Using Blackboard features
The information below contains step-by-step instructions on how to use these Blackboard features.
| Assignment feature |PDF||Video| | Chat feature |PDF| |
| Course Links |PDF| | Discussion Boards |PDF| |
| Group feature |PDF| | HTML |PDF| |
| Learning Unit feature |PDF| | Message feature |PDF| |
| Syllabus feature |PDF| | Export, Archive, Import Copy course |PDF| |
| Forwarding Email |PDF| | Changing your Course Menu |PDF| |
| Basic Gradebook |PDF| | Weighting Grades in Gradebook |PDF| |
| Tests, Surveys, and Question Pools |PDF| | Adding An Item/Folder |PDF| |Video| |
| Manage Course Menu |PDF| |Video| | Adaptive Release |PDF| |Video| |
| Performance Dashboard |PDF| |Video| | Respondus for Blackboard Tests |
| StudyMate | Wimba Create |
PowerPoint - narration and iSpring (ppt to flash converter)
Library - course reserves and linking full text in Blackboard
How Do I?
How do I make my class available? |Video|
How do I archive and export my course?
How do I import my exported course into my new course?
Cleaning up your course after import
How do I navigate Blackboard? How do I control the Tools menu on the Main page? |Video|
How do I enroll a student in my Blackboard course?
How do I remove (drop) a student from my Blackboard course?
How do I remove courses that I am no longer teaching from my Blackboard area?
How do I bring a course back to Blackboard after I have removed it from my course list?
I am having problems opening student documents.
Save a document using Microsoft Office Word 2007 to be compatible with Microsoft Office Word 97-2003
My student has submitted a file, but I cannot see the file or view the files contents.
How can I upload more than one file at a time in Blackboard?
How can I add a RSS feed in my Blackboard class?
What add-on tools are in use at UTC Online? What are add-ons?
How do I clear the web browsing cache on my computer?
PowerPoint
Narrated PowerPoint
iSpring Free 3.2 - free download to convert your PowerPoint files to Flash. iSpring creates a compressed Flash movie from your PowerPoint and can include any embedded narration and timings you have set. The iSpring movie has a Flash based player which gives the student control of the presentation. iSpring is a Windows only program. You can find iSpring Pro 3.2 on 2 computers in the Walker Teaching Resource Center (Hunter 407).
Library
How do I navigate Blackboard?
UTC Online (Blackboard) has several tabs across the top of the page. These tabs include: Main, Courses, Organizations, and How Do I? Clicking on any of these tabs will open that area in the browser frame.
From the Main tab, you can access the tools menu, courses, and content that you select from outside resources. The Tools menu is located on the left side of this page. Students have the ability to view grades and send email pertaining to their Blackboard courses through this menu. If you do not wish for your student to have access to grade and email in your course, you must make these tools unavailable.
- Go to the Control Panel in your course
- Click Manage Course Menu
- Click Modify next Communication (to disengage send email) or Tools (to disengage view grades)
- Check Unavailable next to Send Email or My Grades
The Courses tab lists courses specific to you and the UTC course catalog. Click on the course name to go to the course web site.
Course web sites contains content areas where you can post information for your students. The buttons for each course can be altered by you, the individual instructor, so they may be different in different courses.
The Organization tab displays other groups you might participate in virtually.
The How Do I? tab provides specific information about Blackboard features, Help web sites and Faculty Forms.
Click here to view a video on how to navigate Blackboard
How do I make my class available?
Your students will NOT be able to see your class when they log into Blackboard unless you have made it available. To make a class available, go to the Control Panel > Settings > Course Availability > Choose yes > Click Submit.
Click here to view a video on how to make your class available
How do I enroll a student in my Blackboard course?
If you want a student enrolled, from the Control Panel, select Enroll User in the appropriate course. In the box, type in the student's last name or UTC ID (select username) and press the search button. Place a check mark next to the student's name in the Add column and click Submit.
Remember that Blackboard is not the official roll for the university. The official roll can be acquired through WebASIS.
How do I remove (drop) a student from my Blackboard course?
If you want the student removed and you do not need to keep any record of what they have done in your class, from the Control Panel, select Remove Users from the appropriate course. In the box, type in the student's last name and press the search button. Place a check mark next to the student's name in the Remove column and also type the word "Yes" in the box provided (no quotations marks, Y is capitalized). Click Submit.
Remember that Blackboard is not the official roll for the university. The official roll can be acquired through WebASIS. Also, Blackboard will never drop a student. The instructor is responsible for removing students.
How do I remove courses that I am no longer teaching from my Blackboard area?
Click here to find the forms required to remove a course from the previous semester.
Another option is to modify your course list in Blackboard. To do this, log in to Blackboard. Click on the pencil in the top, right corner of the My Courses window. Uncheck any boxes for that class in Section 1 - Modify Courses List, and click Submit.
How do I bring a course back to Blackboard after I have removed it from my course list?
If you are trying to bring a course back after you have removed it from your course list, log into Blackboard. Click on the pencil in the top, right corner of the My Courses window. Check any boxes for that class in Section 1 - Modify Courses List, and click Submit.
I am having problems opening student documents.
You could be having problems because they are using Microsoft Office 2007. A saved file using Microsoft Office 2007 will have an "x" as part of the file extension. For example, a Word document extension would be .docx. Download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack if you are not using Microsoft Office 2007 so you can open and save these types of files.
Compatibility Pack for Windows (Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Work, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats)
Compatibility Pack for Mac (Microsoft Open Office XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.2)
How can I save a document using Microsoft Office Word 2007 to be compatible with Microsoft Office Word 97-2003?
Click here for more information.
My student has submitted a file, but I cannot see the file or view the files contents.
Blackboard allows files with illegal characters in the filename to be submitted to the instructor; however, the instructor often cannot access such files. The fix in this case is for the student to rename the file without the illegal character(s) and resubmit it. Allowed characters in filenames are A-Z, a-z, 1-9, a "-" (dash), and an "_" (underscore) Do not use filenames containing the #, %, or & characters; it is highly recommended that filenames with spaces, $, @, etc., not be submitted.
How do I archive and export my course?
To Archive a Course
- From the Control Panel, select Archive Course
- Click Archive from the action bar of the Export/Archive Manager and click submit
- Once the instructor receives a confirmation email, they can return to the Export/Archive Manager page and download the course package. Do not modify the course in any way until you first receive the confirmation email.
- This will create a Zip file that you should store either on a CD, server, or your hard drive. Files are not saved to the Blackboard Learning System. The course is not archived until you save the file.
- Do not unzip the archived package or remove items from the package.
- Archiving a course does not remove it from the Blackboard system.
To Export a Course
- From the Control Panel, select Export Course
- Click Export from the action bar of the Export/Archive Manager and click submit
- Select the areas you'd like to export and submit
- Once the instructor receives a confirmation email, they can return to the Export/Archive Manager page and download the course package. Do not modify the course in any way until you first receive the confirmation email.
- This will create a Zip file that you should store either on a CD, server, or your hard drive. Files are not saved to the Blackboard Learning System. The course is not exported until you save the file.
- Do not unzip the exported package or remove items from the package.
- Exporting a course does not remove it from the Blackboard system.
How do I import my exported course into my new course?
- Click on Import Package from the Control Panel
- Browse to your Zip exported file and then select the course materials to include in the import process. Complete the Import Package page and click Submit
- Once you receive a confirmation email, the process is complete; do not modify the course in any way until you first receive the confirmation email
- The system will ONLY import files exported from Blackboard
- After import, you may need to clean up the menu (Manage Course Menu)
Cleaning up your course after importing
- If you have imported discussion boards, the posting will show as being authored by anonymous. You will have to repost if you want them to display that you are the author.
- Announcements will show posted by Blackboard Administrator instead of instructor. The instructor can repost the announcement, however, if an email is sent it will look like it is from the Blackboard Administrator even after the instructor reposts an announcement.
- You may end up with duplicated buttons, assignments, tests or gradebook items. You will need to remove (not make unavailable) those unnecessary and duplicated items,
How can I upload more than one file at a time in Blackboard?
- Prior to the upload, you must create a .zip file with all the documents you wish to upload
- Go to the Control Panel in your course
- Select the content area where you want to upload the files
- Click the down arrow in the Select area on the right side of the page and choose Document Package. Click Go
- Complete the Document Package page, browse to your .zip file and click submit.
How can I upload multiple questions of a test or survey to Blackboard?
What is Respondus?
Respondus is a Windows only program that allows faculty to upload multiple questions at once to Blackboard. If you already have developed questions and tests, this is a way to get them uploaded into Blackboard.
The install information located in the Blackboard class called UTC Online Blackboard Information. There is a button on the left hand side called Respondus. You will find the download there. All faculty should be enrolled in this course as students. If you are not enrolled, contact the Walker Teaching Resource Center at 425.4188. After you have installed the Respondus program, you may need this Quick Guide to Respondus |PDF|.
The latest update is Respondus 3.5b Update Campus. It can be found in the UTC Online Blackboard Information class described above.
There is also training available on how to use Respondus through the Walker Teaching Resource Center. http://www.utc.edu/TRC/Schedule/
What is StudyMate and how can I use it for review activities in my course?
StudyMate is a Windows only program used to create activities and games which can be uploaded into a Blackboard course.
The install information located in the Blackboard class called UTC Online Blackboard Information. There is a button on the left hand side called Respondus. You will find the download there. All faculty should be enrolled in this course as students. If you are not enrolled, contact the Walker Teaching Resource Center at 425.4188. After you have installed the StudyMate program, you may need the StudyMate Quick Start Guide |PDF|. Also, there are samples of StudyMate activities located on the install web page.
Contact the Walker Teaching Resource Center (x4188) for training on Studymate.
How can I add a RSS feed in my Blackboard class?
As an instructor, you can add a RSS news feed (what is RSS?) to your class content in Blackboard by following these steps:
1. Locate the RSS feed page. If a website contains a RSS feed, most browsers use one of the following symbols:
Click on the icon to find the address (URL) of the RSS feed. Copy the address feed.
2. Go to Feed2JS and paste the URL address of the RSS feed into the URL box (NOTE: use the "http://" prefix instead of "feed://" for the URL address). You can configure how you want the feed to look with the following options on that page (e.g., number of items to display, item descriptions, etc.) and then clicking on the "Preview Feed" button.
3. When you have configured the feed how you want it to display, click on the "Generate JavaScript" button. The Feed2JS site will generate code for you to copy and paste on your Blackboard page. Copy the code.
4. Inside Blackboard, go to any Content area and click on the "Add Item" button. Enter a title for the RSS feed you will display.
5. Next, click on the <> Toggle HTML Source Mode button within the Text Box Editor panel...
...and paste the code. If you have turned the Visual Text Box Editor off (Main tab > Tools: Personal Information > Set Visual Text Box Editor Options > Available/Unavailable), then make sure you click on the HTML option (instead of Smart Text). Then click on the "Submit" button at the bottom right of the page and view how your RSS feed displays.
What add-on tools are in use at UTC Online? What are add-ons?
Add-on tools extend the functionality of Blackboard at UTC Online. Visit our reference page about available add-ons in use at UTC Online.
Wimba Create
Wimba Create is a collaborative tool that can be used to convert Microsoft Word documents into an easy to read format for your Blackboard courses. This format is similar to a web page with a table of contents that makes it easy to navigate through your items or learning units. Demos can be viewed on Wimba's web site.
This collaborative software can be found on 5 computers in the Walker Teaching Resource Center which is open from 8am to 5pm, Monday - Friday.
Reference Guide for Version 2.4
How do I clear the web browsing cache on my computer?
If you are having problems viewing the login page for Blackboard, try clearing the web browsing cache on your computer. Step-by-step directions can be found on Google support pages. You will need to know which web browser you are using (i.e., Internet Explorer, Firefox).
