Introduction to Blackboard 9

1. Introduction to Blackboard 9

2. TOPICS Course Availability Content v. Assignments Content / Assignment Tips & Tricks Grade Center Tool Management Customizing Blackboard Course Combine v. Course Copy

3. Course Availability • Login to Blackboard • Click the course to make available • Under the Control Panel, click Customization • Click Properties • Under Set Availability section, select Yes • Click Submit • The course is now available for students

4. Content Items v. Assignments Content • Documents / files / links essential to course • Supplemental / complementary information • Additional readings • Reference information • Links to relevant journals / videos / web sites

5. Content Items v. Assignments Content Options • Create Item -- upload documents and files • Build -- add links to folders, external links, course links, and more • Evaluate --add assignments, tests, and other items that are graded • Collaborate -- discussion boards and groups • More -- everything else(e.g. blogs, wikis, and Wimba live classrooms)

6. Content Items v. Assignments Assignments • Assignments are tied to Grade Center (GC) • Columns automatically created in GC • Have additional availability options and allow for a Due Date • Due Date flags late items as “LATE” • NOTE: Digital Dropbox is NOT available in Blackboard 9

7. Content Items v. Assignments Content Items Assignments Several files can be linked to an assignment Assignments tied to Grade Center Require points possible Allow for submissions Submissions must be retrieved from Grade Center Instructor can provide feedback on submissions Assignments CANNOT be copied individually to other courses • Several files can be linked to a content item • Content is NOT tied to Grade Center • No points associated with items • Items do NOT allow for student submissions • Items CAN be copied individually to other courses

8. Content / Assignments: Tips & Tricks • Don’t use special characters in file names • Only use letters, numbers, underscore “_” and hyphen “-” • Bad: Assignment #1.doc • Good: Assignment_1.doc • Link to videos in external web sites (e.g. YouTube) • Embedded videos in Blackboard don’t work well at all

9. Content / Assignments: Tips & Tricks • Define a standard for student submissions: • e.g. “HaysM_Technical_Definition.doc” • contains identifier for student and assignment name • Makes it much easier to identify documents when downloading submissions • Organize content into folders • You can use Learning Modules for a more guided learning process

10. Grade Center • Grade Center (GC) has not changed much from GC in Blackboard 8 • Accessed through Evaluation section under Control Panel • Use Work Offline to Download / Upload Grade Center to / from Excel

11. Grade Center • Click Create Column to create a new Grade Center column • Points Possible must be greater than 0 for Grade Center to calculate properly • Columns can be created for non-graded items such as Section number • Make sure Column is not included in Grade Center calculations

12. Grade Center • Click Create Calculated Column to create a new Grade Center column based on other columns • Weighted Columns can be tied to individual items or entire categories (e.g. Quizzes, Tests, etc.) • Bb 9 creates a default Total column and a default Weighted column for you

13. Grade Center • Click Manage to view the Grade Center management options: • Categories: Create new categories or rearrange the existing GC categories (Assignment, Survey, Discussion, Test) • Smart Views: View the GC columns according to user-defined criteria (e.g. how many failed a test?) • Grading Schemas: Define your own grading criteria (e.g. 85+ is an “A”)

14. Grade Center • Click Manage to view the Grade Center management options: • Column Organization: Rearrange the columns in the Grade Center • Send Email: Communicate with students directly from the Grade Center

15. Grade Center Downloading Student Submissions for Assignments • Assignments are tied to Grade Center • When students submit assignments, instructors access submissions through Grade Center • Instructors can download individual assignments submissions or download “in bulk”

16. Grade Center Downloading Student Submissions for Assignments • Click action link in column header • Select Assignment File Download • Select the checkbox(es) for assignments to be downloaded • Assignments are packaged into a ZIP file and stored on your local machine or on the network (wherever you choose)

17. Tool Management • Tool Availability determines which tools are accessible in Blackboard • It’s found under Customization in Control Panel • Not all Tools are available or even useful • Two main types of availability: • General availability • Content Area availability • May want to turn on both for some tools (e.g. blogs, wikis)

18. Tool Management • Individual Tools can be turned off or on in the Tools area • Click Hide Link or Show Link to toggle tools on/off • Click Edit Mode OFF to see student view of Tools • Tools can be linked directly from Course Menu for easy access • e.g. blog, wiki, email, clicker registration, etc.

19. Customizing Blackboard Moving Items: • Blackboard 9 has a “click-and-drag” interface for moving buttons, modules and content items • Simply click and hold the arrow icon next to the item • Then drag the item to its new location

20. Customizing Blackboard Personalizing Home Tab: • Click Add Module to add new modules to the home page • Click-and-drag title bar of module to move it around • Click gear icon in title bar of a module to modify settings for module

21. Customizing Blackboard Personalizing Home Tab: • Click the minimize icon to minimize a module • Module is still available • Click the close icon to completely close a module • You will need to click Add Module to open the module on the home page again • Close What’s New module to speed up performance

22. Customizing Blackboard Adding Buttons to Course Menu: • Click the plus button above the course menu • Select the type of object to add (e.g. Content Area, Course Link, etc.) • New buttons are created at the bottom of the course menu • Fill out the mini-form for the item to be added

23. Customizing Blackboard Adding Buttons to Course Menu: • Click Submit • New item will be added to end of Course Menu • Use click-and-drag to reorder the menu items OR • Click the Reorder Menu Items icon • Use the up-and-down arrows to move item to new location • Click Submit when finished

24. Section A • Section A • Student A1 • Student A2 • Student A3 • Student A1, B1, C1 • Student A2, B2, C2 • Student A3, B3, C3 Course Combine v. Course Copy • Section B • Section B • Student B1 • Student B2 • Student B3 • Student B1 • Student B2 • Student B3 Before Course Combine After Course Combine • Section C • Section C • Student C1 • Student C2 • Student C3 • Student C1 • Student C2 • Student C3 Make source sections unavailable

25. Course Combine v. Course Copy Course Combine Course Copy Copies content from one course to another Does NOT copy student enrollments from one course to another • Combines enrollments in one or more source sections into a single destination section • Does NOT copy any content from one section to another

26. Problems with Blackboard? • Contact the Help Desk at (573) 341-HELP or online at http://help.mst.edu • Please have the following information available: • Which Operating System are you using? • Which Web Browser are you using? • What is the Course ID / Reference Number / Instructor of the course that you are having problems with? • What steps did you go through when the problem occurred? • Blackboard Support Information can be found online at: http://edtech.mst.edu/support/blackboard9