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Blackboard Basics for Faculty

What is Blackboard?

Blackboard is an easy-to-use online course delivery and management system. Using Blackboard's graphical point-and-click interface, instructors can incorporate learning materials from word processing, audio & video, spread sheets, and presentation files without ever learning HTML.

Features for instructors include:

  • Announcements
  • Content presentation
  • Calendar
  • Threaded discussions
  • Online quizzes, surveys, and gradebooks
  • Real-time chat and whiteboard
  • Group Pages for student team projects
  • Online File Exchange and so much more.

For information about Blackboard training sessions, visit the ATUS training web site.

Software Requirements

  • If you have a Windows PC, use the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser (6.0 or higher). You can also use Firefox 1.0 or Netscape Navigator 7.1 but the Visual Text Box Editor will not work properly. Mac users can use the Safari Web browser.
  • Blackboard does not work well with AOL or Opera web browsers. If you are using AOL to connect to the Internet, simply connect through AOL and then use one of the above mentioned compatible browsers to navigate to your Blackboard course site.
  • Although it is not required to access Blackboard, it is helpful for students to have access to Microsoft Office 2000 or Office XP in order to view and access documents provided by the instructor.
  • If the file is Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, you can download a free viewer that will allow you to open, print, and download documents, but not edit.

    Windows - http://office.microsoft.com

    Macintosh - http://mactopia.com

    Unix users - will need to download and install a software package such as AbiWord, KOffice, or StarOffice

  • You may need a variety of plug-ins for your browser, particularly for sound, movie, or Adobe Acrobat files. It is a good idea to install the most recent versions of Flash Player, Quicktime, Windows Media Player, Real One Player, and Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer.

Logging into Blackboard

Faculty at Western can login to Blackboard using their universal user name and password. If you are a new employee, you will need to have your universal account set up first before your Blackboard account will be activated. To login to Blackboard:

1) Open your web browser, then type the following address in the Location box with your web browser:

http://courses.wwu.edu

2) Select Login. Enter your username and password:

    Username: is your universal username, the same username you use for your Novell login and Outlook accounts.

    Password: your password is the same as for your Novell login. If you are having problems with your password, you can contact ATUS Helpdesk at (360) 650-3333, or atushelpdesk@wwu.edu

3) Select Login. You will be directed to your Blackboard courses page, which lists all of the current Blackboard courses that you are instructor for. To access one of these courses, simply click on the link to that course.

Tip: It is a good idea to add the Blackboard site to your Favorites or Bookmarks to save you time. Check your web browser's online help for more details.

Blackboard Training

With two hours of hands-on experience using Blackboard you'll be publishing online syllabi, course materials, staff information, and class announcements. In addition, you'll know how to create online discussion forums, facilitate those discussions, and monitor student participation. Minimal web browsing experience is the only prerequisite

Introduction to Blackboard Workshops are offered throughout the quarter. Attendance at an Introduction to Blackboard Workshop is strongly recommended before you receive a course site on the Blackboard Server.

Information about the time and availability of training classes can be found at the ATUS training web site.

Creating Your Blackboard Course

For each class you teach, each term you teach it, you must request that a Blackboard course be created.

There are two types of Blackboard courses. The most common type are courses that are tied to a particular CRN number and have enrollment automatically tied to the course. These courses have identification numbers starting with B, then the CRN, followed by the year and quarter (e.g. B12345.200440). The second type of class is one that is not tied to a particular CRN. These courses are identified by a "t" at the start of the identification number followed by a description of the course's purpose or title and the term the course EXPIRES. Example: A non CRN course on Renaissance Art called TRenaissanceArt.200710 would be used through Winter 2007 term.

Blackboard courses that are tied to a CRN number automate enrollment and must be requested before the start of each new quarter, even if you already have an existing Blackboard site for that course. The reason for creating a new class each quarter is that enrollment is tied to the class by the course CRN. Because enrollment changes every quarter, a new class is required. If you teach the same class from quarter to quarter, you can still re-use the content from the previous site by requesting that content be copied rather than a new course. Blackboard courses not tied to a CRN number do not need to be created each quarter but traditionally are requested every time the class starts over.

To have a Blackboard course set up for you, simply fill out the online Blackboard Request form. If you want to use content from a previous course, fill out the form for re-using an existing course. If you want to create a new Blackboard course, fill out the form for creating a new course.

Student Availability

As students register for the CRN, they are added to the Blackboard course associated with that CRN, and as they drop they are made "unavailable" to that blackboard course. After the add/drop period is over you may choose to delete those students.

When classes are initially created, they are set to be "unavailable" to all the students to give time for the instructor to build the content of the course before the students have access. A few days after the end of each quarter, all the course sites from that quarter will again be automatically made "unavailable." If instructors would like students to have continued acccess to that site, they may manually make it available again using the Control Panel.

Classes from Past Quarters

Blackboard sites will remain on the server for 8 quarters after completion. They will be available to the instructor, however, they will be unavailable to students. After eight quarters, Blackboard staff will contact instructors about deleting or archiving these sites.

Archiving

You may choose to Archive your course (available in the Control Panel) to keep a CD of all your content, discussion boards, etc. Contact WebHelp if you need to restore an archived course.