UNSW Blackboard
Template Design and
Implementation Guide
LEARNING & TEACHING @ UNSW
Contents
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Creating and implementing a Blackboard template
Section 1—Template planning
Section 2—Course attributes
Section 3—Course style
Section 4—Course structure
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Attachment A:
Standard process for UNSW Blackboard template course design and implementation
Attachment B:
Standard template implementation process:
Attachment C:
Sample template course
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Please use this guide to learn about the template implementation process and identify your template
requirements. Your responses will be used during consultation to determine the optimum design and
development process for your school or program.
Contact:
Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au)
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW
Creating and implementing a Blackboard template
The completed Blackboard template is an exported Blackboard course design in the format of a zipped
file that can be imported into newly created courses. The template implementation is currently a
manual process.
Here is an overview of the development and implementation process:
Request a template course from
Academic Administration
TELT Administrator
TELTadmin@unsw.edu.au.
Academics /TELT
Administrator with
help from L&T
Educational
Developer
TELT Administrator
Design the template
Implement the template (imports
template into all teaching course
sites)
Academics
Build the teaching courses
Section 1—Template planning
To assist you in determining your template requirements, and provide a guide for implementation,
please consider the following:
Required by?
Timeframe for template development?
Timeframe for template implementation?
Who will apply the template to teaching
courses in your school/program?
How many courses will use this template?
Have they had WebCT Vista presences
before?
Is there a Vista course that might provide a
useful basis for your template design?
Other information:
Contact:
Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au)
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW
Section 2—Course attributes
The Blackboard template provides course design guidelines and ideas for course instructors. Your
answers to the following questions will help us provide general instructions and advice to course
instructors on how to understand their students’ needs, how to customise the template course to suit
their own teaching needs, how to design online learning activities and how to facilitate.
What are typical student cohort sizes for the
courses?
Are courses likely to have several
instructors/facilitators?
What are typical assessment types in the
courses?
Is online assessment frequently used, eg
quizzes, assignments, self-tests?
Will most course instructors use Grade
Centre to mark?
Are courses likely to contain rich media such
as videos, animations etc.
Please add any other information on ‘typical’
courses that may be relevant.
Gather information from course outlines of the kind of courses which will use the template.
Section 3—Course style
The Blackboard interface provides options to customise the course style. Providing a consistent lookand-feel may be important for your school /program. Consider the following:
Will a template banner be required?
Is there a preferred colour scheme for your
school/program?
Other information regarding course style:
Contact:
Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au)
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW
Section 4—Course structure
A Blackboard template contains a basic course structure into which course instructors can upload
course materials, assessments information and related resources. Identifying appropriate structure
will inform the pedagogical design of a template that suits your school/program. The rationale behind
the course structure is explained on the next page.
Please mark desired menu items from the following list for a preliminary template menu.
If your school/ program has an alternative name for the item, please write it down next to the menu
item.
Please note that it is NOT recommended to include links to Content Collection in a template course.
Homepage
Home Page
Course information
Course Info
Getting Started
Activities
Assessments
Resources
Recorded Lectures
Course evaluation & Student feedback (choose one from the following three options)
Course FAQs
Course Feedback
Student Survey
Communication
Announcement
Email
Collaboration
Discussions
Group
Student tools
My Tools
My Grades
More information
My Library
Help
FAQs
Please suggest any additional menu items that you think might be useful in your template.
Contact:
Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au)
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW
Overview of menu content
Homepage
Home Page
The Home Page contains ‘modules’ to help students keep up to date with the course. Links to any
course announcements will be shown in the My Announcements module. New course content and
unread discussion posts will be automatically shown in the What’s New module. The Help module
contains some useful general web links to support students’ online learning. More modules can be
added to the Home Page.
Course information
Course Info
This area is for course instructors to add course outline and other course information. AContacts link
could be added in this area for course instructors to add contact information and an image for the
course teaching staff.
Getting Started
Students may not have had experience in using Blackboard 9 or any online learning applications, so it
is helpful to provide them with an orientation activity. The orientation activity can include use of
tools that will be used in the course (e.g. discussion, quiz, assignment), so that students can become
familiar with them, and ensure that their computers and browsers are configured correctly.
Activities
This area contains instructions and tools that guide the students through what they have to do in the
course. It could be structured as a weekly list, as a set of topics, or simply as a container where all the
course activities can be accessed in one place. This can contain links to content as well as tools – e.g.
discussions, quizzes and assignments.
Assessments
Students are always very interested in how they will be assessed. While some of the assessments may
be articulated within the course activities, information and links to all the course assessment items
can be provided here.
Resources
Useful resources that are additional to the material in the ‘Activities’ area can be added here – e.g.
web links, glossary, media and reference documents.
Recorded lectures
Lecture theatres are now set up to record lectures in Lectopia, and research shows that lecture
recordings are a valuable study tool for students who are not native English speakers, who have
difficulties attending lectures, and for all students for revision and review at assessment time. Lecture
presentations can be included here, too.
Note: Recorded lectures can be a separate menu item or a part of Activities.
Course evaluation & Student feedback (choose one from the following three)
Course FAQs
This area can contain a link to a discussion forum or a set of answers of frequently asked questions in
relation to the course, which will be normally made available to students at the beginning of the
course. The purpose for this section is to clear up common misunderstandings at the beginning and
gather students’ experiences on an ongoing basis.
Contact:
Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au)
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW
Course feedback
The area can contain a survey or a link to a discussion forum. The purpose of the section is
tocontinuingly gather evidence of students’ experiences in the course.
Student Survey
The area can contain a survey, which will be normally released to students around mid term or the
end of the term. The purpose of the sections is to evaluate students’ learning experiences.
Communication
Announcement
This tool can provide students with the latest news about the course. An initial course announcement
can include a visual or audio welcome message from the course instructor, which will help to create
an engaging online learning experience for students.
Note: whether the Announcement can be a separate menu item depends on the course instructor
prefers students to access announcement from the menu or the module on the homepage.
Email
This tool allows course instructors to email students. The emails go to their regular UNSW email
address (and allow them to respond to email address designated by the course instructor).
Collaboration
Discussions
The Discussion Board is a communication tool that has a variety of applications which can enhance
the learning experience of students and the teaching experience of instructors. Discussions related to
course topics and activities can be added here (as well as linked within the Activities area).
A Help forum is set up in the template course. Course instructors (and students) can answer
questions about the course – this can really save a lot of personal email.
Groups
Groups can be set up to manage team work. Each group can have its own discussion, blog and other
private collaboration tools.
Student tools
My tools
The link provides students accesses to multiple tools in the course. The course instructor can choose
to hide or show certain tools from students.
My Grades
Students can view any grades and feedback from the course instructors, if available.
Note: My Grades link can be included in the My Tools section, however, it presents a less intuitive
navigation if students need to view their grades via Blackboard.
More information
My Library
Links directly to UNSW Library. Talk to the Library about setting up a link for courses in your
school/program.
Help
The Help forum is linked here, other course or school specific support resources can be added too.
FAQs
Links to different forums, external support resources and user FAQ sheets can be included in this
area.
Contact:
Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au)
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW
Attachment A:
Standard process and contacts for UNSW Blackboard template course
design and implementation
Step one
Request a template course site
Academic Administration Services
TELTadmin@unsw.edu.au.
Step two
Design the template course
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW Template Development Team will work with Faculty staff
(TELT administrators and/or academic staff) to optimise your template design(s).
Learning &Teaching @UNSW Template Development Team
Ms Xinni Du (xinni.du@unsw.edu.au), Educational Designer
(Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri)
Ms Ruth Laxton (r.laxton@unsw.edu.au), Project Manager and FEI Educational Designer
(Mon, Wed, Thur)
Ms Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au), E-learning Designer and Academic Developer
(Mon, Tue, Wed)
Step Three
Implement the template course (see Attachment C)
For teaching courses enquiry, please first contact
Academic Administration Services
TELTadmin@unsw.edu.au
For problems/issues in the process of template implementation, please first contact
Learning & Teaching @UNSW – Template Development Team (see above)
General support
Technical support
Internal Ext: 51333
External: (02) 9385-1333
International: +61 2 9385 1333
Email: itservicecentre@unsw.ed.au
UNSW Blackboard Staff Support
http://support.telt.unsw.edu.au/blackboard/content/staff/index.cfm?ss=0
Step four
Support academics to build their courses using a template
When implementing a template, guidelines for instructors should be provided. These can be
provided online, or built into the template in a hidden ‘teacher information’ area. If possible a
face-to-face session to explain the template structure and answer questions will help to ensure
effective use of the template. L&T Template Development Team can assist with these sessions.
Contact:
Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au)
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW
Attachment B:
Standard template implementation process:
Please note that actual template implementation instructions may vary due to the design of specific
template. Please contact Learning and Teaching for detailed implementation instructions and advice.
To export a template course:
1. Login to UNSW Blackboard site (http://lms-blackboard.telt.unsw.edu.au) and enter the template
course
2. Go to Control Panel, and click Packages and Utilities
3. Click Export/archive course
4. Click Export on the Export/archive course page
5. In Section 3, select all course items to ensure that every part of the template course is exported
6. Click Submit
The exporting process will take from a few seconds to a couple of minutes or even longer. A
system email will be sent to the user’s nominated email account when the process has been
completed. Once the course has been successfully exported, a link will appear on the
Export/Archive Course page (refresh the course in your browser to see if the link is there)
7. Click the link on the ‘Export/archive course’ page to download the zip file
Safari users need to click on the link while holding ‘Ctrl’ and choose ‘download linked file as…’
8. Save the zip file on local computer and distribute
To implement a template course:
1. Obtain the zipped template course
2. Login to UNSW Blackboard site (http://lms-blackboard.telt.unsw.edu.au) and enter the teaching
course
3. Delete any default menu items that you don’t want to use, but leave ‘Course info’.
4. Go to Control Panel, and click Packages and Utilities
5. Click Import Package / View Logs
6. Click Import Package button on the Import Package / View Logs page
7. On the Import Package page, browse and select the zipped template course under Section 2
8. In Section 4, select all course items to ensure that every part of the template course is imported
9. Click Submit
The importing process will take from a few seconds to a couple of minutes or even longer. A
system email will be sent to the user’s nominated email account when the process has been
completed. Once the course has been imported, a link of importing log will appear on the
‘Import Package / View logs’ page (refresh the course in your browser to see if the link is there)
10. If the import is complete, but you don’t see the new course menu, click the menu refresh
button on the top right of the menu (circular arrows icon).
11. Delete or move the first menu item ‘Course info’ after the template course has been imported.
Contact:
Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au)
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW
Attachment C:
Sample template course
icon means this menu item (content area) is empty and unavailable for students, if course
instructors decide not to put files in the section.
icon means this menu item (tool link) is unavailable for students, if course instructors choose not to
use this tool in the course.
Contact:
Belinda Allen (belinda@unsw.edu.au)
Learning & Teaching @ UNSW