation results for surveys conducted in Blackboard.
Note that SUNY Oswego will be archiving all Blackboard courses, including student content, to accommodate academic retention policy.
Currently with Brightspace…
Brightspace third-party tool integrations
The DLE Transition team continues to work with SUNY and vendors to complete remaining third-party tool integrations. These include: Starfish, Google Workspace, LinkedIn Learning and AEFIS. The team in combination with SUNY technical staff are working to complete these as soon as possible.
Student evaluations
Many departments have used Blackboard enterprise surveys to conduct their student evaluations of teaching (SET). To prepare for the decommission of Blackboard, a pilot using AEFIS for SETs was conducted in both the spring and summer 2022 semesters. A number of items were improved to prepare for its use this semester and beyond.
At this point, all Blackboard enterprise surveys have been migrated to AEFIS. Department chairs and administrative assistants have been asked to review them and attend any necessary training. Departments that did not use Blackboard enterprise surveys but wish to use AEFIS may also opt-in. More information is available on the SET project website.
Navigation and widget feedback
The navigations and widgets that appear on the page after logging into Brightspace and on course pages were created by carefully reviewing research and evaluating it against Oswego campus culture. As faculty and students use these pages, the DLE transition team would like feedback on making improvements. To this end, the team is forming a focus group composed of faculty, staff, and students. Anyone interested in joining can submit the focus group participation form by Nov. 11.
Brightspace Tip: Using the Course Reports tool
Faculty may be interested in Course Reports, which is available on the Course Tools menu. The report tracks overall and individual student engagement with course content and is broken down by module. The Content tab displays the number of students each content item is available to, how many students view it, and the average time spent. The Users tab allows you to drill down into an individual student’s activity.
Continued assistance for faculty
Zoom office hours for faculty continue to be offered through the fall semester. The schedule is posted on the Brightspace Help & Support page. Faculty who need assistance outside these hours or who would like assistance with course design should contact the CTS Help Desk.
The DLE Support Team has created the Brightspace Help at SUNY Oswego document for faculty to easily find instructions on various topics including assessments and the gradebook. Please note that this document continues to be updated as the campus works through the migration.
Looking Ahead…
Blackboard decommission: Dec. 9
Blackboard logins became unavailable to students on Aug. 18. Blackboard logins will become unavailable to remaining campus members on Dec. 9. The SUNY contract will be expiring near that time.
To prepare, faculty should do the following prior to Dec. 9:
- export any courses in Blackboard they would like to keep that won’t be migrated to Brightspace (written exporting instructions, video exporting instructions).
- download individual course evaluation results for surveys conducted in Blackboard.
Note that SUNY Oswego will archivw all Blackboard courses, including student content, to accommodate academic retention policy.
Winter session course migrations
Faculty teaching winter session courses have been notified that last year’s winter session courses were migrated to Brightspace. They can be found in the “Conversions Semester” of the “My Courses” widget. This is a staging area where faculty can make sure migrated content looks and acts as expected.
When ready, the course can be copied to “Winter Semester” and activated for student access. Note: “Winter Semester” is not available in Brightspace yet, but will be in the next couple of weeks.
-- Submitted by the Digital Learning Environment transition team