Beginning steps for setting up your MT Program
Blackboard Course
Enroll your students
(Students are NOT automatically enrolled for MT program courses)
1. Click Control Panel (left navigation menu)
2. Click Enroll User (top right user management menu)
3. In the search box, search for the LAST NAME of your student.
(refer to your class list for student names and IDs.)
4. Click Search
All students with that last name will appear. !Be sure to cross reference with the
students UofC ID number to ensure you have the correct student!
5. Click the checkbox next to the correct students name
6. Click Submit (bottom of page)
7. Repeat steps 1-5 for each student.
* a list of all students who you have enrolled can be seen by
clicking…
Control Panel: List/Modify users
then click List All (1), then click List All (2) again
1
2
*users can be removed by clicking Control Panel: Remove users from course.
Turning ‘ON’ the course. (IMPORTANT!)
1. Click Control Panel: Settings
2. Choose Course Availability
3. Click Make Course Available
*students will not see the course until you make it ‘available’.
Creating Discussion Board Forums
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Click Discussion Board (left menu)
Click the +Forum button (top left corner of main window)
Choose a name for the forum.
Create a description for the forum (optional)
Read section 2 closely. Change any options if they apply to
you. Default selections are usually correct.
6. Click Submit
*by default ALL discussion board forums are available to ALL users (see below for
method to create Private Discussion areas).
Creating Private Discussion areas. (2 METHODS)
METHOD 1. Making a Discussion Board Forum Private by Blocking users
1. Create a discussion board (probably named Student Name Private Discussion, or
something similar) (see above)
2. Click on Discussion Board (left menu), list of all discussion boards
will appear.
3. Click Manage (located to the right of the discussion board title)
4. Under forum role… BLOCK all students BUT the ones you wish to
have access to this group.
5. Click OK.
CAUTION: Adding users to course later in the semester will require
you to BLOCK that user from discussion forums!!
METHOD 2. Creating Groups
1. Click Control Panel
2. Click ‘Group Director’
3. Click ‘with Default
Group Properties’ to set
the tools available for
each newly created group
(step 6.)
4. Click the checkboxes to determine which tools will be available to each newly
created group. (Default is for ALL tools to be available)
5. Ensure ‘Available’ is ‘ON’.
6. Click Add Group (top left)
7. Choose a name for the Group.
8. Create ALL required Groups (Repeat Steps 6-7)
9. Scroll down the page to view all the groups you have created.
10. Drag the students names (left) to the appropriate groups (center). Place all
students (and yourself) in their respective groups.
11. Click Submit. (bottom of page)
Students access their group discussion board by clicking
Communication: Group Pages
They will only have access to the groups you allocated them to and their associated
discussion boards.
Please READ PROS/CONS before choosing a method.
Pros/Cons of Private Discussion area methods
Private discussion board / blocking method.
Pros
Cons
 Easier for instructor to view see where
 Longer time to setup.
new unread messages have been posted  New students added later in the
semester will have access to ALL
 Easier for student to access, since it is
in same location as public discussions.
discussion boards, they must be
BLOCKED immediately upon
enrolling them *VERY IMPORTANT
Group method
Pros
 New users do not have access to
anything they shouldn’t
 Can give them additional private tools;
File Exchange, Virtual Classroom,
Group Email
Cons
 Additional location for students to find
 Instructor has to enter each group to
find new content.
Advanced Features
There are MANY other features available within Blackboard. For a more thorough User
Manual, please consult…
http://tlc.ucalgary.ca/documents/Bb_Essentials.pdf
or perhaps attend one of the many UofC Teaching and Learning Centre’s workshops on
various Blackboard topics…
http://tlc.ucalgary.ca/workshops
Resources for Students
Where do I log in?
http://blackboard.ucalgary.ca
(a link is also available after logging into the myuc portal)
How do I log in?
Log in using your eID and password, or your UCIT user name and password.
http://elearn.ucalgary.ca/elearn/blackboard/help
I forgot my username or password
http://www.ucalgary.ca/it/forgot
FAQ’s, Online Tutorials and Help Manual
http://elearn.ucalgary.ca/elearn/blackboard/students