About me…
Hi, I'm William De Wysockie (don't try to pronounce my last name - just call me Bill).
I'm the Blackboard Administrator at my institution. I write manuals and produce tutorials, and develop model courses for various innovative programs. My goal is to help educators find a trail through the technology wilderness.
Look for me on Twitter: @wdewysockie
Twitter Feeds
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
DevCon and BbWorld 2012: What I’ve posted
Ray Henderson at BbWorld 2012
Had a wonderful time at NOLA last week attending both DevCon and BbWorld 2012. Blackboard hosted a wide array of break-out sessions and had a few surprise announcements for the 3,500 folks attending.
I was able to present a session with two colleagues from SWBTS. Lots of folks asked very good questions (always a healthy sign!).
I’ve already blogged about my experiences. This page pulls it all together… Continue reading
Posted in BbWorld, Blackboard, Learning, SWBTS, Technology
Leave a comment
Some musings on the BbWorld 2012 keynote
During the BbWorld 2012 keynote, Michael Chasen reported some interesting facts:
- BbWorld 2012 drew 3,500 attendees from 1,000 institutions
- 280 partners were present
BbWorld 2012 keynote
Impressive numbers.
So what did Blackboard offer all these folks as take-away items that morning? For starters, they offered the cloud…
The cloud and xpLor
Blackboard announced adoption of the cloud. This makes sense – the cloud allows Blackboard to easily deliver more services across diverse platforms. A smart move following the assimilation of so many learning environments (e.g. Angel and Moodle). Continue reading
Posted in BbWorld, Blackboard, Instructional Design, Learning, Technology
Leave a comment
DevCon 2012: Understanding Blackboard Error Logs
Blackboard Learn includes a vast array of log files. So many, in fact, that they can be overwhelming for the neophyte Blackboard administrator. David Saltzman (Software Engineer, Blackboard Learn) presented a session at DevCon designed to pull the curtain on the mystery: Understanding Blackboard Error Logs. He described the most important logs and showed us how to read them.
What was the session’s guiding concept? Understanding Blackboard logs enables administrators to practice proactive administration.
Here are a few session highlights: Continue reading
Posted in BbWorld, Blackboard, Technology
Leave a comment
Blackboard and Security: Notes from DevCon 2012
During the DevCon keynote, David Ashmond (Principal Architect, Learn at Blackboard) announced some security changes coming down the pike:
- Blackboard is working on malicious file scanning.
- Blackboard will introduce multiple redundant layers of protections for the Blackboard environment.
Of course, any enhancements to Blackboard security will be welcomed by Blackboard admins. Personally, I have been looking for the introduction of scanning for viruses since it was announced at a previous DevCon. At least Blackboard is still announcing it, which means that they haven’t given up on it. In a Tuesday session on upcoming changes to Blackboard security, Stephanie Tan (Director of Product Security) also reported that this is an upcoming feature. Blackboard will be integrating with third-party anti-virus tools, of course, and not developing their own in-house app. A date or service pack number was not given for when this feature will be introduced. Continue reading
Posted in BbWorld, Blackboard, Security, Technology
Leave a comment