Extending the Reach with Blackboard+

Enhancing the Student Blended Learning Experience through Good Online

Course Design

Ruth Greenaway

Centre for Support and Advancement of Learning and Teaching, University of the Sunshine Coast,

Maroochydore, Australia

Keywords: Blended Learning, Blackboard, Bottom-up Approach, Engaging Learners, Structuring Learning,

Online Learning Environment, Online Course Design, Change.

Abstract: The implementation of Bb+ supports the increasing use of a blended learning approach in tertiary education:

a fundamental requirement of modern tertiary education. The use of a blended approach facilitates the

expansion of the University both physically and virtually as courses are increasingly offered online across

the sector. The Blackboard Plus (Bb+) initiative has been developed to broadly and significantly improve

the quality of the student experience when using the University’s online learning environment. This will

ensure consistency in design and structure across courses in a degree program to improve access to learning

materials and for ease of navigation. Bb+ consists of a number of components to guide and support

academics with its implementation as they design blended educational programs. To empower academics a

bottom-up approach to the implementation of Bb+ is utilised to create the change and to maintain

momentum and lasting change across the University.

1 INTRODUCTION

The learning journey that students take as they

navigate through tertiary education is unique and

their interaction with technology can define or

enhance their experience. Ensuring that each student

has access to digital resources and are fully

supported through the effective use of technology is

an important step in enhancing that journey.

Ensuring each student has a good experience with

technology was the driver for the introduction of

what has been called Blackboard Plus (Bb+). The

learning management system, Blackboard (Bb), is

used at the University where Bb+ was designed and

is to be implemented in 2016. At this University the

courses were primarily taught face to face but over

the past few years the University has moved towards

a blended learning model and is now considering

fully online courses. Regardless of the delivery

mode all courses have a Blackboard course site,

whether the course is taught face-to-face or online,

locally or globally. Academics are encouraged to

consider their Blackboard course site as an extension

of their physical classroom, to enhance student

learning by extending the reach to students in

environments away from the main University

campus.

Students require instructions to navigate the

Blackboard course site just as they do in a face-to-

face learning environment. This notion ensures that

the curriculum is student-focused, explicit and

relevant with intentional integration and sequencing

of knowledge, skills and attitudes to enhance their

learning experience (Nelson et al., 2014). However,

all too often Blackboard course sites are organised in

different ways and students have told us that the

inconsistency of navigation and organisation of

materials across courses and programs is confusing

and frustrating. This additional problem solving and

navigation leads to cognitive overload and fatigue.

Thomée’s (2012) study revealed that “computer

work requires prolonged concentration and mental

presence and is therefore a risk for cognitive

overload and fatigue”. To improve the student

experience the Centre for Support and Advancement

of Learning and Teaching (C~SALT) at the

University worked closely with a team of academics

to develop and implement Bb+. The team included a

representative from each School, namely the

Blended Learning Academic Leaders and Course

488

Greenaway, R.

Extending the Reach with Blackboard+ - Enhancing the Student Blended Learning Experience through Good Online Course Design.

In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2016) - Volume 1, pages 488-493

ISBN: 978-989-758-179-3

Coordinators who coordinate large first year courses,

to impact as many students as possible. The team of

academics play a vital role in the success of this

initiative therefore we have chosen a bottom-up

approach. A bottom-up approach seeks to involve

those most affected to avoid the pitfalls of imposed

change. When innovation is needed a bottom-up

approach is more appropriate (Anderson, 2014). An

important element of a bottom-up project structure

requires collaborative knowledge sharing, and

knowledge building, to support one another and to

create new knowledge for the institution (Carbonell,

et al., 2013). A key advantage of using such teams

for bottom-up change processes is their cross-

functionality (Edmondson, 2008). The team piloted

Bb+ and gave feedback prior to the full

implementation across the University. We refer to

this group as the ‘first adopters’. The first adopters

were assisted in developing their courses through a

series of workshops and one-on-one help from

technical staff. These courses are now being used as

examples for colleagues to view as the Bb+ initiative

is rolled out across the whole University.

The inclusion of academics in the development

process is key to the approach taken and to the

success of Bb+. Ultimately it is the academics that

will design their course site and the learning

experiences as they would for delivery in a physical

learning space. To empower academics a bottom-up

approach to the implementation of Bb+ is utilised to

create the change and to design blended educational

programs suited for local and global needs

(Carbonell et al., 2013). A bottom-up approach to

Bb+ has harnessed the enthusiasm of the first

adopters to create momentum and lasting change

across the University.

2 WHAT IS BLACKBOARD+?

Bb+ is a University-wide initiative to broadly and

significantly improve the quality of the student

experience in the Univerity’s online learning

environment. The initiative, supported by the

C~SALT curriculum support team, is designed to

assist academic staff in making the change from a

face-to-face to a blended approach to learning. It

aims to bring consistency of course design and

presentation across courses and programs whilst

ensuring that the underlying pedagogy enhances

learning. The goal is to improve the student

experience when navigating Blackboard, which in

turn will improve the opportunity to meet the course

learning outcomes. A logo has been created that is

easily recognisable and states the intention of the

initiative: to enhance the student experience. The

logo is used to pull together all the support materials

and to model the underlying principles of Bb+ of

consistency across courses.

2.1 Why are we doing this?

The challenges of working with the University

learning management system, Blackboard, were first

highlighted by students who voiced their frustration

regarding access to learning materials on their

Blackboard course sites. Learning materials are

sometimes difficult to find or are housed in different

areas or folders in each course across their programs,

resulting in students expectations not being met.

Examples include missed readings or activities that

prepare students for the next tutorial, valuable

assistance with assessment items being missed or

quizzes which aid in revision for exams not being

attempted.

The University has an online database of

frequently asked questions where students can find

assistance with a range of issues. The number of

visits to the database was investigated to establish

where students greatest challenges lie during their

studies. The most visited question at 45 per cent was

“Where can I get Blackboard help?” and many other

visits were to questions regarding the use of

Blackboard, where to find things in Blackboard or

general technology questions. This evidence

supported the need for greater clarity for students

regarding their Blackboard course sites and the need

for a University wide Blended Learning Strategy.

The implementation of Bb+ supports the

increasing use of a blended learning approach in

tertiary education. “Blended Learning is the fusion

of educational technologies and teaching in physical

and virtual environments to enhance the student

learning experience, which is the present and future

for modern tertiary education. It is not an optional

activity. It is fundamental to modern tertiary

education” (Blended Learning Strategy, 2014-2016).

The use of a blended approach facilitates the

expansion of the University both physically and

virtually as courses are increasingly offered online

across the sector. The University implemeted a

Blended Learning Strategy to provide a roadmap for

increasing the presence of blended learning across

its programs. Utilising the enormous potential of

modern educational technologies and the connective

possibilities of the Internet, together with informed

and creative pedagogies, blended learning provides

an opportunity to maintain and leverage the

Extending the Reach with Blackboard+ - Enhancing the Student Blended Learning Experience through Good Online Course Design

489

University’s existing strengths, while using

technology to extend its reach, in terms of student

numbers and locality.

The intended outcomes of the Blended Learning

Strategy is to systematically embed educational

technologies that enrich the student learning

experience, specifically to:

 Accelerate and deepen learning;

 Increase flexibility of access to, and

participation in, formal and informal blended

learning experiences;

 Align learning, teaching and assessment

practices and

 Advance the use of mobile devices for

learning.

The enrichment of the student learning

experience in a blended learning environment is

becoming more and more important because the way

we learn is changing as society becomes

increasingly digital (McIntyre, 2010). Keppell

(2014) summarises the value of blended learning by

stating that it offers more opportunities and spaces

for student learning, and that it caters to the students

of the future.

To ensure the needs of students are being met,

each school has a Blended Learning School Plan

outlining how these intended outcomes will be

realised. In each of these plans, Bb+ is the main goal

for 2016 as it assists and supports academics to meet

these intended outcomes.

One Faculty investigated the use of blended

learning across its schools. They conducted a course

mapping survey in Semester 1 and 2 in 2015

involving 169 undergraduate courses. Although the

final results are not available, a cursory investigation

provides some preliminary findings supporting the

need for an initiative such as Bb+. It was revealed,

yet not unexpected, that academics use their course

sites as a repository for holding information rather

than an extension of their physical classroom. The

traditional face-to-face model of learning and

teaching is well entrenched at the University despite

a range of enabling technologies being readily

available for use by academics. Greater availability

of professional development opportunities is

required to ensure students are being offered flexible

and blended learning opportunities.

Another driver for the implementation of Bb+ is

the issue of attrition, particularly in the first year of

tertiary study. The University is implementing first

year initiatives that target attrition such as attending

to first year transition pedagogies that, “seek to

mediate the diversity in preparedness and cultural

capital” of first year students (Kift, 2009). Bb+ plus

will support these initiatives by improving access to

curriculum in Blackboard course sites. Kift (2009)

reports that the curriculum is one thing within

institutional structures that students have in

common. Bb+ will assist to, harness the curriculum

as the academic and social organising device, as “the

glue that holds knowledge and the broader student

experience together” (McInnis, 2001). The

University is assisting academics to organise the

curriculum through the implementation of Bb+ due

to its importance in enhancing the student

experience regardless of delivery mode.

2.2 Why is it Important?

Bb+ is important because it:

 Makes it easier for students to engage in

learning through an improved course site by

moving Blackboard from an online resource

repository to a dynamic online learning space

with improved functionality.

 Extends the reach of the classroom because it

helps students to more easily access, navigate

and contribute to online content and activities.

 Assists academic staff by providing a

framework for building, reviewing and

renewing curriculum in their Blackboard

course sites.

 Provides a way for course coordinators to offer

the same experience to students across multiple

sites regardless of the delivery mode.

2.3 Multisite Delivery with the

Expansion of the University

The University is one of the fastest growing

universities in Australia and its footprint now

extends from the Sunshine Coast to the Fraser Coast

with a range of study locations. The University

provides a regional experience to an ever-increasing

number of students to the north of Brisbane and its

surrounding regions. It is necessary to strive to

maintain high quality program delivery and provide

equitable student experiences across the various

learning sites. It is important to note that multi-site

delivery poses both challenges and opportunities for

learning and teaching

Classrooms across the world are changing. In

addition to face to face teaching, blended learning,

online and technology-enhanced models of

education are fundamental to the way that university

students interact with course content, their teachers

and peers, and the broader world. The single site

bricks and mortar institution is becoming a rarity in

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Australia’s higher education scene. It is being

replaced by multiple campus locations; work

integrated learning (WIL) sites and online learning

spaces. These developments challenge educators to

reconceptualise and redesign how quality-learning

experiences can be sustained in new environments.

Even more challenging than managing quality and

consistency is leveraging this variety of learning

sites to capitalise on the diversity that is inherent

within them. Another important challenge for multi-

site projects is effectively evaluating the innovation

in terms of student learning outcomes, achievement,

retention and student satisfaction and balancing this

against other considerations such as sustainability

and financial viability of the innovation. Bb+ will be

the beginning of a number of initiatives to connect

students from all sites with each other, with the

learning materials and with academics.

2.4 What are the Components of Bb+?

A successful bottom up approach takes a high level

of commitment from the Institution administrators

and academics (Carbonell et al., 2013). With this in

mind the components, resources and support

provided for the implementation of Bb+ have been

thoughtfully produced over an extended period of

time. There are a number of components that make

up Bb+. The Core Elements, Course Templates, a

Content Layout Tool, a Bb+ Sample Course:

Bb+101 and a learning module for academics called

Extending the Reach. The Core Elements identify

important requirements informed by universal

design principles (CAST, 2011) that assist students

to connect with the course and the learning

outcomes. The other resources assist academics in

developing and creating their course sites.

2.4.1 The Core Elements

The Core Elements assist students to connect with

the course as they work towards the learning

outcomes. The core elements were developed as a

part of the Blended learning Strategy which

recommended a minimum standard be applied to all

course sites. The minimum standard was developed

by C~SALT in conjunction with the team of

academics mentioned in section 1. As the

terminology minimum standard may be limiting we

have chosen to refer to them as the Core Elements.

The core elements are presented in a good practice

guide, supported by a checklist.

The good practice guide outlines the core

elements that every course site should contain to

structure the curriculum because the curriculum is

where “time poor students are entitled to expect

academic and social relevance, support and

engagement” (Kift, 2009). The good practice guide

is organised in two sections: Structuring Learning

and Engaging Learners. In each section there are a

number of important principles and practices of

good online course design. The principles are:

 Course organisation should be simple, intuitive

and consistent across courses in a program.

 Course structure should be logical, easy to

navigate and consistent.

Content should actively engage learners,

promote deep learning, model academic

integrity and support students to achieve course

learning outcomes;

 Provide multiple opportunities for

collaboration and interaction using a variety of

synchronous and asynchronous tools and

 To provide authentic and well-explained

opportunities for students to demonstrate

learning through assessment.

The core elements good practice guide also includes

a statement of the results that can be achieved if the

core elements are applied to a Blackboard course

site. The results of implementing the core elements

will be:

 Increased predictability and reduction in

cognitive overload on students helping them to

intuitively locate information, assessment and

resources across courses in a program;

 Content is easy to find and predictable,

supports flexible and individual learning

pathways;

 Students learn disciplinary theory and practices

that directly relate to the learning outcomes,

through access to scaffolded learning

experiences that use multiple (copyright

approved) resources;

 The development of a community of learners

that leads to improved student learning and

course satisfaction, and

 Student assessment output represents

meaningful and consolidated learning across

time.

An icon is used consistently throughout Bb+ to

represent each of the principles. Similar icons are

found in the good practice guide and the sample site

and will be used by academics in the Blackboard

course sites. Students will become familiar with the

icons and can use them as another guide when

navigating their course site. The icons are arranged

in the course templates to support academics in the

design process.

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A checklist containing guiding questions is

included at the end of the good practice guide. The

questions enable academics to reflect on their course

site after implementing the core elements to ensure

that they have all been met. The questions are

generic and include questions such as:

 Do you consider the course organisation to be

logical, consistent, and easy to access and

navigate?

 Are there clear and well-explained assessment

task with a marking rubric and instructions

available in one location?

 Are there clear expectations of how students

will receive feedback?

 Have you provided students with opportunities

to collaborate?

 Has your degree program team developed a

consistent layout, look and feel?

Course coordinators across a degree program of

study are encouraged to discuss a standard approach,

design or format for their course sites. This will

ensure the course sites for students will be easy to

navigate and materials will be found in the same

area as they attempt all courses in their degree

program resulting in a reduction in cognitive fatigue.

2.4.2 Course Templates

The course templates are automatically uploaded for

academics by the Educational Technologies Team

within C~SALT. Academics can choose to use the

templates or create their own structure. If academics

decide to use and fill in the templates with their own

information and content they will be meeting the core

elements. The content of the course will be found

under the Learning Materials heading. The learning

materials can be organised into folders or modules

and a template has been provided for each design. A

content layout tool has been developed to enable

academics to organise the learning materials with

explicit instructions as to the purpose of each item. It

also enables them to apply their personal touch to the

course and to improve the “look and feel”.

2.4.3 Content Layout Tool

The content layout tool was developed to provide

academics with additional functionality without

having to learn any web authoring language. One of

the challenges with using web technology to deliver

online and blended learning is that content authors

(academics in this case) are unfamiliar with the web

authoring language - Hypertext Markup Language

(HTML). Blackboard comes with a basic TinyMCE

WYSIWYG editor (What You See Is What You Get

editor), however the Bb+ initiative needed to deliver

a user experience beyond the functionality of this

basic editor.

In forming the foundation of a Blackboard

building block ‘JSHACK’, an interactive Content

Layout tool was developed, allowing academics to

quickly prepare consistent, pre-designed learning

materials. The tool works by providing a library of

pre-designed HTML artefacts, stored in JavaScript

Object Notation (JSON) format that can be chosen

from a drop down menu and dropped into course

sites ready for academics to populate the learning

content. The Content Layout Tool supports the Bb+

initiative with the benefits of rapid course building

and consistent design elements whilst concealing

HTML code from the users.

2.4.4 Sample Course Site: Bb+101

The purpose of the sample course site is to provide

academic staff with an annotated course that

demonstrates the Core Elements of Bb+. It has

examples of how each of the core elements and

templates can be used and how a course can be

designed. Each section of content has explicit

instructions as to its purpose and is annotated

highlighting the applicable Core Elements, icons and

design notes. It is designed to model good online

practice for academics to replicate if it suits the

needs of their course. The underlying theoretical

principles behind the core elements taken from the

learning module: Extending the Reach provides the

content for the Bb+101 sample course site.

2.4.5 Learning Module: Extending the

Reach

Extending the Reach online learning module

provides background theoretical principles that

outline the rationale for the structure and design of

Blackboard course sites. The learning module guides

academics through two topics, which are closely

linked to the Core Elements: Structuring Learning

and Engaging Learners. The learning module is self-

paced and provides readings, activities and

reflections to encourage participants to think about

the materials they develop for their students and how

they could be improved to enhance the student

experience and to meet the Core Elements.

Academics are introduced to the idea of

integrating constructive alignment processes and

learning centred approaches to structure their

Blackboard course site for greater learner

engagement. Constructive alignment is considered to

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be the systematic alignment of teaching strategies.

The learning activities and assessment tasks are

aligned with the intended learning

outcomes. Constructive alignment structures the

curriculum design and purposefully centres the

learning activities – what students do – into the

fabric of the course learning outcomes. Seminal

research by Biggs and Tang (2007) into teaching

quality at universities reported increasingly large

numbers of university teachers found value in using

constructive alignment practices. Constructive

alignment is encouraged when renewing curriculum

and applying Bb+ to course sites.

2.4.6 Support

Support will be made available to academics who

feel that they need assistance to organise and

redesign their course. Others however, have already

organised their course sites meeting the core

elements and in fact are the driving forces behind the

implementation. This bottom up approach is key to

the success of the changes. As Carbonell, Dailey-

Herbert and Gijselaers (2013) report a bottom-up

approach contains the potential to unleash necessary

creativity to accomplish complex change processes

such as design; development and scaling-up blended

learning programs at an institutional level. It is

expected that all course sites will have a Bb+

makeover in 2016.

3 CONCLUSIONS

A bottom-up approach to the implementation of Bb+

has been deemed the most advantageous as it

empowers academics to create the change that

students are seeking (Edmondson, 2008).

Additionally, the University has put in place the

resources and support required to enable academics

to make changes. It is committed to enhancing the

student experience and ensuring first year students,

in particular, have the tools they require to be

successful. An evaluation of the changes will be

conducted at the end of semester 1 and again at the

end of semester 2 in 2016 through a series of focus

groups with students and academics. The results of

the implementation of Bb+ will be reported in 2017.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author acknowledges the staff from the Centre

for Support and Advancement of Learning and

Teaching and the team of academics for their work

on this initiative and their contributions to this

article.

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