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Getting Started

Getting Started with Blackboard Building Blocks (Part I)
Rusty Klophaus, Blackboard
Learn the nuts & bolts of getting started with Blackboard Building Blocks including where to find relevant documentation and how to start and structure your project using an IDE.
PPT | Echo 360 Recording

Getting Started with Blackboard Building Blocks (Part II)
Priyanka Gupta, Blackboard
Continue your investigation of Building Blocks with exposure to additional Blackboard APIs and instruction on how to leverage the Blackboard look & feel in your application.
PPT | Echo 360 Recording

Blackboard Learn Content Management APIs & Xythos Architecture
John Barone, Blackboard
Learn how Xythos content solutions fit into your campus-wide architecture, and see how you can use APIs to import content, tag files with metadata, and support workflows within the Blackboard Learn Content Management Module.
PPT

Proxy Tools & Web Services
George Kroner, Blackboard
Lance Neumann, Blackboard
Investigate how to build the newest type of Blackboard plugin technology - the Blackboard Proxy Tool. Based on the IMS Learning Tools Interoperability 2.0 specification, Proxy Tools are interoperable learning applications that can be hosted externally to your Blackboard environment and accessed from multiple learning environments. See a working Proxy Tool running in the Google App Engine.
PPT

Debugging Building Blocks Issues
Kevin Borgeson, Blackboard
Learn techniques to figure out what's going wrong when your development project isn't progressing quite as you expected.
PPT | Echo 360 Recording

User Interface Customization Techniques
Linas Laucys, Blackboard
Dan Rinzel, Blackboard
Learn how to customize the Blackboard Learn GUI with the Theme and Branding capabilities built into Release 9. See how you can edit the product's CSS files and use the tag libraries to render a highly-tailored user experience.
PPT

Extending the Platform

Demonstration and Technical Overview of the Blackboard LEC for Sakai
James M. Pease, Syracuse University
Jim Pease from Syracuse University will present his implementation of the Learning Environment Connector API to integrate the Sakai Collaboration and Learning Environment with Blackboard Learn Release 9. His presentation will include a demonstration of the connector followed by a technical overview of the API and the Sakai implementation. Attendees will see features of the connector in action, learn about it's setup and configuration, and hear about implementation challenges and future direction.
Project site | Echo 360 Recording

An Open Source Google Apps Integration from Northwestern University
Patricia Goldweic, Northwestern University
In an effort to leverage the collaboration features provided by the Google Apps platform, Academic and Research Technologies at Northwestern is developing a building block and related software components that enable the easy access and sharing of Google content from within Blackboard. Features include single sign on, automated account provisioning, and automated sharing of Google content through an instructors' linking/book marking tool. We plan to describe the technical components and demonstrate its use at Northwestern.
Project site PPT | Echo 360 Recording

The "My Courses" Module - An Enhanced Design
Ashraf Amrou, Old Dominion University
This presentation introduces an enhanced 'My Courses' module. The main enhancements this module provides are ease-of-use, in-place configuration, and grouping of courses. The courses are organized into a collapsible four-level tree structure (Level 1 represents user roles, level 2 represents semesters, level 3 represents individual courses, and level 4 provides additional details such as listing the instructor names). The user can expand/hide any portion of the tree with a single mouse click.
Echo 360 Recording

Integrating Microsoft Live@edu with Blackboard is easier than you think
Karl Riddle, Information Tech Analyst, University of Cincinnati
Students at the University of Cincinnati have access to email, a 25Gb SkyDrive, and Windows Meeting Spaces, all via a single click in Blackboard. This session will provide an overview of Microsoft Live@edu and how easy it was to create a Blackboard Building Block that offered students one click access to some very powerful tools. Ideal for both executives and technical staff as well.
Echo 360 Recording

Using .NET & Java with the Blackboard Web Services
Lance Neumann, Blackboard
.NET developers (and developers using other languages as well) gain new capabilities to interconnect with their Blackboard Learn environment in Release 9. See how you can use Java and .NET to connect to the product's built-in Web Services to create, read, update and delete data.
PPT

Mobile Blackboard at University of Maryland, College Park
Tandeep Sidhu, University of Maryland, College Park
As more and more students are using web enabled devices, there is a demand for mobile access to Blackboard. Come and learn how University of Maryland, College Park built a mobile optimized version of Blackboard using Building Block Web Services. The students can view Course Announcements, Grades, Documents, and Discussion Board entries through this application.
Screencast | Echo 360 Recording

Web Services: Approaches and Applications
George Kroner, Blackboard
Andrew Martin, Newcastle University
Mark A. O'Neil, OSCELOT, Dartmouth College
A discussion of the main two approaches to enabling deeper data integration of web service enabled applications to and from blackboard; including a brief look at the functionality of blackboard's officially provided webservices in v9, project oscelot's webservices project. This will be followed by a run through of possible and emerging applications of these technologies.
Bb Web Services Project site | AVLEWS Project site | Echo 360 Recording

DIY Suggestions Box
Glen Parker, University of South Florida
A suggestion box provides a voice to people and let you hear ideas you might otherwise have missed. We'll build a suggestion box in Blackboard from start to finish. We'll talk about the design, the data storage, the communications elements, the integration points, and the miscellany that goes into a finished project. If that's too much, the block is pure Blackboard, and can simply be downloaded.
Project site | Echo 360 Recording

Best Practices

Developing for Blackboard Learn, Release 9 - Lessons Learned from the BETADEV Process
Malcolm R. Murray, Durham University
Blackboard Learn, Release 9 sees significant changes for the developer, new tag libraries exposing the Ajax interface, stricter JSP checks by Apache/Tomcat 6. Dilemna: should you patch an existing version 6/7/8 building block and stick with the bbUI tags or convert/rewrite it for version 9 using only bbNG tags? This presentation follows my decision to take the purist route and "rewrite them for bbNG" informed and supported by my participation in the NG beta developer programme.
PPT

Student Identity Verification - Best Practices and Practical Experience
Michael Jortberg, Acxiom Corporation
This presentation will describe and demonstrate how to verify a student's identity. Rather than relying on proctored exams and/or passwords that can be shared, this approach ensures a student taking an online assessment is who they say they are. Attendees will learn from experiences at National American University and several others how a simple implementation will increase integrity in your online program. We will demonstrate to give the audience a first hand view of a faculty and student's identity verification experience, as well as plenty of time for Q&A. Presentation Topics will include: Costs and Benefits to ensuring Student Identity, Assessment and Authentication Strategies, Reporting and analysis of Student Identity, Fraud and academic integrity, Privacy

Navigating the Path from Deployable Components to Blackboard Building Blocks
Stephen P Vickers, The University of Edinburgh
This presentation seeks to describe the issues arising for developers seeking to migrate outbound authentication deployable components to Building Blocks to work under the new Learn 9 environment. Whilst there is a challenge for developers to acquire new skills and experience, there are also new opportunities to take advantage of the more extensive integration points offered by the building block technology.
PPT link | Echo 360 Recording

Blackboard Building Blocks Best Practices
Heather Natour, Blackboard
Taking advantage of industry best practices is a proven way to improve the quality of your development and deployment of new applications. Without doubt, proven best practices can improve your users' experiences. In this session we'll cover best practices that Blackboard has compiled for building, testing and deploying Building Blocks.
PPT | Echo 360 Recording

AJAX + JSON Lessons Learned
Jim Riecken, Blackboard
Blackboard Learn, Release 9 uses a totally-redesigned Web 2.0 user interface. Come hear about our lessons learned and best practices if you plan to use similar technologies in your applications.
PPT

Advanced System Administration

Oracle data recovery or "Sherman, set the WABAC machine to ..."
Glen Parker, University of South Florida
Scott Wurzel, University of South Florida
Flashback queries can be used to seamlessly bring back Oracle database data that is otherwise irretrievably deleted. Recover deleted tests, recover recycled courses, rebuild an accidentally deleted Guest user. This talk will go over the prerequisites to using Flashback, and then cover scenarios that the author has encountered in day to day operations. Also, we'll setup a simple backup and recovery system using RMAN, the Oracle Recovery Manager.

Blackboard Learn, Release 9 Technical Architecture
John Fontaine, Blackboard
Blackboard Learning System - CE & Vista License administrators take note - attend this session to get an overview of the product architecture for Blackboard Learn, Release 9. We'll show you how to take advantage of the changes, enhancements, and new functionality.
PPT

Performance Optimization of Blackboard Learn
Mesfin Mulugeta, Blackboard
Pengfei Wu, Blackboard
Join us as we review the critical areas to optimize in Blackboard Learn from a configuration standpoint. This session covers not just where to optimize, but how to determine that you need to optimize.
PPT | Echo 360 Recording

Blackboard Learn and Virtualization
Anand Gopinath, Blackboard
Nakisa Shafiee, Blackboard
PPT | Echo 360 Recording

Co-Production Capabilities: Upgrading from Blackboard Learning System - CE License, Release 8 to Blackboard Learn, Release 9
Matt Brady, Blackboard
Thinking about your upgrade path to Blckboard Learn, Release 9 from CE or Vista, Release 8? Join us for this session as we show you how to setup and configure your implementation to run in co-production mode with Release 9. This includes moving users from Release 8 to Release 9 in co-production, moving Release 8 courses to Release 9 in co-production and setting up the integrated environment. Regardless of your operating system, you need a plan that allows users to seamlessly access and move between both systems - this session will show you how.

Monitoring Blackboard for Performance and Availability
Nick J. McClure, University of Kentucky
Discuss different types of Application and Server monitoring that can be used to determine the uptime and performance of the Blackboard Application, Database Servers, and Network. We'll talk about the types of tools that can be used, and what information to provide to management, support staff and users.
Echo 360 Recording

Upgrading from Blackboard Learning System "Classic" to Blackboard Learn, Release 9
Volker Kleinschmidt, Blackboard
During the first half of 2009, Blackboard Client Support has been helping clients around the world upgrade their Testing and Production instances of Blackboard Learn Classic, Release 8 to Blackboard Learn Release 9.0. In this session, engineers from Blackboard Client Support will review best practices for upgrading, the order of upgrade steps, as well as any known obstacles that early adopters have already successfully overcome. Regardless of if your system runs on a Windows or a UNIX operating system, if you are planning to upgrade to Blackboard Learn Release 9.0 this session can help you understand how to prepare and execute a successful upgrade.

Using MyEclipse for Custom Blackboard Reports
Celine Lemarinier, University of Knoxville Tennessee
Mark Spurlock, University of Knoxville Tennessee
An actively used Blackboard installation is a repository of information that could provide us with valuable insight into the behavior, habits, and needs of our institution's users. Campus leadership, therefore, desires reports that extract and present this information in a useful format. At UTK, we have developed a well presented and personalized solution for generating reporting templates with an easy-to-use interface. This session demonstrates how to build Blackboard-based reports using the 'MyEclipse' IDE.

Learning Tools

Implementing a Custom Authentication Method for publishing content to Blackboard
Susan Evans, SoftChalk LLC
Jeffrey Kahn, Verbena Consulting
SoftChalk LessonBuilder is a desktop application that allows the easy creation of interactive lesson content for delivery in Blackboard. A new LessonBuilder feature allows users to "publish" their SoftChalk content directly into their Blackboard course. To facilitate this new functionality,SoftChalk designed a custom authentication method to allow users to connect to their Blackboard from the SoftChalk LessonBuilder GUI. In this session we will demonstrate the new feature and discuss how the custom authentication method operates.

OSCELOT, Open Source, and You
Paul Erickson, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Malcolm R. Murray, Durham University
Mark A. O'Neil, OSCELOT, Dartmouth College
Communities of open source developers are creating innovative and valuable tools to enhance students' learning experiences. The challenge for many institutions is discovering these tools, being able to evaluate their robustness, and understanding how to incorporate them into their eLearning strategy and technology platform. This panel session will highlight innovative tools, open source eLearning resources and how you can get involved with an open source community for educational learning objects and tools (OSCELOT).

The Vanderbilt iTunes U Building Block v2
Cindy Franco, Vanderbilt University
Gabor Pap, Vanderbilt University
Apple's iTunes U platform extends the iTunes Store to work for educational organizations, so users can easily search, download, and play educational content just like they do with music, movies, and TV shows. The iTunes U Building Block developed by Vanderbilt provides a secure gateway between these two powerful platforms.

Other presentations of interest

Best Practices for Load Balancing the Blackboard...
Nick McClure, University of Kentucky
PPT | Echo 360 Recording

How we Maintain a Healthy Blackboard
Sheila Chandler, VCU
PPT

Widget While you Work
Akilah Jackson, University of Maryland
PPT

Tuning the JVM
John Calvin, University of Toronto
PPT | Echo 360 Recording

Blackboard Systems on Linux Roundtable
Randy Dalhoff, Iowa State
PPT

Project ASTRO
Santo Nucifora, Seneca College
Eric Kunnen, Grand Rapids Community College
PPT

Leveraging Web 2.0 Tools for Teaching, Research, & Fun
Kathy Keairns, University of Denver
PPT

Developing a User-centered Approach to Customizing Blackboard 9
Brian Irwin, Sheffield Hallam University
PPT | Echo 360 Recording

Extracting Useful Information from the PowerSight Kit Tables
Scott Kodai, California State University, Chico
PPT

Customizing the Blackboard Virtual Learning Experience with Openness
George Kroner, Blackboard
Learn how to take advantage of the flexibility and openness built into Blackboard Learn, Release 9 to customize your virtual learning environment. Find out how to tailor your user experience using Blackboard Building Blocks, Proxy Tools, Web Services, the Learning Environment Connector, theme and branding (CSS) customization, course layout customization, and Language Packs.
We'll discuss modifying the product's terminology, look, & feel; integrating with other existing campus systems; and extending the platform with tools to support specific pedagogies, disciplines, and workflows. You'll leave this session with an understanding of what you can easily and inexpensively do to maximize your investment in Blackboard solutions.
PPT

Integrating Campus Systems to Create a Robust Student Portal
Lisa Brown, University of Rochester
Catherine E. Delia, University of Rochester Medical Center
This presentation will outline how the University of Rochester used Blackboard to build one integrated portal system. A combination of homegrown and Blackboard Consulting customizations were used to integrate many systems on campus into a robust, information rich portal. We will discuss dual LDAP authentication, integration with Outlook Web Access and Gmail email, data integration via snapshot and encrypted access to external systems, including two student information systems and an electronic bill payment system.
Echo 360 Recording

Taking Advantage of Open Source Automation with BbAssist
Thomas Lin, Blackboard
Marc Nadeau, Blackboard
Do you develop software that connects with Blackboard Learn using Blackboard Building Blocks or Blackboard PowerLinks? Do you have a need to test system upgrades or other system integrations with Blackboard Learn? If so, you should also be thinking about how you test the quality of your software and consider how it affects your overall implementation of Blackboard Learn. It's time to consider how you manage your own internal quality assurance process!
Delivering and maintaining high quality software are of the utmost importance to Blackboard's Product Development. Ensuring quality across such large, feature-rich applications is no easy task. We'll share how we leverage large automation framework to test Blackboard Learn products. You'll get valuable insight into creating a viable test automation framework that can help you ensure continued quality of your own Blackboard deployment.
In this session, you will learn: tools, methodologies, and practical approaches that makes Blackboard testing automation successful; costs and benefits of leveraging open source tools to build automation framework; pitfalls to avoid, and the skills, knowledge, and approaches that make automation reliable, reusable, and maintainable.
PPT

Customizing the User Interface in Blackboard Learn, Release 9
George Kroner, Blackboard
PPT

BbWorld 2009 Performance Forensics Workshop
Stephen Feldman, Blackboard
PPT

Ensure Optimal Performance and Scalability: Implementing a Robust and Reliable Monitoring Reference Architecture
Stephen Feldman, Blackboard
PPT

Best Practices For Scaling Heavily Adopted And Concurrent Blackboard Learn Deployments
Stephen Feldman, Blackboard
PPT