Blackboard for Instructors

You can provide students with this 1-question “test” in Blackboard as a reminder to review the University’s Code of Academic...

Providing Accommodations in Blackboard UVM is committed to ensuring all students have access to its academic programs. The office of Student...

Adaptive release allows you to restrict course content such as tests and readings from students until after they have met...

Instructors can add TAs, Course Builders, and Students who have an Incomplete status to their courses in Bb. This is...

Readings, lecture files, and other course materials are typically added to a Content Area. The default Course Materials menu item...

You can add images to course content almost anywhere there is a content/text editor available.  This includes Content Areas, Discussion...

UVM Streaming Media is the supported platform for hosting your media and embedding it in Blackboard. It is similar to...

The “Announcements” tool on the home page of your Blackboard course is a handy way to communicate with your class....

Archiving backs up everything in your course and will produce a zip file that must be downloaded to complete the...

Student assignments automatically appear in the Grade Center when they submit them, and most file-types can be viewed and graded...

The Assignment Tool allows instructors to create a “drop box” for each assignment into which students can submit their completed...

Many instructors use attendance data as part of their students’ overall grades. With the new Blackboard Attendance tool, you can...

For every assignment, test, and content item in Blackboard, you have the ability to control when it becomes visible and...

These instructions describe how to back up a Blackboard test, but the same instructions apply to surveys and question pools.

It’s a good idea to back up your grade center regularly over the course of a term.  Further, downloading a...

A blog is a searchable list of postings displayed in reverse chronological order (most recent first). Blackboard allows you to...

This short video by Blackboard shows students how to use the course Blog tool.

Instructors can use the Course Copy tool to copy content between two existing courses.  Course content can also be effectively...

Blackboard courses and enrollments are created automatically.   By default, courses are unavailable (and invisible) to students when they are created. ...

Course banners must be web-friendly image files, i.e, files ending in .jpg, .gif, or .png. The optimal size for a...

You can use the course calendar to provide students with dates for course related events. Course calendar events appear to...

Adding Items to the Course Menu Clicking on the plus icon at the top of the course menu will let...

What Is a Course Shell? The course shell is a starter structure for your course.  This shell is based on...

Wikis A Wiki is a mini-web site you and your students can build within your course. You can think of...

You can use the date management feature to update content dates when you copy or restore a course from a...

The Discussion Board allows you to conduct or augment class discussion with either the whole class together or with discrete...

Included in Blackboard’s course communication toolkit are the Email Tool and the Messages Tool.  The email tool generates emails that...

iFrames display PDFs right in Blackboard Some documents (e.g., the syllabus, the course schedule, etc.) may be frequently viewed by...

The end of the semester is a good time to take care of any number of housekeeping tasks regarding your...

The Course Files area allows instructors to: Upload single or multiple files at once with an easy drag and drop...

Blackboard provides tools that allow instructors to align course content and activities with department and/or institutional curricular goals. For more...

Topics on This Page Access The Grade Center (Grade Center) Your View of the Grade Center: Customize and Fix Some...

This Grade Center tip is especially helpful in large courses where some grading is automatic (such as quizzes) and/or TAs...

If you have a large enrollment class where you’re dividing the grading up amongst more than one TA, you can...

If a student needs extra time or other exception for a test, follow these instructions: Go to where the test...

Blackboard allows you to create areas in the course that provide collaborative tools to discrete groups of students. At the...

You can make your course available to the world by turning on guest access and setting which menu items can...

Students, faculty, and staff with questions about Blackboard may contact the UVM Tech Team. The Tech Team will refer questions...

Previously archived courses can be restored by importing them into another course. This process can be used to move content...

Test generators allow you to create test questions and answers in Word, then upload them into a Blackboard Pool all...

The journal is designed as a private space between the instructor and a student, though at any time during the...

Folders allow you to group materials and activities together. Learning Modules also provide a way for you to group materials...

You can control which courses appear for you in the “My Courses” box. For example, you may wish to hide...

Every course in the course catalog has a Bb space created for it automatically, and its enrollments are regularly updated...

Blackboard offers two mobile applications – one for Instructors which allows grading and other course management features, and one geared...

UVM licenses a Bb add-on tool that allows individual colleges and organizational units to create and manage course-like “organizations” in...

Blackboard has added some simple modules to help you and your students keep track of activity in the course. For...

Perusall is a powerful teaching tool developed at Harvard University that is integrated with Blackboard. Perusall allows students and their...

Piazza is a student-driven question & answer/discussion forum. This tool can be used as a form of “crowd-sourced” office hours,...

You can connect your course to content and tools provided by textbook publishers and other educational tool providers.  Vendors for...

Respondus Monitor is a video “proctoring” add-on for Respondus LockDown Browser, which is a web browser that restricts student access...

Respondus Test Editor is a tool for creating and managing exams that can be printed to paper or published directly...

The Retention Center helps you determine how well your students are doing based on specific criteria. It allows you to...

The Blackboard Rubric tool both allows the instructor to list evaluation criteria for an assignment and, if shared with students,...

Sometimes, when working on a Mac computer, the left-right scrollbar is missing. This frequently happens with the Grade Center. This...

Here’s how to add a profile picture or “avatar” that will appear next to your name in some places in...

You can control what area of the course students see when they enter it.  By default, the course entry point...

Student Preview provides a way for you to see your course from the standpoint of a student. You can use...

Blackboard supports recent release channels for most major browsers.  While Firefox and Chrome have often been found to work the...

Tests and Surveys Blackboard Tests and Surveys are a great way to assess the progress of your students. Faculty find...

For Instructors Following these best practices will ensure a smooth testing experience for your students. Do not enable the Force...

Blackboard Tests and Surveys are set up the same way and have all the same features except that surveys are...

Blackboard is made up of a series of tools, which allow you to do certain things in your course, such...

In Blackboard, there are a few ways to track students’ progress. We recommend using these as tools for compassionate and...

or, What Can Go Wrong and What to Do About It (See table of contents on the right.) Students are...

For small group discussions on Blackboard, you can use the Group tool. Here is an overview of the process: Create...

Blackboard keeps an Access Log for each student that shows their interaction with the test. The Access Log can show...

General Resources Index of All UVM Blackboard Articles for Instructors CTL’s Teaching with Blackboard at UVM Where to Get Help...

Flipgrid is a cloud-based application that allows for asynchronous video and audio discussion. Flipgrid is included in UVM’s Microsoft license...

Getting Started If you’re new to teaching with Blackboard, you may want to start with this webpage from the Center...

Respondus LockDown Browser (LDB) is a web browser which limits student access to only UVM’s Blackboard server. Unlike other web...

These are step-by-step instructions for recording a screencast with SOM. Download and install Screencast-O-Matic. Follow these instructions and then return...

These modules are designed to be implemented by faculty to train their TAs (undergraduate and/or graduate). They were built and...

Yellowdig is a conversation platform that can be linked from a Blackboard course to form a private class community. Yellowdig...

Zoom is a video conferencing software used as a virtual classroom for some University of Vermont Distance and Continuing Education...