Navigate 3.1.4 – LMS Reporting Quest

In the age of big data analytics are everywhere. One issue with analytics is it is often misinterpreted. In addition, sometime there is too much. So, figuring out what options you have and what to use is essential to being a good teacher.

As a teacher, you want data that improves your teaching. As a student you want data that informs them of their progress, relative success, and opportunities to interact. (Michael de Raadt, 2012)

In Blackboard, there are a multitude of reports you can run. You do this in course reports where you can basically run a report on anything. In addition, there is a performance dashboard where you can get a glimpse of activity for all students. Furthermore, you can find  SCORM Reports which can gather selected users' total time spent.

Blackboard also has a retention center. “The Retention Center provides an easy way for you to discover which students in your course are at risk. You can communicate with struggling students and help them take immediate action for improvement. You can also keep track of patterns over time. “(Blackboard, 2016)

All of these components, help the online instructor manage performance. When it comes to grade reporting, reports can be customized. Reports can be generated for all of the grades in the grade center, for a specific time frame such as a marking period, for a defined group of students, or for a defined category of grades. There is an option to add text and comments. 

Levels of Reporting:

Student Level: View grades and comments from the teachers. There is a self-assessment feature in blackboard.

Teacher Level: Grades, comments, participation reports; analyzes course

CourseSites Instructor Community: Acquaint yourself with and collaborate with other CourseSites instructors; Find helpful information about CourseSites, including our calendar of events and training recordings; Provide feedback about CourseSites

Program Level:  Allows you to see all your classes with the above information

I think all of these tools are valuable to ensuring that a learner is successful. The data can give you information on why a student is being successful or not. 

 I would say having the retention center is the most valuable tool in Blackboard because it is a way to monitor who is struggling. Once you see this data, you can put steps into place to ensure success. It is also important for teachers to reflect on their comments and course using the analytics and make adjustments. Reflection and analysis is the key to a successful online program.

De Raadt, Michael. "Analytics: Getting Helpful Information out of an LMS."Salvetore. N.p., 25 July 2012. Web. 15 June 2016.