GETTING STARTED WITH BLACKBOARD

Blackboard is a course management system. It allows you to manage your course on the Internet. While it provides the possibility of putting your course entirely online, many faculty use Blackboard to enhance the classroom experience with online activities and support. Blackboard is accessible from anywhere you have Internet access, meaning that you can work on your course and even teach your course from wherever you are. Students at Olivet expect to use Blackboard in their courses.

The document below outlines some of the important things you need to know when getting started using the Blackboard course management system, including procedures for logging in, customizing your workspace, where to go for help, etc. First, however, some definitions you need to know:

Blackboard - Blackboard is a course management system released by Blackboard, Inc., to help faculty teach their courses online or with online enhancements. When you hear the term Blackboard, it is referring to the software used to teach courses in the undergraduate and graduate areas at Olivet.

Olivet Online - Olivet Online is a portal. A portal is a customizable website that offers you information based on who you are at that site. For example, Yahoo is a portal. When you log into that site, Yahoo offers you specific links based on who you are.  It links you to your groups, your email, and gives you any other information you request. Olivet Online is Olivet's portal. Once you log in, it will recognize who you are and give you specific information, such as employee information, information on the courses you teach/participate in, etc.

A. Logging in to Blackboard

Login:

  1. Open Internet Explorer
  2. Type http://blackboard.olivet.edu in the address bar at the top
  3. In the Login Here module (right, center of screen), type your username (the same as assigned to you for Olivet's network) and password. If it is your first time in Blackboard, your password will be the last four digits of your social security number followed by the first three letters of your last name (in lower case).
    If you are unsure of your password, call the Information Technology Department at (815)939-5302.
  4. Click Login

B.  Entering a Course

You can enter a course following two different paths:

  1. Through the My Courses module on the My Olivet tab
  2. Through the Courses tab
    • Click the Courses tab at the top
    • Click the name of the course to enter it

    NOTE:  The Courses tab is meant to be an archive of courses taught over the past two years.  This allows you to refer to older courses as well as copy information from an older course.  You may not remove listings shown on the courses tab.

    If you do not quickly see the course you want listed, you may use the Find feature as follows:

    a. Hold down the CTRL key while you press F to display a find dialog box
    b. Enter a Course ID (using the same formatting as the other course IDs displayed)
    c. Click on any of the displayed options (if desired)
    d. Click on FIND NEXT

C.  Customizing the My Olivet Tab in Olivet Online

While there are many things you can do to customize the Olivet Online portal, perhaps the most helpful is to customize the course list in the My Course module on the My Olivet tab. The instructions for that are listed below. This will allow you to decide which courses will show on the first page when you log in to Blackboard.

Setting up which courses you will view in the My Courses module:

  1. On the My Olivet tab in Blackboard, find the My Courses module
  2. Click the small pencil icon in the upper right hand corner
  3. Check Show Unavailable Courses to show all of the courses you are listed as teaching
  4. Check Show Other Courses to show any courses in which you are participating
  5. Check the semesters from which you want to see courses in your list
  6. Check the courses to be displayed  l
  7. Click Submit
  8. Click OK

Note:  The Courses tab is also customizable using the small pencil icon in the upper right corner.

D. Setting Up the Design of a Course

You can choose to either have the course menu (on the left) be buttons or as a text menu. The text menu is recommended because it will download quicker for your students.  To set the menu links as text:

  1. Enter your course
  2. Click Control Panel
  3. Under Course Options, click Course Design
  4. Click Course Menu Design
  5. Click the Text radio button
  6. Click Pick to choose a background color for the navigation
  7. Click Pick to choose the text color next to Select highlight color for navigation:
  8. Click Submit
  9. Click OK

E. Adding or Removing Menu Items

By default, the course menu will include:
    Announcements
    Faculty Information
    Course Information (for Syllabi, Text Books and Policies)
    Course Documents
    Assignments
    Assessments 
    External Links

The Tools area below the Menu includes:
    Communication with Discussion Board and Send E-mail
    Course Tools with Glossary, My Grades and User Manual
  

To enable tools displayed under Communications or Course Tools:

    1. Enter your course
    2. Click Control Panel
    3. Under Course Options, click Manage Tools
    4. Click Tool Availability
    5. Click the box under Available for the desired tool
    6. Click Submit
    7. Click OK

      Note:  Olivet does not allow guest or observer access regardless of the options for those roles on this screen

You may want add or remove some options or change some features associated with the menu.

To make changes to the Course Menu:

    1. Enter your course
    2. Click Control Panel
    3. Under Course Options, click Manage Course Menu
       
    4. To Change the Order of the Menu:
        Click on the drop-down arrow front of each menu item and select a number to represent the new order
       
    5. To Modify the Properties of an existing option in the menu
        Click Modify at the end of the line to be changed
        Make the desired changes
        Click on Submit
        Click on OK
       
    6. To Add a New Item to the Menu
        Click on the appropriate tool in the top Add bar
          Use Content Area to create a menu item where you can add items, files or user-defined links
          Use Tool Link to make use of Blackboard's predefined menu templates       
        Designate the name of the new area by choosing from the drop-down menu or typing a new name below
        Click to add a check in front of the box to make "Available for Student/Participant users"
       (by default, it will not be available, meaning students will not have access to it until you check this box)
        Click Submit
              Click OK

F. Adding Something to a Content Area

Content Areas in the Blackboard Menu are customizable by the instructor to include:

Item -- such as Word or PowerPoint files
Folder -- to organize a group of objects
External Link - to include a link to a location or web page outside the course
Course Link - to include a link to a location inside the course
Test - to link to a quiz or test for the course that interacts with the gradebook
Survey - to evaluate a participant's opinion that interacts with the gradebook
Assignment - to provide a link for the participant to submit an assignment that interacts with the gradebook
Safe Assign - to provide a link for the participant to submit an assignment that interacts with the gradebook that is evaluated against matching content (plagiarism)
Discussion Board - to provide a link to an area for online discussion
Various other items

  1. Enter your course
  2. Click on the menu item where something is to be added
  3. Click Edit View in the upper right corner to make changes to the content area
  4. Click the desired object in the top add bar
  5. Follow the directions displayed on the screen
  6. Click Submit
  7. Click OK

G.   Making Courses Available

All courses that are created are unavailable to students initially, giving faculty the opportunity to build the course without students seeing the work in progress. An unavailable course will have the word unavailable in parentheses after the name of the course. This means that when you are ready for your course to begin, you will need to make the course available with following procedures each Blackboard course:

  1. Enter your course
  2. Click Control Panel
  3. Under Course Options, click Settings
  4. Click Course Availability
  5. Click Yes
  6. Click Submit
  7. Click OK

H.   Course Copy

To copy content from one course another courses (such as from one section to another):

  1. Enter the course that CURRENTLY CONTAINS THE MATERIALS
  2. Click Control Panel
  3. Under Course Options, click Course Copy
  4. Click Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course
  5. To choose which course to copy materials to:
    • Click Browse
    • Click the radio button next to Instructor
    • Type your user ID (the beginning of your email address)  
    • Click Search to see all your courses
    • Click Select next to the course you would like to copy information to
  6. Check the boxes next to any material you want to copy
  7. DO NOT check Enrollments -- you do not want to copy student information from the previous course
  8. Click Submit
  9. Click OK

I.   Adding a User (such as a Teaching Assistant)

  1. Enter your course
  2. Click Control Panel
  3. Under User Management, click Enroll User
  4. At this point, you can either do a search for the person you would like to enroll or view everyone in the Blackboard system NOT ENROLLED already in your course
  5. If you would like to search for a name:
    • Choose whether you are searching by first name, last name, or E-mail by clicking the appropriate radio button
    • Type all or part of the first name, last name, or E-mail address of the person you are searching for
    • Click Search
    • Check the box next to the user you would like to add
    • Click Submit
    • Click OK as needed
    • Then click List/Modify Users to change the properties of the person you've added (they are added as a student by default)
      • Choose whether you are searching by first name, last name, or E-mail by clicking the appropriate radio button
      • Type all or part of the first name, last name, or E-mail address of the person you are searching for
      • Click Search
      • Click Properties to the right of the person you would like to modify
      • In Section 4 Role and Availability, change the role of the user as desired
      • Click Submit
      • Click OK as needed
  6. If you would like to choose the name from the full list of users available at Olivet:
    • Leave the white box blank and click Search
    • Find the name of the person you would like to add
    • Check the box next to the user you would like to add
    • Click Submit
    • Click OK as needed
    • Then click List/Modify Users to change the properties of the person you've added (they are added as a student by default)
      • Choose whether you are searching by first name, last name, or E-mail by clicking the appropriate radio button
      • Type all or part of the first name, last name, or E-mail address of the person you are searching for
      • Click Search
      • Click Properties to the right of the person you would like to modify
      • In Section 4 Role and Availability, change the role of the user as desired
      • Click Submit
      • Click OK

J. Where To Go For Help

There are many ways to get help for Blackboard. For help or reminders on how to do something within Blackboard, use one of the first three help options listed below. If you are having trouble or are needing to request help on a specific issue, use one of the last two options below.

  1. Faculty Training Tab
            Faculty Training Calendar and Blackboard Faculty Workshops
        Step-by-step instructions (such as this handout)
        Frequently asked questions (FAQs) by faculty
    • Login to Blackboard
    • Click the Faculty Training tab at the top
    • Check out Blackboard Faculty Training Resources, Faculty Workshops and Frequently Asked Questions
  2. The Help Tab for Specific Solutions to Common Blackboard Problems
  3. Faculty Organization:
    • Enter from My Olivet tab
  4. Media Website:
    • Go to http://media.olivet.edu
    • Click Computer Training
    • Click Online Training Materials
    • Click on the specific software with which you need help
  5. Call Computer Services Help Desk at (815)939-5302

K. Logging Out

When you are finished using Blackboard, click the Logout button at the top of the screen, then close your browser.

L. Available Resource Tabs

The tabs across the top of the Blackboard portal point to major areas offered through Blackboard, including:

My Olivet:  Your own customized portal page (described above).

Courses:  A complete list of courses you are participating in, including those you are enrolled in as well as those you are teaching.

Community:  A complete list of the all the organizations you are participating in, as well as student discussion boards such as Used Textbook Sales, a Ride Board, Student Classifieds, and Prayer Requests.

Content System:  A network storage area in Blackboard that allows for one-place editing of documents contained within Blackboard.  Allows faculty to add content that can be linked from any course, provides the ability to share files with others, work with versions of files, and edit files in Blackboard. Students and faculty can also use this to work on files anywhere from the Internet.

Oasis

  • Web Registration Instructions for Students - Student instructions for registering for their classes over the web
  • Student Oasis - Direct link to Oasis, a place where students can check their grades, course schedules, etc.
  • Faculty Oasis - Direct link to Oasis, a place where faculty can check their course schedules, submit their grades, etc.
  • Course Schedule - Run a search for a specific course (or courses) in Oasis

Links:  Holds links to academic department webpages, faculty webpages, and other academic information for students to access.

Faculty Training:  offers faculty direct access to help materials on how to use Blackboard, Blackboard frequently asked questions, Blackboard training workshops, as well as access to the Media and Technical Support training calendar. A wonderful place to start when you have questions on how to use Blackboard.

GR/AS:  This tab is only available for those faculty who teach graduate and adult degree completion courses for Olivet.  It includes policies and procedures for all programs, our faculty handbook, announcements, links to educational resource websites, an office directory, technology directions, sample rubrics, and discussion threads for faculty participation.

Help:  Holds information for Solutions to Common Blackboard Problems as well as suggested settings, hardware and software.

This page created by the Media and Technical Support Department. 
If you have any questions, call (815) 939-5302
Last updated August 2, 2007