Using Blackboard The majority of the teaching on this course will be delivered using software called Blackboard. Blackboard is one of many Virtual Learning Environments used to teach over the internet. It can be used to present study information online either to complement traditional face-to-face classes, or as a main method of teaching. This document will introduce you to Blackboard and how to use it during the course. Section One demonstrates how to log into Blackboard, and describes the Blackboard student homepage. Section Two introduces the Delve Deeper distance learning pages. In order to use Blackboard, you will need a Newcastle University log-in and password. These will be posted out to you before the beginning of your course. There are several formatting conventions used in this document. Please take note of the formatting styles: Buttons and drop-down lists will be indicated in BOLD. Locations on the screen are indicated in italics. 1 of 16
Section one: Logging in to Blackboard Step 1: Using your Internet browser, enter the following URL: http://bb.ncl.ac.uk/ and click on the User Login button on the left hand menu. Or click the internet based learning tab located on the bar across the top of the current student website at: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/marine/delvedeeper/currentstudents then click on the Blackboard link. You should be presented with Blackboard's entry page: Step 2: Click on the User Login button (circled). 2 of 16
Step 3: Step 4: Enter your username and password in the area circled below Click Login. Once logged in, you will see your own personal My Home Page. 3 of 16
My Home Page When you first log in to Blackboard, the My Home Page screen appears. This page is unique for each user, displaying information from your course and relevant information for that particular day. My Home Page has six main components: 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. The Tools Area stores the items you can use to customise, add, modify and manage your e-learning system 2. The Navigation Buttons provide one-click access to the Home Page, the Help page, and the Logout button 3. The Navigation Tabs are used to navigate between segments of the software 4. The Personal Area displays announcements, calendar items, and a variety of other information 5. The My Communities Area displays the courses you are enrolled on. Please note that My Modules here refers to university degree course modules, not modules of the distance learning course. The distance learning course can be found within the My Communities section 6. Modify Content and Modify Layout are used to further customise your Home Page. 4 of 16
Each of these sections has a separate function. 1. Tools The Tools Area provides personal management tools, like a calendar and task list where you can create and manage entries. Several items in the tools area are also displayed in the Community area. The default view displays the announcements, calendar items and tasks in My Home Page. 2. Navigation Buttons At the very top of the screen, there are three Navigation Buttons. Each of these buttons serves a different function: The Home button redirects the browser to the Blackboard Home Page. The Help button directs the browser to an online help page, where you can get information about how to use this software, tips and tricks, as well as additional assistance and support. Note that this takes you to an external website. The Logout button will log you out of the session. When working on a shared computer or in a computer lab, be sure to use the Logout button to reset the session each time you finish using the system. 3. Navigation Tabs The Navigation Tabs are used to navigate between functional areas of the Blackboard software. Clicking on a tab displays the appropriate area in the screen. The four tab areas and functions are: My Home Page: This is the default entry point for all users. Modules: This tab provides entry to university degree course modules. You will not need to use this tab for the distance learning course. 5 of 16
Community: This tab provides entry to the Community page. This page will give you a link to open the distance learning course. Library: This tab provides entry to the online library services. You will not need to use this tab for the distance learning course. 4. Personal Area The Personal Area displays announcements, calendar items, and a variety of other information. 5. The My Communities Area The My Communities Area lists the courses that you are enrolled on. For Delve Deeper students, the distance learning course should be the only one displayed (unless you are taking other Newcastle University courses independently). 6. Contents and Layout The Modify Content and Modify Layout sections of the software allow you to customise the way your Home Page looks to your preference. Contents Step 1: Click Modify Content and you will be presented with the following page 6 of 16
Step 2: Select the items you would like to appear on your Home Page by clicking on the box beside the item until a appears. Note: Boxes with red ticks are default items to appear on your Home Page and cannot be cleared. Layout Step 3: Scroll down and click on the Submit button. Step 4: You will receive confirmation that your changes were successful. Click on the OK button. Step 1: Click Modify Layout and you will be presented with the following page: 7 of 16
Step 2: Use the first panel to change the way the items appear on your Home Page and the second panel to change the colour scheme. Step 3: Scroll down and click on the Submit button. Step 4: You will receive confirmation that your changes were successful. Click on the OK button. 8 of 16
Section 2: The distance learning course 1. Accessing the course Accessing the course materials can be done in two ways; either from the My Home Page tab or from the My Community tab. Accessing via the My Home Page Tab Click on Marine Biology Distance Learning Course under the heading My Communities Clicking this link will take you directly to the course 9 of 16
You can return to the My Home Page by clicking on the My Home Page navigation tab Accessing via the Communities Tab The Community tab also provides access to the course. Similar to the My Communities area on the My Home Page, you can enter the course by clicking on its title in the My Communities area. 10 of 16
2. The course page When you open the course, the first page you will see is the Announcements page: Course menu This panel shows course announcements and general information from the university computing team (ISS) This page will be used as your main access to the course. Announcements regarding the modules and the field course will be made on this page. Recent announcements should also be displayed on your Home Page. They are also accessible via the Tools menu on the homepage. The menu on the left hand side links to specific areas for each module: 11 of 16
The course menu This link will take you back to the announcement page These links take you to pages for specific modules This link takes you to a page with information on the field course We will use the discussion boards throughout the course, to meet other students and debate issues Click on Module One to open the first module page. Each month, the work for the next module will appear online. This means that before the month a module is due to start, that module area may appear empty. 12 of 16
Module areas This section contains the module documents These are the areas that you will use most frequently. Each area is used to store all the learning materials that you will require for a single module, including links to online assessments. Each module will contain a similar folder structure to help you to navigate the material easily. The Module Chapters folder will contain documents for you to open and work through. When opening these documents, right click and go to open in new window or open in new tab. This way the document will open in its own panel. If you simply click open, it will open within the main Blackboard panel. This will limit its size and what you can do with it. Opening and printing documents There are 2 ways of opening files and printing off documents within Blackboard: Step 1: From within the course - click on the appropriate module folder Step 2: Click through the folders until you find the folder with the material that you wish to open/print Step 3: Click on the document that you wish to open Note: The document should appear on your screen either within the browser window or in a separate window depending upon how your browser is set up. Right click and select open in new tab or open in new window to avoid the document opening in the main Blackboard panel Step 4: To print the document - click on the file menu Step 5: Click on Print 13 of 16
The document should print out. If the above method does not work - then it is probably best to download the document to your own computer: Step 1: From within the course - click on the appropriate module folder. Step 2: Click through the folders until you find the folder with the material that you wish to open/print. Step 3: Right-click on the document that you wish to open. Step 4: Click on Save Target as/save as. You should be presented with a box asking you to save the file to your computer. Step 5: Choose a location on your computer, and give the file a suitable name, then click on the 'Save button. You should now be able to open this document up in Word and print it out as normal. 14 of 16
Discussion Board Discussion boards (sometimes known as discussion forums or web boards) are a useful way of keeping in touch with your fellow students. Discussion boards are designed for asynchronous use, meaning students do not have to be available at the same time to have a conversation. An additional advantage of the discussion board is that conversations are logged and organised. Conversations are grouped into threads that contain a main posting and all related replies for easy retrieval. We will set up a range of discussion forums for you during the module. Click on Discussion Board in the course menu The discussion board area lists all of the current discussion topics. Click on the underlined topic name to read the posts. 15 of 16
At the bottom of the post you will see a reply button. You click this if you would like to post something yourself. All other users enrolled on the course will be able to see the message that you have posted. Logging Out When you have finished using Blackboard, click on Logout: 16 of 16