Introduction to Blackboard. Academic Technology & Distance Learning Department

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1 Introduction to Blackboard Academic Technology & Distance Learning Department Fall 2013 Spring 2014

2 LANK ACADEMIC TECHNOLOGY & DISTANCE LEARNING DEPARTMENT Support and FAQs: Introduction to Blackboard

3 Table of Contents Getting Started with Blackboard... 1 What is Blackboard?... 1 Logging in to Blackboard... 1 Viewing Your Student Roster... 1 Customizing Your Course Site... 2 Modifying Course Homepage... 2 Modifying Course Theme... 2 Modifying Course Banner... 2 Modifying Navigation Buttons... 2 Adding or Removing a Button... 3 Changing the Course Title... 3 Making a Course Available... 3 Setting the Course Duration... 4 Changing Tool Availability... 4 Communicating with Students... 5 Posting Contact Information... 5 Creating Announcements... 5 Creating Calendar Entries... 5 Sending s... 6 Working with Content... 6 Adding or Uploading a Syllabus... 6 Uploading Files... 7 Creating Folders... 7 Adding Items (alternative way to add/upload files)... 7 Adding URLs... 8 Evaluation Tools... 8 Creating Assignments... 8 Grading Assignments... 9

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6 Getting Started with Blackboard What is Blackboard? Blackboard (Bb) is a web based learning management system (LMS). Blackboard is designed to fully support 100% online courses, as well as providing an online space for the traditional class supplementation where faculty can add resources (PowerPoint lecture slides, video, audio, and other applications/files) for face-toface students to access in their own time/schedule. Logging in to Blackboard To access Blackboard: 1. Go to: 2. Use EasyLoging credentials (issued by your college) to access your courses. If you are unable to log into Blackboard please contact your local IT helpdesk. Note: If upon successful login your course is not listed, your course site has most likely not been created yet. Please contact your local IT helpdesk. Viewing Your Student Roster Blackboard automatically updates your class roster each night from Registrar information. To view a list of the students currently having access to your course: Click Control Panel -> Users and Groups -> Users This method will also show you your students' addresses and will also list anyone else that has access to your site (i.e. co-instructors, TAs, etc.) Blackboard Training [1]

7 Customizing Your Course Site Modifying Course Homepage By default, the entry point to courses is the Announcements or Homepage. Instructors can also set a different page as the course page. To select a new course entry point: 1. Click Control Panel > Customization > Teaching Style 2. Under Select Course Entry Point, use the pull-down menu to designate the new entry point. 3. Click Submit to save changes. Modifying Course Theme 1. Click Control Panel > Customization > Teaching Style 2. Under Select Course Theme, browse and select the new theme 3. Click Submit to save changes. Modifying Course Banner A banner image can be added to the Homepage for style. It will display at the top of the page above any new Announcements. 1. Click Control Panel -> Customization -> Teaching Style > Select Banner 2. Browse to locate and attach your file. Modifying Navigation Buttons 1. Click Control Panel -> Customization -> Teaching Style - > Select Menu Style 2. Click Buttons + Button Library to scroll through and select button patterns, shapes and colors 3. Click Submit to save changes. Note: To change the name of your navigation buttons, click on the arrow to the right of the button, and select Rename Link from the contextual menu. Fall 2013-Spring 2014 [2]

8 Adding or Removing a Button To add a Module Page or a Content Area: 1. Click on the "+" at the top left of the course menu 2. Select Module Page or Content Area 3. Enter a name (e.g. Homepage, Course Documents) and check the box for Available to users 4. Click Submit to save changes. To remove a Module or a Content Area: 1. Click on the arrow to the right of the button 2. Select Delete from the contextual menu Note: Grab the arrows along the left side to drag and drop the new button to the top of the list, if desired, or use the up/down arrow button to rearrange the list. Changing the Course Title 1. Click Control Panel -> Customization -> Properties 2. Enter desired course title in Course Name and provide any additional information in Description text box 3. Click Submit to save changes. Making a Course Available By default, Bb courses are unavailable to students. This allows an instructor to set up a course and develop the materials before students enter the course. Once the course is developed, to make the course available: 1. Go to Control Panel (under Course Management) 2. Choose Customization option, and then Properties 3. Under Set Availability option, choose Yes to make course available. 4. Click Submit to save changes. Blackboard Training [3]

9 Setting the Course Duration Course duration defines the time in which students may interact with a course. 1. Click Control Panel 2. Choose Customization option, and then Properties 3. Under Set Availability option, choose Yes to make course available. 4. Click Submit to save changes. Continuous - The course is always available. Select Dates - The course is available according to specific dates. Courses may have a start date, but no end date. After the end date, courses are not available to students, but are otherwise unchanged. Days from the Date of Enrollment - Use this option to place a time limit on courses calculated from the date a student enrolls. This is the best option for selfpaced courses. Changing Tool Availability You can select which tools are available in your course and which users have access to them. For example, if the Messages tool will not be used, make it unavailable. No one can see it or access it, including the instructor, until it is made available again. Available tools are listed alphabetically on the Tool Availability page. 1. Click Control Panel. Choose Customization option, and then Tool Availability 2. To make a tool available, check the tool s check box. 3. To disable a tool, clear the tool s check box. 4. Click Submit to save changes. Fall 2013-Spring 2014 [4]

10 Communicating with Students Posting Contact Information The contacts area of a course is where you provide information about yourself so that students can reach you in the case of an emergency. 1. Click Control Panel -> Course Tools -> Contacts 2. Click Create Contact 3. Enter the required information and make the profile available 4. Click Submit to save changes. Creating Announcements Announcements are used for posting timely information critical to course success, such as reminders and updates. Announcements can contain text, images, and multimedia, as well as links to course content. You can add, edit, and delete announcements from the Announcements page or: 1. Click Control Panel -> Course Tools -> Announcements 2. Enter the Subject and the Message 3. Choose whether to display the announcement permanently, or select date check boxes and enter dates and times 4. Choose if you want Blackboard to a copy of this announcement to all course users 5. Choose if you want to create a Course Link that takes your students to a particular area or file within your course 6. Click Submit to save changes. Creating Calendar Entries 1. Click Control Panel -> Course Tools -> Course Calendar 2. Click Create Course Event 3. Enter the Event Name the Event Description 4. Enter the Event Date, the Event Start Time and the Event End Time or accomplish this by clicking the pop-up Date Selection Calendar / Time Selection Menu to select the times 5. Click Submit to save changes. Blackboard Training [5]

11 Sending s 1. Click Control Panel -> Course Tools -> Send 2. On the Send page, click the link for the desired recipient group. A new page appears. Note: For Select Users or Select Groups, click to highlight the recipients in the Available to Select box and click the right-pointing arrow to move them into the Selected box. To select multiple users in a row, hold down Shift and click. To select users out of sequence, hold down the Control Key and click individual users. 3. Enter the Subject and the Message. If required, choose Attach a file. Browse to locate the file. 4. Click Submit to save changes. NOTE: From a Blackboard course, you cannot send to anyone who is not a member of the course. The function in Blackboard does not have an inbox or outbox so there is no record of any correspondence sent through it. However, as the sender you will always receive a copy of your . If you also check the box for Return Receipt you will receive a copy of the message with a list of the recipients at the top. Once an has been sent, a green bar will appear at the top of your Blackboard screen confirming who the was sent to. Working with Content Adding or Uploading a Syllabus 1. In Edit Mode access an existing content area: e.g. Syllabus 2. On the Action Bar, click Build Content. Click File 3. On the Create File page, click Browse My Computer to select a file. Repeat this step to add additional files (e.g. Course Timeline). 4. Enter a name (label), students will see this as the title of the file you upload. 5. Under Standard Options -> Permit Users to View the Content select Yes to make the content available to students. 6. Click Submit to save changes. Fall 2013-Spring 2014 [6]

12 Uploading Files 1. In Edit Mode access an existing content area e.g. Course Content 2. On the Action Bar, click Build Content. Click File 3. On the Create File page, click Browse My Computer to select a file. Repeat this step to add additional files. 4. Enter a Name (label), students will see this as the title of the file you upload. 5. Under Standard Options -> Permit Users to View the Content select Yes to make the content available to students. 6. Click Submit to save changes. Creating Folders Use folders to organize your content. 1. In Edit Mode access an existing content area e.g. Course Content 2. On the Action Bar, click Build Content. Click Content Folder. 3. Provide a name for the folder. 4. Add descriptive text to the folder name in the text box. 5. Select any additional desired options. 6. Click Submit to save changes. Note: Organizing your content into folders can make it significantly easier to Copy content. Adding Items (alternative way to add/upload files) 1. In Edit Mode access an existing content area e.g. Course Content 2. On the Action Bar, click Build Content 3. Click Item 4. On the Create Item page, enter a Name. 5. Enter text in the Text Box. Use formatting options to select font type, size, alignment and color. Use the Text Editor to insert images, embed multimedia files and spell check. 6. To add an attachment, click Browse My Computer or Browse Course Files to select a file. Repeat this step to add additional files. 7. Under Standard Options -> Permit Users to View the Content select Yes to make the content available to students. 8. Click Submit to save changes. Blackboard Training [7]

13 Adding URLs 1. In Edit Mode access an existing content area e.g. Course Content 2. On the Action Bar, click Build Content 3. Click Web Link 4. On the Create Web Link page, enter a Name. 5. Enter the URL for the Web Link. The URL is the Web address for the link. The entire Web address must be entered, including the 6. Enter text in the Text Box. Use formatting options to select font type, size, alignment and color. Use the Text Editor to insert images, embed multimedia files and spell check. 7. To add an attachment, click Browse My Computer or Browse Course Files to select a file. Repeat this step to add additional files. 8. Under Web Link Options -> Open in New Window select Yes to allow students to to view the Web Link in a new window, or No to keep students in the Content frame while viewing the Web Link. 9. Under Standard Options -> Permit Users to View the Content select Yes to make the content available to students. 10. Click Submit to save changes. Evaluation Tools Creating Assignments 1. In Edit Mode access an existing content area (e.g. Content & Assignments) 2. On the Action Bar, click Assessments. Click Assignment. 3. On the Create Assignment page, enter a Name. 4. Enter text in the Text Box. Use formatting options to select font type, size, alignment and color. 5. To add an attachment, click Browse My Computer or Browse Course Files to select a file. Repeat this step to add additional files. 6. Assign Points Possible (cannot be blank - must have a value) 7. Under Availability -> check Make the Assignment Available to make the content available to students. Fall 2013-Spring 2014 [8]

14 8. Define Number of Attempts, Due Dates and the Recipients. 9. Click Submit to save changes. Note: Do not use Build Content > Create Item for an assignment since students cannot upload/submit their files through this feature. Grading Assignments Once an assignment has been created, a column is automatically created in the Grade Center. By default new columns appear on the far right of the Grade Center so you may need to scroll over to view your newest addition. To access ungraded submissions: 1. Go to Control Panel -> Grade Center -> Assignments 2. Click on the column s contextual menu for the assignment you wish to grade and select Grade Attempts. You will see the grading area for the first student on the list. 3. You can download student-submitted assignment files and grade them off-line or you can view, comment, and or grade it using In-line grading function. Files that have been uploaded and converted for display in the inline viewer can be annotated directly within the browser. Blackboard Training [9]

15 1. Review and comment directly in the document. Click Comment in the inline viewer toolbar to expand the annotation tools. 2. From the inline viewer toolbar you can zoom the contents of the document in or out, open the annotation tools menu to comment in the document, download the document and move from page to page. 3. Grade the submission from the inline grading sidebar. From here you can view the assignment details, the grading rubric and each attempt. You can type an overall grade and grades for each attempt as well as provide feedback to your students without leaving the page. Note: Supported document types that can be converted are Word (DOC, DOCX), PowerPoint (PPT, PPTX), Excel (XLS, XLSX), and PDF (PDF). Inline Assignment Grading is available only with submitted files, not for content created using the text editor. The viewer is supported on current versions of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer. No plug-in or other application is necessary. If a student has uploaded a file that isn't in a format supported by the inline viewer, then instead of seeing the viewer, you are prompted to download the file in question. Fall 2013-Spring 2014 [10]