Blackboard s My Content Area Using your Private Central File Repository

Transcription

1 University of Southern California Academic Information Services Blackboard s My Content Area Using your Private Central File Repository The My Content area in Blackboard acts as each instructor s private central file repository that they can link to from any of their courses. Aside from storage, its main benefit is to be able to update a file that appears across multiple course sections from one location. The diagram below illustrates how the My Content area is commonly used. How the My Content Area Works The instructor first uploads files they wish to provide to their students into Blackboard s My Content area. They then go into each section they are teaching and create links to the files in their My Content area so the students can view them. Instructors can also create links to folders. This allows the students to see all files in the folder and requires fewer steps for the instructor. A b A b C Instructor uploads files from their computer into the My Content area. A b C d c d The instructor creates links from each section to the files or folders in the My Content area they wish to link to. Advantages Organization/Storage Provides a private central location to store your all of your course related files. Linking to Files You can create links to files and folders stored in your My Content area from within any of your Blackboard course sections. Updates - My Content s main advantage over uploading files directly into the courses themselves occurs when a file needs to be updated. Rather than having to open each course the file was uploaded to and replacing it with the new file, the instructor simply needs to overwrite the old file in the My Content area. Any links to the old file throughout all of their Blackboard courses will now point to the new file. Disadvantages No TA Access Teaching Assistants cannot access your My Content area and cannot create links to files in it for you without your assistance. Initial Extra Step - Using My Content adds the extra step of first uploading the file into the My Content area and then link to it from within each section. Note to Instructors Who Use TAs to Build Content If you use TAs to build your course content for you, then you probably shouldn t use the My Content area. TAs cannot directly access your My Content area and therefore cannot create the course links for you or upload files into your My Content area. There are a few workarounds shown in the appendix of this handout that does let TAs do some of the work but they are all still require extra steps by the instructor. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 1 of 21

2 Table of Contents Table of Contents... 2 My Content Best Practices Fastest Method of Uploading and Linking to Multiple Files... 3 My Content Overview of Different Approaches to Linking to Content from within a Section... 4 Linking to a Single File Using File... 4 Linking to a Single File Using Item... 4 Linking to Multiple Files Using Item... 4 Linking to a Folder Using Item... 4 Accessing the My Content Area... 5 About the Content Collection... 5 Overview of the My Content Area... 6 Creating Folders and Uploading Files to My Content... 7 Creating Folders in the My Content Area... 7 Uploading a Single File into My Content... 7 Simultaneously Upload Multiple Files into My Content Using a Zip Folder... 7 Linking to a File in My Content from within a Blackboard Course... 8 Linking to a Single File from within a Specific Course... 8 Simultaneously Linking to Multiple Files from within a Specific Course... 9 Linking to Folders Using Item Managing Links to Files from within a Course Section Deleting a Link to a My Content File Editing the Display Name, Color, Visibility, and Tracking of a Link Managing Files from within the My Content Area Deleting a File From the My Content Area Moving / Coping Files or Folders Replacing a File Downloading Files from My Content to your Computer Tracking Student Access to a File Viewing Access to a File Content Notifications Track Student Access to Folders and its Files Turn Off Notifications Appendix: Workarounds for Instructors who use TAs to Build Content Workaround 1: Don t Use My Content - TA Uploads Files Directly into Courses Workaround 2: Instructor Sends the TA the URL to My Content Area Folders Workaround 3: Copy My Content Items into your Course Sections Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 2 of 21

3 My Content Best Practices Fastest Method of Uploading and Linking to Multiple Files Below is the fastest method of uploading and linking to multiple files when you wish the files to appear to students in the same folder. From the student s perspective, the files will be grouped inside a single link using whatever link name you specify. When a student clicks the link they will get the window to the right. Basic Steps (See pages 7-9 for specific instructions.) Students can view a single file by clicking it or they can download all of the files to their computer in a single zip file by clicking Download Package. 1) Zip Files on PC Create a zip folder on your computer and drag your files into it. 2) Create Folder Create a folder in the My Content area to contain the unzipped files. 3) Upload Zip File to My Content Use Upload Package to upload the contents of the zip file into the folder you created in step 2. Blackboard will decompress the files automatically. 4) Link to Files from Course Within a course, use Create Item to link to the folder you created in step 2. Updating the Files To add, remove, or overwrite any of the files the students will see when then click the link, make your changes from within the folder you linked to in the My Content area. Any file additions, deletions, or replacements will automatically display when a student clicks the link in their course to that folder. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 3 of 21

4 My Content Overview of Different Approaches to Linking to Content from within a Section There are several approaches to making files stored in My Content available to students. This page provides a quick overview and the pages that follow provide the specific steps. Linking to a Single File Using File This is an example of using Build Content File. It allows you to link a single file and change the file link name. You cannot provides descriptive text or upload multiple files simultaneously using this method. Linking to a Single File Using Item This is an example of using Build Content Item to link to a single file. The student will see content similar to the image shown to the right. Item allows you to set a display name, file name, and supply descriptive text. Linking to Multiple Files Using Item The advantage of using Build Content Item over Build Content File is that you can link to multiple files. When you need to upload multiple files that can go under the same heading (i.e. Disney Case Files) using Build Content - Item is faster than using Build Content - File. Linking to a Folder Using Item If you wish to link to a folder you must use Build Content Item. To the student, the folder will appear as a link. When they click the link a window similar to the one shown to the right will appear. They can download the files individually or click the Download Package button download the files in a zip file. This method involves the least number of steps for the instructor but it does suggest that the files being downloaded be of the same topic. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 4 of 21

5 Accessing the My Content Area You can access the My Content area from two different locations in blackboard: From the Content Collection Tab 1. Click the Content Collection tab while logged into Blackboard. 2. If collapsed, expand the Content Collection area. 3. Click My Content. From within a Course 1. Access one of your Blackboard courses. 2. If collapsed, expand Control Panel. 3. If collapsed, expand the Content Collection area. 4. Click your content area (i.e. your username Content. About the Content Collection The Content Collection consists of two main areas: My Content and Course Content. This guide covers the My Content area only. Their differences between the two areas are illustrated below. C d A b My Content This is the instructor s central file storage area. Any file stored here can be made to appear in any course the instructor is teaching. If a file is updated in My Content all sections will see the new file. Bookmarks Although files will appear here, it is not a file storage area. It simply provides a means of creating and storing shortcuts to files stored in either My Content or Course Content. C v x d z A b Course Content Each course section also has its own central file repository. Whenever an instructor uploads a file to a section, it is stored in that section s repository. You can also create links from a section to its own repository but do not create links to another section s repository. Students can only view files in their own section or in the My Content area. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 5 of 21

6 Overview of the My Content Area Below is an illustrated overview of the My Content area. See subsequent pages for a more detailed explanation. Back Out of Folder Click the breadcrumb trail to back out of a folder. More Options Set options for the entire site. Edit Mode is: ON Make sure this is set to on. Upload Upload file or decompress a zip file (package). Change Views Switch between viewing as a list or via thumbnails. Open a Folder Click the folder s name to open it. Set Special Permissions Used in special access situations only. Item Options Set options for the selected item. Note that Recycle deletes and sends to the Recycle folder. Download Package Downloads the selected folder as a zip file. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 6 of 21

7 Creating Folders and Uploading Files to My Content Creating Folders in the My Content Area Folders not only provide a method of organizing your content but also provide a means of quickly linking to multiple flies from within your courses. If you create a link to a My Content folder from within a course, students will be able to view all files within that folder. 1. Access the My Content area. (See page 5). 2. Click the Create Folder button. (You can also create subfolders by first accessing the parent folder but do not create them more than 4 levels deep!) 3. Type a name for the folder and click Submit. (Or Create and Customize to enable tracking and other options.) Uploading a Single File into My Content To upload a file into the My Content area, follow the steps below. 1. Access the My Content area. (See page 5) 2. If you wish to upload the file into a folder, click the folder. 3. Click Upload then Upload Files. 4. Click Choose File and select a file. 5. Specify whether you wish to replace if Blackboard encounters an existing file that has the same name. 6. Specify whether you wish to track which students have accessed the file. 7. Click Submit. Simultaneously Upload Multiple Files into My Content Using a Zip Folder When you use Upload Package to upload a Zip file, Blackboard will automatically unzip the files into Blackboard. 1. On your computer, create a Zip folder and place the files you wish to upload into the zip folder. Windows users will typically do the following: a. Create the zip folder: Right click your Desktop and select New Compressed (Zip) Folder. b. Drag files into the zip folder. 2. In Blackboard, access the My Content area. (See page 5.) 3. If you wish to upload the file into a folder, click the folder. 4. Click Upload then Upload Package. 5. Click Choose File and select a file. 6. Specify whether you wish to replace if Blackboard encounters an existing file that has the same name. 7. Leave the file name encoding alone (should be at Default ). 8. Click Submit. TIP: Allow Students to Download Multiple Files in a Single Zip File If you would like to save your students some steps, you can place multiple files in a single zip file that they can download and decompress themselves. To do this, follow the steps in the section above for uploading a zip file but use Upload Files rather than Upload Package. Upload Files uploads the zip file without decompressing it. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 7 of 21

8 Linking to a File in My Content from within a Blackboard Course This area covers how to link to a file stored in the My Content area from within a section of a course. Linking to a Single File from within a Specific Course This section covers how to use the Build Content File option to link to a single file. To link to multiple files, use the Build Content Item method shown in the next section. 1. Access the Blackboard course section you wish to create the link in. ( Home My Courses Plus ). 2. Go into an area that allows you to add files ( Content for example). 3. Click Build Content and then File. 4. Click Browse Content Collection. 5. Click My Content. 6. Click the radio button to the left of the file you wish to link to and then click Submit. 7. If desired, use the Name box to change the display name of the file. 8. Set the Color of Name to blue. (Read why below.) 9. Set any desired options. 10. Click Submit. Why Specify a Color for the Link Name? When looking at items in a content area, there is no way to visually determine which items are links to files you stored in the My Content area and which ones are files you uploaded into the course itself. Should you wish to delete a file or replace it, this can be a big problem. However, if you elect to make the names of files stored in the My Content area a specific color such as blue, you will be able to tell it is a link, not an actual file. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 8 of 21

9 Simultaneously Linking to Multiple Files from within a Specific Course This method allows you to save yourself a few steps by uploading multiple files at the same time; however, the files will appear under the same heading as shown in the image to the right. 1. Access the Blackboard course section you wish to create the link in. ( Home My Courses Plus ). 2. Go into an area that allows you to add files ( Content for example). 3. Click Build Content and then Item. 4. Type a name for the area you are creating to store the files (e.g. Knotts Case Files ) 5. Set Name of Color to blue. 6. If desired, type descriptive text in the lower area. Note you can also insert files using the Attach Files button but the file links will run together. (You can usually separate them by pressing enter in the appropriate location.) 7. Click the Browse Content Collection button. 8. Click My Content. 9. Check the boxes to the left of the files you wish to link to.* 10. Click Submit. 11. If desired, change the names of the links students will click on using Link Title. 12. Set any desired options then click Submit. * TIP To save yourself some clicks, you can link to the folder which contains the files you wish the students to see rather than its individual files! The students will see a link to the folder that when clicked, takes them to the files in the folder. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 9 of 21

10 Linking to Folders Using Item If you have a lot of files to like to and they can go under the same heading, linking to the folder (or folders) they are in involves the least number of steps. To the student, the folder will appear as a link. When they click the link a window similar to the one shown below will appear. Students can download the files individually or click the Download Package button download the files in a zip file. 1. Access the Blackboard course section you wish to create the link in. ( Home My Courses Plus ). 2. Go into an area that allows you to add files ( Content for example). 3. Click Build Content and then Item. 4. Type a name for the area you are creating to store the files (e.g. Knotts Case Files ) 5. Set Name of Color to blue. 6. If desired, type descriptive text in the lower area. 7. Click the Browse Content Collection button. 8. Click My Content. 9. Click the check boxes to the left of the folder (or folders) you are linking to. 10. Click Submit. 11. If desired, edit the Link Title text the student will see to click on. 12. Click Submit. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 10 of 21

11 Managing Links to Files from within a Course Section This section covers editing options available from within a specific course on a link to a file in the My Content area. Deleting a Link to a My Content File When you go into a course and delete a link to a file stored in the My Content area, it deletes the link in the course but not the file in the My Content area. (Note that this is true for files uploaded directly into a course section. When the link is deleted the file still remains in Course Content.) 1. Access the course containing the link you wish to delete ( Home My Courses Plus ). 2. Access the area of the course containing the link. (For example, Content.) 3. Make sure Edit Mode is set to On. 4. Click the item s drop down arrow. 5. Click Delete. 6. Click OK. Editing the Display Name, Color, Visibility, and Tracking of a Link Follow the steps below to edit how a file link displays within a specific course. 1. Access the course containing the link you wish to delete ( Home My Courses Plus ). 2. Access the area of the course containing the link. (For example, Content.) 3. Make sure Edit Mode is set to On. 4. Click the item s drop down arrow. 5. Click Edit. 6. Make the changes and click Submit. Name Changes the link name. Color of Name Changes the link color. Visibility Visible or not to students. Track Number of Views Tallies the number of times the item is viewed. Date/Time Restrictions Control visibility to students by date. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 11 of 21

12 Managing Files from within the My Content Area This section covers managing files stored in the My Content area. It differs from the previous section in that here you are editing the files themselves while in the previous section you were only editing links to the files. Deleting a File From the My Content Area When you wish to delete a file, use the Recycle button. This will move the file to your Recycle Bin folder where it will remain unless you delete it also from the Recycle Bin. 1. Access the My Content area. 2. To check for any links to the file from one of your courses: a. Click the file s down arrow. b. Select 360 o View. c. Inspect the Links area for any links to the file from a course. d. Close the tab that opened. 3. To Recycle the File: a. Click the file s check box. b. Click Recycle. c. Click Yes to confirm. Note that at this point, any links to the file will still work. This is because Blackboard adjusted them when it moved the file to the Recycle Bin. To completely delete the file and break any links, proceed to step To Permanently Delete the File: a. Click the text Recycle Bin. b. Click the file s check box. c. Click Delete. c. Click Yes at the warnings. Note that if you have any links to the file, (Invalid File) would now appear at the end of the link. Note that this isn t a method of controlling when the file appears to students from within the My Content area. This must be controlled from within the sections themselves. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 12 of 21

13 Moving / Coping Files or Folders This section covers how to move or copy files located in the My Content area. Note that any links to the files you are moving will automatically update to point to the new location and remain unbroken. 1. Access the My Content area. 2. Check the files or folders to moved or copied. 3. Click Copy or Move depending upon your task. 4. Click the Browse button. 5. Click the My Content button. 6. Click the destination folder s radio button. 7. Click Submit. Replacing a File One of the key benefits of using the My Content area is that if you replace an old file with a new one, any links you have to the old file will now point to the new file instantaneously. Follow the steps in this section to replace a file. 1. Access the My Content area. 2. Click the file s drop down arrow. 3. Select Overwrite File. 4. Click Chose File When using this method to update a file, the new file does not have to have the same name as the old one. Note that Blackboard stores the file under the old name. 5. Click Submit. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 13 of 21

14 Downloading Files from My Content to your Computer This feature allows you to download files and folders from the My Content area to your computer in the form of a compressed zip file. 1. Access the My Content area. 2. Check the files and/or folders you wish to download. 3. Click Download Package. Your browser should download the zip file to whatever default location it is set to use on your computer. Open it as you normally would. To decompress the zip file on most Windows computers, right click it and select Extract All. Tracking Student Access to a File If you enable tracking on a file stored in My Content, you can view a list of each student who has access the file and when. Note that tracking is not retroactive. It will only track access from the time you turn on tracking forward. 1. Access the My Content area. 2. Check a file you wish to track. (To enable tracking on multiple files at the same time, check their folder.) 3. Click the file s (or folder s) drop down and select Edit. 4. For a file, click Enable Tracking and click Submit. If you are enabling tracking for a folder, the options are slightly different. Note also that changing tracking options at the folder level overrides any tracking options you have set for any files the folder contains. Viewing Access to a File Follow these steps to view a list of students who have accessed the file. 1. Access the My Content area. 2. Click the file s drop down and select Tracking. To view other types of access reports, go to a course s Control Panel and select Evaluation. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 14 of 21

15 Content Notifications Track Student Access to Folders and its Files If you setup notifications on a folder in the My Content area, Blackboard will send you an when a user accesses any one of the files stored in the folder you setup notifications on. 1. Access the My Content area. 2. Click a folder s down arrow. 3. Select Notifications. 4. Click Create Notifications. 5. Specify the type of action that will trigger the notification. If you wish to track student access, you will probably select Contents Accessed. 6. Specify the Frequency. Again, if you are monitoring student access, you will probably want to select Daily. 7. If desired, specify a date that notifications will stop. 8. Click Submit then OK. This icon indicates that notifications have been setup for the folder. Turn Off Notifications To turn off a folder s notifications, follow the steps below. 1. Access the My Content area. 2. Click a folder s down arrow. 3. Select Notifications. 4. Check which of the folder s notification rules you would like to delete. 5. Click Delete. 6. Click OK at the warning and then OK to leave the area. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 15 of 21

16 Appendix: Workarounds for Instructors who use TAs to Build Content No one else but you can access your My Content area directly. This includes TAs and co-instructors. Because of this, most of the methods covered in this guide cannot be accomplished by TAs. If you rely on TAs to build your course materials for you, you may wish to consider these workarounds: Workaround 1: Don t use the My Content area. Have the TA upload the files directly into each course. Workaround 2: Supply the TAs with the URL to the folder in My Content you wish them to make a link to. Workaround 3: Copy the contents of your My Content area into each section you wish your TA to manage. Workaround 1: Don t Use My Content - TA Uploads Files Directly into Courses This workaround avoids using the My Content area altogether. Files will be stored somewhere outside of Blackboard such as a hard or network drive and TAs will use the Browse My Computer button rather than the Browse Content Collection button and upload files into each course. Note that this workaround loses the two major benefits of using the My Content area: Having a single organized location to store files in and being able to update a file displayed in multiple sections from one central area. Workaround 2: Instructor Sends the TA the URL to My Content Area Folders This method still utilizes the My Content area and linking and therefore preserves the benefit of being able to update a file displayed in multiple areas from one location but requires a lot of instructor involvement. When using this workaround, it is best to place most of the files you will be providing to students in the same folder in the My Content area. This will reduce the number of steps required of both the instructor and the TA. A summary of the steps are: Instructor Tasks: a) Creates folders and uploads files into those folders in the My Content area. b) Grants their course permission to view the folders should a link be created. c) Determines and sends their TA the address to the folders in My Content that will be linked to. TA Tasks: d) For each course, the TA creates the links to the files using the URL provided by the instructor. (Note that the instructor will need to do any file updates within the My Content area themself.) Workaround 2 - Part a: Instructor creates folders and uploads files in their My Content area See page 7-9 for instructions on creating folders and uploading files. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 16 of 21

17 Workaround 2 Part b: Instructor grants course permission to the folder(s) created in step a. Normally, you do not have to grant permission to a folder or file stored in the My Content area that you are linking to from a course; however, because we will not be using the Browse Content Collection button to create the link, we must. 1. From within the My Content area, click down arrow next to the folder (or file) you will be linking to. 2. Click Permissions. 3. Click Select Specific Users By Place. 4. Click Course. 5. Check all the sections that should have access to the folder. 6. Elect to give access to All Course users in the courses you selected above. 7. Set permission to Read. 8. Click Submit 9. Click OK. 10. Repeat the steps above for any other folders (or files) you wish to give permission to. Note that when you grant permission to a folder, you are also granting permission to any files within that folder. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 17 of 21

18 Workaround 2 Part c: Instructor Looks up the Folder s URL and Sends it to the TA Using this workaround, for the TA to be able to create a link to a file or folder in the My Content area, they must know its direct URL. This information must be provided by the instructor. 1. From within the My Content area, click the folder s (or file s) drop down. 2. Click 360 o View. 3. Highlight the Permanent URL address and press Control + C on your keyboard to copy it. 4. Close the Properties window. 5. Open an to your TA and press Control + V to copy the URL into the . (Or use whatever other means you wish to get the URL to them.) Workaround 2 Part d: The TA creates the links to the folders using the URL provided by the instructor In this final step, the TA will create the link to the folder (or file) using the URL sent to them by the instructor. Note that they will not be using the Browse Content Collection button to do this but will be using the URL option. 1. The TA should go into one areas of a course that allows content. 2. Click Build Content then URL. 3. Type a name for the link. 4. Paste the address to the folder the instructor ed to you (Control + V). 5. Set any other desired options then click Submit. The students will see the link above. When they click the link, a window similar to the example to the right will open. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 18 of 21

19 Workaround 3: Copy My Content Items into your Course Sections Using this workaround, the instructor will store their course files in the My Content area. To allow the TA to make the links, the instructor will copy the folders or files from My Content into each course section they will appear in. Should a file need to be updated, the instructor will replace the file in the My Content area and copy it again into the course sections. As long as the file name did not change, the links should remain unbroken. Step 1: (Instructor) Create Folders and Uploads Files into the My Content Area See pages 6-8 for instructions on creating folders and uploading files into the My Content area. Step 2: (Instructor) Copy folders and/or Files into their Course Sections In this next step, the instructor will need to copy the folders and/or files from their My Content area into each section that will be using the file. 1. The instructor accesses the My Content area. 2. Check the files and folders that will be copied. (Checking a folder also checks its files.) 3. Click the Copy button. 4. Click the Browse button to select the destination courses. 5. Click the Courses link as the type of item you are copying to. 6. Check the course you wish to copy the content into. 10. Click Submit. Note that if you are replacing an old file with an updated one, check: if selected, the system automatically overwrites the existing file with the same name. 11. Click Submit again to finalize the copy. The folders and files you selected are now in the course you specified. 12. Repeat steps 1-11 for any other courses you wish to make the files available in. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 19 of 21

20 Step 3: (TA) Link to the Files or Folders Copied into the Course s Content Area Unlike the previous two steps, these steps can be performed by the TA. It involves linking to files copied to the course s content area. (A course s content area is similar to the My Content area except that the files are only accessible to students from within the course.) 1. Access one of the areas of a course section that allows content. ( Content for example). 2. Click Build Content and then select Item. 3. Type a name for the area you are creating to store the files (e.g. Knotts Case Files ) 4. If desired, type descriptive text in the lower area. 5. Click the Browse Content Collection button. 6. Click Course Content. 7. Click the name of the course you are currently in. Do not link to files in other course sections! This will appear to work but because students only have link access to files in the section they are enrolled in and the My content area, they will not be allowed access to the files. 8. Check the boxes to the left of any files and folders you are linking to. If you select multiple items, they will appear as separate links within the heading you made in step 3. If you select a folder, the folder will become a link that when clicked will list the files within it. 9. Click Submit. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 20 of 21

21 10. If desired, change the Link Title text. (This is the text students see to click on.) 11. Set any desired options. 12. Click Submit. In this example, students would see the image below. Marshall School of Business My_Content_Blackboard9.docx 6/8/12 Page 21 of 21