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Blues Clues
An easy to understand reference manual of
basic BlueDocs procedures
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Table of Contents
Welcome…………………………………………………………………………………………..3
Calendar View vs. Portal View………………………………………………………..…4
Main Course Page………………………………………………………………………..……7
How to Create Events…………………………………………………………………..…...8
Event Functions………………………………………………………………………..…….12
Event Listing/Event Management……………………………………………..……15
Linked Events……………………………………………………………………………...….17
Course Rollover…………………………………………………………………………....…18
Small Group Sets/Managing Small Group Sets……………………………...…21
Content/ Content Functions………..…………………………………………………..28
Reports…………………………………………………………………………………………..32
Adding Announcements/Emails/Reminders…………………………….……...34
Helpful Websites & Contacts…………………………………………………………...36
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Welcome
Welcome BlueDocs user! BlueDocs is the learning curriculum
management system for Duke University School of Medicine. Use
BlueDocs to manage your courses, course content and keep track of
your course calendar!
Before you get started, please do login and check out the BlueDocs
interface. Familiarize yourself with the main page as this will help
you in navigating BlueDocs.
You can do many things in BlueDocs but to get started, please make
sure you can login in with your username and password. If you are a
first time BlueDocs user, please contact Deidra Morris at
deidra.morris@duke.edu and provide her with the following
information:
- First Name & Last Name
- NetID
- Email
- Department
- Job Title (i.e. instructor, course coordinator)
Now that you are all set up, use this manual to help you perform
basic BlueDocs procedures that will help you manage your course.
Don’t forget to stay connected with the latest BlueDocs updates by
subscribing to the BlueDocs User Group. By subscribing to the
BlueDocs User Group you will receive the latest updates to BlueDocs
and you will stay in the know about all things BlueDocs! Also, never
miss an update or info session with the bi-monthly Blues Buzz
article.
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TIME TO GET STARTED!
Calendar View versus Portal View
Calendar View is the home page for all BlueDocs users. The
calendar view displays all the learning events taking place by “Day”
“Week” or “Month” view.
Depending on how your filter is set up, you can view your course,
first year courses, or all courses.
Filter Function
The filter function allows you to control what is seen on your
calendar when you login to BlueDocs.
Go to calendar>top left>fill out drop down box
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HINT: You can change a student’s default where they always see
what you want them to see
Groups and users>group management>edit profile
Filter your calendar by location, event type, school year and course.
Want to see events that only apply to you? Check the box “Only
events in which I am enrolled”
Want to start fresh and see everything? Click the green button
“Clear Filters”
Have default settings and want to apply those to your calendar? No
problem. Click the green button “Load Profile Defaults” and this
will apply your default settings to your calendar.
Now that your calendar is filtered, let’s take a look at it!
Maybe you want to only see what’s going on for the day. Click “Day”
in the top right hand corner of your screen. Click “Week” to view
what’s going on for the week. Click “Month” to see what’s going on
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for the month. Click “Show Weekends” to view what’s happening on
weekends.
Need help understanding how to read your calendar? Click the blue
question mark located at the top right hand corner of your calendar.
You will find a listing of color codes used in the calendar along with
a description of how the color is used.
Lastly, need a summary of all the activities that you are viewing
currently? Click the blue “i” located at the top right hand corner of
the calendar.
Portal View is another way to view your calendar by the day.
Click Portal at the top of the screen and view your daily events and
all course content related to each event.
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Main Course Page View
Ready to see your main course page?
There are many ways to get to your course. Use the “Find your
course” search box at the top of the screen to search your course or
click your course which may be listed at the top of your calendar to
get to the main course page. See an event for your course on the
calendar? Click the event on the calendar and it will take you to the
event itself and from there click the course title at the top of the
event page to go to the main course page.
Here’s a screen shot below of what a main course page looks like.
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How to Create Events
Ready to see an event page?
Check the screen shot below.
From the event page you can make edits to the event name, location,
date, time of event, event type, attire, and attendance by clicking on
“File” and from the drop down choose “Edit”
Want to change the event description?
Choose “File” > “Edit Description>
Want to change all groups involved in the event?
Groups &Users>Manage Groups>Choose your group from the
“Available Groups” list on the left side of the screen> Click and watch
the group move to the “Assigned Groups”
Use this same procedure to edit Faculty involved
Groups & Users>Faculty
Use this same procedure to edit Staff involved
Groups & Users>Staff
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“How do I create an event?”
Go to Events> new event>Choose location and event
type>Choose the description of event>Mark event mandatory or
not>Save the event>choose groups that will be connected to the
Event>finalize event
 Click yes to confirm event is complete and now you are on the
events main page.
 The system will check for event conflicts and students being
present at different events at the same time
 (Click on conflict) Shows when events are in conflict and why
they are in conflict.
 People must be added to the group in order be added to the
event. Only the standard groups are listed in the regular and
extended list of a courses
“So, how do I know who is in the standard group of my course?”
Search your course>Groups & Users>Standard groups>click on
a group>click on Users>
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On the right side of the screen is a list of the people who are
part of the standard group of your course.
“But I don’t see the people I need on the right side of the list. How
do I add them so they may have access to my course?”
For course directors:
Groups & Users>Course directors>Click on Get Extended
List>Type name in search box>click on name
Once you click on the name it will appear on the right side of
the screen. Click on the name again to remove a person from
the list.
For course coordinators:
Groups & Users>Course coordinators>Click on Get Extended
List>Type name in search box>click on name
Once you click on the name it will appear on the right side of
the screen. Click on the name again to remove a person from
the list.
For students:
Groups & Users>Student Roster>Add (bottom left hand corner
of the screen
“But I have a long list of students that need to be added to my list
or roster. How can I add them all at the same time instead of
individually?”
Groups & Users>Student Roster>Import>Copy student
UserID’s in box>Process List
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To change a course description:
Search your course>File>Edit Messages>place course description in
the first box titled “Course description”
To post content
>Manage documents
To hide documents from students go to drop down box on events
and set to no view
 Documents can be tracked and will tell you how many have
been downloaded
 To view which students downloaded a document and which
students have not, you can generate a report located at the
bottom of the screen
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Event Functions
To Show what objectives a course director has picked for a
course:
Objectives>Edit G&O
Instruction Methods and Assessment Methods are displayed.
Use your cursor to hover over a particular item in the list to get a
brief description of the G&O.
Instruction Methods and Assessment Methods are displayed.
 To add objectives click on the objectives you would like to add
from the left side.
 Click the right to remove objectives from your mapping list.
 Know the G&O number? Use the search box at the top right
hand corner of the screen and type in the number and watch it
populate on the left hand side of the screen. Use extended list
for an extended search of your G&O’s.
“So, what is mapping?”
Mapping is a grand overview of the Goals and Objectives that
have been linked to a course.
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To see what has been mapped:
Objectives>mapping summary
“What are session objectives?”
Statements of exactly what instructors are teaching to
students. These are written by faculty members and do not
have to align with the SOM goals and objectives.
To view and edit session objectives:
Objectives>session objectives>edit session objects>paste
objectives in yellow>link objectives to sessions
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Event Listing/Event Management
“How can I get a master list of all the events for my course for the
school year?”
Events>event listing
Another way to make changes to an event:
“How do I manage events, make changes to locations, dates,
types and times?”
Events>event management
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“How do I filter out events to see specific things going on in my
course?”
Events>tree view>---breaks down all events by week, day etc…
Or at the top of the event management page click “Filters” and filter
your events by event type, location, category, date or no students.
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Linked Events
“What are linked events?”
Linked events are one event scheduled multiple times for
multiple groups. For example small group events
“How do I link events for my course?”
Groups>users>small group>create groups>fill out drop down
boxes>auto assign groups or drag people to the appropriate
group
Events>linked events>create new linked event>fill out
info>save
“How do I link events that have already been created as events?”
Events>linked events>non-linked events>click on what you
want to look at>
“But I want to import events to an excel spreadsheet.”
Special>roster>import spreadsheet
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Course Rollover
“How do I rollover my course?”
Search course>course checklist>Course rollover>pick course you
want to rollover from
 Enter your course name in the “My Courses:” box in the top
right-hand corner.
 Pick the correct year in the drop down menu
 Make sure you pick the correct rotation that you want to copy
TO at the very top in the lime green box where it says
“Rotation#1”
 Click on “Course Checklist” at the bottom of the main course
page.
 Review all topics of your course rollover
 Click on “Course Rollover” once all edits have been made.
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 Click on the arrow beside the box labeled “Copy From Course”
to get the list of dates that you will be rolling over FROM (see
instructions to clarify if needed)
 Go down the list and make sure that you check the items that
you want to rollover and ones that you do not want to rollover.
 Click on the green button at the bottom that says “Roll Over
Course”
 It will show you everything that was rolled over and you can
always go back under event listing and edit the list if
something crossed over that you didn’t want.
 1)Click on each category
 2) click on manage group from drop down menu
 3) Move 8 groups from the available groups (8) see note below.
 Additional steps so that the events will show up on the
calendar…
 I GO BACK TO THE CALENDAR SCREEN…
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 Calendar Screen…
 Click on the Event
 Groups & Users
 Manage group…move 8 assigned group that consists of faculty,
any & all Psych2013…, staff and students
 Finally click “tentative to live”
 Close
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Small Group Sets/Managing Small
Group Sets
“What are small group sets?”
A sub-group which is a collection of groups that are derived from a
larger group, such as the main student group.
The small group set options can be used to create lab groups, TBL
groups etc…
“How can I create a small group set for my course?”
Main course page>Groups & Users>Small Group Sets>Create
Small Group Set> Name small group> provide min. and max
amount of people for each group
 Click on manage groups to begin creating your small group
sets.
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 Click the “+” icon in the top right hand corner of the screen to
add groups
 The students that are assigned to your course will be located
on the left hand side of the screen. Simply click on the name of
the student and drag the name to you desired small group.
Drag their name back over to the list of students if you don’t
want them assigned to a group.
“But I don’t see my student’s name in the list to drag over to a
small group set.”
Click on your group name in small group sets screen and click on
“Parent Groups” Search who you would like added. They will then
appear in your list under the “manage groups” option when you go
back in.
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Check out the Blues Buzz article below. The article delves a little
deeper into the purpose behind Small Group Sets.
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Into the Blue
A closer look at small group sets and event management
Have an event with a collection of sub groups, an event that happens
numerous times with different students?
Then small group sets are just what you need!
The small group sets function creates small groups based on an
existing group such as the main student group.
Having small group sets allows you to assign multiple small groups
to a learning event.
Small group sets are commonly used for courses that require lab
groups and Team Base Learning Groups (TBL).
ATTENTION CLERKSHIP COORDINATORS! The small group set
feature can very well be utilized for a simple event that happens
many times throughout the course amongst different rotations as
well (since each individual rotation has a different set of students).
So why small group sets?
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Because small group sets keep the groups within your course
organized and separated in BlueDocs. If your course requires groups
that have identical learning events using the small group set feature
ensures your assigned group members attend the appropriate
learning event, at the appropriate assigned location. Check out this
example!
Example: Hematology 101 has a learning event named “Blood
Disorders” which requires students to split up into their assigned
lab groups for a blood testing activity.
The diagram below shows the assigned groups.
Course: Hematology 101
Event Name: Blood Disorders Lab 1
Small Group Name: Hem2015 Lab Groups
Hem2015 Lab
Groups- 1
Suzie Sue
Hem2015 Lab
Groups- 2
Mae Bell
Hem2015 Lab
Groups- 3
Andrew
Johnson
Jeff Banks
Angel Harris
Hem2015 Lab
Groups- 4
Bill Powers
Charlie Brown Pumpkin Pie
Deidra Morris
Peppermint
Storm Winters
Cash Money
Pattie
Ashley Wilson Melissa Best
John Dukes
Jackson Jax
So how do I assign my small groups in BlueDocs?
Easy, go to search your course>Groups & Users>Small Group
Sets> Create Small Group Set>Name the small group> provide
min. and max amount of people for each group. Once your small
group name is created, it is now time to assign each student to their
group as demonstrated in the diagram above.
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In the diagram above, the small group set name is “Hem2015 Lab
Groups”, the max number of people per lab group would be 16 (4
students per lab group).
Click on Manage groups>drag names from the Unassigned Users
tab to their respective groups.
Have no preference of what group each student is assigned to? Then
click on Auto-Assign All and students will be assigned at random.
**View pages 14-16 of Blues Clues for more info on how to assign each
individual student to each group like demonstrated in the diagram
above.
How do I add my assigned groups to the appropriate events?
Assuming your event is already created and linked (**Refer to page
3 of Blue Clues for creating events and page10 on linked events)
Go to Events>Event Management>Choose your event>Groups &
Users> Manage Groups From the extended list, search the group
that matches the event. Assign your group and move on to the next
identical event and assign the appropriate groups.
Clicking on each individual event from the event management page
allows you to assign the appropriate small group for the event.
Going back to our “Blood Disorders” example, the diagram below
shows a modified version of what you would see on the event
listings screen.
Notice that there are 4 instances of the event “Blood Disorders Lab
1” happening at the same time but with different groups, different
locations and different instructors!
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**This diagram clearly shows that there are 4 Hem lab groups
participating in the same learning event at the same time in
different locations with different instructors.
Event
Time
Group
Location Instructor
Blood
1:00 PM - Hem2015 Learning Dr. Brown
Disorders 3:00 PM Lab
Studio 1
Lab1
Groups- 1
Blood
1:00 PM - Hem2015 Learning Dr. Blue
Disorders 3:00 PM Lab
Studio 2
Lab 1
Groups- 2
Blood
1:00 PM - Hem2015 Learning Dr. Gray
Disorders 3:00 PM Lab
Studio 3
Lab 1
Groups- 3
Blood
1:00 PM - Hem2015 Learning Dr. White
Disorders 3:00 PM Lab
Studio 4
Lab 1
Groups- 4
But will all my students see every instance of the event on their
calendar?
Your students will see only the learning event you assign their group
to.
For example: If you only assign Hem2015 Lab Groups 1 to the very
first Blood Disorders Lab 1 learning event listed on the events listing
page, only Hem2015 Lab Groups1 will see it on their calendar and
have access to this event page. No other group will be able to see
this occurrence on their calendar.
As the coordinator or director, you will be able to see every
occurrence of all created events and small groups.
Easy peezy huh? 
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Content/Content Functions
“What is content as it relates to your BlueDocs course?”
Any electronic uploads and documents that are linked to the course,
voice annotated presentations, student documents, student folders,
date restricted materials, faculty only materials, and tablet files.
See screen shot below for the new drop down features under the new
content option for your course(s)!
“How do I upload a document to the main course page?”
Materials>Upload new document>choose a file to upload>Title
the Document>Save file
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Content/Functions
“How do I upload documents to a specific event?”
Events>Event Listing>Click on event>manage
documents>manage uploads>upload files>add file
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Materials vs. Supplements
Required documents students need to read vs. additional documents
you may want to read for additional information.
Document distribution
Document distribution puts documents into a file structure and
students are able to sync the content with the file structure in mind.
“How do I distribute documents to my students?”
Events>Event Listing>Click on event>manage
documents>manage uploads> upload to students>click on the
number beside student name>new document> choose a file to
upload>Title the Document>Save file
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Reports
Cancelled event vs. deleted event
Cancelled events can roll over deleted events do not.
 Events>event management>---both a report and management
tool in one
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Generating reports of Goals and Objectives
How to generate a report of all Goals and Objectives:
Reports>course reports>goals and objectives reports>G&O
detail by year>Choose selected items in drop down
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Adding
Announcements/Emails/Reminders
“How do I add announcements, emails and reminders to my
course page for students to view?”
Click on course screen>messaging>course announcement>or
others in drop down
>Add groups and users in search box at top>
Give a beginning and end date for announcements
Choose your level>
Type in content>attach documents>
 Choose to send as an email or announcement
 It will be posted in the announcements tab
 Students are able to see it on the calendar screen, course
screen or on the main page of the event. The announcement
will flash on the calendar page of BlueDocs and students will be
able to click on the flashing announcement to view.
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To view a past announcement that has been posted:
Home>messaging
Course Reminders
To adjust days and how many reminders you would like to send:
Special Options>Manage auto reminders>
To get reminder history and show all reminders that have been
posted:
Reports>reminder history
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Helpful Websites & Contacts
 BlueDocs Login: https://bluedocs.duhs.duke.edu
 BlueRecs Login: http://BlueRecs.duhs.duke.edu
Want to stay informed about BlueDocs updates, new features and
tools? Email me and ask to subscribe to the BlueDocs User Group
and the monthly Blues Buzz article.
BlueDocs Staff Assistant
Deidra M. Morris
Email: deidra.morris@duke.edu
Office Phone: 919.613.1709
Duke University School of Medicine
Seeley Mudd Building, 3rd Floor, Room 0389
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