Welcome to Blackboard
Blackboard Fundamentals
McDaniel College
July 23-24, 2002
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
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Navigation in a course, Student View, Instructor Control Panel
• Content Areas
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Announcements, Staff information, External links, Course Information/Documents
• User Management
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Registration/Enrollment, Create/Modify users, Create/Modify groups
• Assessment Manager
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Assessment options, Question types, Add questions, Preview and modify, Availability, Setting
properties, Online Grade Book
• Course Management & Security
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Area Availability, Course Availability, Enabling/Disabling course functions, Securing the
course, Customization
• Resources and Materials
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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?
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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
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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
lowercase
train37
PASSWORD:
train35
train36
train37
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)
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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
Online
Course 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
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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:
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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
Workshop
Feedback
Workshop Feedback
http://www.formsite.com/blackboard/BlackboardWorkshop
Note: ("BlackboardWorkshop") is case sensitive -- you need the capital 'B' and capital 'W'