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Course Management System (Online@UT)

Introduction

Adaptive Release

The typical Blackboard course site is a storehouse of standard class materials such as syllabi, lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations, assignments, and, occasionally, automated quizzes and surveys. Until recently, though, course instructors had little control over how and when students could access those materials. The only limitations on access available to us—access by date and time—were applied site-wide. In other words, distributing course materials via Blackboard has been the virtual equivalent of passing out an in-class assignment: every student gets his or her hands on the document at the same time and is given the same instructions for its completion.

Like one of those “Choose Your Own Adventure” stories, Blackboard’s latest feature, Adaptive Release, allows each student to walk his or her own path through a course. The various paths, however, are ultimately charted by the instructor. Adaptive Release enables faculty, for example, to force each student to score at least a 70% on a pre-test before gaining access to the actual exam. (Students who score below 70% might be redirected to another pre-test, a written review of course materials, or an additional reading assignment.) Likewise, instructors can now force students to read online essays or articles before they are allowed access to, say, a required quiz or assignment.

While Adaptive Release will be of greatest benefit to those instructors teaching asynchronous online courses (where students are completely self-paced), there are several practical applications for traditional classroom courses as well. Let’s see how Adaptive Release works by looking at a scenario . . .