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OAK

About OAK

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Important Dates

Sunday, June 16:
6AM - 10AM Regularly scheduled maintenance

Sunday, July 21:
6AM - 10AM Regularly scheduled maintenance

Sunday, August 18:
6AM - 10AM Regularly scheduled maintenance

Sunday, September 15:
6AM - 10AM Regularly scheduled maintenance

Sunday, October 20:
6AM - 10AM Regularly scheduled maintenance

OAK, Powered by Blackboard.

The OAK (Online Access to Knowledge) environment refers to a set of tools that enhance the students' academic experience, including learning management systems and other technology-related tools that mediate learning. A memorandum from the Provost, dated April 7, 2003, a task force was formed to begin the process of shaping Vanderbilt's electronic academy environment. The demise of Prometheus was the catalyst for this memorandum, and the reason the search for a new learning management system (LMS) quickly ensued, with the adoption of Blackboard as the first component of OAK.

The TMA (Technology-Mediated Academy) provides a framework for thinking about how technology can enhance students' learning experience at Vanderbilt. The framework is divided into three groups: Student Services, Course Management, and Learning Technologies. These three groups, when joined together by enterprise-level software, will allow a student to have virtual access to all of his/her academic information.

OAK encompasses the Course Management and Learning Technologies groups. These two areas are specific to technology-mediated learning. In time, additional components will be added to OAK, each chosen by the guiding framework of the TMA. Groups of faculty across the university have been using different technologies in their classrooms to enhance learning for several semesters. OAK is a way to begin talking about how these different technologies can come together to enhance the students' academic experience.

The Jean and Alexander Heard Library is now the steward of OAK.

Course Instructors: Have you tried the new Inline Assignment Grading feature?

06.14.13    With the recent OAK upgrade, course instructors can now grade student assignments "inline." What does that mean? Instead of downloading files, editing them in MS Word and uploading them back in OAK, or printing them out and grading them manually, you can now view and grade the assignments instead your browser. The available tools are similar to those you would find in MS Word.
    To use this tool, instructors create an Assignment as they did before. After students submit their work, the files are accessible from the Grade Center as before. The only change is that that document will now be viewable in the browser.
    For those who want grade of assignments traditionally, the files can be downloaded as usual.

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