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Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Accessibility Tips for Effective Teaching and Learning

Ensure that your online course materials, teaching and learning activities, and assessments are accessible for all learners.

Join experts from around the country to learn about the future of video player accessibility, creating accessible PDFs, captioning and tips for generating accessible web content in these complimentary webinars hosted by 3Play Media.


In this webinar, developers from YouTube/Google, JW Player, Video.js, and University of Washington will come together to discuss video player accessibility. We will discuss the current capabilities, known shortcomings, and plans for future development. 

This webinar will walk you through the requirements for PDF accessibility and how to provide textual alternatives for visual elements. Explore various Acrobat tools that will make accessibility implementation as simple as possible.

May 7, 2PM ET - Quick Start to Captioning
Learn the basics of how to add closed captions or subtitles to make your videos fully accessible, searchable, and SEO-friendly. Register for this webinar to learn about accessibility laws and compliance,how to create closed captions,getting the right caption format and more. 

In this webinar, Janet Sylvia, the Digital Media Professional Specialist and leader of the Web Accessibility Group at University of Georgia, will walk you through 10 tips for creating accessible websites following the international standard WCAG 2.0.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

SoftChalk Short Courses now available!

Do you want to learn more about specific features of SoftChalk Cloud and Create? Then these Short Courses are perfect for you! These live, one-hour webinars include a presentation and examples, as well as an opportunity for you to ask questions and receive assistance from the instructor.


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Upcoming Short Courses in April
  • An Overview of SoftChalk Cloud
  • An Overview of SoftChalk Create
  • TextPoppers, Images and Hyperlinks
  • Navigation Features and Sidebars
  • Embedded Media
  • Interactive Learning Activities: The Presentation Group
  • Interactive Learning Activities: The Scoring Group
  • Quizzes, Quiz Groups and SoftChalk ScoreCenter

Visit our Short Courses page for details and register today!
Register Now

Monday, March 16, 2015

Engaging Lessons with EdPuzzle

Recently, I was in a course review and an instructor was sharing her course (Amy Wernette) and she showed us lessons she created in SoftChalk, but also a tool she used called EdPuzzle.


EdPuzzle, provides instructors with a great tool to edit videos to keep students engage. EdPuzzle allows you to create interactive points in a lesson and engages the student in the content area being delivered. The features of EdPuzzle can be mastered quickly and both students and instructors can benefits from it's use.

An article from EdTechReview gives backs up the claim of boosting engagement with students.

There is even a mobile app for it. So try it out!!!


Saturday, February 7, 2015

KCTCS Teaching & Learning Institute

KCTCS Teaching & Learning Institute
Change: The Next Generation

Somerset Registration Extended – Deadline Feb. 11

Owensboro Registration Now Open 

Join us for the spring KCTCS Teaching & Learning Institute as we share expertise and best practices. Together we can successfully progress through change!

This institute’s focus is Change: The Next GenerationBuilding on Past Success to Address the Future (the impact of internal and external changes on colleges in near future).

Locations: This is a regional institute. You may attend any of the following campuses locations:

Somerset      February 13 (registration closes February 11)   Register

Owensboro    March 6 (registration closes March 1)  Register

Big Sandy      April 10 (registration not open yet)

Integrate Action Mapping in eLearning Courses


eLearning professionals are always looking for ways to keep the eLearning course design process well organized and as productive as possible, even if this may seem like a next to impossible feat in some cases. The great news is that there is a technique you can employ to identify your learning goals and to develop interactive eLearning experiences that go beyond mere virtual presentations. This technique is known as Action Mapping.

Read more on how to Integrate Action Mapping in eLearning Courses from eLearning Industry.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Basic Blackboard Training Session

A follow-up to the Basic Blackboard Training session held on November 14, 2014, will continue with a session scheduled for December 15, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon, on the Hazard Campus, JCC (Jolly Classroom Center) Room 110. If you did not get to attend the session in November, and interested in learning more about Blackboard, you are encouraged to attend. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.



Monday, December 1, 2014

Blackboard Extended Maintenance – Bb Learn Update and New Features

KCTCS eLearning (Blackboard) will be unavailable Friday, December 19, at 8:00 PM ET through Sunday, December 21, 8:00 PM ET for general maintenance and upgrade to the latest version of Blackboard.

The latest version of Blackboard is installed on a staging server and is available for testing. The URL is https://kctcs-stage.blackboard.com. Please use your KCTCS credentials to login to test the new features. When you first access the staging environment, you will see a module on the left that lists a description of the new features with links to help documents and videos. There is also a place on the portal to submit any issues you find with the latest release of Blackboard. See the module titled “Report a Bug or Request a Feature” to email eLearning Services.

Learn on Demand: If you are teaching a Learn on Demand course during this time, you may need to adjust dates on assignments, tests, etc. or make other accommodations for students to successfully complete. It is recommended that you download your grade center before the system is taken offline for quick access (if needed). You are welcome to archive your course as well if you’d like. But, please remember to delete the course archive after you download it to your computer as it can take up a lot of space.

Prepare for Spring: Here are a few reminders as you prepare for the spring semester.
  • To ensure you are using a Blackboard certified or compatible browser, please visit KCTCS browser information page located at: http://elearning.kctcs.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/Blackboard/SupportedBrowsersLearn9.1.pdf
  • Review the “Beginning of Semester” check list on KOLTS
  • It is your responsibility to open the course to students. You can do this at any time prior to the course start date. Click here for instructions.
  • Course Duration should not be changed, doing so will remove the course from students’ Blackboard page. This setting should remain on Continuous.
  • Login to your course(s) with your student account to verify the class is functioning as you intended.
  • Use the “Add Test Student” tool to add (and remove) your student account in a class, and reset your student password. Click here for instructions.
Thank you for your understanding and patience as we continue to improve the KCTCS eLearning experience.

eLearning Services
KCTCS