Guide Developing your School of Medicine and Dentistry Course in Blackboard. UR SMD File Format and Technology Standards... 2

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1 Table of Contents UR SMD File Format and Technology Standards... 2 Learning Management System (LMS)...2 File Format PDF Standard...2 Discontinuation of Printing in the MD Degree Program...2 Software Recommendations for Instructors and Coordinators...2 Creating PDF s from Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, & Excel Files... 3 White Space...3 Word Files: Use Headings Styles in Word to Create Bookmarks in PDF...3 Word Files: Converting Word to PDF with Bookmarks Saved...4 PowerPoint Files: Converting PowerPoint Files to PDF...6 Excel Files: Converting Excel Files to PDF...6 Adding Files to Courses in Blackboard... 7 Use a Desktop or Laptop Computer to Build Your Course...7 Important! Naming Your Documents...7 Option1. File Feature...7 Option 2. Item Feature...8 Timed Release of Files... 9 Multimedia Video, Audio & Images Video Audio Images Panopto Video Streamer Configure Panopto Adding Video and Audio Files to Panopto Posting a Video or Audio File from Panopto in Your Course Blackboard Mobile Learn Testing/Quality Assurance Help and Support from Institute for Innovative Education Coordinator/Instructor Support Checking for ipad Compatible Versions of Textbooks Student Support Blackboard Training Classes for Instructors and Coordinators P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

2 UR SMD File Format and Technology Standards The URMC School of Medicine and Dentistry has defined the following standards: Learning Management System (LMS) Blackboard Learn is the system the University of Rochester uses for managing and delivering course materials. Course materials will be accessible for both ipad and desktop/laptop computer delivery. Safari and Chrome web browsers are the recommended ways to access learning materials from Blackboard. Accessing Blackboard through the Blackboard Learn App is currently not recommended as not all course material can be accessed when using the app. File Format PDF Standard Office documents, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, should be saved and delivered as PDF documents. Formatting of PDF documents remains stable when viewing on mobile devices, unlike other files that can become skewed and unreadable. The consistent use of PDF format will help to ensure a smooth, student friendly experience no matter what kind of computer or device they are using. Discontinuation of Printing in the MD Degree Program Syllabi for courses in the MD degree program (Medical Education) are not printed for students. Rather, students will need to access syllabi exclusively online through Blackboard. Software Recommendations for Instructors and Coordinators Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint and Excel Adobe Acrobat Pro 2 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

3 Creating PDF s from Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, & Excel Files White Space Be sure to use wide margins and spacing to create white space in files whenever possible. This allows for areas in the file, when it is converted to PDF, where students can take notes. Word Files: Use Headings Styles in Word to Create Bookmarks in PDF Bookmarks can be useful for finding information quickly within large online PDF files. This recommendation came initially from medical students who requested document bookmarks when providing feedback regarding their Blackboard and ipad experience. Please note that Word files have to be saved as PDF using a PC and not on a Mac as bookmarks do not save with the Mac version of Word. Headings are bolded section titles throughout the document, which are used to create a table of contents, work in Outline mode, and to add bookmarks when converting to PDF. Heading styles are found in the Home tab, Styles section. Headings can be applied before, during, or after the document is created. It is recommended that you use these three heading levels; Heading 1, Heading 2 and Heading 3. Heading 1 is used for the title of a main section, followed by Heading 2 and Heading 3 for subsections. To apply a Heading, select the heading text by clicking and dragging, and then click on Heading 1 (or Heading 2 or 3 for subheadings). 3 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

4 Word Files: Converting Word to PDF with Bookmarks Saved Be sure that you have applied Heading Styles, as indicated in the previous section, before converting your Word file to a PDF. Steps for Converting Word to PDF in Word on a PC: 1. With the file open in Word, click the File tab in the top left of the screen. 2. Select Save As and click on the folder where the PDF is to be saved. The folder options will be show to the right. 3. From the Save as type dropdown menu, select PDF 4. Once you have selected the PDF file type, click on the Options button that appears. 5. Check the box and radio button to Create bookmarks using Headings, then save the document. The document will automatically open up in Adobe Acrobat Reader as a PDF. 4 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

5 6. From Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can check your bookmarks by clicking on the Bookmarks icon in the PDF document. This quality assurance check will allow you to see that headings were saved as bookmarks and that you have not used Heading styles in places where they don t fit. For example, heading styles will not work for column headings in a table. Bookmarks icon 7. If you have extraneous bookmarks, follow these steps: a. Open the Word document and locate the text that should not be a heading. b. Change the style to normal by selecting the text and clicking Normal in the Styles section of the menu bar. 5 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

6 c. Be sure to perform another Save as PDF along with saving the Word file. In the window that pops up click on the Replace button to replace the existing PDF with the updated version. PowerPoint Files: Converting PowerPoint Files to PDF 1. Open a PowerPoint file, click on File, and select either Save as Adobe PDF or Export. If the version of PowerPoint you are using does not give you a Save as Adobe PDF option, the slide titles will not convert into bookmarks in the PDF. 2. Click the Options button and be sure that Create Bookmarks is selected. 3. Click the OK button, and then the Save button. Excel Files: Converting Excel Files to PDF Open an Excel file, click on File, and then Save as Select PDF as the file type. Excel files do not have an option that converts text to bookmarks in the PDF version. 6 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

7 Adding Files to Courses in Blackboard Use a Desktop or Laptop Computer to Build Your Course For best results, upload content (PDF files, web links, videos, etc) from a desktop or laptop computer rather than from the ipad. Your materials are likely located on your desktop or laptop and building Blackboard courses is much more efficient this way. Use your ipad to test your course as a quality assurance measure. Important! Naming Your Documents Before uploading files to Blackboard, please take a moment to add the acronym name of the course, followed by an underscore, type of instruction, underscore, and name of document. For example, a document with the name, A Stitch in Time that is used in a PBL session for Molecules to Cells would be named, MTC_PBL_A Stitch in Time. In another example, a document with the name, Bacterial Diseases used for a Host Defense presentation would be named HD_Lecture_Bacterial Diseases. Names for the types of instruction are not set in stone, so please use your best judgment when naming that part of the document. Option1. File Feature One way to attach documents into your Blackboard course is through the Build Content menu File option. Simply select the content area where you would like to place the file, select Build Content, and then select File. You will be prompted to browse for the file, and to give the file a recognizable name. It is recommended that you select Open in New Window. Although this latter setting will not actually impact ipad users, it will facilitate a smoother experience for desktop users. 7 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

8 Option 2. Item Feature Another way to attach a file is by adding it as an attachment within an Item. This method is recommended if you would like to add supplemental text in addition to the file itself, or if you just need to add text to a section of the course. If there is no supplemental text needed, then Option 1 is recommended. To add an item, hover over Build Content, and then select Item. To add supplemental text, in the Content Information section give the item a name. In the text box type the text as you would a word processing document. Hover over the symbols to find out what kind of text editing options are available. If you only see one line of editing tools, expand it by clicking the Show More/Less icon to the far right. Files can be attached to Items in 2 ways 1. using the Insert File icon in the text box 2. in the Attachments section. 8 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

9 Timed Release of Files It may be necessary to hide course materials from students until a specified time. One example of this need is PBL case documents. PBL case documents will no longer be provided in hard-copy printed format for courses delivered via the ipad. Rather, students will retrieve case documentation during the PBL session through their Blackboard course. In order to prevent students from seeing the documents prior to the PBL session, release of documents will need to be timed to correspond with the PBL class time. Steps for Setting up a Timed Release on a File, Item or Folder When adding a File, Item or Folder, scroll down to the Standard Options section. Be sure that Permit Users to View this Content is Yes. It is also a good idea to select Yes for Track Number of Views in case usage reports are requested at a later date. Click the Calendar icon and select a date. Click the Clock icon and select a time. If the File, Item or Folder is to become hidden on a certain date and time, add that to the Display Until date and time boxes, otherwise leave that blank. When you are finished, click the Submit button. In the Instructor View, the File, Item or Folder will include text that indicates the File, Item or Folder is not currently available (to Student View), and when it will be available. In Student View, the File, Item or Folder is not visible until the specified date and time. 9 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

10 Multimedia Video, Audio & Images Video Video files can be directly added to Blackboard via Build Content > Video. This works well for video clips that are under 5 minutes. Longer videos should to streamed through Panopto; refer to the Panopto section on page 11. MP4 is the preferred format as videos in this format can be viewed on most computers and devices, including ipads. Windows Media Videos (.wmv) are not recommended as they cannot be viewed on an ipad. If you are unsure of the format of the media you are uploading, please contact Blackboard Support and we will assist you in determining whether or not a specific media resource will work for the ipad. To add a video, click on Video from the Build Content menu, type in a name, and attach the video via the Browse My Computer button. Click Submit when you are done. Audio Audio files can be directly added to Blackboard via Build Content > Audio. This works well for vaudio clips that are under 5 minutes. Longer audio files should to streamed through Panopto; refer to the Panopto section on page 11. MP3 and WAV files are the preferred formats. To add an audio file, click on Audio from the Build Content menu, type in a name, and attach the audio file via the Browse My Computer button. Click Submit when you are done. Images Image files can be directly added to Blackboard via Build Content > Image. PNG and JPEG files are the preferred formats. To add an image file, click on Image from the Build Content menu, type in a name, and attach the image file. Click Submit when you are done. 10 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

11 Panopto Video Streamer Panopto is both a lecture capture tool and video streamer for videos and audio created outside of Panopto. Panopto is integrated in Blackboard and is course specific. For that reason, you need to set up (aka Configure) Panopto within your course via the Panopto Course Tool Application tool. Configure Panopto 1. Click the plus icon above the Course Menu and then click Tool Link. 2. Type in Panopto for the name. 3. Open the dropdown list for Type and choose Panopto Course Tool Application. 4. Keep Available to Users unchecked, and click Submit. 5. From the Course Menu, click on Panopto. 6. Click the Configure button 11 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

12 7. Click the Add Course to Panopto button. 8. In the Provisioning Results screen, click the OK button in the lower left corner. 9. In the next screen, the name and ID of the course will be in the Selected Folders box. Leave as is and click on Submit. Configuring a course only needs to be done once. However, when new course shells are created in the Spring, the new shells will need to be configured, even if you do a course copy. Therefore, you need to do this yearly for each course where you use Panopto. Adding Video and Audio Files to Panopto 1. Click on Panopto from the Course Menu. 2. Click on the green Create button. From the dropdown menu select Upload Media. 3. Click on Choose video or audio files. After selecting the video or audio file, keep the window open until the Upload Complete message appears. The video will then need to process, but you can close the window and continue with other work on your computer while it is processing. 12 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

13 Posting a Video or Audio File from Panopto in Your Course 1. Click on Panopto from the Course Menu. 2. Locate the video or audio from the list, and hover the cursor over it to reveal menu options. 3. Click on Share. 4. Highlight and copy the link. 5. From the Course Menu, open the content area where the video or is to go. 6. From Build Content, select Web Link. 7. Paste the link in the URL text box 8. Type in a name for the video or audio. It is a good idea to include Video or Audio in the name and the length of the video or audio. For Example: Video, 14 minutes: Giving Individual Feedback 9. Click Submit. 13 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

14 Blackboard Mobile Learn Blackboard Mobile Learn for ipad supports many, but not all of Blackboard functions. In particular, not all of the interactive tools are fully supported in the Mobile Learn App. The primary focus of this tutorial is the uploading of documents rather than the use of interactive tools. If you are interested in advanced usage of Blackboard for the ipad, please consult with the Online Learning team. Testing/Quality Assurance It is highly recommended that you test your course via the ipad as a quality assurance measure because workflow from the ipad can be different from the Blackboard desktop workflow. This testing step will inform course design decisions and help to ensure a smooth learner experience. 14 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7

15 Help and Support from Institute for Innovative Education Coordinator/Instructor Support Please contact Blackboard Support at for assistance with your Blackboard course development and maintenance. Blackboard Support HelpDesk staff can answer most questions and defers to the Online Learning Team for questions that require further investigation. Blackboard Support uses a ticketing system to ensure that all inquiries are addressed in a timely fashion and to track inquiries. Additionally, the ticketing system helps to inform training needs for staff in Blackboard Support and Online Learning. Checking for ipad Compatible Versions of Textbooks If you would like a librarian to investigate whether there are ipad compatible versions of your required or recommended textbooks, please visit Miner Library s website ( and click on the red Ask a Librarian button found in the upper left corner of the screen. Student Support Direct students to call, , or visit the Computing Center/Blackboard Support Desk inside of Miner Library when they are having problems with courses in Blackboard or with their Blackboard account. Staff at Miner Library s Answer Desk can direct students to the Computing Center, which is located off the hallway between the entrance to Miner Library and the Quiet Zone. Phone: (585) Blackboard Support (blackboard@urmc.rochester.edu) Blackboard Training Classes for Instructors and Coordinators Miner Library offers free monthly Building Your Academic Course in Blackboard group classes. This class offers guided, hands-on practice with customizing your course, adding and removing content, and managing users of the course. Sign up for a class on Miner Library s Classes and Sign up ( webpage. 15 P a g e 1 0 / 1 8 / 1 7