NOVA Faculty Members Make Huge Strides in Blackboard Skills!

TAC has just finished updating the faculty Blackboard competent list, reflecting data as of Oct. 1, 2009, and I am so proud of our faculty's accomplishments! Between Aug. 24 – Oct. 1, 2009, NOVA significantly increased its number of FT faculty who could teach online in an emergency.

In terms of BB competency for FT faculty, we moved from 22.73% to 44.23% -- an increase of 21.50%. Also, if we group those FT faculty who are BB competent with those who are almost BB competent, we see that on Aug. 24, only 35.93% of our FT faculty met those criteria. However, by Oct. 1, 67.29% of our FT faculty achieved BB competence or near competence, which represents an increase of 31.36%. The MEC leads the way in this initiative with 80% of its FT faculty achieving BB competency. Kudos to that campus! :)

Although our FT faculty members are making huge strides in their BB skills, other groups at NOVA are also gaining competence in Blackboard. I was pleased to see so many other groups taking TAC training and using their BB skills. This includes our adjunct faculty, continuing education faculty, librarians, and computer lab staff. We are moving forward in BB competence as a college!

NOVA Go! Kit Goes Online

To help you prepare for teaching online in an emergency, ELI and TAC have prepared the NOVA Go! Kit, your place to turn in case you suddenly find yourself teaching online. You can view (and print!) this kit here http://www.nvcc.edu/faculty-and-staff/GoKit.pdf

The kit is divided into the following broad sections:

• Prepare in Advance
• Ideas for Moving Classroom Activities Online
• Online Teaching Expectations
• Key Resources
• What to Do When the Time Comes

The "Prepare in Advance" emphasizes the importance of having a plan in the event of an emergency and communicating your plan to your students. It includes an emergency statement you should post as a permanent announcement in your Blackboard course or distribute on paper to your students if you are not currently using Blackboard to supplement your face-to-face teaching.

Please be sure your students know your plan.