Using Blackboard – Tutorials by Category
This page contains links to screen videos on how to perform various tasks within the Blackboard Learn system. Screen videos linked from this page may require either the Flash Player or that Silverlight be installed. This page also contains links to PDF documents describing various other Blackboard procedures, which require the Adobe Reader to view.
Basic Content
- Getting started with course content
- Add an item and/or a file to a Blackboard content area – Covers the most basic function in constructing a course, adding an item, such as a document, link or file to your Blackboard course site.
- Using the Blackboard text editor – learn how to create/edit content through the text editor.
- Add a tool link to the course menu – link to frequently used tools from the course menu.
- Create a blank page for displaying content on the course menu – Any content you wish to display within your course can be placed on a blank page linked from the course menu.
- Create a blank page - add a page with no heading, which can contain any standard content, to a content area.
- How to Create/Control URL Links in Blackboard 9 – Formerly called “external links” Web Links can be made to any web site external to the Blackboard system, but must be configured to open in a New Window to avoid the system warning.
- How to copy/move items/files/links within/between Blackboard courses – A quick video demonstrating intra/inter-course copying or moving content items. This is not a video about copying entire course contents to a new Blackboard course in preparation for a new semester. There is a separate video for that topic.
- Add textbook information to your Blackboard course – search, add and control textbook information in a content area.
- Understanding and Building Your Course – a variety of other videos from the Blackboard On Demand site may be found on this web page.
Advanced Content
- Using Learning Modules in Blackboard 9 – How to configure and populate a Learning Module–a sequential presentation of teaching materials–in Blackboard 9.
- How to Create Proxy URLs for Journal Database Links – The best way to direct students to journal database articles withing the electronic journal databases the college subscribes to is by creating an external link in Blackboard. For these links to work both on- and off-campus, they must reference a proxy server address. This short video explains how to find that address for the three main journal databases: EBSCO, JSTOR and ProQuest.
- Add an avatar to personalize your course environment – a picture of yourself may help students feel more connected to your course.
- Sending Voice Emails from Instructors to Students. – Demonstrates how to create and configure a link that permits voice email to be sent to all students in a class.
- Sending Voice Emails from Students to Instructors. - Demonstrates how to create a link that students can use to send voice email to instructors.
- How to create a mashup – mashups can incorportate YouTube, Slideshare, Flickr or Wimba voice content in any Bb content area.
- Add your own web content through course files – package and upload a set of files that will be displayed as a web page with links intact.
- Use a Persistent URL (PURL) to link to a Safari Tech Book Online – These videos demonstrate how to construct persistent URLs to published journal articles within the Safari Tech Books Online database the college subscribes to. This is a much more efficient (and legal) method of leading your students to journal articles than copying and uploading them.
- File links to Camtasia produced videos in Blackboard 9.1? After producing a video from your PowerPoint—or any other screen video—this is how to create a file link to it in Blackboard.
- Using SafeAssign
- Using the Wimba Voice Tools – a series of screen videos with related PDF documents which demonstrate how to use the Voice Authoring, Voice Email, Voice Board, Voice Presenter, and Podcast tools within Blackboard.
- Using Blackboard Collaborate eConferencing to hold synchronous web meetings for groups or for online office hours.
- Create multiple rules to release a content item – how to use adaptive release rules to restrict/enable course content based on student performance.
- How to create compressed (zipped) folders and upload them as Package Files to Blackboard 9.1.
- How do I handle the Blackboard copy item problem?
Communication Tools
- Grading a discussion board forum
- Grading a discussion board thread
- Run a report of user activity by forum
- Creating a journal
- Commenting on a journal entry
- Creating a blog
- Creating and editing blog entries
- Commenting on a blog entry
- Creating a wiki
- Editing a wiki page
- Grading a wiki
- Creating announcements
- Creating a course task
- Creating a course contact
- Sending email
- Sending Blackboard messages
- Communicating and Collaborating – a variety of other videos from the Blackboard On Demand site may be found on this web page.
Assessments
- Reading survey submissions
- Exporting and importing a test or survey
- Uploading test questions from Microsoft Excel
- Creating a fill in the blank question
- Creating a short answer question
- Creating a matching question
- Creating a true or false question
- Adding an existing question to a test
- Creating a calculated formula question
- Creating a calculated numeric question
- Creating an essay question
- Creating a fill in multiple blanks question
- Creating a hot spot question
- Creating a jumbled question
- Creating a Likert question
- Creating a multiple answer question
- Creating a multiple choice question
- Creating an ordering question
- Creating a quiz bowl question
- Tagging questions for reuse
- Tour the question finder feature
- Building a pool
- Creating a random block and adding it to a test
- Downloading assignments
- Clean out graded assignment files
- Getting started with building a test
- Getting started with assignments
- Assessing Learners – a variety of other videos from the Blackboard On Demand site may be found on this web page.
Click here to learn more
- Getting started with the grade center
- Customizing the grade center view
- Creating smart views
- Viewing grade details
- Anonymous grading
- Creating grading notes
- Creating a grade center report
- Creating a grading rubric
- Grading assessments question by question
- Viewing and downloading grade history
- Color code the grade center
- Working offline with the grade center
Student Groups
Course Management
- Getting started with your course environment
- How to make your course available to students – Courses are created as “unavailable” by default. You must make them available before students can view them.
- Turn tool availability on or off – give/restrict access to course tools.
- Making tools available to students – add links to frequently used tools to the course menu.
- Archive vs. Export – Explains the difference between both methods for backing up your Blackboard course and when to use one as opposed to the other.
- How to archive a course. To archive is to backup your course, including all grade center data and files.
- How to Export a course. Export backs up course content only, not student work or grades.
- Import a course package
- Select the page where user’s enter your course – You are not restricted to using the new Blackboard 9 Home page as your entry point, but can use any page you wish.
- Add a banner to your course entry point – png or jpg format recommended. Image should not be over 900px wide.
- Add a new content area to the course menu and course – This video demonstrates creating a new Content Area in an empty Blackboard course; Content Areas can then have items uploaded into them.
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