INTRODUCTION TO

BLACKBOARD

PRESENTS

TOPICS

Logging into Blackboard

Course Availability

Adding Content

Organizing Content

Customizing Home Page

Customizing Course Menu

Combining Courses

Tool Availability

Course Copy

LOGGING INTO BLACKBOARD

3 Ways to Login to Blackboard:

1. Click Blackboard on Missouri S&T home page (mst.edu).

2. Click Blackboard under Faculty and Staff on Missouri S&T home page.

3. Go directly to blackboard.mst.edu in your web browser.

COURSE AVAILABILITY

• Courses are UNAVAILABLE by default.– Gives instructors time to populate a course

with content before students see course.• Courses need to be made AVAILABLE

before students can see them.• Courses become UNAVAILABLE again a

few weeks after the end of the semester.– Instructors can make them AVAILABLE, but

will then need to manually make the course UNAVAILABLE again.

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.

ADDING CONTENT

• Content can only be added to designated “Content Areas” in Blackboard.– Staff Information: Profile of the instructor, CV, video

introduction, etc…– Content: Basic content area for PDFs, Word docs,

PowerPoint files, and more.– Assignments: Content area for items that will be

assessed for a grade.

• All content areas have same basic functionality—only difference is in name.

• Content areas can be added or renamed to be more descriptive.

ADDING CONTENT

Basic Content Upload:• Select content area from course menu (e.g.

Content, Assignments, Staff Information, etc.).• Select Build Content.• Click Item under Create section of the Build

Content menu.• Type in a Name.• Type in additional Text.

ADDING CONTENT

Basic Content Upload:• Click Browse to attach a local file from your

hard drive or S: drive.• Select visibility options.• Click Submit when finished.

ADDING CONTENT

Other Content Options:• Select Build Content tab for adding links to

folders, external links, course links, and more.• Select Assessments tab for adding

assignments, tests, and other items that are graded.

• Select Tools tab for discussion boards, groups, blogs, wikis, and more.– Some options may need to be “enabled” before they

will show up in the Tools tab.

ADDING CONTENT

[ NEW ] Files in Control Panel:The Files option in the Control Panel is a central repository for course files.• Organize files into folders.• Upload packages of files/folders.• Download packages for reuse.• Link to a File content item from anywhere in the course.• Modifying a content item in the Files section will update

all links to the content item.

ORGANIZING CONTENT

Moving Items:• Blackboard 9 has a “click-and-drag”

interface for moving buttons, modules and content items within a single page.– Simply click and hold the arrow icon next to

the item.– Then drag the item to its new location.

ORGANIZING CONTENT

Moving Items:• Items can be moved to a different location

in the course (or to a different course).– Click the drop-down arrows next to the name

of the item.– Click Move.– Select a Destination Course

• This can be the same or different as the current course.

ORGANIZING CONTENT

Moving Items:• Items can be moved to a different location

in the course (or to a different course).– Click Browse to search for a destination

folder within that course.– Select the desired folder.– Click Submit. Content will now appear in the

desired folder.

ORGANIZING CONTENT

Copying Items:• Items can be copied to a different location

in the course (or to a different course).– Click the drop-down arrows next to the name

of the item.– Click Copy.– Select a Destination Course

• This can be the same or different as the current course.

ORGANIZING CONTENT

Copying Items:• Items can be copied to a different location

in the course (or to a different course).– Click Browse to search for a destination

folder within that course.– Select the desired folder.– Click Submit. Content will be copied into the

desired folder.• Original copy is in its original location

ORGANIZING CONTENT

Learning Modules:• Add a linear structure to the content of a

Blackboard course.• Students are guided through modules one

at a time.• Can be tied to a variety of other objects in

Blackboard.– Discussion boards– Tests/Quizzes– Readings

ORGANIZING CONTENT

Creating Learning Modules:• Select Build.• Click Learning Module under Create

options.• Type in a name.• Type in the text for the learning module.• Select visibility and availability options.• Click Submit.

ORGANIZING CONTENT

Folders:• Add a lot of structure to the content of a

Blackboard course.• Can be layered.• Can be imported from a document

package (ZIP file).

ORGANIZING CONTENT

Creating Folders:• Select Build Content.• Click Create Content Folder.• Type in a name for the folder.• Type in a description for the folder.• Select visibility options and date/time

restrictions.• Click Submit.

CUSTOMIZING HOME PAGE

You can personalize what you see when you login to Blackboard.

• 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 HOME PAGE

• 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.– Some modules can’t be closed (a system

setting).

CUSTOMIZING COURSE MENU

• Course menu is highly customizable.• Buttons can be:

– Created– Moved– Renamed– Grouped– Linked to a variety of tools/objects in

Blackboard

CUSTOMIZING COURSE MENU

• Button templates are available for various teaching styles/methods.– Click Customization in Control Panel.– Click Teaching Style.– Select an option under Select Course

Structure.– Choose an Entry Point.– Select a Menu Style.– Choose other options.– Click Submit when finished.

CUSTOMIZING COURSE MENU

• Button templates are available for various teaching styles/methods.– WARNING: Use caution when choosing a

different button template!• Restoring the original default S&T template is a

time-consuming process!• If you want to use this, choose the menu structure

before adding any content!

CUSTOMIZING COURSE MENU

Adding 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.• Click-and-drag the item to its new location.

COMBINING COURSES

How Course Combine Works:• Students from one or more sections

(Children) are combined into another course (Parent).

• Students are then enrolled in two sections.– Both parent and child sections– Only students are copied over, not content

COMBINING COURSES

How Course Combine Works:• EdTech recommends making Child section

unavailable to avoid confusing students.• EdTech also recommends notifying

students in Child section that a course combine has taken place.

Before Course Combine After Course Combine

• Adam• Amy• Alice

Section A

• Bob• Betty• Bill

Section B

• Chuck• Cathy• Chris

Section C

• Adam, Bob, Chuck• Amy, Betty, Cathy• Alice, Bill, Chris

Section A

• Bob• Betty• Bill

Section B

• Chuck• Cathy• Chris

Section C

COMBINING COURSES

Make source sections

unavailable

COMBINING COURSES

1. Login to itweb.mst.edu/~bbfocus with your Missouri S&T userid and password.

2. Select the term that contains the courses you want to combine.

3. Click Get Matching Courses.

4. Select 1 Destination (Parent) Course.

5. Select 1 or more Source (Child) Courses.– Students in Child courses will be merged into

Parent course.

COMBINING COURSES

6. Click Proceed to Combine Courses.

7. Click Confirm Combination.– WARNING – You will NOT be able to undo a

course combine!

8. A confirmation message will tell you when the courses will be combined.– Source sections should be made unavailable

to students to avoid confusion.– Notify students of the change in sections.

TOOL AVAILABILITY

• Blackboard has a wide variety of tools.• Tools can be HIDDEN from students to

limit their access to the tools.• Two methods for making tools

available/unavailable:1. Tools page.

2. Customization in Control Panel.

TOOL AVAILABILITY

Method 1: Tools Page• Click Tools in course menu.• Click Hide Link for each tool that you want

to hide from students.– Click Show Link to show a hidden tool.– Common tools to hide if they are not used in

the classroom:• Blogs and Wikis • Voice tools• Groups

TOOL AVAILABILITY

Method 2: Customization in Control Panel• Click Tool Availability under

Customization in Control Panel.• Select the checkbox in the column for each

tool to make available/unavailable.– Some tools can only be configured at the

system level.– To make a tool fully available, it may also need

to be made available in a Content Area (e.g. Blogs and Wikis).

COURSE COPY

• Ideal for moving course content from semester-to-semester.

• Usually very quick method of copying content.

• Accessed through Packages and Utilities section in Control Panel.

• Select Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course.

• Browse for destination course ID.– Only courses you are listed as instructor for will

be available.– May need to wait until future semester courses

are created (about mid-semester).• Choose course materials to be copied.

– If copying Grade Center Columns and Settings, should also copy any Assignments, Tests, Surveys, and Pools tied to GC columns.

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/blackboard

102 Centennial HallRolla, MO 65409EMAIL: edtech@mst.eduPHONE: 573-341-4131