Upcoming Training

To see a description and to register, click one of the dates below.

Or register now for online, self-paced versions of these classes, available beginning Mon., Aug. 25:

Getting Started Online: Blackboard Vista

Grade Book Online: Blackboard Vista

This Month's Links

Blackboard Section Management Tools

MyPurdue Course Catalog

New Blackboard FAQs

New Blackboard Grade Book FAQs

VPN Client User Guide

Download the Cisco VPN Client

UT@p: IT training for students

Custom Training Available
for departments, undergraduate classes

The Instructional Development Center offers custom training for your department on a variety of instructional software and technologies. Contact tlt-consulting@purdue.edu to make your request.

Custom training sessions can also be provided to your classes by Undergraduate Training @ Purdue (UT@P), our talented staff of undergraduate technology trainers. Visit UT@P web site for more information and to request your session today.

Drop us a Line!

Do you have questions, comments, or ideas for what we can talk about in future IDC Tips & Techniques? We'd love to hear them!

Send your ideas to
tlt-consulting@purdue.edu.

Banner Integration with Blackboard

Integration of Banner, Purdue's new student information system, with Blackboard, Purdue's course management system, took place during July 2008. It has brought with it a host of changes for how instructors will manage their classes and grades online this Fall.

Note: if you are an instructor in Statewide Technology or Continuing Education, the procedures you follow may be different than those used by other instructors. Please see the information below for Statewide Technology and Continuing Education classes.

Changes in Section Creation and Population

Instructors no longer need to make a specific request that their Blackboard classes be created each semester. Instead, Banner automatically creates a Blackboard course in the Blackboard West Lafayette Academic Campus for each for-credit class listed through the Office of the Registrar. Banner-designated instructors for these classes are automatically populated into the Blackboard courses, based on the Instructor listed for each by department scheduling deputies.

In addition, instructors no longer need to request course population for their Blackboard courses. Instead, students who have enrolled in for-credit classes through Banner are automatically added to the class's corresponding Blackboard section on the West Lafayette Academic Campus. Students who 'drop' or who are dropped from classes through Banner are also automatically unenrolled from their Blackboard sections. ("Unenrollment" in Blackboard means that students' names and any grades associated with them will show up as red in the Blackboard grade book, rather than they and any associated grades being deleted.)

All students and auditors must be added through the Registrar and Banner; they can no longer be added through the Blackboard grade book or by Blackboard administrators.

Instructor and Student Access to Blackboard Courses

A couple of weeks before each semester begins, Banner will generate a new Blackboard section for each for-credit class for that "term" (semester). Banner-designated instructors will see their Blackboard sections as soon as they are generated, but by default students will not see the Blackboard courses they are enrolled in until the first day of the upcoming term (e.g., for this Fall, August 25). By default, students will stop seeing these courses in their Blackboard courses list a couple of weeks after the end of each term. For the Fall 2008 term, that date is December 31, 2008.

If they wish, individual instructors may change these default settings for their individual Blackboard sections.

Getting Started and Semester Transitions

The first time an instructor opens a Banner-generated Blackboard section, they are given four choices: most often, the instructor will choose to either create a new, empty course, or to copy content from another course. If they select to copy content from another course, instructors may then choose a formerly-taught course or a course in which they developed content to prepare for the current semester. Any instructor may request a "development course" on the West Lafayette Academic Campus for the purpose of creating content that will be copied into a Banner-generated class; please contact itap@purdue.edu to make your request.

Instructors who wish to populate multiple class rosters into one Blackboard course can still do that by using TLT's new Cross-Listing application. Banner-designated Instructors and Course Roster Viewers may set up these cross-listings.

Important: Instructors should request cross-listing for their multiple sections before they select to copy content into any of their individual sections, or before the develop any content in any of their individual sections. Content developed in a Blackboard course before cross-listing will not be available after the course is cross-listed.

Adding Additional Blackboard Roles: Designers, Instructors, Teaching Assistants

It will still be possible for those with the Blackboard Instructor role to add members as Designers through the Blackboard grade book. In addition, Banner-designated Instructors and Course Roster Viewers will be able to add additional Blackboard Instructors, Designers, and Teaching Assistants using the Add Instructor, TA, or Designer application. Instructors and TAs will be automatically checked for compliance with FERPA when they are added.

Sending Final Grades to the Registrar

Instead of filling out and submitting end-of-semester grade forms for their classes, Banner-designated instructors will be able to push final grades from the Blackboard grade book to Banner. Please note that having the role of Blackboard instructor is not sufficient to push grades to Banner; in order to push grades to Banner, Blackboard instructors must have been designated as Instructor of that course by their scheduling deputy in Banner.

Statewide Technology Classes

Any Statewide Technology (SWT) classes that have students enrolled through Indiana University should be taught on the Blackboard West Lafayette Open Campus.  IU students do not have Purdue Career Accounts, and so would not be able to access courses on the Blackboard West Lafayette Academic Campus. SWT instructors may re-use previous class content on the Open Campus or request a new Blackboard section in the Open Campus.

Statewide Technology classes that do not have IU students enrolled may be taught on the West Lafayette Academic Campus, using the class section automatically generated by Banner. 

Continuing Education Classes

Continuing Education classes will continue to be available in the Blackboard Vista Open Campus this term. It is expected that for-credit Continuing Education will also be moved to the West Lafayette Academic Campus in the future. In the meantime, Continuing Education instructors may re-use previous class content on the Open Campus or request a new Blackboard section in the Open Campus.

Working at Home? Use the Cisco VPN Client

Work from your home as if you are in your office by downloading and installing the CISCO VPN Client on your home PC. You can then use Microsoft Outlook as you do in your office, map and access your department's network drives, and quickly access Purdue library databases as if you are on campus. It is available at no cost to all Purdue faculty, staff, and students.

For more information and instructions to install, see the ITaP KB article, What is the Cisco VPN Client?