Enhancements

Enhancements for Summer 2012

In July 2012 MyAberdeen was upgraded to Service Pack 8. This has introduced a number of enhancements to MyAberdeen, some of which are detailed below:

Context-specific navigation 

Quickly and easily move to the same area in another course. View the Blackboard video about context-specific navigation.

Improvements to Test features

Automatic regrading and negative marking will now be possible. View the Blackboard video about automatic regrading.

Easy editing of content using Bb Drive

Edit your materials, eg PowerPoint lecture slides, Word documents, directly on MyAberdeen. View the Blackboard video about Easy Edit with Bb Drive. Further information on Blackboard Drive is provided via the Centre for Academic Development's Quick Guides.

Activity reports

New reports on how students are utilizing your courses in MyAberdeen. For instructors, these are Course Activity Overview and Student Activity Overview in a Single Course.

Standards and Goals Alignments

Content can now be aligned to learning goals that you set up in your course area. This will enable you to run reports to identify gaps and determine student performance against these goals.

New cleaner interface - introduced on the 20th August 2012

A new, cleaner modern interface introduced on the 20th August. The Blackboard video on the new interface provides you with an idea of what this includes, though it has been customised to reflect the branding of MyAberdeen and new tab and sub-tab layout based on feedback from students on what they would like to see in MyAberdeen.

The Release Notes for Service Pack 8 provide detailed information on the the enhancements that were introduced to MyAberdeen on the 7 July 2012.

Enhancements introduced in release 9.1

Release 9.1 features social learning and teaching tools that foster more logical, visually impacting, and active learning opportunities for students. Some new features which may be of interest are highlighted below:

Communication & Collaboration Tools

  • Course Wikis enable active collaboration around course content and group projects.
  • Blogs and Journals promote conversation and reflection.
  • Group Tools simplify group communication and collaboration.

Interactivity

  • Mash-ups integrate Web 2.0 resources from youtube.com, slideshare.com and flickr.com. YouTube player with built in accessible controls.
       

YouTube.com

 Flickr.com

SlideShare.com
  • Instructor Dashboard monitors activity and progress by aggregating and filtering key course information so students and educators can see what's new and what needs attention through the lens of fresh activity.

Inclusion

  • Advanced Accessibility Options that have been Gold Level certified by the National Federation of the Blind for Non-Visual Accessibility.

Assessment

  • Customised Grading Views enables an educator to instantly view grade data. 
  • The Grade Centre provides enhanced feedback for tests, assignments, and group assignments.

Integrated Tools

  • TurnitinUK
  • QuestionMark Perception
  • ePortfolios

Peer Feedback

  • Self and Peer Assessment tool allows students to evaluate self and peer submissions.