Dr. Rachel Thompson – Page 4 – Center for Instructional Technology

RESOLVED – Known Issue: Some Spring 2022 Blackboard Learn courses missing from user course list

May 2nd, 2022
in Known Issues

Update 5/3/2022 8:49 a.m.: This issue has been resolved.

About 30 fully online UA Online courses had end dates erroneously indicated as April 29, denying access to enrolled students and limiting visibility for instructors. The courses have now been made available. Anyone still unable to access Spring 2022 courses should email cit@ua.edu.

Some users have reported that certain Spring 2022 courses are no longer available in Blackboard Learn. Please report to cit@ua.edu any courses that should be available and no longer are listed or are denying access. CIT is investigating the issue. This announcement will be updated when more information is available.

Panopto Scheduled Maintenance and Mandatory Client Upgrade

April 29th, 2022
in Announcements

Update 6/22/2022 9:15 a.m.:

On Saturday, June 25th 2022, the Panopto Cloud will be updated with the latest features and improvements. These updates will require downtime. We expect up to 3 hours of downtime, with a target start time of 9:00pm EDT.

During the downtime, you will not be able to access videos on your Panopto site and any attempts to upload from recording clients will result in a “Server unable to connect” message.

From Panopto:

Panopto Cloud Downtime

On Saturday, June 25th 2022, Panopto will upgrade all Panopto Cloud sites to our latest release. This upgrade will require downtime. We will announce the exact time and expected duration of the downtime on Tuesday, June 7th, along with information on what’s new in the June update. Please see the cloud upgrade FAQ article for more information.

Mandatory Client Upgrade

On Thursday, July 21st, we will require Panopto for Windows & Remote Recorders to be upgraded to version 12.0.0 or above and Panopto for Mac to version 11.1.0 or above. The upgrade will be applied to your Panopto site at 8:00pm EDT/5pm PDT.

For any questions, please contact Panopto Support online by logging into support.panopto.com or by emailing support@panopto.com.

Real-time information about Panopto status, as well as updates about scheduled maintenance and past incidents, is available on the Panopto status page.

Blackboard Collaborate Scheduled Maintenance – May 12

April 29th, 2022
in Announcements

From Blackboard:

Apr 28, 17:08 EDT

Scheduled – Blackboard will be deploying our Collaborate v22.08 release to the US region (https://us.bbcollab.com), hosted in AWS (US – Virginia): us-east-1.

Start Time:

Thursday, May 12, 2022 2:00 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) UTC/GMT -4 hours

End Time:

Thursday, May 12, 2022 6:00 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) UTC/GMT -4 hours

Collaborate customers will experience intermittent availability during the maintenance window. For more information, please refer to: Collaborate Version 22.08 Release

Date Published: Apr 28, 2022

Real-time information about Blackboard status, as well as updates about scheduled maintenance and past incidents, is available on the Blackboard status page.

Blackboard cleanup May 17

April 29th, 2022
in Announcements

On May 17, 2022, CIT will disable access to selected courses in Blackboard Learn. Courses that begin with the following semester codes are subject to removal in accordance with UA’s LMS Course Retention Policy:

201740 – Fall 2017
201810 – Spring 2018
201830 – Summer 2018
201840 – Fall 2018
201910 – Spring 2019
201930 – Summer 2019

UA’s LMS Course Retention Policy states that courses are subject to removal from the system two years following the end of the semester in which they are taught. Students and instructors should save any materials they wish to keep.  More information on the policy and instructions for backing up Blackboard content are available in the LMS Course Retention Policy FAQ.

Known Issue: Learn SaaS 3900.37.0 Update Problems

April 21st, 2022
in Known Issues

Today’s (4/21/22) update to Blackboard Learn may have caused issues with certain features and integrations. If you experience unexpected outcomes or error messages in Blackboard, please report to cit@ua.edu. Include a screenshot and steps to replicate for the quickest resolution.

RESOLVED – Known Issue: Pearson links broken in Blackboard

April 21st, 2022
in Known Issues

Update 4/21/22 4:15: This issue has been resolved.

Pearson tools are currently unavailable through Blackboard Learn. Links to Pearson (MyLabs, etc) assignments redirect to Blackboard Learn institution page or are otherwise broken. We are working with our vender support teams to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

This article will be updated with any further information.

Blackboard Collaborate Scheduled Maintenance – April 19

April 1st, 2022
in Announcements

From Blackboard:

Mar 31, 16:09 EDT

Scheduled – Blackboard will be deploying our Collaborate v22.06 release to the US region (https://us.bbcollab.com), hosted in AWS (US – Virginia): us-east-1.

Start Time:

Tuesday, April 19, 2022 2:00 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) UTC/GMT -4 hours

End Time:

Tuesday, April 19, 2022 6:00 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) UTC/GMT -4 hours

Collaborate customers will experience intermittent availability during the maintenance window. For more information, please refer to: Collaborate Version 22.06 Release

Date Published: Mar 31, 2022

Real-time information about Blackboard status, as well as updates about scheduled maintenance and past incidents, is available on the Blackboard status page.

Blackboard Learn Service Outage

March 31st, 2022
in Announcements

On Wednesday, March 30 from approximately 6:00 to 6:30 PM Central, Blackboard Learn experienced a service outage. Service was restored around 6:30 PM. When the incident investigation is complete, we will share its results. Contact cit@ua.edu with questions or concerns.

Instructional Technology News – March 29, 2022

March 29th, 2022
in -Instructional Technology News

Hello instructors,

Melissa from The Center for Instructional Technology here with the latest instructional technology news.

Blackboard Ultra Course Pilot

UA instructors now have the opportunity to explore Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View. Ultra Course View offers a simple, modern, intuitive, and consistent interface across devices and a simpler, more streamlined experience for instructors and students. Learn more and apply to participate in the Ultra Course View pilot by requesting a practice course: Blackboard Learn Ultra Course Pilot

Blackboard Digital Teaching Symposium

Faculty, instructors, graduate teaching assistants, instructional designers and technologists, and others who hold instructional roles – you are invited to the Blackboard Teaching Symposium, a day of peer-led sessions on digital teaching strategies. The event takes place online on April 21, 2022, 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET (8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. CT). Event information and registration are on the Blackboard website: Digital Teaching Symposium

Turnitin changes May 11

A Turnitin change coming on May 11 will alter how instructors access the Turnitin tool; the tool will be located under a new menu, but its functionality will remain the same. CIT suggests instructors wait until after this transition to build summer and fall Turnitin assignments. More information about the upcoming update: Changes to Turnitin in 2022

Update Zoom for waiting and breakout room changes, new and enhanced features

The March 21 Zoom release brings many new and enhanced features, a complete list of which is available here:  Release notes for March 21, 2022 CIT staffer Karen Burns points out that several improvements to waiting and breakout rooms have been requested by UA instructors. Update your Zoom client to access them, and read about them here: Zoom: March 21 update brings waiting and breakout room changes, new and enhanced features

OIT Strategic Plan 2022-2025

OIT is seeking feedback for our next strategic plan. We want to know how we’ve performed the past three years, and what we can change in the next three years to better support you. Surveys are now open and available on the OIT website for UA students, faculty and staff to provide feedback. The feedback you provide in this survey directly determines the future of technology at UA. Surveys will close March 31.

OIT hosts Microsoft Meetups

OIT has planned a week of Microsoft Meetups to prepare and equip UA students to migrate content from Google to Microsoft. As a reminder, Crimson Google account service ends May 16, 2022. Sessions will showcase how to migrate content as well as tips and tricks for using the Microsoft 365 suite of tools. Faculty and staff are welcome to attend sessions to learn more about Microsoft 365.

Join OIT and UA’s Microsoft reps the week of April 11 – 13 to learn more, ask questions and get comfortable with using OneDrive and other Microsoft 365 apps. Learn more about Microsoft Meetups and see a full lineup of events on the OIT Events website.

Zoom: March 21 update brings waiting and breakout room changes, new and enhanced features

March 25th, 2022
in Announcements

The March 21 Zoom release brings many new and enhanced features, a complete list of which is available here: Release notes for March 21, 2022

CIT staffer Karen Burns points out that several improvements to waiting and breakout rooms have been requested by UA instructors. From Zoom:

Meeting features

Rename participants in Waiting Room – Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Hosts and co-hosts can rename meeting participants in the waiting room before they enter the meeting. After locating a participant’s name in the waiting room section of the participant list, an option appears in the … menu to rename that participant. The participant is notified of this change.

Save Breakout Room assignments for future use – Windows, macOS
When breakout rooms are created, the host can save that current configuration and participant assignments, which can be used in future sessions. This is only available for recurring meetings and limited to 10 saved configurations per user.

Share audio with content to all breakout rooms – Windows, macOS
Hosts are able to share computer audio, along with shared content, to all breakout rooms. This can be enabled when beginning the share, or while sharing is in progress. This also supports the Share Video option as well for Breakout Rooms.

Optional include co-host when automatically assigning breakout rooms – Windows, macOS, Linux
When creating breakout rooms and choosing to assign participants automatically, any co-hosts will now not automatically be included in the assignments, but the host can choose to include them.

Zoom provides video conferencing, simple online meetings, and group messaging. Real-time information about Zoom status, as well as updates about scheduled maintenance and past incidents, is available on the Zoom status page.

Author: Dr. Rachel Thompson