UMKC Information Access - Instructional Technology Services

UMKC Information Access

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	Instructional Technology Services

Instructional Technology Services (ITS) - provides services, resources, and guidance needed for effective use of technology in teaching, learning, and scholarship through the use of the tools referred to here including Blackboard, eInstruction, ePortfolio, ListServ, LockDown Browser, SharePoint, Tegrity (course-podcasting), Campus Pack--blogs,wikis, portfolios, podcasting; Respondus, Turnitin.com, and Wimba Classroom, Pronto (instant messaging) and Voice.

ITS also provides a variety of Audio and Video services to the UMKC campus including: Videoconferencing, ITV Classroom Facilities, DVD Duplication, VHS to DVD transfers, audio encoding and ripping, Video Production, Studio Production, Location Video Taping, Video Archiving, and Video Stream Service. Time Warner and Comcast cable channels KCEN and KCHN are also managed by ITS. Satellite up and down links are also available for delivery to any point on campus.

ITS Software: Macintosh-Compatibility Matrix

View System Outage information

Blackboard Login

UMKC Instructional Technology Conference 2009

Couldn't make it to the conference? Video archives are available on the conference website now!

Blackboard, Wimba, and Emergency Preparedness

In the event of an emergency shutdown of the UMKC campus or in the situation where a significant portion of the students in a class were unable to attend, e.g., widespread H1N1, the technology infrastructure currently in place allows for course instruction to shift quickly to a totally online environment. This holds true even in a situation where power outage or hardware damage renders campus-housed servers and networks totally inaccessible*. As long as students and instructors have access to the internet from any location, coursework can continue without interruption.

For each course taught at UMKC, a corresponding shell site is created on the Blackboard server. Students enrolled in each class have access to the corresponding Blackboard site, as do the instructors. Should the need arise, course documents can quickly be uploaded to those sites for students to retrieve and view. Built-in discussion boards, announcements, and an internal messaging system would support student-faculty communication, and other Blackboard tools would allow student assignment submission, administration of tests, and similar course functions to continue online. Wimba Classroom, closely integrated with Blackboard, permits students and faculty to meet online and conduct synchronous classroom sessions, complete with audio, video, application sharing, group web browsing, and a whiteboard.

* The Blackboard application and database servers are housed in a remote location with backups stored offsite. Oracle Data Guard is used to provide a standby database in a third location distant from both the servers and the backup storage; this database can be switched into production within moments. Users authenticate to Blackboard does not depend on Kansas City. The servers for Wimba Classroom, which can be utilized independently of Blackboard, are housed in New York.

See also:

Emergency Preparedness and Wimba

Wimba_Pandemic_Response


	Help Sessions

2009 Summer Workshop Series

Did you miss out on the Summer Workshops Series? The next workshop series will be August 12-14, 2009. More information will be posted soon.

Get Your Own Workshop
Why wait for a scheduled workshop when you can schedule your own, on your terms? If you can get five people to participate, we can work with you to arrange a workshop around your schedule and your individual interests or needs. To schedule a workshop, contact ITS@umkc.edu.

Email us at ITS@umkc.edu; stop in at Fine Arts, Room 314 or call us at 816-235-6700 for more information

You can also use the ITS Blackboard Support Site for step-by-step directions and tips & tricks for most Blackboard tasks.


	Offered Support

Audio/Video Services - Contact us for any of the following services: Videoconferencing, ITV Classroom Facilities, DVD Duplication, VHS to DVD transfers, audio encoding and ripping, Video Production, Studio Production, Location Video Taping, Video Archiving, and Video Stream Service.

Comcast and Time Warner Programming Schedules

Blackboard Course Management System - provides tools used for presenting course content and other materials online. Blackboard includes components for communicating with students, managing course grade books, creating, and administering tests, and allows instructors to give their students secure, password-controlled access to their course materials from virtually any computer with an internet connection. Sites are available to all faculty and staff members and can be used for course delivery, staff training, and organizational collaboration.

Blackboard Request System - available from the "Request System" tab within Blackboard, this tool allows UMKC faculty and staff to submit requests to modify instructor assignments in a course, copy content from one semester to another, combine multiple sections of a course, or create a new organization site.

Campus Pack- is a suite of applications within Blackboard: JournalLX (Blogs), TeamsLX (Wikis), ExpoLX (Personal website builder & blogging tool), PodcastLX, and SearchLX.

eInstruction - Classroom Performance System (CPS) - The eInstruction system adds interactivity to your classroom. With the receiver and response pads, you can give short quizzes, take attendance, play learning games, instantly assess students' comprehension of your lecture, and more. CPS receivers are installed in many Ideal Learning Environment ILE classrooms.

Learning Object Creation - using media and/or resources from a secondary source, Instructional Technology Services staff members aid in converting movies into streaming objects, optically scanning documents, creating Blackboard-ready exams, and other learning objects.

Listserv electronic mailing list - using L-Soft's LISTSERV software lists can be configured to fit a wide range of needs and purposes, with multiple levels of moderation, formats such as announcement-only or free-discussion, message archiving, daily/weekly digests, and many other features. List owners have a great deal of control and flexibility. LISTSERV also supports multiple owners and/or editors, allowing a list to be administered by a team. Mailing lists are available for use by student, staff, or faculty organizations, professional or academic-interest groups, classes, academic or staff units, etc.

Request a Listserv

Podcasting - Learn about an exciting new technology that can greatly increase student retention in your courses--Tegrity. Also, try a simple way of just using your voice to send podcasts to students with Wimba Voice Podcaster.

Respondus - a powerful tool for creating and managing exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to Blackboard. Exams can be created offline using a familiar Windows environment program (like Microsoft Word) or moved from one eLearning system to another. Whether you are a veteran of online testing or relatively new to it, Respondus can save you hours on each project. For more information regarding Respondus please see the Blackboard site "Information for UMKC Blackboard Instructors." All UMKC faculty are automatically enrolled in this site.

Respondus LockDown Browser - a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within Blackboard. When students use LockDown Browser, they are unable to print, copy, go to another URL, or access other applications. When an assessment is started, students are locked into it until they submit it for grading. Use of Respondus is required for Lockdown Browser. For more information regarding Lockdown Browser, please see the Blackboard site "Information for UMKC Blackboard Instructors." All UMKC faculty are automatically enrolled in this site.

SharePoint- a collaboration tool for enhancing the efforts to share and organize information among various individuals and team members. SharePoint can be customized to fit the needs of the team or organization. Various site templates are available for use, including team site, basic meeting templates.

Tegrity Podcasting/Coursecasting - Tegrity Campus 2.0 allows coursecasting, basic and enhanced podcasting, streaming, and/or downloading of recorded/archived content. Recorded lectures include the instructor's voice and computer screenshots. Class recordings are automatically given chapter headings based on instructor slide changes and application switching. A visual index is then generated for each chapter, making lecture navigation easy.

Turnitin - Web-based plagiarism detection and prevention system available to all faculty and students. Through the turnitin.com web site, faculty, and students have the opportunity to check the originality of their writing assignments.

Training & Support - offered for the instructional technologies used at UMKC. Training sessions are customized to fit your needs.

Wimba Classroom - a live online Classroom integrated into Blackboard that supports multi-way audio, video, application sharing, polling and content display. Instructors may add vitally important elements of interaction not provided in a text-based course and personalize online courses by holding live, online classes, office hours, guest lectures, webcasts, or meetings. Record each session for students to access after class (archive).

Wimba Pronto - Have students meet with you via this instant messaging and voice chat tool. Wimba Pronto is synchronized with Blackboard. This means that students and teachers are automatically connected with other Wimba Pronto users enrolled in the same courses. Send a message to any user currently logged into Wimba Pronto. The user will immediately receive your message and can reply. You can continue your conversation via text messages until questions are answered.

Wimba Voice - offers five tools to facilitate and promote language learning, vocal instruction, collaboration, coaching, and assessment and increase the interaction and student engagement level in Blackboard.


	System Outages

Unable to get outages at this time.


	Contact Us

Instructional Technology Services staff members can be reached at (816) 235-6700 or ITS@umkc.edu.

Report a problem online.