Blackboard Blackout
By Maggie Rhynes
IV Leader Staff
A recent crash of the Blackboard system, an online database
used in most IVCC classes left many instructors, students and technical support
staff with their heads spinning.
The system went down Tuesday, Nov. 29 apparently due to a
problem with the server or file corruption. The system was in working order by
Friday afternoon. No information was lost in the scare.
Webmaster Bob Hunter reportedly spent 13 hours working on the
problem and nearly 3 hours on the telephone with Blackboard support staff before
the problem was turned over the Blackboard engineers. By that time, tensions
were running high.
Susan Keopke, a first year accounting instructor feared for her grades, "If it
doesn't come back, if the information is lost, I'm going to end up with
subjective grades." She said.
Instructors are able to keep track of students' grades on
Blackboard. It is possible, and recommended, to download the grades into Excel
for safe keeping. Keopke admits, she probably should have downloaded the grades.
"I didn't download them, never thinking we'd have a program.
So now, I'll probably be really good about download them after this." Keopke
said last Thursday.
An emailing suggesting instructors download their grades was
sent to Blackboard users on Nov. 14; it was sent again Friday afternoon "highly
recommending" that instructors back up their grades weekly.
Instructors worried about the information they stored online found relief Friday
when the system returned, with all its information in tact.
Many instructors like Keopke use Blackboard to give
assignments as well as tests and quizzes.Physics instructor Dominic Sarsah said
he doesn't keep grades on Blackboard but he does use it in class. Sarsah said
last Thursday, "My students have a deadline for online quizzes, I extended it to
Dec. 9, hopefully it will be fixed by then."
Of more concern to Sarsah was his student's ability to
prepare for an upcoming test. "They have a test on Monday," he said, "They were
going to use the online quizzes to study for the exam."
The technical difficulties nearly left Sarsah's students
studying the old fashioned way until the system returned on Friday.
In a presentation to the board of trustees at the November board meeting, it was
reported that 119 courses are currently using the Blackboard system, up from 56
classes last spring.
Many students find Blackboard useful and easy to use, once
they learn the ropes, Keopke explained, however, what really left Keopke
frustrated during the Blackboard blackout wasn't the potential loss of her
grades, but the potential loss of enthusiasm from students. "A lot of students
haven't used Blackboard until recently. You finally get them into it and they
see it isn't so bad and then this happens." She said.
In light of the recent of incident, a new page has been added
to the IVCC website, which will allow students to view any technical problems
the college may be experiencing. The site will allow Blackboard users to know if
any problems they experience in the future are affecting them individually or
the college as a whole.
The site can be accessed at www.ivcc.edu/its/students/KnownIssues.html.