1. What's the plan?
The
University System of Georgia is migrating from GeorgiaVIEW Vista 3 to
Vista 8, the latest version of Blackboard's Learning System. During
spring and summer semester we will migrate online courses to Vista 8
with all teaching to be on Vista 8 by Fall Semester 2009.
2. What are the differences between Vista 3 and Vista 8?
Version
8 is not radically different from the previous version; many of the
concepts you will be familiar with remain in place. Some toolbars have
been changed or moved around. There is now more flexibility of how you
can upload content, including support for drag and drop. There are a
number of time-saving enhancements and improvements to existing tools.
There are a number of new features, such as different ways the
discussion tool can be used, introduction of Grading Forms, Goals, etc.
3. What new features are in Vista 8?
The Online Support Center (OSC) has a very good article that lists new features and enhancements. You can find it here: http://d2.parature.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=8075&task=knowledge&questionID=2158
4. When are we going to use Vista 8?
BEGINNING FALL SEMESTER 2009, ALL TEACHING WILL BE DONE ON VISTA 8. You will have limited access to Vista 3.
5. What is the migration process?
Using
a software program developed collaboratively by the Digital Innovation
Group at Georgia College & State University and OIIT, sections will
be moved from Vista 3 to Vista 8. Vista 8 is installed on ten clustered
servers for all the USG institutions. Currently, all institutions are
running on just four clusters. We will continue to teach on our Vista 3
server through the summer and begin teaching fall semester on Vista 8.
This step-by-step guide will walk you through the section migration request process with Web Services at North Georgia.
6. Can all my old sections be migrated?
Most
of all your sections can be migrated! However, there are some sections
that will not be able to meet the criteria for migration and will need
to be rebuilt. See this Pre-Migration Checklist for more information.
7. Can sections that were built from templates migrate?
Yes! We have had no trouble migrating sections that were associated with templates.
8. What if I want to rebuild my sections?
No
problem! You will have access to Vista 8 by the end of Spring semester,
which will give you the entire summer to build out your sections in
Vista 8.
9. View the Vista Migration Project document.
For more information on new features and key differences between the two versions, read the: GeorgiaVIEW Vista Upgrade Project.pdf.
10. Online videos will be available soon.
