AISR has licensed Blackboard's CourseInfo for use at Jefferson. CourseInfo @ JEFFLINE will enable TJU faculty to enhance in-class instruction by bringing their course materials, class discussions, assignments and quizzes to the Web. CourseInfo supports all of the Microsoft Office file formats; so much of your course materials may be loaded with few, if any, changes.
CourseInfo will allow you to make quick and easy changes or additions to files you have online. As the primary person responsible for the course, you have complete access to all of the course material, including statistics about how students are using your material. 
You can also grant permission to other faculty in the course to access and edit all of the online content, or only the material they are responsible for.
AISR will work with the registrar's office to facilitate loading courses with the students registered in them each semester. Below are more details about specific features of CourseInfo at JEFFLINE.
Content Management -- Instructors can make learning materials available to their students anytime, anywhere, in an easy-to-use course Web site. One simple process permits users to post course documents, staff information, assignments and more -- without HTML. Instructors can incorporate existing Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, as well as graphics files, audio and video clips and interactive simulations into their CourseSites. Most popular file formats can be incorporated into CourseInfo through a simple, point-and-click process. Instructors and students can navigate through their CourseSites easily with pop-up site maps.
Communication and Collaboration -- Allow enhanced interaction between students and instructors by enabling students to interact and learn from each other on threaded discussion boards. Users can sort discussion board messages by author, date and/or title; "collect" all messages in a printer-friendly format; and lock and archive discussions for use later. The ability to share documents as discussion board attachments or through an easy-to-use digital dropbox promotes greater student group interaction. Instructors can also hold virtual office hours or lead online field trips through the built-in Virtual ClassroomTM environment, featuring real-time chat, whiteboard and slide creation/upload.
Assessment -- Instructors can create quizzes and surveys that increase student preparedness, measure student progress, and help determine what areas of course content merit more attention from the instructor. A simple, step-by-step process enables instructors to create quizzes and surveys (even including multimedia) and mix and match multiple question types such as: multiple choice, multiple correct, true/false, matching, ordering, fill in the blank, and essay questions. Advanced features provide for question randomization and re-use, password-protected tests, timed tests, and instant performance feedback for students. To analyze assessment results, instructors can point and click to create statistical reports of student answers.
Administrative Features -- Faculty members and administrators can monitor, control and customize the online teaching and learning environment from any Web browser. Instructors build and maintain their CourseSites though a simple and straightforward Control Panel that provides access to all course content, communication, assessment, user management, site appearance, and online help functions. The Control Panel enables instructors to designate which features are enabled or disabled for student use -- allowing instructors to make their course Web sites as simple or as elaborate as they choose.
AISR's Education Services division will provide assistance with creation of materials and training for using the CourseInfo @ JEFFLINE product. The Office of Academic Computing will be responsible for monitoring the CourseInfo server, troubleshooting problems and backing up the data on a regular basis. AISR's primary administrator for CourseInfo @ JEFFLINE is Mr. Chris Braster (Chris.Braster@mail.tju.edu or 215-503-3120).
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