Introduction
The University of North Florida upgraded from Blackboard Academic Suite 7.3 to Blackboard Learn 9.0 prior to the start of the fall 2009 semester. A successful pilot of Blackboard Academic Suite 8.0 was completed during the spring 2009 semester. However, with the release of Blackboard Learn 9.0, a decision was made to skip the upgrade to Blackboard Academic Suite 8.0 and to upgrade to the latest release, Blackboard Learn 9.0.
Communication & User Support
- All Instructor Emails
- System Announcements
- UNF Bb Blog: http://unfbb.blogspot.com/
- Campus Update/Student Update
- Phone Calls
- Walk-ins
Workshops
http://www.unf.edu/dept/cirt/events/past_events.html
- Blackboard 101 – 5 sessions
- Blackboard 9 New Features – 11 sessions
- Group Tools in Blackboard – 4 sessions
- Blackboard Grade Center – 12 sessions
Just in Time Training
Lessons Learned
- Worst time to upgrade is between summer and fall because there are less faculty on campus for training during the summer and new faculty and students in the fall semester require Blackboard orientation/training.
- Optimal time to upgrade is between spring and summer semesters; previously not possible, however, a change in the academic calendar will allow from this point on.
- We are not trailblazers; from now on, we will let other people work out bugs/issues before we upgrade.
- Just-in-time training, phone support and walk-in support are key.
What's Next?
- Twitter Updates: https://twitter.com/CIRTUNF_Bb
- Upgrade to Blackboard 9.0 SP 3 between summer and fall
- Upgrade to Blackboard 9.1 between spring and summer 2011
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