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Category: Blackboard Bits, Bytes, and Nibbles

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #38: Show/Hide Course Menu

The Course Menu may be hidden to increase the viewable area of the main content frame within your course. This feature may be helpful when accessing areas of a course where you need a larger viewable area to see the content (e.g., Grade Center, Discussion Board forums, Blogs, Journals, etc.). Once hidden, the course menu can be shown again at any time.

Follow these steps to do it.
To show/hide the course menu, click on the show/hide course menu (arrow) button on the middle right-hand side of the main content frame. This button acts like a toggle. Click on it once to hide the course menu. Click on the show/hide course menu button a second time to show the course menu again.

Note: Hiding and showing the course menu is course and user specific. Individuals can hide a course menu within any given course, while still being able to view the course menu within other courses.

Want more information?
Step-by-step instructions are available [PDF].
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418

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Published on 2 Comments on Bb Tip #37: Change the Name of your Course

The names of courses in Blackboard are identical to the names that appear in the Banner system. Instructors have the ability to change the names of the courses to suit their needs. For example, if you teach two sections of French 1010, you can personalize the names to become FREN1010 – 9 MWF and FREN1010 – 11 MWF.

Follow these steps to do it.
To change the name of your Blackboard course, go to the [Control Panel] of the course in question. The Control Panel is located under Course Management. Click on the [Customization] link to expand it and then click on [Properties]. Enter the new name for your course and click [Submit].

Note: Care should be taken to make sure the new name of the course can be easily recognized by the students enrolled.

Want more information?
Step-by-step instructions are available [PDF].
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418

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Published on 2 Comments on Bb Tip #36: Hide Old Courses from View

When you login to Blackboard you will see your courses for the previous two 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 this list, you can hide them from view.

Follow these steps to do it.

To hide courses from view:

  1. Click on the small manage my course module settings icon located on top right corner of the [My Courses] section.
  2. For the courses to be hidden from view, make sure the check marks in the [Course Name] and [Announcements] columns are removed.
  3. Click [Submit] to save the changes. This will hide the courses from view on the course list but not remove them from the system.

Want more information?

Step-by-step instructions are available [PDF].
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #35: End of Semester Tasks

Tip: At the end of each semester you should export your grade book and create a backup of your course content.

Student access to courses is removed two weeks after the end of each semester. During this process all Grade Center (gradebook) records are deleted. You should download your gradebook to your local computer after you submit your final grades. While the course content you created will remain in your Blackboard courses for three semesters before it is removed, it is a good idea to export your course content at the end of the semester so that you will have a backup of it.

Follow these steps to do it.
Instructions are available in previous Bb tips for exporting your grade book and exporting your course content.

Want more information?
Step-by-step instructions are available.
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #34: Bb Learn 9.1 is coming to XU

Tip: Starting Spring 2011 Blackboard Learn 9.1 will be the version of Blackboard used here at XU. The upgrade to Bb 9.1 will be done during the break between fall and spring semesters. The new version of Blackboard adds exciting new features and a completely redesigned, modern Web 2.0 user interface. This redesigned version allows users to work more efficiently. New features include course files, blogs, journals, wikis, mashups, improved tests and surveys, enhanced assignment tool and group tools. The digital dropbox is no longer available in version 9.1. The assignment tool replaces the digital dropbox.

We have a “New Features in Bb version 9.1” workshop scheduled for November 11th. Please RSVP for this workshop if you would like to see Bb Learn 9.1 in action.

Beginning November 1st, Bb Learn 9.1 sandbox courses will be available to all faculty who want to familiarize themselves with the new Bb Learn 9.1 environment before the upgrade. If you would like a Bb Learn 9.1 sandbox course, you should send an email message with your name, department, extension, and Xavier email address to Janice Florent.

You can view online tutorials about the new and changed features of Bb Learn 9.1 at Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center.

Want more information?
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional Blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #33: Blackboard Goes Mobile

Tip: Blackboard Mobile Learn allows you to access your Blackboard courses and organizations using a mobile device (e.g. iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Android). Bb Mobile Learn allows you access to all of your course content in the web interface, with the added ability to access documents in multiple formats, post announcements, create discussion threads and posts, and comment on blogs and journals, all from your mobile device.

Follow these steps to do it.
You can access Blackboard with your iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch devices when they are connected to Wi-Fi. You can access your Android or BlackBerry devices via the Sprint Network (Sprint carrier) using both Wi-Fi and 3G/4G connections. More information about supported mobile devices and how to download the required app for your mobile device can be found here.

Want more information?
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional Blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #32: Follow Your Breadcrumbs

Tip: Blackboard has a useful feature called breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs are a "trail" of links that can help you navigate back to different areas in your course. As you move around in your course, Blackboard keeps track of where you are and allows you to jump to any of the pages that you used to get there. The breadcrumbs are found at the top of your course page and indicate the current page that you are on as well as the pages you accessed to get to the current page. Using the Back button in your web browser to return to previously accessed pages within your Blackboard course may have unpredictable results. It is generally better to use the breadcrumb trail to go back because it is more reliable in pointing you back to the desired course page.

Follow these steps to do it.
Locate the breadcrumbs at the top of the course page and click the link to move to a previous page.

breadcrumbs

In the example above, we are in the ADM.FLORENT (121306) course and are currently on the WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS page. You could return to the DISCUSSION BOARD page, the CONTROL PANEL or the ADM.FLORENT course entry page by simply clicking on the name within the breadcrumb trail.

Want more information?
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional Blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #31: Sending Email within your Course

Tip: You can send email to individual students, groups of students, or all course members within your Blackboard course. Blackboard does not keep copies of the email you send. However, a copy will be sent to your Xavier email address. Within your Xavier emailbox you will be able to save a copy of the email message.

Follow these steps to do it.
To send email, you should click on the [Communication] tool (located on the Course Menu) and then click on [Send Email]. In the Send Email window choose which users you would like to send the email to. Fill in the Email Information form and click Submit.

Want more information?
Step-by-step instructions are available [PDF].
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional Blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #30: Create Course Banner Using PowerPoint

In Bb tip #14, I discussed how to personalize your course by adding a banner. A course banner is an image that appears at the top of the Announcements page of your course. You can use PowerPoint to create a course banner.

Follow these steps to do it.
Using PowerPoint 2010 (Windows), you should open a new PowerPoint file. On the Home tab, select Title Only as the slide layout. On the Design tab, select Page Setup and then choose Banner as the slide size. The default width for a banner is a width of eight inches and height of one inch. Click OK to save the settings. You will be returned to the Design tab. Choose a background for your banner by either selecting a theme or choosing a background style. In the title box, type text for your banner and change the font if necessary. You can insert clip art, pictures, and/or other objects on your banner from the insert menu. Save the file as both a PowerPoint presentation and as a JPEG file. You will be able to edit the PowerPoint file if you need to make changes to your banner. Close PowerPoint and follow the instructions in Bb tip #14 to add the banner to your course.

Note: Step-by-step instructions for Mac users are available.

Want more information?
Step-by-step instructions are available [Win-PDF] and [Mac-PDF].
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional Blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #29: Beginning of Semester Tasks

The beginning of the semester is a good time to get started using Blackboard. Blackboard courses are automatically created using the course information in Banner approximately two weeks before the start of the semester. You can post your syllabus and course documents to your Blackboard courses. You can also customize your course menu and/or add a course banner.

Follow these steps to do it.
Instructions are available in previous Bb tips for customizing your course menu, adding a course banner, posting your syllabus, organizing course materials into folders, adding files, adding hyperlinks, and copying content into another course.

Want more information?
Stop by one of the drop-in sessions for one-on-one help.
Step-by-step instructions are available.
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or email or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418