Blackboard 9 at city college norwich
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This document summarizes projects undertaken over the summer to upgrade the Blackboard learning management system at City College Norwich. It describes moving content to a new server, preparing for the technical and user experience upgrades, testing the upgrade process, performing the upgrade during a single week, implementing load balancing across multiple servers, and developing a Blackboard Course Creator tool to simplify course setup. User feedback was positive about the new interface and improvements from the Blackboard Course Creator. Lessons learned include the importance of thorough planning, testing, engaging with users, and having contingencies for unexpected issues.
Blackboard 9 at city college norwich
- 1. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich Chris Boon
- 3. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 4. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 6. Blackboard NG • Multi-release project • Improved interface • Extra functionality – Mash-ups – Context menus – Improved Group functions – Ajax drag-and-drop of modules
- 7. Blackboard 9.0 • First release of Blackboard NG • Deployed by some ‘early adopters’ • Bugs and reliability issues
- 8. Blackboard 9.1 • Much improved QA • More features • Installed at CCN
- 9. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 11. Content - maintenance • Two days maintenance at Whitsun half term • Stopped services • Data copied from old content server to SAN • Set permissions on new share • Started services • Completed successfully although took 12 hours to copy • No difference from users’ perspective
- 12. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 14. Sandbox • Installed copy of Blackboard 9.1 – Learn about product – Plan the design – Staff training
- 15. Consultation • Student focus group from Level 1 to HE • Staff focus groups and informal conversations • Regular meetings with Head of Communications
- 16. Suggestions from Focus Groups • Link to library catalogue from Home tab • Add more images on the Home tab • Add more dynamic content such as updates from Twitter accounts • Increase line spacing on the Useful Links panel • Changes to colour and design for accessibility • Improve resources for HE students • Make ILP more prominent
- 17. Managing the suggestions • Balancing the needs and suggestions from everyone: – Students from all Schools – Students from all levels – Teachers – Support staff • Required change of mind set – users’ perspective instead of technical
- 18. End result
- 19. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 20. Testing the upgrade • Clone of live system using VMWare Application Server Database Server Share on SAN Application Server Database Server Share on SAN Physical Virtual
- 21. Upgrade process • Blackboard Release Notes – Upgrade Route: – Blackboard 8.0 SP4 – Blackboard 8.0 SP5 – Upgrade Java to 1.6 – Blackboard 8.0 SP6 – Blackboard Learn 9.1 SP1
- 22. Testing the upgrade Blackboard 8 SP4 Take Snapshot Blackboard 8 SP5 Upgrade Java to 1.6 Blackboard 8 SP6 Blackboard 9.1 SP1 Take Snapshot Blackboard 9.1 SP1 Scripts from Bb support
- 23. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 24. Project Meetings • Fortnightly meetings • Management support • Guests invited where appropriate e.g. hardware team • Clear actions from meetings
- 25. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 27. Upgrade Plans • Everything was planned for upgrade week – NO decisions should be needed during week • List of tasks ready for technical upgrade • Design prototype for layout and user interface • Took pressure off during upgrade week
- 28. Upgrade Plans • Monday Move to new virtual application server • Tuesday Perform upgrade • Wednesday-Friday Make live system look like Sandbox and fix bugs
- 29. Hardware configuration Application Server Database Server Share on SAN Virtual Application Server
- 30. Actual Upgrade Week • Monday Move to new virtual application server and Perform upgrade • Tuesday-Friday Make live system look like Sandbox and fix bugs • Why? • Excellent help from Blackboard Support • Upgrade process very well planned
- 31. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 32. Hardware configuration Database Server Share on SAN Virtual Application Server Virtual Application Server Node 2 Virtual Application Server Node 1 Load Balancer
- 33. Load Balancing • Using Microsoft ISA Server • Not officially supported but does work • Successfully used by other institutions • Some scheduled tasks only run on one node • Node identification labels added
- 34. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 35. BCC – The Problem • There are too many courses on Blackboard • This causes confusion for staff and students • Only about 10% of courses are used • The course names are often confusing • Courses are not linked to Schools
- 36. BCC – Previous Configuration • Direct connection between EBS and Blackboard • Every course (Q, U, M) in EBS creates a course in Blackboard MIS EBS VLE Blackboard
- 37. BCC – Previous Configuration • Produces numerous courses in Blackboard for each course taught e.g. • Q NVQ BasketWeaving • Q NVQ BasketWeaving Group A • Q NVQ BasketWeaving Group B • Q NVQ BasketWeaving P/T • Q NVQ BasketWeaving F/T
- 38. BCC – The Vision • Middleware between MIS and VLE MIS EBS VLE Blackboard Middleware
- 39. BCC – The Requirements • Ability to design course structures from timetables or course codes • Must be flexible for all scenarios • Must be very simple to use
- 40. BCC – The Solution
- 41. Summer Blackboard Projects at City College Norwich • What is Blackboard 9? • Moving the content • Preparing for the upgrade – users and design • Preparing for the upgrade – technical • Preparing for the upgrade – project management • Upgrade week • Load balancing • Blackboard Course Creator • User feedback and lessons learnt
- 42. User Feedback – User Interface • Positive reaction to new colours and interface • Users liked ability to customise Home tab • No major problems finding resources • Slower than hoped, particularly in IE7
- 43. User Feedback – BCC • Very simple to use • Most staff use it without the need for face-to-face training • Increased the use of Blackboard • Much clearer to see where Blackboard is and isn’t used
- 44. Lessons Learnt • Planning, planning, planning • Test system is essential • Engaging with users vital • Some unexpected issues will always arise – New application server wouldn’t start – External access problem with SSL • Safety net needed for these issues • Business Continuity – users still need resources during maintenance windows • Can never do too much testing!