Building Block Tests

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The following Building Blocks are being tested or have been tested for future installation into Blackboard:

Blackboard Content System

tested June 2006 - December 2006

The Content System, developed by Blackboard, easily ties into the Blackboard software with a suite of tools that includes a virtual hard drive for posting content or class assignments, a portfolio builder allowing instructors to document the academic growth of students, an institutional area for departments, and a library area for librarians.

UT Austin's pilot license of Blackboard's Content System expired on December 31, 2006. Based on feedback from pilot study participants and ITS server administrators, DIIA and ITS have decided not to purchase the Content System at this time. It will no longer be available for use.

Here are some of the comments from faculty and student pilot participants. You can download the full Content System pilot report here.

Faculty comment:
Ease of use: All three faculty members found the system unattractive, non-intuitive, cumbersome and difficult to use.

Student comment:
"I thought there was a lot of unnecessary steps to actually create and load a portfolio."

User Participation Portal Module

tested January 2006 - May 2007

This Portal Module Building Block was developed by University of South Florida. It gives an instructor information about when the student last accessed a particular course. In doing so it helps instructors identify users who do not access their course(s) and/or organization(s) and facilitates communication between the instructor/manager and the student. It lets the instructor send e-mail to individual students alerting them of their participation.

This building block has been replaced by the Performance Dashboard. The PD provides instructors with information on all types of user activity in a course. All users enrolled in the course are listed, with pertinent information about that user’s progress and activity in the course.

User Performance Portal Module

tested January 2006 - May 2007

This Portal Module Building Block was developed by University of South Florida. It assists Instructors in identifying students-at-risk based on grade performance and facilitates sending them e-mail.

This building block has been replaced by the Early Warning System, available with the upgrade to Blackboard 7.2. The EWS is used to communicate warnings to students that a performance problem is beginning to appear or has become more serious. Warnings can be generated based on graded performance, late or missing course work, or attendance within the online course.

Turnitin

tested January 2006 - May 2006

Turnitin is a software resource designed to help students avoid plagiarism and improper citation. The software encourages original writing and proper citation documentation practices by cross-referencing submitted materials with an archived database of journals, essays, newspaper articles, books, and other published work.

This building block was pilot tested during the Spring 2006 semester. It is not available. Information about the pilot and the full report can be found at http://www.utexas.edu/academic/diia/turnitin/.

AOI Science Toolkit

tested May 2004 - May 2007

The Science Toolkit includes area-specific disciplines including: Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, as well as general Metric Conversion Tools. Students will be able to solve problems from anywhere now, with these web-based conversion tools.

Blackboard Link Checker

tested May 2004 - May 2007

Blackboard developed a tool that can validate the Web Links within the "External Links" area of your Course.