This week’s topic highlights the addition of blogs, wikis, and journals in the new Blackboard Learn. When used together, these tools allow students collaborate, share information with their classmates, and post private information seen only by the instructor. Learn more about each tool below and how you can integrate them into your course.

Blackboard Blogs

A blog is a collaborative collection of information, similar to an online discussion board. Collaboration occurs as entries from multiple people collect in one place, but each participant’s entry is only editable by that person.

• “What we did / will do in class” — created by the instructor, but students can comment. It saves instructor the time it takes to answer the question for multiple students, one by one, via Email.
• If a classroom activity isn’t tied to a particular assignment, this can be a simple way to have your students hand in their work for “Class Participation” points. Then they can easily look at each others’ work, too.
• Students could enter their “muddiest points” of what was covered in class. Then they and the instructor can see all the entries and know whether there is a trend or not.
• Have an online discussion about a topic. Students who don’t usually participate verbally in class have a safe place to express their views.
• When the blog is embedded in Blackboard, participants can find it easily and the grades are automatically entered into the Bb Grade Center. It is also shielded from the outside world, which can be considered both a plus and a minus.

Blackboard Wikis

A Wiki is a Web page(s) where people can work collaboratively. The most common example is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that allows anyone in the world to contribute content to it. What makes a wiki unique is that multiple participants can edit the same page, and everyone can view it. The instructor can access the Wiki content and collaborate, too.

• Allow groups to coordinate projects easily without the usual scheduling hassles of meeting in person.
• Let the whole class access create/complete a study guide for the next test.
• When the Wiki is embedded in Blackboard, participants can find it easily and the grades are automatically entered into the Bb Grade Center. It is also shielded from the outside world, which can be considered both a plus and a minus.

Blackboard Journals

A journal is an online diary which contains entries that normally only the individual student and the instructor can access. The privacy factor and the separate individual entries makes the journal different from a blog or a wiki. Journals are also indexed weekly or monthly.

Journals have two prime uses — as a personal writing space and as a private communication tool with the instructor. The most common use of a journal is as a private diary to share and store personal reflections. When the journal is embedded in Blackboard, participants can find it easily and the grades are automatically entered into the Bb Grade Center. It is also shielded from the outside world, which can be considered both a plus and a minus.

Follow

Share on Tumblr