A Brief Tour of the Blackboard Learning EnvironmentProfessor Melissa HallSpring 2013

Homepage

Your Blackboard course opens by default to the Announcements page

Homepage

I will use this page to make announcements to the class

Course MenuThe Course Menu is the gray panel on the left

It includes links to Course Information, Content, and Tools

SyllabusThe Course Syllabus can be accessed from the Course Menu

SyllabusYou should read it

carefully -- it contains important information

about course objectives and policies!

Course ScheduleThe Course Schedule lists weekly topics and corresponding textbook pages

Course ScheduleYou should print a copy and keep it handy for

times when Blackboard is not accessible!

Course GuidelinesThe Course Guidelines includes detailed information about quizzes, exams, and discussion posts

Course GuidelinesYou are required to

read all of these materials carefully, so

that you are fully informed about course

policies and expectations!

Course Guidelines

OK, I’m ready! How do I get started?

Learning ModulesClick on the Learning Modules link to access course materials

Learning ModulesFolders are organized by weekly topics, with the closing date prominently displayed

Learning ModulesClick on the module folder topic to access contents

Learning ModulesEach module folder begins with an overview of the week’s learning activities

Learning ModulesEach module folder begins with an overview of the week’s learning activities

Learning Modules

After reading the overview, follow the links in the order provided

Learning Modules

The first two links are to external web resources

Learning Modules

They will open in a new window

Learning Modules

The next two links are to the web lectures on my Wordpress course website

Course Websitehttp://art109wcc.wordpress.com/

The course website will be accessible, even when Blackboard is down

Course Websitehttp://art109wcc.wordpress.com/

The course website will be accessible, even when Blackboard is down

You should bookmark the page to make sure you can always access

it easily!

Course WebsiteThe lectures on the course website are fully illustrated

Course WebsiteThey include embedded videos that you are expected to watch

Course WebsiteMost of the videos come from the Smarthistory web book

Course WebsiteMost of the videos come from the Smarthistory web book

If one of my videos is not working, you are

expected to look for it here

Learning Modules

The Video Lecture folder is optional

Learning Modules

Here, I provide a link to a recorded video lecture at Screencast.com

Learning Modules

When the Screencast video is fully loaded, just click to play

Learning Modules

I also include the Smarthistory videos that are embedded in the Wordpress lectures, just to make sure you don’t miss them if you choose to use this format

After you have read all the assigned course material, you are ready to move on to the graded learning activities

The first activity is the Discussion Forum. Click on the link to access the Discussion Tool

Discussion Forum

Start by clicking on the thread title

Discussion ForumClick reply to post your response

Discussion Forum

Compose your message, and hit submit

You can find Discussion Forum guidelines and tips in the Course Guidelines folder

It also includes a grading rubric

AssignmentsAssignment instructions can be accessed from the Course Menu

AssignmentsI will provide

instructions about how to upload assignments – but it is too early to

talk about assignments just yet!

AssignmentsThat’s true – we

haven’t even learned anything yet, so it’s a

little scary to start thinking about papers!

The course menu also provides links to my

course website and to the Smarthistory web book (since we will be

using both a lot)

And under course tools you will find links to the

course email, Discussion Forum,

calendar, MYWCC, My Grades, and Blackboard

Help

You will get a chance to practice using all of

these tools in the first Learning Module

So are you ready to get started?

Yeah, let’s go!

Start by going to the course Announcement page

Click on Learning Modules

Click on Start here, and follow the instructions

After you have completed the Blackboard course orientation, click on “Start Here Next” for an introduction to art history