Blackboard is a course management platform that allows instructors to interact with students and put their classes on the Internet without having to be experts in HTML or web development. Using Blackboard makes it easy to put up copies of handouts and presentations, to quiz students on what they ve learned, and to calculate student grades and put them online. Blackboard lets you easily create an electronic companion to your course. Blackboard 8.0 is the most recent version and includes new features such as a redesigned Grade Center and tools for performing self and peer assessment. Please see handout for information on how to get to the CUNY Portal and log in to Blackboard. Blackboard Interfaces The three main interfaces you will be working with will be the Course List page, the main page for each course, and the Control Panel for each course. After logging in, you will find yourself at the Course List page. This is the page that both instructors and students first see after logging into Blackboard. Each individual instructor and student has a unique Course List page depending on what courses he or she is teaching or participating in. Note: You will not have a System Admin tab on your page. The Course List Interface This page gives you a list of the courses that you are currently set to teach or participate in. To get to the main page for a class that you are teaching, simply click on the linked title of your class. The opening page also provides a menu allowing you to view Announcements and other items for all of your courses.
The Main Course Page Interface This page contains links to all the content that you have chosen to make available to students in the class. The buttons (known as the Course Menu ) along the left-hand side of the page allow students to go to course areas that you have designated as being available to them. These areas show up as buttons by default when you are in Quick View. Just below those links are three additional areas: Tools, Control Panel and Refresh/Detail View. The Control Panel is an area you are able to see only if you are designated as the instructor of the class. When you click on Detail View, the buttons will change into an outline of the different areas in the course. And near the top of the page, you will also find a type of link that is referred to as a breadcrumb menu. As you go deeper into sections and subsections of your Blackboard course, these breadcrumbs will allow you to step back in the process and go to previously accessed pages. It is recommended that you use this breadcrumb menu to navigate through your Blackboard course rather than the button on your browser. Please note that by default, Blackboard will start you out in the Announcements section of your course site. This allows you to get announcements to your students as soon as they log in to your class. Instructional Technology Page 2
Control Panel The Control Panel Interface The Control Panel is where you will go to set options in Blackboard, add and modify content, set up the design of the course, etc. The links in this page are broken into the following categories: Content Areas, Course Tools, Course Options, User Management, Assessment, and Help. Note: You have the ability to quickly switch between the display and edit views by clicking on the link in the main course page to modify a content area item. Instructors no longer need to always go to the Control Panel to make a change. Content Areas The Content Areas are sections in the Blackboard course where instructors organize their entire course content. Initial default areas include Course Information, Course Documents, Assignments, and External Links. These default areas are identical in how content is added. Instructors can customize these areas to organize content specific to their course. Common items included in these areas are: syllabus, documents, presentations, class notes, assignments, etc. Instructional Technology Page 3
The Content Areas section of the control panel allows you to add, modify, and delete content in those areas (remember: these are the areas that are linked to (have buttons) in the left-hand side of the main course page). It is important that you think about what sort of information you want to put in your Blackboard course and where you will place the information. Using a logical structure and redundancy will make it easier for your students to find the information. Designing Your Blackboard Course The Course Design feature allows you to customize the look and feel of your course by choosing a navigation style (buttons or text), selecting colors for the navigation area, and uploading a course banner. Before you begin adding content to your course, it is best to choose the design of the course. In the Control Panel, scroll down until you can see the Course Options section and click on the link for Course Design. Next click on Course Menu Design, and you will go to a page where you can select the menu style and button type you would like to use in your course. We suggest you choose Buttons rather than Text to make the content areas more visible to your students. When you have made your choices, click on Submit at the bottom of the page. Instructional Technology Page 4
Under Course Options, you will also find a link for Manage Course Menu. This feature will allow you to customize the course menu for each of your Blackboard courses. You can provide links to content, other areas of the course, course tools, communication tools and websites. This feature creates additional content areas and adds tool functions to the course navigation menu. You can also rename any of the buttons/text links. To set up the Course Menu (buttons) that appears on the main course page, click on Manage Course Menu in the Course Options section of the Control Panel. From this page, you can add, modify, remove and change the order of the items you wish to have on your course menu. We suggest that all instructors use Announcements, Course Information, Staff Information, Communication and Tools/Student Tools. When you click on Modify to the right of the area, you can change the name of the button (content area). By changing the numbers in the drop-down boxes to the left of the items, you can change the order of the buttons (areas). Add Content Area: 1. Click on the Add Content Area icon. 2. Choose a name from the pull-down list, or type one of your own into the Area Name field. 3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button. Add Tool Link: 1. Click on the Add Tool Link icon. 2. Choose a tool type from the pull-down list. 3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button. Add Course Link: 1. Click on the Add Course link icon. 2. Type a name into the Area Name field. Instructional Technology Page 5
3. Click on the Browse button and choose an area of the course to link to. 4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button. Add External Link: 1. Click on the Add External Link icon. 2. Type a name into the Area Name field. 3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button. Once you have set up the course menu/buttons, you can remove or modify them at any time by returning to the Manage Course Menu area. You can also re-arrange the order of the navigation menu by changing the numbers in the drop-down boxes. Creating a Course Banner As part of the design for your Blackboard course, you may wish to have a picture relating to your course content appear on the opening page, usually the Announcements page. You can find a picture on the web or use image-editing software to create your own design. Banners should be a maximum of 600 x 60 pixels; larger banners take up too much of the announcements space. Banners must be created and sized outside Blackboard and uploaded as a.gif or.jpg file. To upload the banner to Blackboard once it has been created: From the Control Panel, under Course Options, select Course Design > Course Banner. Browse to the location of the graphics file you wish to use, select the file and Open. Click Submit at the bottom of the Course Banner page and the picture will be uploaded to your Blackboard course. Instructional Technology Page 6
Set Course Entry Point The Set Course Entry Point tool lets you choose the page your Blackboard course will open up to. Blackboard automatically opens to the Announcements page by default. Having the Announcements page open first permits you to post timely, critical information for your students to view. However, if you were using just one or two of Blackboard s features, such as the discussion board and the online grade book, you might want the course to open to a utilized section and not the Announcements page. To change the course entry point, go to the Control Panel and click on click on Settings in the Course Options section. At the next screen, click on Set Course Entry Point. Choose the area from the drop-down box that you wish to act as the entry point and click Submit. Adding Announcements Click on the link for Announcements in the Course Tools section of the control panel. This will take you a summary page of your announcements, by default showing only those announcements posted for the last seven days. To view more of them, you click on the tabs along the top to show just the current day s announcements, the past month-long period s announcements, or all announcements that were posted for the course and are still available in the system. This, you may notice, looks a lot like the Announcements section as it appears on the course page students see. The difference is that you have a link near the top to Add Announcement. Clicking on that link takes you to a page where you can easily add an announcement. The Add Announcement page is fairly straightforward. You give your announcement a subject, and then type in the message and set whether or not it will always show or will show only during a specific timeframe. If you choose Permanent announcement, the announcement will always display on the Announcements page regardless of the time frame. Instructional Technology Page 7
You can also create a Course Link from the specific Announcement to another area of your course. For example, if you wish students to post on the Discussion Board, you can create an announcement with instructions and then link to the Discussion Board. Once you have set up the options, as desired, scroll down and click on the Submit button. Once you have submitted your announcement and clicked on OK in the receipt page, you are taken back to the Announcements page, which will now show the announcement you just created. From this page, you can continue adding additional announcements and Modify or Remove existing ones. Clicking on Modify will take you to a Modify Announcement page that is nearly identical to the Add Announcement page and works the same way. Clicking on Remove will ask you to confirm your wish to remove an announcement and then it will be removed once you have done so. Adding Content to Content Areas Once you have decided which Content Areas will be available to students in this Blackboard course, click on the link for the Control Panel and go to the Content Area that you would like to add (or modify or delete) content in. As mentioned above, all content areas are nearly identical in how content is added. Instructional Technology Page 8
Here, in the Course Information area page, you will see options to Add Item, Add Folder, Add External Link, Add Course Link, and Add Test. An Item can be a document, file, or typed-in information that you wish to share with your students, whether it is a copy of the course syllabus, an introduction to the class, or a PowerPoint presentation that you have made available to your students. A Folder is just that a folder that contains a series of related items. An external link goes to an outside website, an internal link to another part of the course, and a test may also be added to a content area. For the purpose of course organization, it is wise to place items in folders that contain related items. To add a folder, click on Add Folder. The Folder Information window permits you to name the folder and supply a description if you wish. You can also choose to have folders of different colors by clicking on Pick in the Folder Information window. Once you have chosen a name for the folder and provided a description (if desired), you now have some other options. Instructional Technology Page 9
The folder will not be available for viewing by your students unless you choose Yes to make the content available. The folder, however, will always be visible to you as the instructor via the Control Panel. You can also choose to track how many times the folder is viewed by anyone accessing the course. When you are done, click Submit to finish. Once you have added the folder, you are now ready to put items into the folder. You must be sure that the desired folder is open before you attempt to add an item to it. When you click on the name of the folder, the folder will open and ready for the addition of content. To add an Item, just click on Add Item. The first section, Content Information, requires you to type in a name/title of your own for the item. You can also control what color the text of that name appears in by simply clicking on Pick to choose a color from a palette. The text box just below the color option allows you to type in information or copy and paste from another document. Full formatting features are available. You may also add mathematical formulae and multimedia files. The second section, Content, allows you to add any attachments that you wish to accompany the typed-in text of this Item. You use the Content Attachments section to find the file on your hard drive, give it a name, control how the link behaves when clicked upon (whether it will be a simple link or one to automatically extract an archive), and see what files, if any, are already attached to this item. Instructional Technology Page 10
Scrolling down, you will then see the familiar Options to set specific times between which an item appears or leave it at its default of always being available. You can also track the number of views for the item. Once you have added folders and individual items to the Course Information area, you will be able to view this content from the Control Panel. Once content has been added, you can choose to Modify, Remove, or Copy existing items and folders. In addition, just to the left of the name of each Folder (which is identified by the picture of a folder) and Item (which is identified by the picture of a piece of paper), you will see a pulldown box with a number in it. Changing the numbers for each Folder/Item allows you to change the order in which course information is displayed. You will also notice that while each Item s name is just simple text, the Folder names are underlined and are clickable, as links. Clicking on a Folder name takes you into that folder and allows you to create Items (or subfolders) within them. Adding Staff Information The Staff Information area under Course Tools allows you to put profiles of staff members in for students to access. Blackboard supplies you with a simple form for entering in personal information and uses that to return whatever personal information you choose to supply about instructors and/or other staff members. This content area also has the option of creating Folders, in case you have groups of staff members. For example, you may have a number of primary instructors along with teaching assistants for the course. Folders in this area work in the same way as in Content Areas. If you are using Folders, be sure to open the folder before adding individual staff information. You can create as many Staff Profiles as you need by clicking on Add Profile. Click on Staff Information, listed among the Course Tools in the control panel. Instructional Technology Page 11
Click on Add Profile in the Staff Information page. Fill out the Staff Profile form, supplying whatever information you would like to share about a given staff member. Click on Submit to submit your entry and then click OK in the resulting receipt page. When you re done, you will be put back on the Staff Information page and will see your entry listed, along with the now-familiar options for modifying and removing entries. Adding External Links Adding External Links allows you to share URL s to web sites with your students. This can be used to point to electronic texts or other online resources. You can have a Content Area devoted to external links for the course or add one or more external links in any Content Area of the course. If you have a number of related links, it is best to create folders and place the link information in the folders. Folders are created in the same way as in previous sections. Make sure the folder is open before you attempt to put links into the folder. Instructional Technology Page 12
Click on External Links, listed among the Content Areas in the control panel or in another Content Area, click on Click on the name of the folder to open it or Click on Add Item in the External Links page. Fill out the Add Link form, supplying the URL that you will be pointing to, a name that identifies the link (and supplies the text for the link that students will click on), and a brief description of the link if you wish. In the Content section, you can upload a file to be used with the external link. Choose, in the Options section, whether or not you want the link to be visible (you may choose to hide them until you are ready to share them.) Also in the Options section, choose whether or not you want the link to open in an external window. If you choose no, the linked page will open within the frame of your Blackboard course. Click on Submit to submit your entry and then click OK in the resulting receipt page. Instructional Technology Page 13
Adding Course Links You can easily add a link from one area of the course to another. From the Control Panel or Edit View, select a Content Area where you wish to add a Course Link. Select Specify a name for the Course Link. To choose the Course Link, click Browse and a Course Map menu will open. Instructional Technology Page 14
Click on the + sign to see subfolders. Navigate to the area of the course to which you wish to link, select it, and click Submit. Click Submit again at the bottom of the Add Course Link page. Copying Items/Folders Instructors are able to copy or move Blackboard course content to another area within the same course or into another Blackboard course. From the Control Panel or Edit View, select a Content Area you wish to copy or move. Click on next to any of the items or folders. When the Copy or Move Item window opens, choose the course to which you want to copy or move the item. Click on the Browse button to open the course map, and choose the folder/area to which you want to copy or move the item. You can choose to remove the folder/item from its original location after it has been copied. Archiving/Backing Up Blackboard Courses It is always a good idea to have a backup of your Blackboard course in your own hands. To create a backup file, please follow these steps for each course: Go to the Control Panel and look under Course Options for two options, Export Course and Archive Course. Which should you choose? Instructional Technology Page 15
Export Course: Creates a package of the course content that can later be imported and used to teach another course with the same content. Student work (tests taken, grades, assignments submitted, messages posted, etc.) is not included. You can choose which areas you would like to export. Archive Course: Creates a permanent record of a course including content and user interactions. Student work is included (hence useful for keeping a record of your course as required by CUNY). You cannot choose which areas to archive; the entire course is archived. Both choices create a single file in compressed format with a filename ending in.zip. This file is not meant to be viewed on its own; it is designed to be imported back into a Blackboard course. You can export/archive your course as many times as you wish. This means that you can create both an export file and an archive file if you wish. Instructions for Exporting 1. If you clicked on Export Course, in the next screen, check off the areas you want to export/save, then click the Submit button. 2. Click where it says, "Click here to download the generated package file." You can also right-click on the link and choose Save Target/Link As. Please note that the Export Log might generate some errors; usually they are minor (though occasionally incomprehensible). 3. In the next dialog box, click Save. Instructional Technology Page 16
4. Notice the location of the file and file name. If you want save to a different location or rename the file, you can do so now. Then click Save. Keep the file in a safe place (you can copy it like any other file onto another location in your computer, onto a CD, etc.)! If you ever need to import this file into a new Blackboard course, please see the instructions below. Instructions for Archiving 1. If you clicked on Archive Course, in the next screen, click Submit. 2. Click where it says, "Click here to download the generated package file." You can also right-click on the link and choose Save Target/Link As. Please note that the Archive Log might generate some errors; usually they are minor (though occasionally incomprehensible). 3. In the next dialog box, click Save. 4. Notice the location of the file and file name. If you want save to a different location or rename the file, you can do so now. Then click Save. Keep the file in a safe place (you can copy it like any other file onto another location in your computer, onto a CD, etc.)! If you ever need to import this file into a new Blackboard course, please see the instructions below. Copying Materials from an Old Course into a New Course When you are preparing for a new semester, often you will want to copy materials from an old course into your new course. Before starting, however, you must make sure that your new course appears on your course list when you log into Blackboard. In general, towards the end Instructional Technology Page 17
of a given semester, the system will create the following semester's course shells (a course shell is a course with a name and an instructor, but no content). Then you have two options for "filling" your course shell with materials from a previous course. If the course you want to copy from appears on your course list: 1. Open the course to copy from. 2. Go to the Control Panel and in the Course Options group, click Course Copy. 3. Choose "Copy Materials into an Existing Course" (your only choice). 4. In the next screen, click on the "Browse" button to choose the new course into which you want to copy materials. 5. A search box will appear. You can search in various ways; one easy option is to type in the course and section numbers of your new course (ex. "ESL095"). 6. Once the list of courses appears, click the Select button next to the course to copy material into. 7. You are returned to the previous screen, where you can choose the areas you want to copy. Then click the Submit button. Instructional Technology Page 18
8. The system will return a receipt indicating whether the course copy was successful. Though the receipt may say that you will receive an email, do not expect to receive one. Click OK. If the course you want to copy from does not appear on your course list: 1. Locate the archive/export file of the course you would like to copy from. If you do not have an archive/export file, see the instructions above for archiving/exporting your old course. 2. Open the new course. 3. Go to the Control Panel and in the Course Options group, click Import Package. 4. In the following screen, click on the "Browse" button and select your archive/export file. 5. Select which areas to import, and then click the Submit button. 6. You should receive a receipt indicating whether the import was successful. Click OK. Getting Help and Support Drop in to the E-Learning Center (S-501A) for assistance. Email to ddickinson@bmcc.cuny.edu or rrusmin@bmcc.cuny.edu. You may also call Ext. 7312 or Ext. 8126. Use the Instructor s Manual in Blackboard located in the Support section of the Control Panel. Search for Blackboard resources on the web. Instructional Technology Page 19