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» Log In to Blackboard
» Read about Blackboard use at UVM
» Read about important dates in the Blackboard cycle
If a course teaching assistant (TA) has authorization to enter grades into Banner and has been associated with the course on the course building form, then s/he will automatically have instructor access to the Blackboard course. For other TA requests, please follow instructions here.
Instructors can allow “guest access” to their courses. Guest access allows viewing of content only, does not reveal the names of registered students and does not allow the guest to use any of the internal Blackboard communication tools (email, discussion board, messages) or tools (tests, wikis, blogs). See directions for guest access.
Every course with a unique CRN will have a course space created automatically. Instructors who teach multiple section courses, and who want a single course space, will need to email the request to blackboard@uvm.edu. The request should include the CRNs and course name.
If you have already started to add course materials to one or both of the course spaces that would like to have combined, make sure you export a course copy of the course before making your request. (See directions for exporting your course content here.)
The course ID of the combined course site will include all the CRNs of the combined sections. This combined, course site will be blank. If you have an export file from a single section course space, you will now need to import that file into the new combined section course. This is done in the Control Panel. Choose "Import Package." Once your content is added, availability to students will need to be "turned on" (directions here).
Instructors must make the course available to students before they can access it. See directions.
If your course list is cluttered with older courses that you no longer need regular access to, you can easily hide them from your list. See directions here.
If you do not see a Bb space for a course you are teaching, check with your department's administrative support person to make sure you're listed as an instructor on the "course building" form that was submitted to the Registrar's office.
Blackboard receives all of its information about courses from Banner. If a course is cancelled in Banner, it becomes "disabled" in Bb and not visible to instructors. The same is true for courses that are cross-listed after the original submission to Banner. The original course will become "disabled" and and a new, empty, cross-listed space will be created. Please note: disabled courses and their contents are NOT deleted from the server and can be enabled upon request to the Bb Systems Administrator. Please email the course CRN to blackboard@uvm.edu and request a course export file. This export file can be imported into the new course space.
Before you make any major changes to the grade center, we recommend that you download a .csv file to your hard drive. That way if any mistakes are made during grading a major activity, previous grade activity is saved. (See directions)
This tutorial covers adding content to your Bb course, creating announcements, and the pros and cons of different content types.
All courses that are listed in Banner for the current semester will have a Bb course space created automatically. Whoever is listed in Banner as the instructor of record will automatically have instructor access to that Bb course space.
Cross-listed sections are automatically combined into one course space. However, lab sections (with unique CRNs) will have individual course spaces created. (See "Combining Multiple Sections," below.)
Go to http://bb.uvm.edu, and log in using your UVM NetID and password (same as webmail).
Would you like to include library materials into your Blackboard course space? You can work with a librarian to create customized course materials or add links to existing materials and services. Go here to learn more.
The Bb blog tool (called "Journal LX") provides options to set up private and group blogs/journals, or a blog for the whole class. Some instructors use individual blogs for students to submit multiple drafts of a writing assignment with an easy way for the instructor to post comments or for peer review.
See the Users Guide for the Journal LX tool provided by the Learning Objects group.
A few of our most common pointers for using the Blackboard testing tool successfully. Read here.
The Bb wiki is a popular way to allow students create project webpages within your course, and to write, and work, collaboratively with others. Learn more.
At the end of every semester, you will need to complete the following tasks:
"Exporting" is how you make a copy of your course. This is critical, not only for use in future course sites, but for maintaining your own records. An export file is a ".zip" file.
IMPORTANT: Please note that for each semester new, BLANK, Bb spaces will be created for each course listed in Banner. However, you do not have to recreate your Bb course from scratch; you can upload that zip file (from the export process of the previous semester) to your new course space to bring in your content, tests, and most settings.
Follow these instructions in the Bb support center knowledge base. Once you have created the export package file, download it and store it in a safe place, such as burning it to a CD (or DVD) or saving it to your zoo space.
Note that this file cannot be opened and accessed as a normal zip file. To view its content, you must import it into a Blackboard course space.
If you used the Grade Center, you'll want to download the data and save it. This is a recommended practice throughout the semester, after you make any changes to the Grade Center. (Directions here)
If you wish to save student contributions in the discussion board for offline access, you'll need to "collect" threads or posts from each forum, and print or save them. (Directions here)
If you used the assignment tool, you can download all the assignment submissions for reference at once, if desired. (Directions Here)
We recommend that you create and download a complete course archive. A course archive is similar to an export, except that in addition to content and settings, it contains student data such as grades and discussion board postings. An archive is a snapshot of the course. You should save a copy of your course archive for safe keeping. (Directions Here)
There is an extensive knowledge base on our Blackboard Support Center web site. (You can also access it by clicking "Help" at the top/center of your Blackboard window.)
For telephone help, 24/7, call toll-free: 1-866-588-3195
To chat online with a Bb service representative, click "Live Chat" on the home page of the Blackboard Support Center web site
Additionally, for Instructors:
Mac
Windows
If your course contains multimedia files, you will probably need one or more of the following: Adobe Flash Player - current version
The Flash Player enables users to view various types of multimedia that are offered in courses online. The most recent version can be downloaded for free from the Flash Player website.
The Quicktime Player enables users to view Quicktime movies and other media delivered via the Web or on CD. Many courses at UVM utilize Quicktime as the format of choice for delivering video over the Web. Download the Quicktime Player from Apple.com.
RealOne Player allows users to view streaming media in the Real Media format. Download RealOne Player from Real.com.
