University of Southern California USC

Blackboard News

Posted on December 8, 2011 by CST

  • Coming Soon: Blackboard Content Collection & Blackboard Mobile
    • Blackboard Content Collection for Course Instructors - The Blackboard Content System is a personalized online digital repository in which instructors can collect, share, and manage files across multiple Blackboard courses, and then reuse those files from semester to semester. This new tool will be available to instructors early in 2012. Blackboard Content Collection training sessions are available in January. Click here to RSVP.
    • Access Blackboard on Your Mobile Devices - USC is planning to launch Blackboard Mobile, a free mobile application that will enable instructors and students to access their Blackboard courses directly from their smartphones or tablets. With Blackboard Mobile, students will be able to check grades and assignments, view documents and course rosters, create threaded discussion posts, comment on blogs and journals, and more. Instructors will also be able to post announcements. Look for an update about the launch of Blackboard Mobile on the Blackboard login page and on the Home and Help tabs in early 2012.
  • Blackboard Maintenance: December 21-23, 2011 - Blackboard will be unavailable due to regular system maintenance from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, December 21, to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, December 23. These dates were chosen to minimize the impact on instruction, testing, and grading. (The last day of classes for the fall 2011 semester was Friday, December 2; the last day of exams is Wednesday, December 14; and the deadline for faculty to submit fall 2011 grades is Tuesday, December 20.)
  • Time Saver: Turnitin Software as an Alternative Submission Tool - Turnitin software can be used in Blackboard to check the originality of student submissions. If you choose not to use the originality function, you can disable it in your course and still use Turnitin to collect student work. The advantage of using Turnitin to collect and sort student submissions is that these submissions are all visible on one screen and can be downloaded with just a few clicks. To disable the originality function when creating a new Turnitin assignment in Blackboard, follow the steps below:
    • On the New Assignment screen, scroll down and click Options.
    • On the Generate Originality Reports for submissions? click No.
    • Click Submit.
  • For more information or to schedule a Turnitin consultation, send an email to cst@usc.edu. For articles and training videos that address popular topics, please visit the Turnitin support website.

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