Interacting Online

The University of North Dakota supports blog/journal, discussion board and VoiceThread options within the Blackboard Learning Management System.

If you have any questions on which product may best suit your needs, please schedule an appointment with one of our trained instructional designers. We have also included a brief comparison chart at the bottom of this page for your convenience.

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Resources & Technologies

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There are a variety of ways these tools can be used in online, blended, or traditional face-to-face courses to help instructors achieve their teaching and learning goals.

Building Community/Creating Presence

Creating your presence as the instructor and building the community of the course is crucial in the online environment. Create a presence for both the instructor and the learners by posting a welcome announcement and video and in turn, have an area set up within the course for students to post either an introductory video or a photo and description of who they are. This will create that presence and community among the instructor and the learners. One can also build community by grouping learners together for different projects so they get to know each other better.

Reflective Writing

Learners can assess their learning by using reflective writing. Using the Journal option, you can keep the learners reflections private between the instructor and learner. This way, the student can reflect honestly on how they have completed an assessment or study that may need to stay private. This also gives the learner time to think about their learning style and think of new ways they can study or share privately with you topics they are struggling with.

Class Discussions

Class discussions are wonderful for collaboration on learner projects to get other’s views on what may need some attention or gaps in analysis. This is a way to bounce ideas off of each other and come up with new strategies for a problem based study. Having the learners take turns to lead the class discussion each week gives them an opportunity to contribute and reply to other learners responses in a scholarly fashion.

Course Feedback

Receiving course feedback from students can help the instructor to know if there needs to be adjustments made to the course. This also provides useful information on student learning and what aspects of the course the learners may be grasping and where the learners may be struggling. This gives the instructor the opportunity to explain difficult concepts that the learners are struggling with. This is also an opportunity for learners to monitor their own learning and adjust their study skills if they need.

The Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) document provides some simple ways to evaluate your students’ learning.

Blogs

Please note: Blogs are currently not available in the Blackboard Ultra Course View.

A blog is a personal online journal that is intended to be shared with others. Blogs may also allow users to comment. The commenting provides students with an opportunity to interact with each other and express their thoughts and ideas. Blogs can give insight into how students view or see ideas, their activities, and a way for students to share their knowledge and any resources they have found.

In Blackboard, instructors create and manage the blogs. Blogs can be used for graded assignments or to gather opinions and information without assigning a grade. Blogs can also be set up within groups.

Ways to use Blogs?

Here are some ideas for using a blog:

Welcome activity for students to introduce themselves and post a photo
Share opinions/ideas on the readings or a lesson topic
Post a writing assignment for peer comments and feedback

Where to find Blogs in Blackboard?

Blogs can be found in several areas of Blackboard:

Control Panel<Course Tools<Blogs
Content Area<Tools<Blogs
Tools<Blogs
Groups

Blog Resources

Here are some links to information and videos on creating Blogs in Blackboard.

Journals

Journals are a private space for students to post that only the instructor can see. The instructor can create specific subjects or it can be more open. In Blackboard, instructors can make a journal public so all users can see and comment on a subject or give their insight.

Ways to use Journals

Journals are a great place for:

Self-reflection
Individual projects
Posting ideas
Sharing concerns they may have with the course
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) – i.e., Muddiest Point Journal
Perspective or attitudes on subjects and how they have changed

Where to find Blackboard Journals

Journals can be found in several areas of Blackboard:

Control Panel<Course Tools<Journals
Content Area<Tools<Journals
Tools<Journals
Groups

Journal Resources

Here are some links to information and videos on creating Blogs in Blackboard.

The Blackboard Discussion board tool allows students to think critically about a topic or related topics where threads are created either by the instructor or by the student. Discussion boards create interaction among students because you can reply below the initial thread which creates a dialogue.

Ways to use a Discussion Board

The Discussion Board is a great place for:

Topic specific discussions
Individual student projects and looking for feedback from peers
Group projects and looking for feedback from peers
Students leading a unit or chapter with summaries
Brainstorming ideas

Where to find the Blackboard Discussion Board

The Discussion Board can be found in several areas of Blackboard:

Control Panel<Course Tools<Discussion Board
Content Area<Tools<Discussion Board
Tools<Discussion Board
Groups

Discussion Board Resources

Here are some links to information and videos on creating and using the Discussion Board in Blackboard.

VoiceThread is a tool that is available in Blackboard that can provide collaborative spaces with video, voice, and text commenting among students and instructors.

How can I use VoiceThread?

VoiceThread has many potential uses for both in-person and online classes. Plus, because both faculty and students have access to create VoiceThreads, students can create their own content for assignments.

Narrate a PowerPoint presentation with audio or video.
Pose a question or topic and use it as a visual discussion board.
Encourage student to student interactions.
Create digital stories by narrating over images, videos and slides. Or, create collaborative stories with the VoiceThread collaboration features.
Upload video to VoiceThread and gather reflections.
Practice a foreign language.
Evaluate, review or critique an idea or a student presentation

Learn more about VoiceThread