Blackboard Academic Suite Waypoint Outcomes Building Block

• Download Waypoint Outcomes Building Block.

If you have already installed our Building Block, and are simply upgrading Blackboard or moving to a new hardware configuration or URL, read Reconfiguring the Waypoint Building Block.

1.0 OVERVIEW

Waypoint is the premier application for generating feedback on student work. The Waypoint Blackboard Building Block allows Blackboard users to access Waypoint from within the CMS. It also permits:

• Authorized Blackboard users (Instructors, Students, and Peer Reviewers) to access Waypoint with no "sign-on."
• Instructors to synchronize their active student roster with Blackboard's.
• Instructors to send Waypoint feedback scores and Waypoint feedback records to Blackboard's grade book and file system.
• Authorized Blackboard users (Instructors and Peer Reviewers) to access student work submitted to Blackboard assignments.

2.0 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS, TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS, AND INSTALLATION

The Waypoint Blackboard Building Block/Plugin (WBP) version 1.0 has been tested on Blackboard versions 6.1.0.1 through 9.0.440.7. Subsequent releases of WBP will be tested only on Blackboard versions 7.0.298.0 and higher. For such releases, Waypoint Outcomes will be mindful of, but will not guarantee, backward compatibility with Blackboard versions prior to 7.0.x.

WBP is available as a Java plugin. The Java plugin was developed with J2SE 5.0 tools (but compiles and runs on earlier versions as noted above). The plugin is provided as a zip file.

2.1 INSTALL THE WAYPOINT BUILDING BLOCK PLUGIN

Plugin installation requires an administrator login. Install the plugin and make it "Available" as specified in the Blackboard documentation.

Important: The administrator must configure the plugin before users will be able to access Waypoint. An unconfigured plugin will produce links visible to users. Clicking on these links will direct users to the Blackboard administrator.

Once the plugin is "Available," the administrator should immediately click on Properties. Fill out and submit the information requested. This will create a default Waypoint client record with sufficient information to make Waypoint available to users. Waypoint has a number of configurable options.

A WBP conducts communication between Blackboard and Waypoint that may contain private student information. Consequently all such communication uses the Secure Sockets Layer protocol.

WBP creates a Course Tool in Blackboard. Therefore, WBP links are visible only in a course context. Furthermore, WBP is useable only by those Blackboard users with Institutional Role of Faculty, Student, or Teaching Assistant

Within a course, the behavior of a WBP link depends on the role of the user (Instructor, Student, Teaching Assistant).

Important: The plugin is useable only for Blackboard users whose Course Membership Role is Instructor, Student, or Teaching Assistant. If the practice at your institution is different, contact us to determine if some accommodation is possible.

3.0 PLUGIN FUNCTIONALITY

Waypoint Blackboard Plugin (WBP) provides a course tool with several entry points or links. Please note that the following assumes that:

1. The Waypoint Building Block is available in the course
2. That the Course Tools option is available in the course

For instance, if older courses are copied for use in a new term, the Waypoint Building Block might not default to being available.

3.1 GO TO WAYPOINT

The simplest link is Go to Waypoint which appears in the list of Course Tools. The first time a faculty member clicks the Go to Waypoint link, an instructor record is created in Waypoint and the
instructor is logged into Waypoint. The instructor record is a default Waypoint instructor record.

Waypoint has different instructor records (e.g. Team Leader). Contact us to inquire about a Client Manager login for your institution.

The instructor may use all the functionality of Waypoint. An instructor should note the Sync Student Roster button in the main menu of Waypoint. Student records in Waypoint are created on an as needed basis.

Clicking the Sync Student Roster button presents the instructor with a list of his/her available courses.

He/she may choose one or more courses and click continue. Waypoint student records are created or reactivated as a result. The instructor may, at the same time, choose to create Peer Reviewer
records in Waypoint for each student and may elect to deactivate old student records.

Important: Student and Peer Reviewer records in Waypoint are never deleted, they are simply deactivated. An instructor in Waypoint can always reactivate Student and Peer Reviewer records.

Once at least one instructor creates a student record in Waypoint, a student clicking Go to Waypoint from any course will be logged into Waypoint. The student will be able to review (read only) all
his/her Waypoint assignments.

Important: A student will only be able to access his/her Waypoint feedback if an instructor has sent feedback to the Blackboard Gradebook.

3.2 ASSIGNMENTS

Waypoint is superb for evaluating and providing feedback on any kind of student work - written, oral, or otherwise (e.g. auditions). But Blackboard Assignments are the vehicle used for coupling Blackboard to Waypoint.

See Linking Blackboard Assignments to Waypoint via the Blackboard Control Panel for more information.

Instructors can choose which Blackboard Assignments are linked to Waypoint and, at the same time, can make Blackboard Assignments available to students for Peer Review by checking the appropriate box and supplying a Reviewer Password via Waypoint's Project feature.

From Waypoint's Evaluate page instructors can click Retrieve student work from CMS button to access student submissions to the Blackboard Assignment.

The instructor is presented with the work the student submitted to Blackboard for the Blackboard Assignment along with any peer review records created by the student for the Assignment.

Important: When creating an Assignment through your Course Management System, whether it be Blackboard (version 6.x - 9.x), Blackboard Vista/CE6/8, or Moodle, make sure there are no special characters (for example: !@#$) within the Assignment's name.

Furthermore, from the Manage screen in Waypoint, the instructor can click on the Send results to CMS Gradebook button to send the work of all students and peer reviewers to the Blackboard Gradebook and file system. Note that peer reviews generate scores in Waypoint just as instructor graded work, but peer review grades are never sent back to Blackboard nor do peer review grades overwrite instructor grades.

Important: Instructors should grade numerically against the "points possible" assigned in Blackboard. Helpful in this regard is the presentation of points possible when the instructor chooses to send results to Blackboard.

If an assignment has been linked to Waypoint and a student clicks that assignment in Blackboard, the student will be logged into Waypoint as a peer reviewer if a peer review project has been set up by the instructor in Waypoint. If this is not a peer review assignment, the student will get a message to that effect when clicking the assignment link.

Important: Blackboard allows courses to be copied along with their contents including Assignments. Waypoint-linked Assignments are copied along with other Assignments. Those Assignments require the instructor to refresh links to Waypoint by running Link/Unlink Waypoint from the destination course's Control Panel. A user who clicks an unrefreshed Waypoint link will receive a message and will not be linked to Waypoint. Particular care should be taken when using the Blackboard Exact Course Copy feature because all Gradebook entries, submitted student work, and instructor comments are also copied.

4.0 ADDING COURSE TOOLS TO YOUR MENU

For a variety of reasons, you might not automatically see the Course Tools option in your menu.

If you don't see Course Tools displayed, follow the procedure detailed below. If the steps laid out below do not work, please contact your school's Blackboard technical support for a resolution.

1. Go to your Blackboard course's Control Panel.
2. Look for the Course Options area.
3. Click Course Design.
4. Click Manage Tool Panel.
5. Click Quick View Tool Panel Options.
6. Make sure Display Course Tools is set to "Yes."
7. Click Submit.
8. Click OK.
9. Click Detail View Tool Panel Options.
10. Make sure Display Course Tools is set to "Yes."
11. Click Submit.
12. Click OK.

Now your main course page should display Course Tools. To begin using Waypoint, click Course Tools and then Go To Waypoint. If you don't see Go To Waypoint on the resulting list, then follow the steps in Section 5.0, Adding the Waypoint Building Block To Your Course.

5.0 ADDING THE WAYPOINT BUILDING BLOCK TO YOUR COURSE

For various reasons, it may be that the Waypoint Building Block is disabled for your particular course.

This might be because your course is based on (copied from) a course developed before Waypoint was installed on your Blackboard server or some other reason.

If the steps laid out below do not work, please contact your school's Blackboard technical support for a resolution.

To add Waypoint to your course, do the following:

1. Go to your course's Control Panel.
2. Look for the Course Options area.
3. Click Manage Tools.
4. Click Building Block Tool Availability.
5. Make sure there is a checkmark in the "Available" column for WP Java.
6. Click Submit.
7. Click OK.

You should be able to return to your course start page, click Course Tools, and now see Go To Waypoint.

Last modified 11/11/2009 10:07 AM by wp_client_services