Current System:

• Current Production Version: 7.1.467.28
• Current Pilot Version: 8.0.307.9

Recent Upgrade News:

• August 22, 2008 - NOTICE: DOWNTIME is scheduled for the production Bb7 server at 3PM. This downtime is required to complete the upgrade from Bb7 to Bb8. The production Blackboard environment will be unavailable from 3PM on 8/22 until approximately 8AM on 8/23.
• August 1, 2008 - Service Pack 3 was installed on the Bb8 Pilot Server.
• May 13, 2008 - A Bb 8 Pilot Video was prepared, highlighting current status, instructor feedback, and issues under evaluation.
• May 5, 2008 - New Tutorials, Quick Start Guides and Video Overviews posted to the LearnBb site.
• April 30, 2008 - Blackboard 8 Pilot web page and a Bb organization site created for the faculty in the Pilot. Key stakeholders serving students directly were notified of the pilot via email.
• April 25, 2008 - Summer '08 pilot faculty members confirmed:
  

  Professor	Courses	Professor	Courses
  Garret Brand	BA201.1192.S08	Ann Alexander	BA106.2252.S08
  	BA207.1194.S08	Kristin Roberts	CO127.2604.S08
  	BA208.1988.S08		CO148.2893.S08
  Cathy Wilson	BA284.2566.S08		CO101.2026.S08
  Tim Hoving	BI101.1546.S08		CO140.2028.S08
  	BI101.1550.S08		CO145.2030.S08
  	BI101.2398.S08	Amy Koning	BA145.1820.S08
  	BI101.2400.S08		BA245.2747.S08
  Luann Keizer	CO105.1942.S08	Steve Abid	EC251.2042.S08
  	CO146.2590.S08		EC252.2054.S08
  Kenneth Smith	CO101.2592.S08		EC252.2426.S08
  	CO124.2564.S08	Moss Ingram	STEC110.8250.C08
  Gary Ebels	CJ110.1300.S08		STEC110.8251.C08
  	CJ110.2500.S08	Kevin Dunn	CA102.1712.S08
  Darcy Swope	TBA

• April 11, 2008 - Pilot server created: http://bb8pilot.grcc.edu
• April 11, 2008 - Test server created: http://ilearndevapp11.grcc.edu
• April 9, 2008 - Potential pilot faculty members identified: Kate Byerwalter, Tamara Szost, Cathy Wilson, Britt Price, Tim Hoving, Aleta Anderson, Luann Keizer, Carmela Zapata, Ken Smith, Dan Anderson, Kevin Dunn, Joe Hess, Garret Brand, Amy Koning, Moss Ingram, Gary Ebels, Ann Alexander, and Laurie Foster - Staff Members Identified: Eric Mullen, Peggy Hallacy
• April 2, 2008 - 34 Faculty Members Identified for Testing (DLIT Group) Confirmed.
• March 31, 2008 - Service Pack 1 was installed on the test server. The system was updated from 8.0.184.3 to 8.0.209.9.
• March 24, 2008 - An email notification was sent to all faculty by Provost Gilda Gely.
• March 13, 2008 - Deans Meeting for Bb 8 Discussions, Communication, and Awareness. This meeting was captured with Techsmith Camtasia Relay which we are pilot testing here at GRCC. Here is the screencast:
  
  
  
  
• February 13, 2008 - The Bb 8 release has been installed on a Test Server (http://ilearntst.grcc.edu).
• December 20, 2007 - Beta testing Bb 8 on a Hosted Server was Completed - GRCC was selected as a member of the Blackboard 8 BETA program (September to December 2007). The following faculty/staff were included in the Bb 8 Beta: Steve Wiersma, Edward Blackman, Aimee Kunnen, Ann Alexander, Bernard Manker, Britt Price, Carol VanRandwyk, Derek Devries, Garret Brand, Gary Ebels, Jeffrey Neumann, Julie Hess, Kate Byerwalter, Kristin Roberts, Laurie Foster, Martin Smith, William Faber, and Eric Kunnen.

Upgrade Timeline:

Upgrade History:

GRCC first installed Blackboard CourseInfo 4 back in 1999. We then upgraded to Blackboard 5 Level 1 in April 2001. As our usage grew over the 2001 to 2003 time period, we realized that we needed an enterprise installation. In January 2003, we installed the Blackboard 6 Learning System and Community Portal System. Moving forward, we upgraded to Blackboard 6.2 in the Fall of 2004, and Blackboard 7.1 in August of 2006.

The next tentative date for our upgrade of the Blackboard system is Fall 2008, that is, if the evaluation, testing, and acceptance tests are satisfactory. The Bb 8 upgrade is important in order to take advantage of the many resolved issues and new feature sets described in more detail below. Continuous quality improvement requires ongoing and frequent software upgrades, patches, hardware improvements, and overall monitoring of the system.

• August 1999: Blackboard CourseInfo 4
• April 2001: Blackboard 5 Level I
• January 2003: Blackboard 6 Learning System and Community System
• August 2004: Blackboard 6.2 Learning System and Community System
• August 2006: Blackboard 7.1 Learning System and Community System
• August 2007: Blackboard 7.1SP1 Learning System and Community System
• August 2008: Blackboard 8 (tentative) Learning System and Community System

Why Upgrade?

Simply put, upgrades are part of every software program, and are intended to provide new functionality based on instructor and student feedback. Also of significant importance is that upgrades offer solutions to current issues and problems with the software. The question is not "should we upgrade", but more accurately, "when is our next upgrade".

The Blackboard environment is an enterprise system with high priority here at GRCC. There are many important factors and reasons that upgrading is important. Upgrades provide the opportunity to enhance, improve, address issues, and solve problems that currently exist with one of the key teaching and learning systems we have on campus. A few key reasons to upgrade to Bb 8 are as follows:

1. There are over 150 bug fixes in Blackboard 8. Many of these bugs have been reported by faculty and create unnecessary end user frustration when there is a solution available. Specifically, one important bug fix is related to potential gradebook data loss when copying discussion boards across courses.
2. Since our last significant upgrade was more than 2 years ago, GRCC is now 3 releases and several service packs behind, which prevents us from acquiring bug fixes and enhanced features. This also restricts and impairs Blackboard's Support team in their ability to assist us in troubleshooting our cases.
3. Our Oracle database version is 10.1. This old version has known issues and has created database errors that faculty have reported and have been inconvenienced by. The latest and recommended version of Oracle is 10.2.
4. A brand new feature allows for faculty to create a set of Early Warning System detection rules to better manage and monitor student performance. This includes the ability to send blind copy emails to advisors, tutors, or other academic support personnel.
5. A brand new gradebook called the Grade Center allows for: more efficient and effective gradebook entry, the ability to drop the lowest score (which has been requested since 1999), and the capability for faculty to "freeze" the name columns for easier gradebook management for courses with a large number of assignments and assessments.
6. A brand new Self and Peer Assessment tool is available in Bb 8. This new tool provides enhanced teaching capabilities for faculty.
7. Enhanced discussion board workflow provides a better user interface for faculty and students. In Bb 8, users can view the entire threads on one page and also to subscribe to a forum which will send an email when a new post is created.
8. Java 1.6 is supported in the Bb 8 which powers the Collaboration tools. Java 1.6 comes with new computers and is currently not compatible with our current version of Blackboard that is in production.

What is Blackboard 8?

Blackboard 8 is the latest release of the Academic Suite. This release:

1. Builds on the student engagement tools in earlier releases,
2. Improves the performance of the software,
3. Enhances the discussion board and gradebook to make it easier to use,
4. and brings new features such as self assessment and peer review features to build student engagement.

Faculty members will be able to more effectively manage grades using the brand new Blackboard Grade Center, which is a completely redesigned gradebook. Integrated plagiarism deterrence software (Blackboard SafeAssign) and social bookmarking tools (Blackboard Scholar) are also included.

In addition to more than 150 bug fixes and adding major new functionality, numerous enhancements were implemented based on client feedback. The following list describes a few of the KEY teaching and learning advancements that are available in Bb 8:

• A brand new gradebook called the GRADE CENTER.
  Instructors can: enter scores much more efficiently, select from a dual display of gradebook data, access audit/grade history changes, provide gradebook comments, freeze names for easier scrolling, upload multiple columns at once, build custom views, drop lowest scores, provide more effective comments, print progress reports, and easily email students right from the gradebook. This brand new, easy-to-use gradebook increases instructor efficiency and enables new customization, powerful analysis, and flexibility capabilities.
• Several DISCUSSION BOARD user interface, navigation, and feature enhancements.
  Originally introduced in 7.3, the new discussion board enhancements provide: enhanced workflow, faster navigation, better collection views, forum level subscription, reply with quote, tagging, and the ability to mark messages read or unread. It's much easier to act on information more quickly and navigate more efficiently with streamlined discussion board.
• A brand new EARLY WARNING SYSTEM feature.
  Originally introduced in 7.2, this new feature allows instructors to proactively measure, monitor, and communicate student performance with students, advisors, and other academic support personnel. Combined with the new Grade Center, Performance Dashboard, and Course Statistics, monitoring student engagement and enhancing student retention is more effective.
• A brand new SELF AND PEER ASSESSMENT tool.
  This new feature allows instructors to give students more individualized feedback, as well as to focus on critical thinking skills. Self-assessment tools give students better insight as to what the evaluation criteria is and help build critical thinking skills, as well as promote active learning. Peer assessment tools give students the opportunity to provide constructive feedback to their peers and help faculty easily manage group assignments.
• Blackboard SCHOLAR included.
  Scholar provides self-directed research and student contributions to course resource collections. It allows students and faculty to share resources, develop relationships, and collaborate across institutions across the globe.
• Blackboard SAFEASSIGN included.
  Plagiarism prevention tools help instructors detect plagiarism, protect the originality of work and educate students on proper citation and attribution.
• WHAT'S NEW is now available.
  The What's New feature was originally introduced in 7.1. However, it was unable to be used since the performance of the tool impacted the response time of the server. With Bb 8, the module can be loaded asynchronously so that the My Bb page loads much more quickly for students and instructors. The What's New tool is an effective way for students and faculty to increase awareness of new content, gradebook, discussion, and announcements items that have been posted in their courses.
• EMAIL ANNOUNCEMENTS is a new feature.
  This allows instructors to easily create an announcement and also email their students with 1 action. This improves communication with students and is especially helpful in critical and timely messages.

What does this upgrade mean for Faculty?

Faculty will benefit with the discussion board enhancements for swap window and expand window thread panes and tree/list views. There are also new Self and Peer Assessment capabilities, Early Warning System features, and more efficiency tools such as the ability to easily email announcements. Faculty will also benefit from the efficiency of the new gradebook called the Grade Center. Faculty will be able to access several training opportunities, from drop in, to organized sessions, to video tutorials so that they can take advantage of the new features and manage the new Grade Center effectively.

What does this upgrade mean for Students?

Other than adjusting to a few small cosmetic changes, students should be able to seamlessly move from version 7.1 to 8 without any significant additional training. Support documentation through the STUDENT Tip Sheets for Blackboard site and training sessions will focus on the most significant areas of change, such as the Discussion Board functionality. However, these changes are minimal and will improve usability overall.