User Management

Modify user | Working with groups | FAQs

Introducing Students to Blackboard

Although many students on campus have used Blackboard, it is important to introduce Blackboard to your students at the beginning of each semester.

Modify User

The Modify User function is used to change a user's role in the course. This feature is used mainly to give access to Teaching Assistants or additional instructors. Instructors must ask the Blackboard Administrator to add the additional users to the site, then they may change the role as desired.

Note: Students who are officially enrolled in the course may not be made a Teaching Assistant in the Blackboard site because this allows them to see the other students's grades and other private information. This is in violation of the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Blackboard allows you to create five different account types or user roles. Each role has different access privileges. The following is a description of the access granted to each user type.

Instructor - The Instructor has complete access to all areas of the course site including the Control Panel and all its associated functions. Please note that you may create as many instructors for your course as needed. We recommend that this only be used when team teaching or sharing course sites with other instructors.

Teaching Assistant - sometimes called Teacher's Assistant - has the same accessibility as an Instructor except the option to modify a user with the role of instructor. This role is best used for Graduate Assistants and Teaching Assistants who may assist you in creating and managing your course. Remember that this access level gives the user access to the gradebook and roster which contains student ID's and other private information. Use Course Builder if possible to give access to Work Study student aides.

Grader - Graders have access to the gradebook section of the Control Panel. They can enter or delete grades, but cannot create or modify assessments or pools. From the "front end" of the course, they can access all the content areas, including the communications sections (email, discussion groups, etc.). Remember that this access level gives the user access to the gradebook and roster which contains student id's and other private information.

Course Builder - Course Builders have access to all Control Panel functions except the Assessment section (gradebook, assessment manager, etc.). From the "front end" of the course, they can access all the content areas, including the communications sections (email, discussion groups, etc.).

Student - Enrolled students have access to all areas in the course that contain content, tests and surveys. The Instructor can choose to allow student access to the following areas: Communication, Gradebook and Student Tools. Button availability of the Communications and Student Tools section is controlled from the Course Options link of Site Management. The individual settings within these sections are controlled from the Communication and Student Tools links, also within the Site Management section.

Working with Groups

Creating, modifying and removing Groups is much the same as working with individual users. From the Control Panel, click on the Manage Group link in the User Management section. Click on the Add Group button, then enter the name of the group and a short description and choose which communication features you want for the group. Then click on the Submit button.

To add users to the group, return to the Manage Group section, and click on the Modify button to the right of the group name. From this area you will be able to add users to the group. You can either add individual users by entering their name in the search field, or choose multiple users by clicking on the Search button with no entry in the field. This will give you a complete roster. Check the boxes next to the users you wish to add, then click the Submit button.

All groups are private. Only group members (and Instructors and Teaching Assistants) can enter that area. You may create as many groups as you want and a student may be a member of more than one group.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I do if a student doesn't know his/her username or password?
The username is the same one for used for access to lab computers. There is a list at O:\Students. The password the first time a student logs in is password. If the student forgets their password, contact Computer Support Services or the Webmaster.

What can I do if a student does not want his/her email listed on the Student Roster?
Blackboard does not list any email addresses in the roster unless a student chooses to do so. To make email addresses visible to the rest of the class, students must go into the Personal Information area from either the Student Tools area of the course, or from the Tools box on the My EITC page and click on Privacy Options. They can then choose what information to share with the rest of the class.