Blackboard Vista can help our colleges to efficiently deliver the highest quality educational experiences to our students, help make course preparation and management more efficient for instructors, and provide powerful data export and reporting options that can aid institutions in assessing the impact e-learning is having on their institution.

Is Blackboard Vista used exclusively in courses that are being taught fully online?
No. In fact, the majority of instructors in our system who use Blackboard Vista are teaching "on-ground" classroom-based courses. Vista's online instructional tools enable any instructor to enhance the learning in their courses by providing a variety of ways to encourage reflection, promote interaction and collaboration, and augment communication between, and among, students and instructors.

How can Blackboard Vista improve the learning and teaching experience of students and faculty in our system?
Blackboard Vista provides both students and faculty with online access to course tools and content—anywhere, anytime. Both faculty and students interact with the system via a graphical interface using a standard web browser. No specialized programming or HTML knowledge is required to access course content or to make use of the Blackboard Vista instructional tool set.

Instructors can pick and choose the tools they wish to use, based on the aspects of their teaching that they feel would best be enhanced by the use of technology. Course syllabi, assignments, assessments, and course content can all be delivered via Blackboard Vista, and communication and collaboration between faculty and student, and among students, can be enhanced using online discussions,  publishing presentations, email, chat, and whiteboard tools. Feedback to students is enhanced through the use of the online gradebook, self-tests, and reporting and tracking functions. 

The system can be used productively for classroom-delivered courses, fully online courses, or those using of a mix of these two delivery methods (sometimes referred to as "hybrid" courses).

What are the basic system requirements for Blackboard Vista?
For information on Web browsers supported for use with Blackboard Vista and other system requirements, visit the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium's (CTDLC) Vista support webpage.  (CTDLC has been contracted with by the Connecticut Community Colleges to provide technical support to both faculty and students.) Their website will provide you with variety of helpful resource links, tutorials, browser checks, and download links. Please note that you will need to install Java on your PC--to find information on the specific version of Java recommended for Vista at this time, visit CTDLC's Vista Downloads webpage.

What other software do I need?
To create your course content you can use a variety of software programs, which might include Microsoft Word, PowerPoint,  HTML editors (Dreamweaver, FrontPage), graphics programs (Illustrator, Photoshop), or multimedia programs (Macromedia Flash, Camtasia). Any content that can be displayed using a Web browser (such as PDF files, audio and video, animation, etc.) can be incorporated into your course. 

If you use material in your course that requires students to use a browser plug-in or special software for viewing, remember to provide the necessary information on how/where to acquire and install the programs. Information on a number of common plug-ins and viewers is available from CTDLC's Download page.

Questions about Blackboard Vista or how to obtain training that aren't answered on this website?
Contact Tobi Krutt, Manager of Technological Tools & Training at the System Office.