introduction to blackboard 9
DESCRIPTION
Introduction to Blackboard 9. TOPICS. Course Availability Content v. Assignments Content / Assignment Tips & Tricks Grade Center Tool Management Customizing Blackboard Course Combine v. Course Copy. Course Availability. Login to Blackboard Click the course to make available - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
INTRODUCTION TO
BLACKBOARD 9
TOPICSCourse AvailabilityContent v. AssignmentsContent / Assignment Tips & TricksGrade CenterTool ManagementCustomizing BlackboardCourse Combine v. Course Copy
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
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
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)
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
Content Items• 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
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
CONTENT ITEMS V. ASSIGNMENTS
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
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
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
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
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
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”)
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
GRADE CENTERDownloading 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”
GRADE CENTERDownloading 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)
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)
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.
CUSTOMIZING BLACKBOARDMoving 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
CUSTOMIZING BLACKBOARDPersonalizing 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
CUSTOMIZING BLACKBOARDPersonalizing 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
CUSTOMIZING BLACKBOARDAdding 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
CUSTOMIZING BLACKBOARDAdding 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
Before Course Combine After Course Combine• Student A1• Student A2• Student A3
Section A
• Student B1• Student B2• Student B3
Section B
• Student C1• Student C2• Student C3
Section C
• Student A1, B1, C1• Student A2, B2, C2• Student A3, B3, C3
Section A
• Student B1• Student B2• Student B3
Section B
• Student C1• Student C2• Student C3
Section C
Make source sections
unavailable
COURSE COMBINE V. COURSE COPY
Course Combine• Combines enrollments in
one or more source sections into a single destination section
• Does NOT copy any content from one section to another
Course Copy• Copies content from one
course to another• Does NOT copy student
enrollments from one course to another
COURSE COMBINE V. COURSE COPY
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