BbFS 10 Lin Harper, Univ. of So. Miss.

Lin Harper is Proposal Development Specialist at the University of Southern Mississippi. She has been involved in distance learning and faculty development and support since 1994. In this discussion she talks about the need for quality support and service, building trust with faculty, using minigrants to introduce technology, and seeing technology as a tool.

Listen to BbFS10 (18 minutes)

BbFS 09 Jean Mankoff, Texas Woman's University

TWU has been using Blackboard since Course Info 1 in 1999 and Jean Mankoff, Director of Instructional Technology Programs, tells us some of their successes starting with their original adoption, to training then and now, to pedagogical uses that have changed student learning. Hear how they use a topic of the week to provide faculty training, Blackboard applications, and staff training on a single topic, such as Excel or PowerPoint, each week. Hear how they assessed their faculty technology experiences and then offered one-on-one training to help them feel more comfortable in their uses of technology. Hear about their use of discussion boards to enhance their clinical courses so that the students are better prepared before they start their rotations. Take advantage of TWU's many years of experience by listening to this 20 minute discussion.

Listen to BbFS09 (20 minutes)

BbFS 08 Marty DeWindt, Principia College

Marty DeWindt tells us about three major activities: using Blackboard to improve outside speakers, the power of one-on-one learning, and a student-faculty technology mentoring program. She was formerly the Academic Technology Director at Principia College and is currently teaching on-line courses for Western Governor's University. Listen to these successful techniques helping faculty use Blackboard to enhance learning.

Listen to BbFS08 (26 Minutes)

BbFS 07 Sanford Arbogast, Middlesex CC

This 20 minute interview with Sanford Arbogast focuses on the Virtual Education Research Group (VERG) at Middlesex Community College. VERG is a group of three faculty members who experiment with new learning technologies, and work with the Middlesex Interactive team to evaluate, understand, and spread successes. Sanford's team supports on-line learning. VERG leads the way in trying out technology solutions. This is a fascinating win-win success story that could be applied at any institution, and a wonderful example of creating a community or practice that crosses disciplinary lines.

Listen to BbFS 07 (20 minutes)

League for Innovation presentation description

BbFS 06 Larry Lambert, Southwest College

Larry Lambert has helped develop the Blackboard system at Southwest College from the first group of 15 faculty members, back in 2000, to almost the entire 15,000 FTE college, today. Larry's experience in faculty training and support served him well as he developed student and faculty support for Blackboard in multiple ways, including e-mail, on-line forms, telephone, and walk-in. They currently respond to around 600 requests per day during the first few weeks of the Fall semester. Training, likewise, is provided in multiple formats ranging from on-line, to one-on-one, to training sessions. Southwest uses Blackboard for both traditional face-to-face and fully on-line courses. They have taken Blackboard from something being tried by a few instructors to the foundation of much of their teaching system.

Listen to BbFS 06 (30 minutes)

BbFS 05 Dennis Hood, Princeton

Princeton University does some amazing things with their Blackboard course sites in order to get them ready for the students and teachers. For example, they import the course description and the instructor's office hours for the students and a photo roster for the instructor. Princeton populates their sites with information specific to the course so that the site is useful from the beginning. In this podcast, Dennis Hood, Manger of Learning Management Systems, tells us about this effort to support the faculty and the students, as well as other topics related to Blackboard and faculty support.

Listen to BbFS 05 (24 minutes long)

BbFS 04 Hart Wilson, Southern Oregon

"So, I'm a faculty member and you're telling me that you want me to start using Blackboard. What does that mean? What do you expect of me?" These were the questions that SOU's Blackboard Guru Team sought to answer when they set out to map the typical evolution of Blackboard skills and usage at Southern Oregon University. The resulting matrix spells out which functions are typically featured as sites evolve from serving as a simple resource to supporting a fully online course. Hart Wilson uses the chart during training of new users to help them identify which Bb features they need to learn first. Experienced instructors use it to gauge what areas to explore next. Hart Wilson is a member of the Blackboard Guru Team that developed this wonderful resource.

Please open/print the table, available in two formats below, so you will be able to refer to it during the interview.

Listen to BbFS 04 (21 minutes long)

Bb Course Evolution Table: (Adobe .pdf format) - (Microsoft Word .doc format)

BbFS 03 Leo Schouest, UC Riverside

This month we visit with Leo Schouest, Manager of Academic Computing, at the University of California, Riverside Campus. Leo makes himself available to faculty by knocking on their doors and asking about their teaching. For researchers, he tells them how they can save time by using Blackboard. At UC Riverside, use of Blackboard is voluntary, so their high percentage of adoption reflects well on Leo, his faculty members, and the Blackboard system.

Listen to BbFS 03 (47 minutes long)

BbFS 02 Kirsten Czupryna, Suffolk University

Kirsten Czupryna is the Instructional Technologist for the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University, in Boston, MA. In this interview she talks about Suffolk's goal for full adoption of Blackboard, including adoption by their extensive group of adjunct faculty. She views her primary roll as faculty advocacy, with three main components: direct training of and outreach to faculty, institutional advocacy, and technology management. Listen to her wonderful explanation of each of these components of her job. With only a year in her position, Kirsten has some valuable ideas about facutly support.

Listen to BbFS 02 (42 minutes long)

BbFS 01 John Fritz, UMBC

John Fritz is the Director of New Learning Media & Development at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He started in public relations where he was involved with the school's web site. From there he moved over to providing support for the Blackboard system. Hear how he uses his PR background to promote and support the Blackboard system with his faculty members.

Listen to BbFS 01 (30 minutes long)