UWinsite Student, the new system to replace the current Student Information System, will be going live on November 26, 2018.
What will the new UWinsite Student mean for Blackboard users?
You shouldn’t notice much of a change within Blackboard except for:
– course codes/names will be different in the new system. Course codes will now be a combination of letters and numbers which will be more intuitive than simply numbers. A course code translator is available at http://uwindsor.ca/registrar/courses/translation
– multiple-semester courses will have a suffix of “A” (first semester) or “B” (second semester) associated with the Course ID,
– the Export to eGrade tool (found under Course Tools in your Control Panel) will be turned off effective November 20. (It will be replaced with the new Transfer Final grades tool by December 3.)
– integrations with SIS/UWinsite Student will be suspended on November 21. No new student adds or drops from courses will be processed until November 27. There shouldn’t be much of this activity at this time anyway.
– The UWindsor mobile app will discontinue sending push announcements as of November 21. Blackboard’s mobile apps (student and instructor) still send push notifications. Apps are available from your device’s app store online.
– Blackboard integration with UWinsite Student will begin on November 26.
– Blackboard integration updates (student add/drops from course sites) with new UWinsite Student resumes November 27,
– a new tool for transferring of final grades out of Blackboard, Transfer Final Grades, will become available effective December 3,
– Winter 2019 course shells should be completed by December 3 (or earlier depending on the cut-over to UWinsite Student), and
– Grade submission rosters are expected to be available by Monday, December 3, which is the earliest date that Fall 2018 grades can be submitted.
When do I get my new W2019 Course Shell?
As November 30 is the first day for student registration, Winter 2019 course shells will be delayed slightly this year. Automation of course shells should complete by December 3 (or possibly earlier depending on the cut-over to UWinsite Student). In the meantime, if you wish to have a developmental template site that you can create your course in, then please request a template site and then use the Course Copy Utility when you receive your automated course shell. Details on requesting these sites and using the Course Copy Utility is available at http://mediawikibe.uwindsor.ca/wiki/index.php/Getting_Blackboard_Course_Sites#Early_Birds_-_Getting_a_Course_Site_Well_in_Advance
Is there an app for that?
November 21 marks the day when the UWindsor mobile app will no longer send out notifications from Blackboard such as Announcements. This mainly affects students, but there may be some instructors and staff that utilize the UWindsor mobile app. To receive updates directly from Blackboard, however, there are mobile apps for both instructors and students available from your device’s app store. The earlier Bb Mobile Learn app was removed from app stores on 8/1/17, so the current student app is called Blackboard app. Instructors are to use the Blackboard Instructor app. If you or your students are noticing any issues with the app, Blackboard has recommended to uninstall the app and re-download and install the app on your mobile device.
Mobile Compatible Tests Option
Since Blackboard updated its mobile applications, the feature to build Mobile Compatible tests is no longer necessary and will be removed from the system effective January 2019. Instructors are encouraged to utilize mobile compatible test questions such as true/false, multiple choice, short answer, essay or either/or types of question. If using other question types, encourage students to open and complete the test in a desktop browser.
December 2018 Holiday Recess Blackboard Support
This year, the December Holiday Recess occurs from December 22 to January 1. During that time, the university will be closed, and support services are unavailable. Therefore, instructors are encouraged to complete all operations related to Blackboard prior to the recess, such as transferring final grades, custom requests for Blackboard site support (merging, templates, organization requests), etc. Urgent issues should be identified when submitting a TeamDynamix Service Request as there will be a limited review of mission-critical issues during the break. All other issues will be addressed when the university returns in a priority sequence. UWindsor online self-help pages are available at http://www.uwindsor.ca/blackboard.