Blackboard Basics: An Introduction for Creating Online Courses

Content Table:

• General Information about Courses on Blackboard
  Login to Blackboard
  VWCC Tab and Teach Tab
  Embedded Quick Tutorials
  Introductions to Course Menu
  Managing Course Menu
  Customizing Display of My Blackboard Courses
  Customizing Course Settings
  Customizing Course Design

• User Management
  Enrolling an Individual Student in a Blackboard Course
  Removing Users from a Course
  Disable a User from a Course
  Adding a TA or another Instructor for a Course

• Managing Course Content on Blackboard
  Adding Announcements
  Adding a Course Syllabus
  Adding a Learning Unit to the Content Area
  Adding External Links
  Creating an Assignment using the New Assignment Feature

• Review Status

• Adaptive Release

General Information about Courses on Blackboard

Login to Blackboard

Faculty and students will need to look up their user name by going to http://vw.my.vccs.edu Your default password will be your birth date or password you use for the SIS (SOAR) but you will be prompted to change it immediately to a more secure password. You can login to Blackboard by typing http://learn.vccs.edu.

VWCC Tab

Various informational modules are available on this page. They are visible to anyone who has a Virginia Western account. Students and instructors at other colleges see other tabs. "My Blackboard Courses" and "My Organizations" list the courses and organizations in which you are teaching or currently participating. The “VWCC Announcements” module displays the most recent announcements from the school.

Teach Tab

Your “Teach” page displays your Tools (you can also access the Tools panel through VWCC tab), the courses you are teaching, courses in which you enrolled, and free instructional software for VWCC and VCCS faculty. You may also add modules (Thesaurus and Weather are seen here) to your opening page. The tabs at the top give you access to the My Files, College Connect, Research and Help.

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Introductions to Course Menu

The menu bar lists the main buttons to the sections of your course in which you wish your students to participate. If you do not have access to content using these main buttons, your students do not either.

Two views of the Course Menu are available to users: the Quick View (the original menu design, shown below to the left) and the Detail View (shown below to the right). The Detail View is the full Course Map which allows users to expand and collapse the Course Menu and displays a clickable link to each item in the course. If enabled by the instructor, individual users may toggle between these two views, or the instructor can choose the fixed menu style for the class.

In addition, commonly used tools -- Communication, Course Tools, and the Course Map -- are separated below the Course Menu to make them easier to find and use. Only instructors will see the "Control Panel" link. Users will see the "Detail View" or "Quick View" link if the instructor enables the choice.

Note: Students do not see what you do under the Control panel. You should make unavailable any buttons that do not lead to student information.

How to Manage the Views of Course Menu:

1. Go to Control Panel > Course Design > Manage Menu Display Options
2. Select Allow use of both Views if you want students to be able to experience both the “Detail View” and "Quick View” of the course menu.

Managing Course Menu

To Modify, Remove or Add course menu, click on Manage Course Menu under Control Panel > Course Options.

1. Announcements allow you to post information regarding classes in which you are teaching.
2. Syllabus includes course outline and requirements.
3. Faculty Information includes Information about the Instructors.
4. Course Documents stores documents, class notes or presentations you want your students to have access.
5. Assignments includes homework assignments, quizzes and other assignments. This new category allows instructors to create assignments and post them in Blackboard for students to complete.
6. Discussion Board: is an online discussion forum where conversations between instructors to students or students to students are grouped into threads that contains a main posting and all related replies for easy retrieval.

Click Add to add a Content area, Tool link, or External link. Or click Remove to delete the menu you do not need.

To add a menu for Syllabus

1. Go to Control Panel > Course Options > Manage Course Menu.
2. Click on Add a Content Area.
3. From the drop down menu, select Syllabus.
4. Uncheck Allow Guest access and Allow Observer access.
5. Check Available for Student/Participant users.

To add a menu of My Grades

1. Go to Control Panel > Course Options > Manage Course Menu.
2. Add a Tool Link.
3. Choose My Grades from the drop down window.
4. Check Available for Student/Participant users.
5. Click Submit.
Note: You can use the same procedure to add a menu item for Discussion Board or Email.

To remove the menu of Course Information

1. Go to Control Panel > Course Options > Manage Course Menu.
2. Click Remove next to a specific menu.
3. A warning window appears, click OK.

You can also modify the property of a specific course menu by clicking the Modify button next to the menu.

1. Go to Control Panel > Course Options > Manage Course Menu.
2. Click Modify next to a course menu, such as Announcement, Course Information, Assignments, External Links, etc.
3. Uncheck Allow Guest access and uncheck Allow Observer access.
4. Check Available for Student/Participant users.

Enabling/Disabling Communication and Tools Content Area

Within the Communication content area, you can Enable or Disable tools under this area.

1. Go to Control Panel > Course Options > Manage Course Menu.
2. Click Modify next to the Communication content area

3. Select the availability of tools listed under the Tools Availability section, then click Submit.

4. You can also modify the Tools content area. You must make My Grades available.

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Embedded Quick Tutorials

Blackboard, Inc. has included a help tab that links to available Quick Tutorials on many different features and activities within Blackboard -- ranging from specific tools (e.g., Discussion Board) to techniques (e.g. Collaboration). The tutorials are available anytime you access http://learn.vccs.edu To see any tutorial, just click on the Help tab and choose your topic.

Customizing Display of My Blackboard Courses

If you have too many courses displayed and you cannot have them deleted as there are still students active in them, use the Pencil Icon to make the courses disappear from your course list. To make the course disappear from the list, you should uncheck all the columns. To have a course display with just its ID, you would check only the middle column and uncheck the others.

Customizing Course Settings

1. Click on the Control Panel button in the left-hand frame of your Blackboard Course.
2. Click on the Settings link under the heading Course Options.

3. Course Name and Description
This allows you to change the course title and description. Remember that the description must match what is in the VCCS catalog.

4. Course Availability
To make the course available for students, select Yes then Submit. If Course Availability is set to “No,” students will not be able see or access the course. It’s better to make your course available after you finished developing the course.

5. Guest Access
Guest access allows users without a VWCC username to login to your course by selecting the “Click here for guest access” option in the Blackboard portal.

6. Course Duration
Course duration controls how long your course is available to students. This should be set to Continuous unless you have a specific date when you want students to no longer access the course.

7. Enrollment Options
Students are automatically enrolled in Blackboard courses when they are enrolled in the course through PeopleSoft.

8. Course Entry Point
Select the course entry point. When students enter the course, they are presented with the Announcement page by default. You can change the course entry point by selecting from the list.

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Customizing Course Design
Course Design allows you to choose between Buttons or Text as a navigation tool and to add or remove a banner from your first page.

1. Go to Control Panel > Course Options > Course Design.

2. Click on Course Menu Design under the Course Design page. Choose either buttons or text as your method for navigating through course menus. If you choose "Buttons," highlight a button style in the list box to preview it or click on "Gallery of Buttons" to see all available choices. Once you have selected a button style, click on Submit to update your Blackboard course.

3. Click on Course Banner under the Course Design menu.

4. Click on the Browse button and select the graphics file to upload from your computer.

5. Click Submit to upload the banner to your Blackboard course and click OK after the confirmation message.

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User Management

Blackboard provides you with the functionality to add students, TAs, or another instructor to your course.

Enrolling an Individual Student in a Blackboard Course

1. Go to Control Panel > User Management > Enroll User
2. Select "Username" as the "Search By" criteria and enter the student's username, then click Search

3. Check the box next to the student's name and then click Submit to enroll her in your Blackboard course.

4. The student is now enrolled in your Blackboard course.

Note: The student should be officially enrolled in PeopleSoft first before you can enroll him or her into your Blackboard course. Check your PeopleSoft Roster to verify that the student is enrolled in the class.

Removing Users from a Course

1. Go to Control Panel > User Management > Remove Users from Course
2. Select "email" as the "Search By" criteria and enter the student's username, and then click Search
3. Check the box next to the student's name, enter Yes in the textbox next to the question "Please type the word Yes", and then click Submit to remove the student from your Blackboard course.

4. A warning window appears. Confirm the removal of the user by clicking OK.

Note: When a student is removed from a course all of the information associated with the student (such as Gradebook information and assignments) is removed.

Disable a User from a Course

Removing a student from a course will delete all information associated with the student, The instructor should disable a student’s access to the course during the first two weeks of any semester before removing the students permanently from the course. Any student with information recorded in the gradebook should not be deleted until the student is verified as no longer enrolled in the course.

1. Go to Control Panel > User Management > List/ Modify Users.
2. Select "Username " as the "Search By" criteria and enter the student's username, then click Search
3. Click Properties to modify users’ properties.

4. Scroll down to choose No for the Available (this course only), under Role and Availability and click Submit.

5. To check the students’ status, go to Control Panel > User Management > List/ Modify Users
6. Type in the student’s username and Search
7. There is a mark next to the student’s role showing that this student has no access to this course

Note: To disable a student’s access to a course will NOT delete this student’s information associated with this course. The instructor can change the accessibility for this student at any time.

Adding a TA or another Instructor for a Course

A user can not have more than one role in a Blackboard course. Instructors should note that a student receiving credit in a course cannot have any role in the course other than student.

Different Roles in a Blackboard Course

Student: A student user does not have access to the Control Panel. They can only access areas of the course through the area buttons on the main page (Announcements, Course Information, etc...). Students cannot edit any documents, files, or parts of a course. Students can participate in discussions and take quizzes. Students will receive email sent to all course users.

Instructor: The instructor has full access to all parts of the course and can change or remove items in all areas of the course.

Teachers Assistant: The Teachers Assistant has full access to all parts of the course and can change or remove items in all areas of the course with the exception of user management.

1. Go to Control Panel > User Management > List/Modify Users.
2. Click on List All to view all students

3. After the warning message, click on the List All button to view all students.

4. All students enrolled in your Blackboard course will be listed. Click on the Properties button to view the student's account information.

5. Under Modify User Properties, go to Role and Availability. Select the role you want this user to be in your course and then click Submit.

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Managing Course Content in Blackboard

Adding Announcements

1. Click on Control Panel on the bottom left-hand side of the page.

2. Click on Announcements under the heading Course Tools.

3. Click Add Announcement button.

4. Type the content of your announcement in the box under "Announcement Information". You can use HTML tags in your announcement if you check the option "Smart Text". If you want to write the entire announcement in HTML, select "HTML".
5. You can add equations. You can use spell check on your announcement and preview it in a pop-up window.
6. You can choose to display your announcement at a certain date or time by selecting the appropriate information from the drop-down menus under Options.

7. Click on Submit at the bottom of the page to post the announcement in your course
8. You will receive a notice confirming the addition of the announcement to your course. Click OK.
9. Return to the course view by clicking on the CourseID in the directory history at the top of the screen and observe where you announcement is posted.

Adding a Course Syllabus

1. Go to Control Panel > Content Area > Syllabus. Choose Course Information item instead of Syllabus, if you did not add a Syllabus menu item in advance.
2. Select Add Item from the menu bar.

3. You may keep the default name of the Syllabus or enter your own title in the text entry box. You may also enter some information about the Syllabus in the text entry box.

4. Scroll down to Section 2: Content and click the Browse button to select the file to upload from your computer. If you would like to specify the name of the link, enter it in the box next to "Name of Link to File". If you leave this box blank, the default link name will be the file name.

5. Once you have selected the file to attach, you may choose how and when you want the content displayed. Simply choose the appropriate radio button next to the options listed in Section 3: Options. If you wish to place content in your blackboard site, but not make it visible until a certain date (for instance, reading assignments, essay questions, etc.), select your date restrictions from the appropriate drop-down menu.

6. Select Submit to post the syllabus document.
7. A confirmation page appears to indicate that your file has successfully been attached. Click OK.

Note: Follow steps 2 to 7 to upload other documents to the Course Documents menu, Course information menu, or Course Materials menu under the Content Areas.

Adding a Learning Unit to the Content Area

1. Go to Control Panel > Content Area > Course Documents
2. Select Learning Unit from the drop down menu on the far right and click Go.

3. Enter the name and content description for the new Learning Unit in the text-entry box.

4. Under Section 2: Options, choose if you would like to make the information visible to your students.

5. Once you have selected your options, click Submit to continue to add content. Click OK after the confirmation message.

6. Click the new learning unit link to enter it.

7. Select Add File from the menu bar.

8. Enter a title for the file in the text box next to "Name". Click the Browse button and choose the file to upload from your computer and then click Submit to upload the file to the learning unit. Click OK after the confirmation message.

9. Follow steps 6 to 8 to continue adding files to the learning unit.
10. Click on Course Documents and click on the learning unit to enter it.
11. Note how the learning unit is displayed in the Blackboard course.
12. Click on Arrows to traverse through the pages or click Contents to view the list of files which are belonging to the learning unit.

Adding External Links

There are several methods to include external links in your Blackboard courses.

1. External links may be added anywhere within Blackboard by using the Add External Link buttons that becomes available within content areas. For example, go to Course Documents menu under Content Areas, and click Add External Link.

2. You can also add external links within your announcement.

3. You may also add links within the Websites section under the Content Area heading within the Control Panel. To create a Websites section, go to Control Panel > Manage Course Menu > Add > Content Area > Choose Course Materials from the drop down menu and then Change the default name to Websites.

4. Go to Control Panel > Content Areas > Websites > Add > External Link

5. Type in the title of your link, the URL, and, if necessary, a brief description.

6. You can make the external link available and choose date restrictions for your students by selecting from the Options menu, then click Submit to add the external link.

7. Go to your course and click Websites on the left menu bar. Your external link should show in the window.

Creating an Assignment using the New Assignment Feature

You can create assignments and add them to a Content area. Assignments list the name, point value, and a description. You also have the option of including attachments to an Assignment. Students complete the assignment in a separate file and send it back to the Instructor through the Course menu. Once a student completes and submits an assignment, the instructor may access this file in the Gradebook.

1. Go to the Control Panel and select a content area, such as Assignments.

2. Select Assignments from the drop down menu on the far upper right and then click Go.

3. Enter the name of the assignment, points possible, and detailed instructions.

4. If you want the assignment to be available immediately select Yes next to make the assignment available or choose any dates of restriction. To attach a file as part of or the actual assignment, select the browse button and select the file to attach. Then click Submit.

5. A confirmation window appears and click OK.
6. An instructor can always modify or remove the assignment within the Content Areas at any time.

7. When students click the View/Complete Assignment, they will be guided to a window where they can answer the questions in the Comments area or they can attach their assignment using the File to Attach button.

8. Gradebook items are listed across the top of the spreadsheet. Notice the exclamation point under the Assignment title. The exclamation points indicate that this student has submitted this assignment. Click on the exclamation point to review the student's work.

9. On the screen, you can either give the student a grade or you may select View to preview the students work.

10. Click View to access files sent by the student, to enter feedback or instructor notes, or to send a file to the student. To view the student’s assignment, select the link next to the student’s file.

11. You can modify a grade for the assignment, type your comments and feedback in the Feedback to Student section, and enter information for your own records in the Instructor Notes section. Then click Submit. The student’s grade is updated.

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Review Status

The review status allows individual users to indicate whether an item has been reviewed or not -- any item in the Content Area can have this feature enabled. 

If Review is enabled for a content item, users see a Mark Reviewed icon from the course view. When users have completed their review of the item, they click the Mark Reviewed button. The item then displays a Reviewed icon. The Instructor can view progress from the Performance Dashboard or the User Progress page in the Control Panel. Instructors enable and disable review from the new Manage page available on all content items.

Review status is particularly helpful for determining Adaptive Release conditions where certain content, quizzes, or assignments would not be available until the review status of a particular document is selected. For instance, once this item is marked as "reviewed," a second item -- the "Adaptive Release" item -- would be revealed.

Enabling Review Status:

1. In the Content Area section of the Control Panel, select the content area for which you want to enable review status for. For example: under Course Documents, enable Review Status for one of the documents or articles placed in Course Documents.
2. Click the Manage button next to the content.
3. Click Review Status.

4. Select Enable to enable the Review Status for this document.

5. Click Submit and click on Ok.
6. There will be a Mark Reviewed button next to the content area item.

7. After students reviewed the course content area item, they can click on the Mark Reviewed button and the button changes to Reviewed.

Note: To check to see if an item has been reviewed, click the Manage button for the item and click Adaptive Release and Review Status: User Progress.



Adaptive Release

Sometimes course content does not apply to every user in the course. Using Adaptive Release, instructors can display content to certain users for a limited period of time or only after users meet (or fail to meet) predetermined requirements. Some content might be applicable to all users in the course while other content can be context-specific to a smaller percentage of the students.

Adaptive Release allows an instructor to create custom learning paths through course content and activities. Content items, discussions, assessments, assignments, or other activities can be released to students based on a set of criteria including: date and time, specific users, group membership, grades or attempts on a particular test or assignment, or Review Status of another item in the course.

Adaptive release can allow an instructor to give remedial materials to students who demonstrate a poor grade on a test, to set conditional progress in the course (e.g., you cannot enter a discussion board until you fill out a course survey or read an essay), or to allow different materials to go to different groups of students -- all easily managed at the individual content item.

Instructors create and modify Adaptive Release rules from the new Manage button available on all content items.

1. In the Content Area section of the Control Panel, select the content area that contains the item to which you want to add an adaptive release rule.
2. Click the Manage button next to that item.
3. Select Adaptive Release to set a rule for the item.

4. The first and probably most familiar criteria for creating a rule is to set dates of availability.

5. The content can be made available or released based on a set of users (Group) or by their specific username.

6. The content can be visible to all users until a Gradebook item criteria is created. Possible points on a Gradebook item are listed in Brackets beside the name of the item.

7. The fourth and final criteria is to set availability of content to be based on items that have review status enabled.

8. Once you click the Manage Button next to a content item (except for Adaptive Release) you have several other options that pertain to the item.

9. How to use adaptive release to make a test available to one or a selected group of students: Please click here.
10. The differences between these options are:
Adaptive Release: Basic options for setting the release of content.
Adaptive Release Advanced: Advanced rules that can be customized by the “ANDing” and “ORing” of the four basic criteria.
Review Status: Ability to set an item to be reviewable, which can be the basis of the adaptive release of other items.
Adaptive Release and Review Status: User Progress: Very similar to Performance Dashboard. It gives an “at a glance view” of a student's progress.

Note: It is suggested that if you are using multiple rules for a content item that it is better to use the Adaptive Release Advanced. If you set multiple rules for one item, users that meet one of these rules will see the content. To create more restrictions that a user must satisfy, add criteria to one rule under the interface of Adaptive Release Advanced. Gradebook items must be created and deployed before basing criteria of other content on those items.

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