Blackboard use made easy with EesySoft

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE) is excited to announce the deployment of EesySoft, a new application to support instructors in their use of Blackboard, UIC’s learning management system (LMS). The new application runs on Blackboard as an interactive layer of communication and support that enables instructors and students to learn about relevant information in a moment of need.

There are two main components of this application:

1. A personalized, data-driven in-line messaging component that allows instructors and students to see only what’s important to them; and
2. A report of student activity in the LMS course visible to instructors, including their use of tools such as tests, assignments, and discussion forums. 

Last week, UIC’s Eesysoft implementation team launched its first messages informing instructors of the availability of course shells for Fall 2021 and pointing them to the location of the new EesySoft Course Reports. During the first week, 905 instructors viewed the message, and some contributed comments making it a two-way communication tool. Instructors can select a checkbox on each message to stop seeing it.

Instructors and students can additionally provide feedback on the campaigns with intuitive mechanisms such as “thumbs up/down.” When navigating Blackboard, consider helping the CATE staff tailor the messages by giving feedback.

If you’d like to participate in the creation of an EesySoft campaign, or if you have questions about the use of EesySoft, contact the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE) staff at LTS@uic.edu