{"id":361,"date":"2012-08-08T19:59:17","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T01:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vanderbilt.edu\/oak\/?p=361"},"modified":"2026-03-05T05:01:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T05:01:48","slug":"oak-gets-new-look-and-functionality-august-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/2012\/08\/08\/oak-gets-new-look-and-functionality-august-12\/","title":{"rendered":"OAK Gets New Look and Functionality August 12"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>OAK (Online Access to Knowledge), Vanderbilt\u2019s course management system, is expanding current functionality to provide additional services and customizations.\u00a0 Efficiencies in course delivery and management will also be attained.<\/p>\n<p>Several years ago, a proposal was prepared to enhance OAK that included a consolidated list of requests from the schools and student leaders. The collected information was used as a stepping stone in moving the project forward.\u00a0 Over time, adjustments will be made to ensure the implementation addresses the current needs of the university that fall within the capabilities of the new software.<\/p>\n<p>Powered by Blackboard Learn, Vanderbilt added the \u201cCommunity Engagement\u201d system to the \u201cCourse Delivery\u201d system to achieve these goals.\u00a0 In part, OAK will gain the ability to separate official courses from supporting content areas (these areas will be called \u201corganizations\u201d in the future), directed communication and information presented to targeted audiences, and increased ability to manage the system behind the scenes.<\/p>\n<p>OAK Support and supporting departments have been working closely together to develop a timeline that is least disruptive to the community. \u00a0A slow roll-out is being implemented.\u00a0 In December 2011, software installation and configuration began, with customizations coming Sunday August 12 and varying pieces of functionality coming on line throughout the academic year.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wpfsx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2012\/08\/CE-screenshot1.png\"><\/a>What has been done already?<a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wpfsx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2012\/08\/CE-screenshot1.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-367\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wpfsx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2012\/08\/CE-screenshot1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"284\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increased the number of application servers<\/li>\n<li>Moved the database to a more stable environment<\/li>\n<li>Upgraded to Blackboard Learn Release 9.1 Service Pack 8 (a list of changes can be found <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/oak\/docs\/Resolved_Issues_New_Features_918.pdf\">online<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Updated system configurations in preparation for  the upcoming changes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What will you see Sunday,  August 12?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Updated interface that reflects a softer, more  modern design with a new color scheme<\/li>\n<li> \u201cCourses\u201d tab renamed \u201cCourses &amp;  Organizations\u201d<\/li>\n<li> \u201cYES\u201d tab  that links directly to YES (Your Enrollment Services) when logged in with a  VUnetID<\/li>\n<li> \u201cHelp\u201d tab  to request help for OAK quickly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What can you expect  in the coming months?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> School of Nursing and School of Medicine pilot  program (will begin later in August)<\/li>\n<li> Tab to library resources and library account when  logged in with a VUnetID<\/li>\n<li> \u201cOrganizations\u201d section for content in OAK not  related to official courses (current \u201ccourses\u201d will be gradually converted to  \u201corganizations\u201d)<\/li>\n<li> A new \u201cTraining\u201d section for faculty with  handouts for common tasks<\/li>\n<li> \u201cMain\u201d tab will contain informational modules  instead of links to courses<\/li>\n<li> Course enrollment updated near real-time<\/li>\n<li> A better way to upload and stream media files<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/oak\/\">main OAK  website<\/a> contains news, a list of upcoming down times, help contacts for  each of the schools, downloadable help sheets, and an FAQ (self-help) section.  Many questions can be answered by taking visiting the site.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OAK (Online Access to Knowledge), Vanderbilt\u2019s course management system, is expanding current functionality to provide additional services and customizations.\u00a0 Efficiencies in course delivery and management will also be attained. Several years ago, a proposal was prepared to enhance OAK that included a consolidated list of requests from the schools and student leaders. The collected information [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","ACF":{"topper_style":"default","topper_overline":"","topper_title":"","topper_intro":"","default_topper_background_type":"none","posts_show_author":"no"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12478,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions\/12478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/brightspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}