Blackboard expands to include Bison-card access, ePortfolio
More changes to be implemented by summer
Students may have noticed a change in the appearance of their Blackboard accounts this year, and even more changes will be implemented by summer.
Some of the new features include an ePortfolio, a new portal screen and online community.
Nancy Lilleberg, manager of instructional services at ITS and part of the Blackboard Support Team, said because of some recent “technological setbacks” the new features will not be available until this summer.
The new portal screen, or the first screen students see before logging in, is now customizable to students’ interests. The first portal screen students see is the generic guest portal screen, which switches to a personalized portal screen after logging in.
“ Think of a portal screen as being a smorgasbord, but instead of food, you pick and choose what information is pertinent to you,” Lilleberg said.
Another feature, the ePortfolio, can be helpful in getting a job during or after college; it is similar to a resume but in an online format.
Currently, the ePortfolio is only available to a few classes in order to test its functionality. The feature will be made available to all students before the fall semester starts, Lilleberg said.
When the changes are implemented, students will be able to use a Web-based storage option.
“ This could take the place of storing files on a USB drive or floppy, as long as you can get to the Web from wherever you’re at,” Lilleberg said.
The online communities featured on Blackboard will be used for student organizations. Similar to how the discussion board feature works on Blackboard, online communities will allow members of organizations to communicate via discussion boards, announcements and built-in e-mail.
“ Blackboard organizations are very similar to Blackboard courses, so whatever you’ve used Blackboard for academically, you can use organizationally too,” Lilleberg said.
Another new feature of Blackboard will be online access to Bison Card accounts. This allows students and their parents to add funds to an account or check their balance. This feature was added because of student demand for access to their accounts at any time during the day or night.
“ Just imagine checking your account balance to find out that mom or dad has been there already and was feeling very generous,” Lilleberg said.