Blackboard Vista
Blackboard Vista is the Learning Management System supported by the University of Houston. Whether you are teaching a traditional course or totally online you will be able to use Blackboard Vista to deliver your materials electronically to your students.

Students rely on anytime-anywhere environments for their classes. Blackboard Vista can be used for putting your syllabus, notes, or handouts online. There is no limit to how much information you can provide for your students.

Use Blackboard Vista as a supplement to your traditional class, as a means of the electronic portion of your hybrid class, or as a way to teach totally online.

For help using Blackboard, please contact fdis@uh.edu or call 832 842-2147. Instructional Design teams, both centrally located and in the Colleges, can help you determine the most effective way to use Blackboard. Another good source of help is the Blackboard Faculty Help page here: http://www.uh.edu/blackboard/faculty/index.html

TurningPoint
The TurningPoint Response Pad is an easy-to-use interactive student response tool that allows you to capture immediate feedback from every student in your classroom. The Response Pad can be used in a variety of ways to engage students and enhance class participation.

• Download the PC version (TurningPoint 4.3.2 for PC supports Office 2003, 2007, and 2010 32-bit or 64-bit on Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit OS)
• Download the Mac version (TurningPoint Anywhere 3.0.2 for Mac)
• ResultsManager PC - Install Version (Results Manager 1.2.2 for Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows 32 or 64 bit XP, Vista or 7)
• ResultsManager PC - No Install Version (Results Manager 1.2.2 for Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows 32 or 64 bit XP, Vista or 7)
• ResultsManager Mac - No Install Version (Results Manager 1.2.4 for Mac)

Turnitin
An online service, no download required. Available for Mac and PC users. Used as a powerlink inside Blackboard, Turnitin is an online service for faculty that identifies papers containing unoriginal material and helps deter student plagiarism. UH has an institutional license for Turnitin, so faculty may use the service for free.

The tool may be used outside of Blackboard as well, but the process requires more from the instructor to set up the account, provide account information to students, and work with Turnitin support if there is an issue with getting students work. To use Turnitin outside of Blackboard, you must have a University of Houston email account. Please email fdis@uh.edu for the password and ID to use Turnitin outside of Blackboard.

Respondus
For Windows. Faculty use Respondus to create quizzes and surveys to be uploaded into Blackboard and Vista. UH has a site license, meaning all faculty may use this software for free. Download Respondus for use on the PC (only available for PC/Windows at this time). Once you have downloaded Respondus, please contact blackboard@uh.edu for password information. You can download a Help Guide directly from Respondus by going to the following website: http://www.respondus.com/products/userguide.shtml . Be sure to choose the Personality of WebCT 6-8/Vista 4-8.

Respondus Lockdown Browser
The Lockdown Browser is a feature available inside a Blackboard assessment. This tool locks down the testing environment within Blackboard. When students use Respondus Lockdown Browser they are unable to print, copy, go to another URL, or access other applications while taking a test online. When an assessment is started, students are locked into the test until they submit for grading. This function of Respondus is supported on both Macs and PC.

To use Lockdown Browser, create an assessment. When you add your settings (date of exam, time, etc), the last setting category is Security Settings. Choose "Browser Restriction". The Lockdown Browser is now added to your exam.

Impatica
Impatica compresses PowerPoint presentations so they can be delivered via the web or added to your Blackboard course. It also allows you to add voice narration and maintain a file size small enough for students to easily use online. University of Houston has a site license for Impatica, available to all faculty and students to use for free. You must have a University of Houston email address to request this software.

PC users will download from this site: http:// www.impatica.com/download/download.html 

MAC users will download from this site: http://www.impatica.com/download/download-mac.html

You will then send an email to blackboard@uh.edu and ask for the Impatica code to install. You must do this using a University of Houston email address as the software is only available to current UH faculty and current UH students.

Wimba
Wimba is a group of tools which will all integrate with Blackboard to do web conferencing, podcasting, instant messaging, and more. The Suite the University of Houston has access to use, includes Wimba Classroom, Wimba Pronto, Wimba Voice, and Wimba Create. The Wimba site has wonderful and thorough explanations of each and every tool. The site address is: http://www.wimba.com/products/collaboration/ .

Faculty can use Wimba outside of Blackboard, but it is not as easy to set up as it is inside the course. Instructional Designers encourage faculty to utilize a shell for this, even if that is the only thing used in Blackboard. It will certainly make your experience seamless for both the student and instructors. Log on to Blackboard for the instructor, and add a Wimba Classroom. No extra downloads, no new passwords. Very easy to use.