Welcome to Blackboard

McDaniel CollegeJuly 23-24, 2002

Blackboard Fundamentals

Introductions

Meaghan N. Duff, Ph.D.• Senior Learning Solutions Consultant,

Blackboard, Inc.

• Professional Experience– End User Trainer,

Prometheus/The George Washington University

– Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University

– Assistant Professor, Western Kentucky University

– Ph.D., American History, The College of William and Mary

Introductions

Please introduce yourself…• Name

• Position/Title

• Course(s) you teach

• Experience with Bb software

• How you plan to use Bb– Supplement existing course

– Teach entirely online

– Mixed format

Agenda

• Demonstration– Navigation in a course, Student View, Instructor Control Panel

• Content Areas– Announcements, Staff information, External links, Course Information/Documents

• User Management– Registration/Enrollment, Create/Modify users, Create/Modify groups

• Assessment Manager– Assessment options, Question types, Add questions, Preview and modify, Availability, Setting

properties, Online Grade Book

• Course Management & Security– Area Availability, Course Availability, Enabling/Disabling course functions, Securing the

course, Customization

• Resources and Materials– Blackboard Instructor Center – Training Center– Useful Blackboard Links Document

Resources and Materials

http://trainingcenter.blackboard.com

• Online Training

• Tip Sheets• Tutorials• Manuals

What is Blackboard?

• Computer software that runs on a server

• Available anywhere via the Internet

• Accessed with a web browser

• Flexible

• Customizable

• User Friendly

• Many tools, many options

Many Tools, Many Options

• File storage and retrieval• Asynchronous Discussion Board • Synchronous chat and whiteboard• Group Areas• “Digital Dropbox” for sending and

receiving assignments• Assessments and Surveys• Online Gradebook

It’s sort of like . . . Tupperware!

• Bring existing materials into Blackboard– Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF files, etc.

• Integrate text, graphics, audio/video, multimedia into your course

• Include CD-ROM material

• No need to learn HTML code

• What does it look like?

The Course

• The main Bb system component

• Course roles in Blackboard– Student, Instructor, Teaching Assistant,

Grader, Course Builder. – Each role corresponds with specific privileges

• Courses can be copied and recycled at end of semester

Navigation in Blackboard

• Use the “built-in” navigation buttons– Course navigation buttons– Course navigation menu (“Breadcrumb

Trail”)

• As much as possible, avoid using the Back/Forward buttons in your browser.– Bb stores course content in database– Need to move forward, requesting new data

Control Panel – Instructor’s View

• Navigation Button Bar– Left Frame– Students cannot see the control panel!

• Course controls enable customization of individual courses.– Instructors post content– students view content

Login Information

http://learning.blackboard.com

USERNAME:

train35

train36

train37

PASSWORD:

train35

train36

train37

lowercase

lowercase

Who does what?

• Administrators– Create course shells and or course templates– Create and remove user accounts on the system– Enroll students in course(s)

• Instructors (and TAs)– Customize course display– Add, modify, and remove course content– Create and manage Groups– Create Discussion forums

Text Options

Blackboard Text Options

• HTML– Renders all HTML tags – Primarily used if copying

and pasting HTML from another source.

• Plain Text– Allows instructors to insert HTML tags without being

rendered

• Smart Text– Renders HTML but does not require tags for line or

paragraph breaks

– Web addresses entered in the URL format

OnlineCourse Policies

Course Policies and Procedures

• Attendance– Decide how you will determine attendance.– Require participation in threaded discussions,

virtual classroom chats, etc. – Assign due dates and times for assignments.

• Academic Dishonesty– Exams/Quizzes– Papers– Assignments

Course Policies and Procedures

• Courtesy Code– Create standards for conduct and address

etiquette issues in writing emails, posting and responding to threaded discussions, and using the chat areas.

• Email and Drop Box Procedures– General email guidelines– Naming convention for submitting assignments– Use of electronic attachments– common technology formats (.rtf, .pdf, .html)

Course Policies and Procedures

• Technical Assistance– Who? Where? When? How?

• Instructor Responsibility– State what students can expect from you– Consider how often you will respond to email

and discussion board postings– Set day/time for office hours

• Virtual classroom (online)

• Office meeting (traditional)

User Management

Removing students from courses

When a student is removed from a course the following information . . .

• Is removed automatically:– Name from the student roster– Student Homepage– Student Drop Box/Drop Box Files– Grades/Assessments– Group File Exchange- any files added by the student

• Is not removed:– Student Input to Virtual Chat Archives– Student Messages posted to the Discussion Board– Student files in the Instructor's Drop Box (NOTE: there is not a

username associated with the file, only the file name and file content.)– Student Data in Course Statistics

WorkshopFeedback

Workshop Feedback

http://www.formsite.com/blackboard/BlackboardWorkshop

Note: ("BlackboardWorkshop") is case sensitive -- you need the capital 'B' and capital 'W'