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Learning Design Toolbox
Learning Design Services provides pedagogical support for effective use of educational resources, tools and technologies. We offer ongoing support through:
- Online and F2F Consults: Book a Consult at bit.ly/learningdesignconsult
- Drop-in Virtual Office Hours: Visit umassboston.zoom.us/my/learningdesignservices.
- Find our virtual office hours and more faculty resources on our Learning Design Services website.
Support
Instructional designers are here to help apply technology for your course, including Blackboard and more.
Course Design Help
General IT Tech Support
Tools
Collaboration
- Zoom is a video conferencing tool for chatting and sharing screens.
- Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a video conferencing tool for chatting, sharing screens, plus Blackboard attendance, and groups. Now see up to 25 attendees at a time.
- Pronto provides synchronous text chat features.
- Google Workspace: Collaborate with other Google Drive users using your UMass Boston account to access the full Google Workspace suite of apps.
- Blogs: Create a website using WordPress at blogs.umb.edu.
Engagement
- VoiceThread is a multimedia tool in Blackboard to narrate PowerPoints, allow threaded discussions in audio and video formats, assign group projects and more!
- Echo360 is an Active Learning Platform that combines video, lecture capture, polling and course analytics at echo360.umb.edu.
- iClicker Assignments allows you to create low stakes quizzes from PowerPoint presentations.
- The Blackboard App (for students) / Blackboard Instructor App gives access to course material on a mobile device.
Assessment
- SafeAssign is a built-in Blackboard plagiarism prevention tool.
- Respondus Lockdown Browser & Monitor are two tools that increase the security of test delivery in Blackboard.
- Gradescope makes it easier for instructors to quickly grade remote and paper-based assignments and gain additional insights about student learning.
- Respondus 4.0 allows you to import text-based tests (Word, etc.) into Blackboard.
Resources
Blackboard
- Blackboard includes helpful tools for communication, content delivery, assessment, grading and more. Login at umb.umassonline.net.
- Need 24/7 help? Visit the Learning Design Technical Support page for more information.
ALLY
- ALLY automatically identifies ADA accessibility issues with course content and helps remediate the content to improve access for all learners.
- umb.edu/learningdesign/accessibility
LinkedIn Learning
- 16,000+ videos on relevant topics, including MS Office, Blackboard, Photoshop. Faculty can link directly to videos from within Blackboard courses. Completion certificates can be displayed on a LinkedIn profile to enhance employability.
- umb.edu/learningdesign/tools/linkedinlearning