Dear Blackboard Faculty,
The Blackboard transition from Blackboard v5.5 to Blackboard v6 is at hand. Copying of courses from the v5.5 server to the v6 server is planned for February 2005. You must let Ruth Smith know whether you want your current Blackboard courses copied onto the new Blackboard v6 server ASAP. You’ll see no change in your v5.5 Bb account or classes they will just be copied to the new server.
The actual conversion will take place – v6 will go live-- this Summer (2005) --- all Blackboard courses for Summer 2005 and forward will be in the new Blackboard v6.
NOTE: You must let Ruth Smith know which courses you want to move by January 24, 2005. Because of the VCCS system deadline we cannot make exceptions. If you miss the deadline, you will have to start over with new course containers in Bb v6. The Bb v5.5 server and anything left on it will be irretrievable once they “pull the plug”!
Let Ruth know about any previous course(s) that you want moved, i.e., any courses you've built in Blackboard prior to (and including) Spring 2005. You can decide to move old courses into the new version, or build courses from scratch in the new version, or any combination of these two activities (please keep reading for advice on which to do)!
You will need to complete the Migration Resources Request Form to submit the course IDs for the courses you would like moved.
You must complete the form for each course you want moved. The form is located at this link:
http://lothlorien.vccs.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1104936688882
You should archive all of your courses by the end of Spring 05. Remember that you need to archive course content separately from your course grades (i.e., these are two different processes).
Directions for archiving courses are at this link: http://tncc.edu/faculty/smith/documents/Blackboard%20Archiving%20&%20%20Recycling.pdf
Once the course move is completed, Ruth will let you know when you can begin using the regular Request From process for SU05.
How do you decide whether to move old Bb courses or build new courses in Bb v6?
Reasons you might want to move old Bb courses:
- If you have considerable customized content and/or a complex course
instance that you need to re-create in the new version, then you should
probably move. - If you use a publisher's course cartridge (non-copy-protected), and
have made significant modifications that you would like to keep, then
you should probably move. - If you don't mind trying to figure out which "bugs" are from the
older version, and/or which ones were introduced as a result of the
migration (moving courses).
Reasons you might want to start from scratch:
- If you have a fairly simple Blackboard course, and are just interested in starting from scratch in the new version.
- If you use a publisher's course cartridge that is copy-protected, you will need to start from scratch with a new cartridge in v6.
- If you want to explore how new version 6 features work (without trying to fix migration problems carried over from the older version), then starting from scratch will help insure "clean" course containers.
Since Bb 5.5 and Bb 6 will be running in tandem for a short period of time, you will need to keep track of which of your courses are on the old Bb version/server, and which ones are on the new Bb version/server. This just means that you will need to be especially careful about updating things in the right place this Spring. You will be given the Bb 6 URL in late February so you can check to see if your courses were moved successfully.
Additional information and faculty training tutorials about the Bb version 6 are available at:
http://www.tncc.edu/blackboard/bb6_faculty.htm
Additional training opportunities will be available to faculty during Spring 2005. Watch for the announcements.
If you have any questions, please contact us. Thanks!
Michael H. Bruno
Dean, Instructional Services / Historic Triangle
757-253-4300 (Voice)
Ruth K. Smith
Instructional Technology Designer
Learning Management System Administrator
757-825-2807 (Voice)
757-479-3378 (Home)
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