This is not your father's Blackboard. Not even your brother's from last year. On June 6 Cornell Information Technologies (CIT) will go live with version 9.1 of the familiar course-management system.

The Blackboard system provides course websites where instructors can post resource materials and assignments and manage grades. Students can turn in their assignments, take online quizzes, participate in discussion groups and collaborate in various ways. Since a Blackboard site is accessible only to students registered for a class, resources can include copyrighted and otherwise proprietary material.

Blackboard requires minimal technical skills and has always been easy for instructors to manage, but the interface will change noticeably with the new version and CIT is urging instructors to read the new documentation and sign up for training. In the long run, managing a site will be easier, said Clare Van Den Blink, assistant director of CIT responsible for academic technologies. "Its features are more Web 2.0, with a focus on sharing, community, collaboration, and user-centered design," she said. Van Den Blink cited seven things instructors need to know about Blackboard 9.1:

Training sessions for instructors will be offered from June 8 through Aug. 23, and online tutorials are available. Find the schedule at http://blogs.cornell.edu/blackboard/training. There will also be an online course for students. For one-on-one support, call 255-9760 or e-mail atc_support@cornell.edu.