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Author: Janice Florent

Technology Coordinator in the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development at Xavier University of Louisiana

About Janice Florent

Technology Coordinator in the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development at Xavier University of Louisiana

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Published on 1 Comment on Bb Tip #175: Merging Courses

why merge road sign

Faculty can request to have two or more of their courses combined into a single course. Combining courses can be useful when you are teaching multiple sections of the same course or when you are teaching a course that is cross-listed. Merging courses allows you to have all the students in a single Blackboard course which can be useful for collaborative work. Merging courses reduces the number of courses an instructor has to manage within Blackboard, especially when each section has identical content.

Once your courses are merged, you can upload your course content and assignments into the merged course; communicate with the students in the merged course; setup collaborative course work; and have one gradebook for the merged course. You can create groups within your merged course that correspond to the original course sections. This way you can target a particular course section (group) of students for specific things (e.g. send email to a specific group, make content available to specific group, enter/view gradebook entries for a specific group, etc.)

NOTE: Merging of courses is typically done at the start of the semester before content is added and before students submit course work. You should wait to request your courses be merged if there is a possibility that there will be last minute changes to instructor course section assignments. You can request a Master Course Shell to build your course and then transfer the content into your merged course.

You should carefully consider whether merging courses is right for you. Some disadvantages to merging courses are:

  • Course enrollments for the merged courses will be combined which can make grading student work a challenge. You can use Smart Views to make grading easier.
  • If you decide you want to unmerge courses after students have submitted course work, student work and grades will be lost. Only student enrollments are retained when courses are unmerged.

Follow these steps to do it.

NOTE: Currently, the section merge tool is no longer available.

A system administrator will have to merge your courses. Send an email to Yamlak Tsega (ytsega@xula.edu) if you want to merge courses. You should include the course ID (including CRN) for all the courses you want merged together. The course merge process requires that a brand new empty Blackboard course be created that will serve as the primary course for all the merged sections. If you have any course content that needs to be retained in one of the courses to be merged, it will have to be exported and then imported into the newly created combined course. Please include that information with your request to merge courses.

Want more information?

How to merge courses (PDF).
How to manage merged courses (PDF).
Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center.
Try these Blackboard How-To documents.
Check out help for instructors at help.blackboard.com.
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

2

Published on 2 Comments on Bb Tip #174: Master Copies of Courses

view of kitten and its reflection in a mirror

Courses remain on the Blackboard system for three semesters before they are removed. You can request a Blackboard Master Course Shell that you can use to develop and maintain your course materials. Master Course Shells will not be removed from the Blackboard system. If you would like your course content/materials to be available in Blackboard beyond the current retention period of three semesters, you should request a Master Course Shell for the course.

Follow these steps to do it.

If you want your course/materials to be available in Blackboard, you should:

  1. Fill out the Master Course Shell Request form.
  2. Use Course Copy to copy the course content you want to keep into the Master Course Shell. Alternatively, you can start from scratch building content in your Master Course Shell.
  3. Copy the Master Course Shell contents into your “empty” Blackboard course once the course becomes available.

Note: You can share your Master Course Shell with other faculty members by filling out the Request to Grant User Access form.

Want more information?

Step-by-step instructions are available [Master Copies of Courses (PDF)].
Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center.
Try these Blackboard How-To documents.
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Photo credit: Reflection by Paul Reynolds | CC BY 2.0

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #173: Download Your Gradebook

download road signs

You should download your gradebook to your local computer after you submit your final grades. Student access to Blackboard courses is removed two weeks after the end of the semester. During this process Grade Center records are deleted. All your Grade Center records will be lost if you do not download your gradebook before student access is removed from Blackboard courses.

Follow these steps to do it.

In order to download (export) the gradebook for a course, you should:

  1. Goto the [Control Panel] for that course and click on the [Grade Center] link to expand it. Click on [Full Grade Center].
  2. Move your mouse over the [Work Offline] button on the menu bar and then click on the [Download] link.
  3. Under [Data] section, select the [Full Grade Center] option, under the [Options] section, select [Tab] as the delimiter type and [Yes] to include hidden information.
  4. In the [Save Location] section, choose [My Computer] and then click on the [Submit] button at the bottom of the page.
  5. On the next page click on the [Download] button. You should get a dialog box with a request to save the file. Save the file to a location where you can find it later. The file you saved can be opened with Microsoft Excel.

Want more information?

Step-by-step instructions to download Grade Center (PDF) are available.
Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center.
Check out help for instructors at help.blackboard.com.
Try these Blackboard How-To documents.
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Photo Credit: Download Signs | CC0

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #172: End of Semester Tasks

classroom with empty chairs

As we approach the end of the semester there are a few things you can do in Blackboard to wrap up for the semester.

Download your gradebook

Student access to courses is removed two weeks after the end of a semester. During this process all grade book records are deleted. You should download your gradebook to your local computer after you submit your final grades.

Create a master copy of your course

Courses remain on the Blackboard system for three semesters before they are removed. You can request a Master Course Shell that you can use to develop and maintain your course materials. Master Course Shells will not be removed from the Blackboard system.

Hide old courses from view

When you login to Blackboard you will see your courses for previous semesters listed along with the courses you are currently teaching on the Xavier University and Courses tabs. If you do not want to see older courses in the list, you can hide them from view.

Follow these steps to do it.

Instructions are available in previous Bb tips for downloading your grade book, requesting master course shells, and hiding old courses from view.

Want more information?

Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center.
Check out help for instructors at help.blackboard.com.
Try these Blackboard How-To documents.
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Photo Credit: Classroom/Lecture Hall | CC0

Published on Leave a comment on 12 Apps of Christmas 2016

by Janice Florent

12 Apps of Christmas 2016 logo

The Learning, Teaching & Technology Centre at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin is conducting a professional development opportunity for persons interested in mobile learning, specifically the potential mobile apps hold for teaching and learning. The 12 Apps of Christmas 2016 is a short free course that will be held over twelve consecutive weekdays, starting Dec 1st.

This is the third year for the 12 Apps of Christmas. The 2016 iteration of the course is a collaborative effort. Educators from Ireland, UK, and America have come together to produce twelve (12) case studies, each one showcasing a different mobile app with descriptions of how they have integrated it into their own teaching, learning, and assessment practices. It is hoped that reading and reflecting on these real stories will inspire participants to explore mobile apps that might be of interest to them and their students.

You should register for this professional development opportunity if you want to connect with like-minded individuals, have an opportunity to expand your personal learning network (PLN), and start powerful conversations with others interested in this emerging field. To get more information and to register go to 12 Apps of Christmas 2016.

Published on Leave a comment on National Distance Learning Week

NDLW logo

November 7-11, 2016 is National Distance Learning Week (NDLW). In association with NDLW, the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) is offering free webinars on a variety of topics related to online teaching and learning. A few other organizations are offering free webinars during NDLW as well.

For more information on the activities and to register for the webinars visit NDLW 2016.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #171: Grade Center – Row Visibility

Have you ever met with a student and wanted to review the student’s grades in Blackboard, but couldn’t because the Grade Center shows the grades of all the other students? Row visibility allows you to temporarily hide the grades of all the other students and only show the grades for a single student.

Follow these steps to do it.

To hide rows:

  1. In the Grade Center, roll your mouse to the Last Name, First Name, or Username cell of the desired student and click on the drop-down arrow in the right of the cell.
  2. Select [Hide Other Rows] from the short cut menu. When done, you should only see the selected student.

image showing hide other rows on shortcut menu in the Grade Center

To show rows:

  1. In the Grade Center, roll your mouse to the Last Name, First Name, or Username cell of the student and click on the drop-down arrow in the right of the cell.
  2. Select [Show All Rows] from the short cut menu. When done, you should see all students.

image showing show all rows on shortcut menu in the Grade Center

Want more information?

Grade Center - Row Visibility (PDF)
Try these Blackboard How-To documents
Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center
Visit our Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #170: Grade Center

The Grade Center is more than just a way to record students' grades. It's a dynamic and interactive tool, allowing instructors to record data, calculate grades, and monitor student progress. In addition to being able to record grades, instructors can track student work and share private comments and feedback with students throughout the semester.

image showing Grade Center

The Grade Center is integrated with gradable items such as tests, assignments, discussion boards, blogs, journals, wikis, and ungraded items, such as surveys and self-assessments. Instructors can create Grade Center columns for activities and/or requirements done outside of Blackboard, such as exams given on paper, oral presentations, and participation.

Students also benefit when their instructor uses the Grade Center. Students have the opportunity to adjust their approach to learning to improve their performance when they see their grades and instructor feedback.

Follow these steps to do it.

Listed below are links to previous Bb tips on using the Grade Center:

Want more information?

Working with the Grade Center
Try these Blackboard How-To documents
Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center
Visit our Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #169: Grade Center – Understanding Weighted Grades

The Grade Center allows you to create weighted grade columns. There are several different ways to calculate weighted totals in the Grade Center.

Weighted Grade Calculation Example

For example, you can calculate a weighted total:

  • by item
  • by category
  • by weighted running total
  • when dropping the lowest score from a category
  • in categories with equally weighted items consisting of different point values
  • in categories with proportionally weighted items consisting of different point values

Want more information?

Understanding Weighted Grades
Grade Center - Weighting Grades
Grade Center - Categories
Try these Blackboard How-To documents
Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center
Visit our Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #168: Grade Center – Categories

Categories can integrate with Grade Center calculated columns such as Weighted Grade Column, Total Points Column, or Average Grade Column. For example, you could weight your grades by categories assigning 20% of the final grade to the category "Assignments," 30% to the category "Tests," 20% to the "Project," and 10% each to the categories "Discussions," "Blogs," and "Journal" as shown in this example:

Grade Categories Pie Chart Example

The total of all the categories should equal 100%.

Categories are useful when you want to drop grades. Use categories to drop the lowest grade (or a number of grades) and then include the result in Grade Center calculations. Alternatively, you can use the highest grade in a category to include in Grade Center calculations. Regardless of how many items are in each category (as shown by the white circles in the pie chart example above), the category weight remains the same.

Additionally, you can create an Average grade column to calculate statistics for all columns that are in a particular category. Gradable items that are in that category would automatically be included in the average calculation.

Categories are helpful in organizing and utilizing the Grade Center. If you assign columns to categories you would be able to sort the Grade Center by a specific category to compare how the students scored in the category.

You can use categories with Smart Views in order to have only columns associated to specific category or categories shown in the Smart View.

Follow these steps to do it.

To create categories:

  1. Goto the [Control Panel] for the course and click on the [Grade Center] link to expand it. Click on [Full Grade Center].
  2. Roll your mouse over [Manage] on the menu bar and select [Categories] from the drop down menu.
  3. Click on the [Create Category] button.
  4. Enter a name for the Category then click [Submit].

To edit/delete categories:

  1. Goto the [Control Panel] for the course and click on the [Grade Center] link to expand it. Click on [Full Grade Center].
  2. Roll your mouse over [Manage] on the menu bar and select [Categories] from the drop down menu.
  3. Roll your mouse over the category you would like to like to edit/delete then click on the arrow to the right of the category name. Select the appropriate action from the shortcut menu.

NOTE: You can delete any category you created as long as the category is not in use. Default categories cannot be deleted. Categories currently in use will not have the Delete option.

Want more information?

Grade Center - Categories (PDF)
Grade Center - Weighting Grades
Grade Center - Smart Views
Try these Blackboard How-To documents
Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center
Visit our Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.