Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/373915
63 BizEd September/October 2014 IVE LI N RADKOV/TH I N KSTOCK TOOLS OF THE TRADE Blackboard has added a pro- fessional cloud-based profile feature to its learning man- agement system, Blackboard Learn. The Enhanced Cloud Profile will allow students to organize and share informa- tion related to their degrees, academic and professional achievements, and career plans with the school and professional communities. Enhanced Cloud Profile is based on the MyEdu college planning and career develop- ment platform, which Black- board recently acquired. Students can set the privacy controls on their pro- files, choosing to make their profiles visible to potential employers, as well as connect to open job opportunities. They also can link the feature to their MyEdu accounts. Blackboard also has rede- signed its "Portfolio" tool, which students and faculty can use to organize and high- light their academic, profes- sional, and personal work. Although both tools are designed to help students better present their skills and achievements, they serve different purposes, the com- pany explains. The profiles act like enhanced résumés, while the portfolios provide in-depth looks at students' specific project work and course assignments. Institutions also can opt to offer additional features through SchoolChapters, a Blackboard partner com- pany. These features include mobile access, additional storage, and goal tracking tools for students, as well as data tracking and tools to support assessment and accreditation for faculty. For information, visit www.schoolchapters.com/ blackboard-featured-partner/. Google has announced plans to add a new tool to its Google Apps for Education suite. Google Classroom, the company's contribution to the learning management platform market, will integrate Google Docs, Drive, and Gmail so that instructors can organize their materials, assignments, grading, and real-time and asyn- chronous communications with students more efficiently. The Classroom home page displays each class individu- ally, including a summary of the upcoming week's assignments and activities. Google has piloted the platform in about 12 U.S. schools so far and plans to release the product globally in September. The company provides more information on the tool at www.google.com/edu/classroom. Educators can request a preview at classroom.google.com/signup. YouSeeU, an edu- cational technology company specializing in online video capture, has added a new feature—a question-and-answer tool—to its platform. Question & Answer supports the case teaching method in an online classroom by requiring stu- dents to provide on-the-spot responses, via video, when the instructor asks them a question by video or text. Brigham Taylor, the online Google Comes to Class YouSeeU Integrates Q&As into Online Lectures Google Classroom's home screen presents students and faculty with "cards" for each course, which outline that week's assignments. curriculum development manager at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, notes that using the tool has one advantage over con- ducting a Q&A session in a traditional classroom. "Every student has to answer every single question," Taylor says. Visit the company's web- site at www.youseeu.com. Blackboard Launches Student Competency Profiles