Information About New Features in Blackboard Version 8

What's New?

Listed below is an overview of the primary new features in Blackboard version 8.0.

The written documentation on this page comes from the Blackboard Academic Suite 8.0 Release Notes and the Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual for Release 8.0.

Grade Center

Amost entirely redesigned, and newly named, the Grade Center exhibits new capabilities and vast improvements over the previous Gradebook. Some of the new features or improvement include the following:

• A redesigned tool bar, titled the Action Bar, through which multiple functions are possible
• The ability to create and print Reports, such as final grades, to hand out to students or other interested parties
• Inline editing: the ability to enter grades directly through the Grade Center spreadsheet
• New grade calculations, Average grade and Minimum/Maximum grade, and improvements to the creation of Weighted grades and Total points grades
• Smart Views - the ability to categorize students into groups based on selected criteria. These views can be displayed in the Grade Center
• A multitude of ways to customize the display of the Grade Center
• The ability to create grading schema: multiple grading scales that match assessment grades to chosen grade displays, such as text and percent grades

Animated Tutorials and Documentation on the New Grade Center

The Early Warning System

The Early Warning System is a tool 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. Faculty can choose to communicate a particular warning to the student. In addition, faculty have control over the message each time a warning is communicated. Faculty can use the default message generated by Blackboard or they can modify the message to more accurately communicate the seriousness of the situation.

Introduction to the Early Warning System

Manage Early Warning System Rules

Review Alerts and Notify Users

Self and Peer Assessment

One of the key skills that educational institutions want their students to develop is the ability to assess their own work and that of their colleagues. The Self and Peer Assessment tool allows faculty to create an exercise, composed of one or more questions, each with one or more criteria to be presented to the students for completion and assessment.

The Self and Peer Assessment Tool is designed to enhance the reflective learning skills of students. Reviewing the work of colleagues through criterion-based reference evaluation promotes constructive feedback. The constructive feedback that students receive from their peers can provide valuable insights into their own effors.

Self and Peer Assessment Instructions PDF

Self and Peer Assessment Step-by-Step PDF

Test Timer
Using Test Timer to Track Time Spent on a Test

If faculty set the time restriction for a test, students track time spent on a test by keeping an eye on the test timer when they take the test. The timer will appear at the top of the page on the right hand side. A one-minute warning will be displayed as students approach the time limit.

Discussion Board

Look and feel changes:

• Can see summary of posts,
  unread posts, etc.
• Can have different replying options
  (quote, flag).
• Thread page views Tree or List view.
• Increased range of settings (extra
  option under remove post, allow meta tagging of posts,
  subscribe (email updates about thread and forum changes, peer rating of posts, and more).
• Status of threads (published, hidden,
  unavailable).
• Increased ability to sort forumns and threads.

Discussion Board Illustrated Handout

Discussion Board Instructions PDF

Announcements
Sending Course Announcements Via Email

When an announcement is added to the course, it can now be optionally sent to students by email as well. This way, students don't need to log in to Blackboard to see the text of the annoucement -- it will be included in the email message.