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Category: Blackboard Bits, Bytes, and Nibbles

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Published on 2 Comments on Bb Tip #117: Customizing the Course Menu

course menu

The Course Menu appears on the left side of your course window and contains links to materials and tools within the course. All Blackboard courses are created with a default course menu (e.g. text links on a blue background and default content areas.) You can structure your course menu to fit your needs. You can personalize your course menu with your own wording, order, colors and styles.

Follow these steps to do it.

To create a link on the course menu:

  1. Turn Edit Mode ON.
  2. Roll your mouse over the plus sign above the course menu. The Add Menu Item drop-down list appears.
  3. Select the type of content to create.
  4. Type a Name for the link. Complete any other required text boxes, such as URL for Web Link.
  5. Select the Available to Users check box to enable users to see the link on the course menu. You can create content ahead of time, make it unavailable, and then make it available at the appropriate time.
  6. Click [Submit].
  7. A link to the new content appears at the bottom of the course menu. You can drag-and-drop the link into a new position by rolling your mouse over the link and then clicking on the cross arrow on the left of the link and drag-and-drop the link into a new position.

To remove, show/hide, or delete a course menu item:

  1. Turn Edit Mode to ON.
  2. Roll your mouse over the link and then click on the dropdown arrow on the right of the item.
  3. Click on [Rename] to change the link title. Select [Hide Link] to make it unavailable to students. Click [Show Link] to make it available to students. Select [Delete] to permanently remove the item.

To change the color and style of the course menu:

  1. Goto the [Control Panel] for the course and click on [Customization] to expand it.
  2. Click on [Teaching Style].
  3. Choose your menu style, layout, and content appearance settings.
  4. Click [Submit].

Want more information?

Understanding the Course Menu
Course Style Options
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.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #116: Beginning of Semester Tasks

As you prepare for the start of the semester, it is a good time to get started setting up your Blackboard courses. Blackboard courses are automatically created using the course information in Banner a few weeks before the start of the semester. You can post your syllabus, course documents, and announcements to your Blackboard courses. You can also customize your course menu and/or add a course banner.

If you teach a course that is cross listed you will have a Blackboard course for each cross listing. You can combine the cross listed courses into one Blackboard course so that you can post course materials and grades to one combined Blackboard course. Combining courses may also work for you if you are teaching different sections of the same course and would like to have the different sections combined into one Blackboard course so that you can post course documents and grades in the one combined course. The beginning of the semester is the best time to combine your Blackboard courses before you add course material or grades to the courses.

Follow these steps to do it.

Listed below are links with instructions for

  • Merging courses [Web page]
  • Hiding old courses from view [Web page]
  • Getting started with the course environment [PDF] [Video]
  • Course structures and course themes [Web page] [Video]
  • Changing the display name for your course [Web page]
  • Adding a course banner [Web page]
  • Adding items to the course menu [PDF]
  • Adding a test student to your course [Web page]
  • Posting announcements [Web page]
  • Copying content into another course [Web page]
  • Using date management to update dates after course copy [Web page]

Want more information?

Attend a drop-in session to get one-on-one help.
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.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #115: End of Semester Tasks

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.
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.

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Published on 4 Comments on Bb Tip #114: Grade Center – Smart Views

A Smart View is a focused look at the Grade Center. It shows only the columns that match a set of criteria, and the view is saved for continued use. Smart Views are useful to quickly find data when the Grade Center includes a great number of students and columns. A Smart View is especially helpful if you have merged multiple sections of a course into one Blackboard course and you want to keep the students organized by their assigned section.

image showing Grade Center Smart Views

Several Smart Views are available by default, but you can also create your own. You can easily move between the Full Grade Center view and any of the available Smart Views. You can set a Smart View as the default view of the Grade Center and change it at any time.

Follow these steps to do it.

To create a Smart View you should:

  1. Goto the [Control Panel] for the course and click on [Grade Center] to expand it. Click on [Full Grade Center].
  2. Roll your mouse over the [Manage] button and click on [Smart Views] in the drop-down menu.
  3. Click the [Create Smart View] button.
  4. Enter a name for the Smart View.
  5. Optionally, you can mark the Smart View as a favorite by checking the Add as Favorite box.
  6. Select the type of Smart View you want to create and select the criteria for the Smart View.
  7. You can optionally select a filter for results and include hidden information in the grade data.
  8. Click [Submit].

To access the Grade Center using a Smart View you should:

  1. Goto the [Control Panel] for the course and click on [Grade Center] to expand it.
  2. If you saved the Smart View as a favorite you can click on the Smart View to open it.

    3. Otherwise:

    Click on [Full Grade Center].
    Roll your mouse over the [Manage] button and click on [Smart Views] in the drop-down menu.
    On the Smart Views page, click a Smart View title to open the Grade Center with the appropriate Smart View columns.

Note: You can also use the Grade Center's Filter function and a selected Smart View to narrow your view of the Grade Center.

Want more information?

Creating Smart Views [Video].
Using Smart Views in the Grade Center.
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.

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Published on 2 Comments on Bb Tip #113: Get Feedback from your Students

desk with feedback written on piece of graph paper

You can use Blackboard to get feedback from your students. The Survey Manager allows you to create anonymous non-graded surveys. You can get statistical analysis of the responses provided by your students as a whole but you cannot see how a student answered a particular question. Some examples of the types of uses for surveys are: seeking feedback on the effectiveness of active learning exercises, the need for clarification of course material, and/or seeking suggestions for course improvement.

Follow these steps to do it.

Making surveys available to your students is a two-step process. You must create the survey first and then deploy it.

Create Survey:

  1. Goto the [Control Panel] for the course, click on [Course Tools] to expand it and then click on [Tests, Surveys, and Pools].
  2. Click [Surveys].
  3. On the Survey Manager page, click [Build Survey].
  4. On the Survey Information page, enter the survey Name, Description, and Instructions.
  5. Click [Submit].
  6. On the Survey Canvas page, roll your mouse over [Create Question], choose the appropriate question type, and then enter your survey question. Click [Submit] to save the question. Repeat this step to add all of your survey questions.
  7. Click [Ok] to exit the survey creation process.

Deploy Survey:

  1. Turn Edit Mode ON.
  2. Navigate to the Content Area where you want the students to go to take the survey.
  3. Roll your mouse over [Assessments] and click on [Survey].
  4. On the Create Survey page, select the survey from the Add an Existing Survey box and click [Submit].
  5. On the Survey Options page, specify the survey availability and other settings.
  6. Click [Submit].

Analyze Results:

  1. Goto the [Control Panel] for the course and click on [Grade Center] to expand it. Click on [Full Grade Center].
  2. Locate the survey column in the Grade Center. Roll your mouse over the survey column heading and click on the arrow on the right of the survey column heading and then click on [Attempts Statistics].
  3. Review the survey results.
  4. Click OK at the bottom of the page to return to the Grade Center.

Download Results:

  1. Goto the [Control Panel] for the course and click on [Grade Center] to expand it. Click on [Full Grade Center].
  2. Locate the survey column in the Grade Center. Roll your mouse over the survey column heading and click on the arrow on the right of the survey column heading and then click on [Download Results]. This option allows you to compile the questions and answers in a spreadsheet to review offline.

Want more information?

Step-by-step instructions are available [PDF].
About Tests, Surveys, and Pools
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.

Image credit: desk/feedback by www_darkworkx_de | Pixabay License

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #112: Interactive Rubrics

image showing Bb rubric

Blackboard interactive rubrics will help you:

  • Increase Efficiency - Rubrics are built into the grading workflow. Rubrics click-and-score simplicity saves time.
  • Provide Consistent and Quality Feedback - Rubrics enable instructors to provide consistent evaluation and contextual feedback to students.
  • Promote 21st Century Skills - Rubrics make it easier to assign essay questions, individual and group assignments, blogs, wikis and discussion boards as assessment activities which foster critical thinking and collaboration.

Instructors can associate Rubrics when creating gradable content items, including blogs, journals, wikis, discussion boards, assignments, and short-answer, file-response, or essay questions in tests and pools. Rubrics can be associated with multiple items, and all associations can be viewed from the Rubric tool. Multiple rubrics can be associated with an item. Instructors can choose to have the rubrics visible to students at any time, only after grading has been completed, or not shown to the students at all.

image showing how to associate rubric with Grade Center content

When creating a rubric, instructors can assign weights to categories, allowing the same rubric to be used across multiple items with different possible points. Rubrics can be imported and exported for use across courses.

image showing how to grade using a rubric

Rubrics can be viewed from the Grade Center during the grading process. Instructors can interact with any associated rubric for grading in a grid or list view, and feedback can be typed for each criteria as well as the entire assessment. Grades calculated using rubrics can be overridden. When a rubric has been used for grading, a report is available to view the results of all content graded with that rubric.

NOTE: The Blackboard Rubrics tool is different from Turnitin Rubrics.

Want more information?

Using Interactive Rubrics
How to Create a Rubric (video)
How to Grade using a Rubric (video)
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.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #111: Grade Center – Needs Grading

If you want quick access to items that are ready for grading, the Needs Grading page can help you determine what needs attention first and allows you to access it quickly. You can view all items ready for grading or for review on the Needs Grading page, where you can begin grading and reviewing or sort and filter columns to narrow the list. Student attempts are placed in a queue for easy navigation among items.

image showing Grade Center-Needs Grading

Alternatively, within the Grade Center you can easily see items that ready for grading because they will be identified by the "Needs Grading" indicator.

image showing student work with Needs Grading indicator

Sometimes instructors are expecting student work that is ready to be graded to have the "Needs Grading" indicator but instead the "Attempt in Progress" indicator is shown.

image showing student work with Attempt in Progress indicator

Listed below is an explanation of how the "Needs Grading" and "Attempt in Progress" indicators work:

When an instructor creates a wiki, blog, journal, or discussion board and chooses the Grade option, but does NOT check the box to the left of the "Show participants in "needs grading" status after every..." option, student attempts will have the "Attempt in Progress" indicator in Grade Center. These attempts will not be shown on the Needs Grading page.

Once a student has submitted their work, editing the item (i.e., wiki, blog, journal, discussion board) and checking the "Show participants in "needs grading" status after every..." box will NOT change the "Attempt in Progress" indicator for that student. However, the "Needs Grading" indicator will work correctly from that point forward for students who had not yet submitted their work before the "Show participants in "needs grading" status after every..." box was checked.

Because the "Attempt in Progress" indicator will not change for those students who submitted their work before the "Show participants in "needs grading" status after every..." box was checked, instructors should go into the Grade Center and enter a grade for those students.

Bottom line, in order for the "Needs Grading" indicator to be displayed in the Grade Center, instructors should set the "Show participants in "needs grading" status after every..." option BEFORE students start submitting their work.

Additionally, for student submitted work that has started but does not meet the minimum number set in the "Show participants in "needs grading" status after every..." option, the Grade Center entry will show the "Attempt in Progress" indicator.

Want more information?

Grade Center – About Needs Grading
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.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #110: 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. 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.

image showing Grade Center

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
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.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #109: Course Links

Course Links allow you to cross-link sections of your Blackboard course. You can create a Course Link to an item, course tool, or content area in your course.

image showing create Course Link

Course Links provide quick access points to relevant materials and course tools. Course Links are useful for referring students to other areas of your course. For example, next to a PowerPoint presentation in a folder within Course Documents you could create a Course Link to a discussion forum that asks students to discuss points raised in the lecture notes.

Follow these steps to do it.

To create a Course Link you should:

  1. Turn Edit Mode ON.
  2. Get into a content area, learning module, lesson plan, or folder.
  3. Roll your mouse over [Build Content] and click on [Course Link].
  4. Click [Browse]. A popup window containing all of the items in your course will appear.
  5. Select the item, page, or course tool you want to link to.
  6. Enter a name for the course link and any descriptive information you want to include with the link.
  7. Set your availability options.
  8. Click [Submit].

Want more information?

How to Create a Course Link
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.

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Published on 1 Comment on Bb Tip #108: Videos

Video is one of the most powerful, motivating, and visual ways to learn. You can use videos to promote critical thinking and active learning.

There's a big difference between watching a video and learning something from it.

Emily A. Moore, M.Ed., instructional designer in the online learning office at Texas State Technical College – Harlingen Campus, gives suggestions to help increase the educational effectiveness of an online course video. Read more in her article, "From Passive Viewing to Online Learning: Simple Techniques for Applying Active Learning Strategies to Online Course Videos."

Video can easily and effectively be incorporated inside your Blackboard courses. There are several ways to add videos to your Blackboard courses.

To provide just-in-time feedback or to build in spontaneous interaction, faculty and students can use the Video Everywhere tool to record video directly via their webcam or reuse an already recorded video from their playlist. The Video Everywhere tool allows faculty and students to place video wherever the Content Editor is available, from discussion board posts, to assessment feedback, to blog posts, journals, wikis, and of course in announcements and content areas. Furthermore, by leveraging the power and ease of use of YouTube, the Video Everywhere tool allows you to add rich media into courses quickly and efficiently.

image showing Video Everywhere recording

Blackboard supports embedding and/or linking to video from many other systems and solutions. Sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, or other video repositories can be embedded easily by switching to html mode in the Content Editor and then pasting in the embed code.

image showing Embed Video using HTML code

The benefit of embedding video into a course is that it enables the students to stay within the context of the course and within the sequence of instruction, rather than linking out away from course content.

Another way to add video to your course is to upload the video file (i.e., MPEG/AVI, QuickTime, Flash/Shockwave, Microsoft .asf and .wmv formats).

Video files are generally large files. Your course size is total of your uploaded video files sizes along with the size of all other course content. Each Blackboard course has a 1.25 GB maximum course size limit. It is a good idea to embed or link to videos rather than uploading video files to your course to help you to stay within the maximum course size limit. You can upload your videos to YouTube, Vimeo, or other media server and then embed or link to the video within the course as explained above.

image showing Build Content

When adding video files, it is a good idea to include links to any browser plug-ins or media player files that users will need to view the videos.

Want more information?

Simple Techniques for Applying Active Learning Strategies to Videos
Video Everywhere
Best Practices for Posting Video Announcements
Creating Mashups
Embed Videos into Your Course
How to Create Audio, Image, and Video Links
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.