Blackboard Faculty Manual

Overview | Course Planning and Design | Content Areas | Communication Tools | Assessment | Monitoring Student Progress | Course Rollovers

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0.0 Course Planning and Design

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0.1 SYLLABUS: generic syllabus vs. the detailed syllabus

See information at the following location: http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/faculty/manual/syllabus.htm

0.2 BEST PRACTICES IN COURSE DESIGN

See the following document: Best Practices in Course Design.pdf

0.2.1 Best Practices - Creating Video Lectures

See the following document:  Best Practices in Creating Video Lectures.pdf

0.3 STRUCTURE: The Course Menu

The main menu on the left side of your Blackboard course can be adjusted depending on your course needs. Content areas, tools, course links, and external links can be placed here. You can add, reorder, and turn off course menu items as needed.

Views: You can view your course menu in several ways by clicking on the buttons at the top of the menu. Click the List View button and the menu will display as a series of buttons. This is the default view. The Folder View button displays the menu as a hierarchy of folders. If you prefer to view the menu in a separate window, click the "Display Course Menu in a Window" button.

 

0.3.1 Adding a New Button to the Course Menu

1. Turn on Edit Mode by clicking the button in the upper right corner of the screen.

2. Click the Plus button at the top of the course menu.

3. From the drop-down menu that appears, choose one of the following:

• Create Content Area - adds a general button under which course content can be added
• Create Blank Page - adds a button that links to a blank page (onto which HTML content can be placed)
• Create Tool Link - adds a button that will link to a specific course tool (i.e. discussion board, student grades, etc.)
• Create Course Link - adds a button that will link to another part of your course.
• Create External Link - adds a button that will link to an external website.
• Create Module page - adds a button that lines to a page for a new course module
• Create Subheader - adds a break on the menu that is just a header - not an actual link
• Create Divider - adds a gray divider to the course menu that can be used to deliniate parts of the course menu.

4. Enter a name for the new menu item.

5. Click the Available to Users checkbox to allow students to see the new button.

6. Note: If a new Content Area contains no content, an icon of a dotted square will appear on the button. If the Content Area is unavailable to students that icon will have a line through it.

 

0.3.2 Re-Ordering the Course Menu

1. Turn on Edit Mode by clicking the button in the upper right corner of the screen.

2. Left-click on the double-headed arrows next to the menu button that you would like to move. Drag this button to the new location and release the mouse button.

 

 

0.3.3 Re-Naming a Menu Item

1. Turn on Edit Mode by clicking the button in the upper right corner of the screen.

2. Click the down-chevrons on the button that you want to rename.

3. Choose Rename Link.

4. Type the new name in the text box that appears and click the green checkmark to the right to confirm it.

 

0.3.4 Hide or Delete a Menu Item

1. Turn on Edit Mode by clicking the button in the upper left corner of the screen.

2. Click the down-chevrons on the button that you want to delete.

• Choose Hide from the drop-down list to hide this menu item from the students' view.
• Choose Delete from the drop-down list. (Consider hiding unwanted menu items, rather than deleting, if you are unsure what content may be affected.)

 

0.4 COURSE AVAILABILITY

0.4.1 Making the Course Available to Students

You must turn on your Blackboard course prior to the beginning of the term, so that students can begin using it.

1.From the Control Panel on your course's home page, choose Customization.

2. Choose Properties from the drop-down menu.

3. Scroll down to the Set Availability section.

4. Click Yes under Make Course Available.

5. Click Submit.

 

0.4.2 List Students in a Course

Blackboard imports a snapshot of course enrollment from Banner every 24 hours.There are three ways to generate and view a list of the students enrolled in a course.  Each method will provide you with a different level of detail.

Roster:

For an alphabetical list of only the students in a course you can use the Roster tool.  This will give you only their first and last names -- no other information.

Click on Tools in the Main Menu.

Choose Roster.

Change the 2nd criteria to "Not Blank".

 

Users:

For a list of everyone who has access to your course site, go to the Users page.  Information on this page will give you each person's first name, last name, email address, role in the course, and whether the site is available to them. From this page you are able to change the user's role and whether they have access to your site.

1. From the Control Panel on your course's home page, choose Users and Groups.

2. Click on Users.

3. Change the 2nd criteria to "Not Blank".

Grade Center:

You can also view a list of your students by opening the Grade Center.  (Control Panel > Grade Center > Full Grade Center)  You will have access to each student's username, student ID, last access, and whether the site is available to them.

 

0.4.3 Changing a Student's Role

1.From the Control Panel on your course's home page, choose Users and Groups.

2. Click on Users.

3. Using the Search boxes, locate the student whose role you want to change.

4. Click the down-chevrons that appear next to the student's name. Choose Change User's Role in Course from the drop-down menu that appears.

5. Select the student's new role and click Submit.

 

0.4.4 Setting up a Test Student

Each course has a test student account to allow instructors to view their course as a student does. This option has the same access levels as an enrolled student.

Other uses for the test student account:

• Give the password to a guest speaker, so they can have full access to the course. The name of the account assures that if discussion threads are posted, they are clearly not from a regular student.
• Give temporary access to a substitute instructor or teaching assistant.
• Give access to a department chair or committee member to review online teaching of the faculty member.

The test student appears in the class roster as zzzzzStudent, Test Student.

The username for this student is represented by bb_xyy_nnnnn.

• x is either f(fall), w(winter), s(spring) or u(summer) term.
• yy is the last two digits of the calendar year.
• nnnnn is the course CRN.
• Example: bb_f01_14771 is the test student id for the course MTH_111_010_F2001.

Before the test student account can be used, the password must be set by the instructor.

1. Follow the directions in 0.4.2 List Students in a Course to view all users in your course.  (Use the Users method - not Roster.)

2. Locate the Test Student and click on the down-chevrons next to the username. Choose Change User's Password.

3. Enter a new password for the test student and then click Submit.

You can now log-in to Blackboard using the test student username and password to view your course from a student's perspective.

 

0.4.5  Adding a TA to your Course

All those who are to be listed as a teaching assistant in a course site are required to complete a FERPA and Confidentiality training course in Blackboard before they can be added to a site.  This is required in order to comply with new Registrar policies.  

Instructors must first submit a request for individuals to take the FERPA and Confidentiality Training course.  Instructions for Submitting a Request

Once the individual has completed the training course, instructors can then add them as a TA into their course.
Instructions for Adding a TA

 

0.5 GROUPS

To help facilitate group activities, you can divide a class into groups within Blackboard and give each group private access to their own tools. These tools include a blog, collaboration tool, group discussion board, internal email, group file exchange, journal, and task chart.

0.5.1 Setting up Groups

1. Go to the Control Panel on your home page and click the chevrons next to Users and Groups. Then choose Groups.

2. You will have the choice to create groups individually (Create Single Group button) or to create a set of groups all at once (Create Group Set button). If you create groups individually you can allow students to self-enroll or you can assign students to the groups. If you create a group set you can allow students to self-enroll, you can assign students to the groups, or you can have the system automatically assign students.

3. If your group(s) will be self-enrolling:

• Section 1: Group Information

• Name the group(s). If you are creating a group set, use a generic name (i.e. Study Group). The system will automatically assign a number to differentiate the groups (i.e. Study Group 1, Study Group 2, etc.)
• Add a description, if desired.
• Indicate if you want the group to be available to students - or have a sign-up sheet only showing.

• Section 2: Tool Availability

• Place a checkmark in front of the tools that you would like to be available to the group(s).
• Note:  If desired, you can enable grading for the group's private blog, journal, or wiki at this point. Type in the points possible in the space available.

• Section 3: Personalization

• By default, individual group members are allowed to personalize their group space. Uncheck this box if you don't want to allow personalization.

• Section 4: Signup Options

• If using an electronic sign-up sheet, provide a name for the sheet and instructions.
• If applicable, indicate the maximum number of members allowed in the group.
• Place a checkmark in the box next to Show Members, if you want students to see the name of other members in the group before they sign-up.
• Finally, determine if you want to allow students access to the sign-up sheet from the Groups Area. (By default this option is on. Turn it off by unchecking the box.)

• Section 5: Click Submit.

4. If you will manually-enroll students in your group(s):

• Follow the instructions for Section 1, 2, and 3 as outlined in step 3 above.

• Section 4: Membership
  • If you're creating a single group, select the individuals you want included in the group. (Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple names at once.) Use the right-arrow to move those selected names over from the left to the right text box.
  • If you're creating a group set, indicate the number of groups you want created.

• Section 5: Click Submit.

5. If you are creating a group set AND are manually-enrolling students, you will be taken to the Group Set Enrollment Page.

• Section 2: Group Set Filters

• Indicate by placing a checkmark in the desired box whether you:
  • want everyone who has access to the course to be shown in the Available Members List

• • whether you want the system to remove members who have already been assigned to a group from the available members list as you go through the process of assigning people to groups.

• Section 3: Group Set Enrollments
  
  
  
  • Select the individuals you want included in each group. (Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple names at once.) Use the right-arrow to move those selected names over from the left to the right text box.
  • You can also add groups or delete groups from the group set here using the Add Group / Delete Group buttons.

• Section 4: Click Submit

 

6. If you are creating a set of groups and the system will automatically assign students to those groups:

• Follow the instructions for Sections 1, 2, and 3 from step 3 above..

• Section 4: Membership
  • Determine the number of groups by indicating how many students you want per group or the raw number of groups you want.
  • Determine how the system should enroll any remaining members:
    • distribute them among the groups
    • put them in their own group
    • allow you to manually add those remaining to the groups (You will be re-directed to the Group Set Enrollment Page - see step 5 above - to allow you to place the remaining individuals into groups.)

• Section 5: Click Submit.
• Please note that any students that enroll in your course after you have applied random distribution, will need to be manually enrolled by you.

 

Where do students go to access these groups?

If students have been manually or automatically enrolled in a group they will be able to locate their group from a My Groups area that will appear on the home page of the course under the main menu.

If students need to self-enroll, they will need to go through the Tools menu bar item, choose Groups, and then click the sign-up sheet button under the group(s) they want to join. They will then see that group appear under a My Groups area on the home page.

 

0.5.2 Adding or Removing Users from a Group

1. From the Control Panel on the Home Page, select Users and Groups, and then select Groups.

2. Click the drop-down chevron next to the group you want to work with and choose Edit.

3. Adding: Scroll down to section 4 (Membership) and select the person you want to add from the left text box and then click the right-pointing arrow to move their name to the right text box.

4. Deleting: Scroll down to section 4 and select the person you want to delete from the group from the right text box and then click the left-pointing arrow to move their name to the left text box.

5. Click Submit.

0.6 ENABLE THE VISUAL TEXT BOX EDITOR

1.  From your portal page, click Personal Information, in the left sidebar.

 

 

2.  Choose Change Personal Settings.

3. In Section 1, turn the text editor ON by clicking on the appropriate radio button.  Click  Submit.

4.  It may take a few minutes for this setting to update on your computer.

 

0.7 BROWSERS

A current list of browsers that are compatible with Blackboard 9.1 can be found here.

If you are using Internet Explorer 8, you will need to change to 'Compatibility View'. 

• Open the browser
• Choose Tools > Compatibility View Settings >
  
  
• Check 'Display all websites in Compatibility View' > Close. 
  
  
• You must close and then re-open Internet Explorer before the change takes effect.

An alternative is to switch to Mozilla Firefox as your browser when working with Blackboard 9.1