Course Tools

Step-by-Step Guides

The guides listed below provide Step-by-Step instructions on each specific function. Also included in the guides is a short explanation of the feature and a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's).

The more interactivity and communication you have with your students, the better the learning process will be for them and you. Blackboard provides several tools that help you communicate and interact with students. These features are all automated and simple to use. The level of complexity and interaction is up to you.

Announcements

The Announcements area is a great place to contact your students. This is the first page the students see when they enter a Blackboard course so it is a natural place to put time sensitive information. The Announcement section should not be used for lengthy documents or course content, but instead as a place to notify students of changes to the course schedule, assignment due dates, reminders of guest speakers, etc.

The default time for announcements to show on the main page is one week; after that time announcements are stored in "folders" accessible from the main page. If you want a particular announcement to appear at all times, be sure to check the Always show this Announcement option when you are creating the announcement. Students can view the all the announcements by selecting the View All tab at any time during the course.

Email

Do not use the Send Email link to send email from inside Blackboard. Email to addresses that end with @eitc.edu will not get delivered. The best way to send email to students is to send it with Groupwise. You may want to make a group in the Groupwise address book for each class.

Blackboard has a built-in email function that allows both Instructors and students to email individual course members, or the entire course roster. Students, Instructors and Teaching Assistants are automatically added to the mailing list when they enroll in the course. Instructors have overall control of this feature and can limit student access to emailing Instructors or Teaching Assistants only. Instructors control this feature in the communication area of Site Management. Attachments can be sent when emailing via Blackboard, and the Digital Dropbox feature also allows Instructors and students to electronically share documents.

Students and Instructors may change their email directly in the Blackboard system from the Personal Information link on the My EITC page.

Discussion Boards

Another communication tool in Blackboard is the Discussion Board. This feature is also called a threaded discussion or discussion forum. In the Discussion Board user conversations are logged and organized. Conversations are grouped into forums that contain threads and all related replies. Attachments can be added to individual responses and there is a search function within each specific forum.

The Discussion Board can be used in a number of ways to enrich your Blackboard course. Forums are started by the Instructor and can cover any topic. Suggested ways to use the Discussion Board are:

Have students post an introductory message about themselves
Have comment areas on specific reading assignments or projects
Create an area where the students can ask and answer questions of each other
Set up an "Office Hours" forum for questions on course requirements

Assignments

The Add Assignments feature replaces the Digital DropBox as the place where students send documents to their Instructor. Assignments can be added into any content area. When Instructors create an assignment, an entry is automatically added to the online gradebook. When students upload their documents an exclamation point is placed in the appropriate cell in the gradebook. Instructors access the document by clicking on the exclamation point and then the View button next to the entry in the gradebook. Grades or comments can then be added for review by the student.

Virtual Classroom

Each course includes a synchronous chat room for student and group communications. The Virtual Classroom can be used to hold "live" classroom discussions, Teaching Assistant sessions, and office hour type question/answer forums. You can even have guest speakers and subject matter experts talk with the class in the Virtual Classroom.

When developing an activity that requires a Virtual Classroom, consider the following:

The Virtual Classroom is a Java application and may initially take a few minutes to load into a browser window. Before developing assignments that require the Virtual Classroom, be sure that all students have Java enabled browsers.
Due to the synchronous nature of the Virtual Classroom, multiple users must participate at the same time. Be sure to notify students about a scheduled Virtual Classroom session to ensure attendance.
Sometimes a Virtual Classroom session can be overwhelming if there are too many users. Consider grouping students into several small groups to keep the conversation manageable.

Lightweight Chat

The basic chat feature of Blackboard has been renamed "Lightweight Chat"

Student Pages

The Student Pages are a great way for you to get to know your students, and for students to get to know each other. This is especially important for distance courses where you do not meet with the students face to face. Having students establish individual pages with a picture and some personal information can help to facilitate a sense of community in online classes.

Student pages are created by default each time a student enrolls in a Blackboard course. These are blank until the individual students enter information into the pages. Only enrolled users can view the student pages for that course. Student pages are accessible by choosing to view the roster, then clicking on each student's name. Only enrolled students can view student pages within each course site.

Group Pages

Blackboard has the ability to organize students into smaller study groups. The group function is very useful when students are working in teams and where asynchronous collaboration is needed. Groups provide private areas that students and Teaching Assistants can utilize for discussions, chats, file sharing, and quick email access. Students access the groups from the Communications area of the course. Instructors set up the groups in the User Management section of the Control Panel.

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