April Technology of the Month

Adaptive Release provides controls to release content to students based on a set of rules provided by the instructor. The rules may be related to availability, date and time, individual users and user groups (such as course Groups), scores or attempts on any Gradebook item, or review status of another item in the course. Using adaptive release can help instructors keep track of student progress in the course, and release content items as they see fit.

Examples of Adaptive Release

Apply review status criteria as the student progresses

Your course is divided into sections, each containing an overview, readings, and a quiz. You want content to be released as the student progresses through content and marks items as reviewed.

• You want the overview to always be visible, so you apply no criteria.

• You want the readings to be available after the overview has been reviewed, so you apply a review status rule to each of the readings, selecting the overview.

• You want the quiz to be available after the final reading has been reviewed, so you apply a review status rule to the quiz, selecting that reading.

Apply date criteria as the term progresses

Your course is divided into three sections. You want the sections available on specific dates throughout the term.

• You want the first section to always be visible, so you apply no criteria.

• You want the second section to be available after February 1st, so you apply a date rule to each item in the section.

• You want the third section to be available after March 1st, so you apply a date rule to each item in the section.

Apply grade criteria for remedial purposes

You created additional course material for remedial purposes.

• You want the remedial material to be available to students who receive 65% or less on their midterm exams, so you apply a grade rule to the material based on this test score.

Best Practices

Since adaptive release allows distribution of content as the course progresses, unlike in the face-to-face environment, students do not see this process. Without a bit of explanation, they may be confused when items suddenly appear, or wonder why some students see different items than they do. No placeholder exists for items hidden due to adaptive release criteria. Students have no way of knowing where items may appear unless you tell them.

To eliminate such confusion, consider adding a statement to your course syllabus or getting started materials:

All students access content using the Course Documents link on the course menu. Some content is released based on the following rules:

• Date criteria: Some content is assigned a default release date. On that date, it is available to all students.

• Review status criteria: Students, who are progressing through course content quickly and marking the content as reviewed, see content before the default release date.

• Membership criteria: For group projects, the class is divided into several groups. Different material is released to each group. You will not see content that another group sees.

• Grade criteria: Students must receive 70% on each test before the next unit is released for viewing. Students who receive less than 70% on their tests can access additional review materials. After marking the additional materials as reviewed, the next unit is released for viewing.

Getting Started with Adaptive Release

To learn more about using Rubrics in Blackboard:

• visit our Blackboard Adaptive Release FAQ page  

• open an               RT Ticket for any technical issues

• view the schedule of training workshops on the   DoIT group page

• contact  the Instructional Technology Team with any questions or concerns