This is the Banner for the ILO Page. It read Integrated Learning Online - Teaching Technologies at Your Service

Explanation: For the fall 2009 term, we are running two almost idential Blackboard (Bb) systems. Our NEW system has much more horsepower than the OLD one you know as BLS. Here are a few notes:

All new courses will be set up on the NEW system.
All old courses using a handful of Blackboard (Bb) tools like the syllabus, grade book, etc. will be set up on our NEW system.
All old courses using numerous Blackboard tools and/or other services like Wimba Classroom or Wimba Voice will remain on the OLD system for the fall term to allow instructors time to migrate and test courses on the NEW system in time for January 2010.
Our OLD system will be decommissioned at the end of the fall 2009 term.

We appreciate that running two identical systems is confusing. We encourage you to use My.Dal as your gateway into your courses.

The mission of Integrated Learning Online (ILO) is to advise and assist faculty in the use of teaching technologies, in order to effectively enhance student learning in the real or virtual classroom.

To realize this mission, ILO manages a carefully selected suite of educational computer applications, available for use by all Dalhousie instructors. ILO also provides:

Regularly scheduled workshops which facilitate training and sharing ideas with colleagues.
Advice from professional educators on how to enhance learning.
Assistance in the resolution of problems.

The impact of new technologies on learning and teaching is one of the greatest pressures on institutions of higher education to change. Bates (2000) defines the rationale for using technology in higher education:

To improve the quality of learning.
To provide students with IT skills?required for the modern life.
To widen access to education and training.
To respond to the "technological imperative."
To reduce the costs of education.
To improve the cost-effectiveness of education.

The ILO team, in cooperation with other campus resources, is positioned to assist with institutional change as instructors experiment with and adopt technology in order to complement in-class activities or teach fully online.

Bates, A.W. Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College and University Leaders. San Francisco: JB Publishers, 1999. (P8)