Intriguing..... this looks like you have an automated process for
auto-populating newly created shells with pre-loaded content including a
module page with everything all set up. So not just using the Default
Course Menu.....? You said "Use Snapshot to generate new modules from
the templates"?


--
Regards
Mark

Mark Gamble, FHEA
Head of Learning Technology, Centre for Learning Excellence, University
of Bedfordshire, Park Square, Luton, Beds, LU1 3JU
Tel (+44)1582 489260 Mob 07720 068605
Int ext 9260 / 6360 (mobex)

BREO HELPLINE 01582 489205 / int 9205



>>> 
From: 	Tony Reeves <[log in to unmask]>
To:	<[log in to unmask]>
Date: 	5/3/2012 05:22 PM
Subject: 	Re: Roll over content - how do you do this?

Hello all,

At UCA we wanted to generate now modules from a template to enable us
to pre-load content and menu items. Similar to Mary's comment, we took
this approach to give students a more consistent experience when moving
through their programme of study; prior to this some modules were
content-rich while others remained bare.

The following outlines the process we go through every year:

1. Create one template for our FE modules and a second for our
undergrad modules
2. Tailor the menu items in the templates as needed, then load up any
content that will be common to all BB modules
3. Use Snapshot to generate new modules from the templates using an
Excel spreadsheet, adding the current academic year as a suffix (_11,
_12 etc.) This enables students to revisit modules that they have
previously completed and avoids the problem of breaking the links to
Turnitin assignments.

The spreadsheet essentially resides in between SITS and Blackboard.
Although I don't write the Snapshot process, using a spreadsheet enables
us administrators to amend module titles and redirect enrolments without
having to pester our IT department. When course names change or cohorts
merge, this can be amended in the spreadsheet and the changes are
reflected in Blackboard when the Snapshot process runs twice a day.

In terms of transferring content, we took the decision to oblige
academic staff to transfer their content manually so that they would
consider removing or revising any content that might be out of date. We
found that bulk-transferring content resulted in many courses containing
out of date information. Obviously we offer to help them with this if
they request it, but it just causes them to pause and consider the
currency of their content.

We've also made use of the Module Page in the course templates to
aggregate specific links into modules - e.g. Study Advice, Library links
etc. This means that even after all the courses have been created we can
still change the content of each module but only have to do it once.

It's certainly interesting to hear how others approach the rollover -
thanks to all for sharing your thoughts.

Kind regards,

Tony

Tony Reeves
Learning Technologist
University for the Creative Arts

Twitter          tonyjreeves<http://twitter.com/#%21/tonyjreeves>
Blog             
techtrees.blogspot.com<http://techtrees.blogspot.com>
myUCA help 
myuca.ucreative.ac.uk/help<http://myuca.ucreative.ac.uk/help><http://myuca.ucreative.ac.uk/help>
________________________________
From: Blackboard/Courseinfo userslist
[[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Mary Jacob
[mhj] [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 03 May 2012 11:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Roll over content - how do you do this?

Dear Kevin,

At Aberystwyth, we used to ‘roll over’ by removing the students
from the modules, and then enrolling new students. We kept one instance
of each module, with whatever content was in it at the time of
rollover.

Starting last summer, we went to a ‘course copy’ process. We set up
a new template and made a copy of all active modules for the coming
academic year. The copies include all of the previous year’s content
but will have the current year’s students. The Blackboard course ID
includes the academic year and we changed the My Institution page to put
current modules in a separate box. We now keep one instance of each
module per academic year, and allow last year’s students to retain
access to last year’s version of the module. We can also do the course
copy earlier in the summer, because we don’t have to wait for resits
to be completed before doing roll over.

We had an outreach campaign to talk to each department and encourage
them to refresh their modules through the process of moving to the new
template. We are repeating it again this year to pick up any modules
that have not been refreshed.

Our aims were:

·         Help students learn by allowing them to keep access to their
modules from one year to the next

·         Enable academic staff earlier access to revise their modules
earlier in the summer

·         Encourage academic staff to refresh their teaching material
and module organisation

·         Give students a more consistent experience across modules
when using Blackboard

We are happy with the result, but will be doing more outreach to make
sure that all the modules are reorganised to fit the content into the
new template properly for next year.

It will be interesting to hear what other institutions have found when
encouraging staff to refresh their modules.

Thanks for opening this thread.

Cheers,
Mary

**********************************************************
Mary Jacob, BA, MA, CMALT, FHEA
Cymorth E-ddysgu / E-learning Support
Grwp E-wasanaethau a Chyfathrebu / E-services & Communications Group
Gwasanaethau Gwybodaeth / Information Services
Prifysgol Aberystwyth / Aberystwyth University
SY23 3DZ
Ffôn / Tel: (01970 62) 2473
Ymholiadau Blackboard / Blackboard Queries: [log in to unmask]
Ymholiadau E-ddysgu / E-learning Queries: [log in to unmask]
Nexus http://nexus.aber.ac.uk
*******************************************************

From: Brace, Kevin [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 02 May 2012 11:26
Subject: Roll over content - how do you do this?

Dear all,

we are scoping out how others "roll over" Bboard courses from one year
to the next.  I.e. do you;

1.       Roll over complete courses to allow staff to update resources/
reading lists, etc. ready for each new academic year? If you do rollover
complete courses every year,  have you experienced any permissions
issues ( i.e. copy item feature not working as expected) if you don't
use Content CMS?

2.       Create empty courses - i.e. no roll over of content each year?
If so, have you seen any improvement in "quality" of courses? Or
conversely any reduction of Bboard use?

3.       A combination of the above two, e.g. rollover content and also
have a clean sweep very 3 - 5 years?

4.       Use a common course template for the above procedures?


At Aston we roll over complete courses. Any new courses are created
using a common template.


Regards.

Kevin Brace. Bsc(Hons), MSc, Ieng, CMALT, PDF-ELT
Associate Head of Technology Enhanced Learning
Centre for Learning Innovation & Professional Practice
http://www1.aston.ac.uk/clipp/.  Please read our CLIPP Blog for all
latest news
Aston University
Birmingham B4 7ET
T: 0121 204 4230