Watch this video to get acquainted with the new course design in Blackboard 9, then browse through the topics below to access step-by-step instructions on using essential features in Blackboard 9.

 

Each of the following numbered links will direct you to a written tutorial on the subject that features Loyola Blackboard screenshots. If a relevant video tutorial on the subject has been produced by Blackboard, you will find a link for it beneath the description.

Your students can find answers to their questions about the new Blackboard by enrolling in the "Student Orientation to Blackboard 9" course. Students should visit Student Orientation to Blackboard 9 for instructions on how to enroll.

Setting up your Course

1. Edit Mode - Make sure that Edit Mode is ON to view the instructor controls.
        - Blackboard Video
    
2. Course Menu - Review and make changes to your Course Menu.
   
   
3. Your Course Home Page - Learn about the start page that the instructor and students see when accessing a course.
   
   
4. Make your course available - In order for students to see your course, you must manually make the course available at the beginning of each semester.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
5. Add a Course Link - Link from any item in your course to any other item in your course for easier student access.
   
   
6. Add a Course Banner - Add a banner to customize your Home Page.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
7. Create a Faculty Profile - Add contact information and office hours to your course. 
   
   
8. Create an Avatar - Add a digital image of yourself to customize your course environment.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
9. Drag and Drop to reorder items in your course. 
   

 Adding Content

1. Upload your syllabus as an attachment within Blackboard.
   
   
2. Post files to any Content Area within your Blackboard course.
   
   
3. Add an External Link to give your students quick access to online resources. 
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
4. Create folders to organize your course content.
   
   
5. Narrate in Powerpoint - Narrate a lecture in Microsoft Powerpoint and compress it in Articulate for upload to Blackboard.
   
   
6. Narrate Powerpoint in Articulate to create a smaller, compressed presentation. 
        - Modify Narration in Articulate
   
   
7. Narrate Powerpoint in Camtasia - A benefit of using Camtasia is that you can create mp4 videos that students can download and play in a media player or view on a mobile device.
   
   
8. Create a Downloadable Narrated Powerpoint Lecture so your students can download your lecture in a compressed format or listen online.
   
   
9. Upload multiple files and folders into your course at the same time. 
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
10. Record a presentation with Wimba Classroom - Record Powerpoint slides and audio of your lecture.
    
    
11. Paste from Word - Retain formatting when you copy and paste into Blackboard from an MS Word document.
    
    
12. Creating a Podcast with Wimba - Record an audio feed that students can subscribe to through iTunes or via RSS feed.
    
    
13. Document Package - Upload and organize multiple documents to Blackboard simultaneously.
    
    
14. Adaptive Release (Blackboard Video) - Allows the instructor to control when, and to which students or groups, course content is available.

 

Communication and Collaboration

1. Post an Announcement to provide timely information for your students about class activities.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
2. Send an email to an individual student, a select group of students, or your entire class from Blackboard.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
3. Create Student Groups so students can collaborate online on class projects.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
4. Adobe Connect Meetings - Use Adobe Connect to host online and interactive meetings, lectures, and webinars. 
   
   
5. Create a Wiki to make a collaborative space within a course.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
6. Create a Journal to provide personal writing space for students.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
7. Create a Blog for your students to record opinions, reflections, and observations.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
8. Blackboard Messaging - Allows you to communicate privately and securely with students and instructors in your course.

Assessments

1. Assignment Tool - Collect and grade student assignments using the Assignment Tool in Blackboard. Note that the Assignment Tool replaces the Digital Drop Box.
        - Blackboard Video (Downloading Assignment Submissions)
   
   
2. Turnitin Assignment - Use Turnitin as a plagiarism prevention tool.
   
   
3. Rubrics - Create a tool in the Grade Center that lists the evaluation criteria for an assignment you have posted in Blackboard.  
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
4. Creating a Test - Learn how to create and administer a test through Blackboard.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
5. Modifying Test Instructions - Modify test instructions and question content within the content area where the test is deployed.
   
   
6. Creating a Survey - Created in the same way as tests, surveys are anonymous, ungraded questionnaires that can be created in Blackboard.
        - Blackboard Video (Reviewing Survey Results)
   
   
7. Pool Manager - Blackboard also allows you to create and store questions that you can use in multiple tests, surveys, and courses.
        - Blackboard Video
        - Blackboard Video (Upload Questions from Excel)
        - Blackboard Videos (Authoring Various Types of Questions)

Backing up and Copying Course Materials

1. Export/Import Course - Make a backup of your course content and import the content into your new course.
        - Blackboard Video (Export)
        - Blackboard Video (Import)
   
   
2. Course Copy - Copy selected materials from one course directly into another; however, if you are copying all of your course content, Export/Import is recommended.
   
   
3. Copy or move course items or folders to another location in the current course, or to another course.
   
   
4. Copying an Articulate File - from one Blackboard course into another.
   
   
5. Exporting Tests from one Blackboard course into another. 
   

Discussion Board

1. Creating a Forum  - The discussion board is broken down into forums; each forum represents a particular broad subject of discussion, week of class, or group of users. Forums are further broken down into threads.
        - Blackboard Video
    
2. Creating a Thread  - Each thread is a collection of posted messages constituting a conversation about a more particular subject.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
3. Grading a Forum or Thread  - Grade a student for his/her performance in the entire forum or threads within the forum.
        - Blackboard Video (Grading a Forum)
        - Blackboard Video (Grading a Thread)
   
   
4. Reply to an Existing Thread - Reply to threads within a discussion forum.
        - Blackboard Video
    

 Reporting and Course Utilities

1. Generating Course Reports - Track activity in Content Areas, Discussion Forums and Groups. 
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
2. Enabling Statistics Tracking - Collect student usage data on a single item in a Content Area.
        - Blackboard Video

Grade Center

The Blackboard Grade Center allows you to manually or automatically (via Blackboard Assignments, Tests, Graded Discussion Forums, Blogs, Wikis, or Journals) record student grades for course work. Grades posted in the Grade Center are immediately accessible to students through My Grades in the Tools section of your course or from the student's Blackboard login tab; each student can only see his or her own grades.

The Grade Center provides options for weighting grades, totaling grades, and dropping the lowest score in a series of items, averaging items, or displaying the minimum or maximum grade in a series of Grade Center columns.. Exporting the Grade Center to Excel allows for more extensive grading calculations, e.g, item analysis.

The Blackboard Grade Center does not take the place of, nor does it interface with, LOCUS, Loyola’s official grade entry system. Even if you maintain a Blackboard Grade Center, you must still submit student grades to the university through LOCUS.

1. Backing Up Your Course Grades - Export your grades from the Blackboard Grade Center into an Excel file; import your grades from an Excel spreadsheet into Blackboard.
        - Blackboard Video
   
   
2. Unhiding a Grade Center Column - Reveal a column that was previously hidden in the Grade Center.
        - Blackboard Video (Customizing Grade Center)
   
   
3. Hiding a Grade Center Column - Temporarily hide a column to simplify your view of your Grade Center.
   
   
4. Create a Grade Center Item - Add a new column to your Grade Center to keep track of homework, tests, papers, etc.
   
   
5. Manually Enter Scores in the Grade Center - Enter grades for items that are not automatically scored in Blackboard.
   
   
6. External Grade Settings - Resetting the Total column to be the External Grade column.
   
   
7. Edit a Grade Center Item - Change a Grade Center column's display, properties, inclusion/exclusion in calculations, etc.
   
   
8. Creating and Assigning Categories - Organize your Grade Center by assigning items different categories, e.g. Assignments, Tests, Homework.
   
   
9. Dropping the Lowest Score (in a Non-Weighted Grading Scheme) - Set up your Grade Center to automatically drop a student's lowest score and calculate a final grade in a non-weighted grading scheme.
   
   
10. Dropping the Lowest Score (in a Weighted Grading Scheme) - Set up your Grade Center to drop a student's lowest score and calculate a final grade in a weighted grading scheme.
    
    
11. Choosing the Score Recorded in the Grade Center for Tests with Multiple Attempts - When you allow multiple attempts for an assignment or test, you must tell the Grade Center which attempt you want to record.