A Blackboard Course Site
CityU’s Blackboard
in a nutshell
e-Learning Team, Office of the CIO
City University of Hong Kong
CityU’s Blackboard
‹ CityU has adopted Blackboard Learn (Bb) as the unified
e-learning platform since 2005. At this moment, the
Office of Education Development & General Education
takes up the pedagogical support and the e-Learning
Team in the Office of the Chief Information Officer
offers technical assistance.
‹ The Computing Services Centre and the e-Learning
Team have persistently upgraded and expanded the IT
platform to enable a technologically advance and
pedagogically rich e-learning environment according to
the need of teachers and students. Annual health check
conducted by external party also ensures the fitness of
the system for a nearly 30,000 users.
CityU’s Blackboard in a Nutshell
Accessing courses
† CityU Blackboard Learning Management
System is for CityU staff & students
† Having login to the system with the CityU
electronic ID,
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for staff, courses taught in the current
semester will be listed
for students, courses enrolled and made
available by instructors will be listed for
immediate access
What is my electronic ID, EID?
CityU’s Blackboard (Production): https://eportal.cityu.edu.hk
CityU’s Blackboard is best viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or Firefox 3.6,
with JavaScript enabled.
CityU’s Blackboard in a Nutshell
Course site creation
CityU’s Blackboard in a Nutshell
I need a Blackboard course site
† Make request
„ Login e-Portal, select AIMS and then “Faculty & Advisor
Menu” and then “Blackboard Course Management”
„ Click the course that you are teaching and add your EID
as instructor to the course
„ Should there be any instructor, TA, course builder or
visitor to add, fill in their EIDs in the respective fields for
application
„ We will notify you when the request is completed via
email
†
†
URL of e-Portal / Blackboard https://eportal.cityu.edu.hk/
Contact e-Learning Team of Office of the CIO if you have any question,
elearn@cityu.edu.hk or 3442-6727
CityU’s Blackboard in a Nutshell
How to control Blackboard
courses availability to students?
(1) Within the course site,
From [Control Panel]
Select [Customization]
(2) Select [Properties]
(3) Set it to [Yes] or [No] to
allow access or not available
(4) Click [Submit]
Show me steps in sequence!
CityU’s Blackboard in a Nutshell
A Blackboard Course Site
Getting Started!
A Blackboard Course Site
Course Site Design
For the optimal alignment of the class teaching & the use of technology,
the course site design is important. Several essential questions for
z What is the role of the course site?
z How important will it be?
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on a continuum from essential to important to peripheral
How will it be integrated with the usual day-to-day learning?
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Essential
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Completely web-based
Fully integrated (e.g. peer review system)
Important to Peripheral
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Complementary (e.g. pre-teaching preparation)
Reinforcing (e.g. virtual laboratory experiments similar to ones in class)
Supplementary (i.e. additional information for more complete understanding)
Peripheral only
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Warehousing (i.e. storing and distributing lecture/tutorial notes)
Credit to Stephen Richards
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
Objectives
of the Use of a Course Site
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Create a course information and resource centre
Assist in-class instruction
Encourage student before class preparation
Facilitate student presentation and portfolio creation
Motivate peer interaction, discussion and cooperation
Facilitate communication
Encourage research
Promote and enhance self study
Examine students' mastery of the subject
Encourage academic exchange
Gain experience in web teaching and learning
Collect data and research
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
A Blackboard Course Site
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Course Content
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Learning Management System LMS
Content Collection
Library Resources
Tools
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Communications
Groups
Glossary
Shared Portfolios
Assessments
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Assignments
Test
Gradebook
Functions
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Adaptive Release
Course Statistics
Performance Dashboard
Course Availability
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
Course Content
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There are mainly two distinctive areas namely, Learning Management
System (LMS) and Content Management System (CMS) for putting up,
disseminating and managing course content materials
Learning Management
System (LMS)
Content Collection
previously named
Content Management System (CMS)
Portal
Pages
Collection
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
Course Content in LMS
- Getting Started -
Course Content in
Content Collection
For a better management & convenience, gather all
materials in the CMS and establishes link(s) from &
between the course site to CMS. Materials in CMS can be
shared among instructors and course builders with version
control. They can also be shared among different
course sites without the need of duplicating materials and
putting up here & there repetitively
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
Collection
A Blackboard Course Site
Putting Up
Course Content
You may choose to use LMS or CMS for storing course content
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In LMS, instructors can
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Attach document files
Type in content direct
Display media files
Add links to other sites
Make link(s) to a file/folder within the course
Design a learning path with learning units
Advantages of storing content in CMS:
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Efficient file uploading with Web Folder/ Web DAV
Content can be linked individually or in a batch to course sites
Content sharable across different course sites
Content administration centralised but also sharable with other
colleagues with version control
Most LMS capabilities preserved
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
Library Resources
Is there any library resource?
Yes!
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Simply add “Content System Content”
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browse to locate library resources and course reserves
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Select the folder for your department in the “Subject-based
Library Resources” folder under “Library” in the Institution
Content area.
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Select “Highlighted Library Resources” and/or corresponding
course reserves
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Students can then access these materials from the course
site
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
Functions for Teaching
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Communications
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Announcements (1 to many)
Discussion Board (1 to many, peer, interactive & dynamic; group/ topic based; FAQ)
Voice Board (1 to many, peer, interactive & dynamic; voice enhanced; FAQ)
Emails (1 to many by default, subject to instructors’ preferences)
Voice Emails (1 to many, peer, voice enhanced)
Group works
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course members can be grouped according to data in Banner system
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within a course site or (highly suggested)
into different course sites
manually by instructors for different learning purposes
optional group tools to use
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discussion board
file exchange
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
Functions for Assessment
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Assignment
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Bb Online Assignment tool combines the benefits of the gradebook with the digital
dropbox in one easy-to-use tool that can facilitate paperless homework
Test/Quiz
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Bb allows quizzes and exams to be given online. Whether or self-evaluation,
practice or actual course-related assessment, online tests offer a number of
advantages for students including instant scoring and feedback. Security features
allow exam questions to be randomly selected and ordered, use of passwords and
time limits
Course Statistics
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Bb has built in course statistics to let you monitor student movement in a course.
Course statistics can let you know when students are logging and where they are
looking
Grade Center
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A tool for recording and tracking grades is included in Bb. Posting grades in Bb
allows students to see their progress, while protecting the scores of other class
members
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
Jump Start e-Learning!
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STEP 1 - Putting up course content materials
You can
„ compose simple content direct in the course site
„ upload document files for students and
„ add external links for reference
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STEP 2 – Managing Course & Staff Information
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Course Information & Syllabus
Staff Profile
STEP 3 - Adopting course tools
Some commonly used course tools,
„ Announcement
„ Discussion Board
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STEP 4 - Enabling students access
Though student data is loaded to the course, instructor still has to MAKE AVAILABLE
the course site for granting real access to students.
A Blackboard Course Site
At the end of the semester
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Make unavailable your course site if
you want to prevent access
immediately
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Instructors remain access to the
course sites for ongoing modification
and development
- Getting Started -
A Blackboard Course Site
Help & Support
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Contact us
• Our website: http://www.cityu.edu.hk/elearn
• Enquiry email – elearn@cityu.edu.hk
• Phone # (852) 3442 6727
- Getting Started -
Thank you!
Enjoy your teaching!