NYCCT ITMS Blackboard 8.0

Logging on to Blackboard:You need to logon to CUNY Portal to log in Blackboard by visiting the CUNY website at http://www.cuny.edu=>Portal Log-in/Blackboard/eSIMS=>Blackboard 8 Direct >>type in your username and password.

Creating an Announcement• In the Course Tools section of the Control Panel,

click the Announcements. • Click the Add Announcement button.• Enter a subject and text. The text box is similar to MS

Word.• Click the Submit button and the OK button.

Making a Course Available• To make a course available to students:• Go to the Control Panel of the course you want to

make available. • Click on Settings under Course Options. • Click on Course Availability. • Select Yes next to Make Course Available. • Click Submit to finish.

Adding Course Information or Course Documents

• Click the Control Panel in the Course Menu.• In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel,

click Course Information or Course Documents.• Click the Item button.• Enter a name and text. To attach a file, click the

Browse button next to the Attach local file box. Locate and select the file then click Open.

• Submit.

Creating an Assignment• In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel,

select the content area you want the assignment to appear in.

• Click the arrow on the Select box and select Assignment.

• Click the Go button.• Enter a name and points. You can also attach a file. • Click Submit.

Copying and Moving Course Content• In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel,

select the content area that you want to move. Click the Copy button.

• To copy content to another course, select Destination Course. To copy a folder within the same course, select Destination Folder. Select browse and choose the folder that you want to copy.

Click the Submit button.

Using the Syllabus Builder• In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel,

select the content area that you want to add the syllabus to.

• Click the arrow on the Select box and select Syllabus from the resulting menu.

• Click the Go button.• Enter a name in the Syllabus Name box.• Do one of the following:

• To create a new syllabus, select Create New Syllabus.

• To use a syllabus file that you have already created, select Use existing file. Attach the file and submit.

Sending E-mail • Go to Communication and select Send Email OR

go to the Course Tools section of the Control Panel, click Send Email.

• Select who you want to send an e-mail to. • Optional: To verify delivery of the email, check the

Return Receipt box.• Click the Submit button after writing the email.

Creating a Glossary• In the Course Tools section of the Control Panel,

click the Glossary Manager. • Click the Add Term button.• Enter the term in the Term box. • Enter the definition in the Definition box. • Click the Submit button.

Creating a Message • Go to Communication and select Messages OR go

to the Course Tools section of the Control Panel, click Messages.

• Click the New Message button. • Click the To button. • Select a recipient in the Select Recipients box and

click the Add Recipient button. Optional: Click the Cc and Bcc buttons copy users.

• Click the Submit button after writing message.

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• Sent messages appear in the inbox of messages within Communication.

Discussion Board

To add a forum

• In Discussion Board, Click the button. • Enter a name for the forum in the Name box.• Enter text in the Description box. • Optional: Select options in the Forum Availability

section.• Select options in the Forum Settings section.

Under Forum Settings you have the following options:

1. Allow anonymous posts- Allows users to comment on forums without identifying themselves. This feature is now unchecked by default.

2. Allow author to remove own posts- This will allow the user to either remove all posts or only posts with no replies.

3. Allow author to modify own published posts4. Allow post tagging- allows you to later attach "tags"

to posts in order to create easier searching.5. Allow users to reply with quote- This feature will

allow a user to quote the user that they are responding to in a thread.

6. Allow file attachments- This feature will allow a user to attach a file with their post.

7. Allow members to create new thread8. Subscribe- Users can subscribe to entire forums or

individual threads via a Subscribe button that appears in their forum. An Email notification is received each time a new post is made. The notification either includes the post or a link to the post.

9. Allow members to rate posts

10. Force moderation of posts- This tool requires that all messages are reviewed by a moderator or the instructor before they are posted.

11. Grade - Instructors can grade users on overall participation in a forum/thread. A column in the Gradebook is added.

• Click the button.

To add a thread:• In Discussion Board, click the forum name to access

the forum.

• Click the button.

• Enter a subject in the subject box. • Enter thread text in the message box.

• Click the button.

Self and Peer AssessmentSelf and Peer Assessment- students can evaluate work submitted by themselves or their peers. The instructor provides rating criteria.

• In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel, select the content area you want to add the assessment to.

• Click the arrow on the Select box and select Self and Peer Assessment.

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• Click the button. • Enter a name and instructions for the assessment.• Enter or select dates during which students can

make submissions in the Submission Dates section. • Enter or select options in the Self and Peer

Evaluation Options section (If the assessment is only to be self-evaluated, enter 0 in the Number of Submissions to Evaluate box.).Note: Once the evaluation period has started, you cannot modify the submission window

o Click the button

Adding Questions to Self and Peer Assessment • Click the button next to the assessment you

just created. • Click the Assessment Canvas.

• Click the button. • Enter the question in the Question Text box.

Example: Read chapter 11 in the text and write an essay explaining what you think the author is trying to say.

• Optional: Enter a response in the Model Response box. Optional: Select Yes or No in the Available section.

• Click the button and click the button.

Adding Evaluation Criteria for Self/Peer Student Evaluations

• At the “Assessment Canvas” screen, click the

button to the right of your new question.

• Click the button and enter criteria.Example: did the paper summarize the key points made in the reading assignment?

• Assign the maximum number of points.

• Select whether you want to allow students to be able to give either all or nothing or partial credit for this criteria.

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Managing Self and Peer Assessments• In the Control Panel, go to Course Tools and click

Self and Peer Assessment. • Note: Students access Self and Peer assessment by

clicking on Assignments and selecting the Self and Peer assessment.

• Click the name of the assessment you want to manage.

• Click the Submission, Evaluations, and Results shortcuts to view assessment information.

• Click the button.

• Click the button twice more to get back to control panel.

Safe Assignment• In the content areas section of the control panel,

select the content area that you want the safe assignment to appear in.

• Click the arrow on the Select box and select Safe Assign from the menu.

• Click the button.• Enter the name of the assignment, and the number of

points possible.• Enter any instructions.

• Drafts-Set to NO. You can let students submit drafts of their papers. However, drafts are not sent to the college database to be checked for plagiarism. If they send a draft, the final paper CANNOT be checked against the database. We recommend leaving the default choice as no and having students submit their Final Papers to the database. This should be used in place of the old digital drop box.

• Student Viewable -The Students Viewable option allows the student to see if they’ve plagiarized.

• Urgent Checking- The typical amount of time it takes for urgent checking is 15 minutes for urgent assignments and 90 minutes for non-urgent ones.

• Note: Students will access the assignment by going to the area that the assignment is in (i.e., assignments, course documents, etc.) and click the view complete button.

• Optional. You can create an announcement about the assignment you just posted.

• Click submit to finish.

• To view a safe assignment:In control panel, go to course tools and click Safe Assign.

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• Click the "View" link to see the assignment.

Here you will see the records of all the students.

Click the text icon to see the report.

Click the file icon to download the report. Click the check icon under SA report to check the

plagiarism report.

• Any plagiarized text that matches the original articles will be in different colors and are linked to the sources. If you click on the text you’ll get the report for the link of the source and comparison of the students’ work and the original work on the Internet.

Direct Submit - This is the tab next to safe assignments. It is used to submit reports on papers outside of a safe assignment, and you can also add papers to the college database. To direct submit, click on the direct submit tab.

Under direct submit, you have private and shared tabs.

Files in the private tab are only viewable to the person who submits the file.

Files in the shared tab are viewable to all users in the course that have access to the control panel (i.e., another instructor or a teaching assistant).

Each tab comes with a default folder titled "Top Folder". New folders can be added by entering a folder name in the text box, then clicking add.

Click on the button. Next, you can choose to either upload your file, or

copy and paste the document. Click .

BlogA blog covers a topic of interest to the blogger or a topic the professor assigns. Other students are able to leave comments on what the blogger has written.

Creating a blogGo to one of the content areas in the control panel. From the Select dropdown menu on the right hand side, select blog and click Go

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• Fill out the name, description and select the features that you want available.

• For member settings, select the students and groups that will be members of the blog and determine what permissions they will have. (i.e. Modifying, deleting a blog)

• Set date and time restrictions for editing the blog.

• Click • To create a blog entry, go to the content area that

you placed the blog in.• Scroll down to your blog and click view.• Click new entry. Create a title for the blog and enter

your journal into the text box. Click save.

Creating a Private Journal- A Private Journal is a blog that only an individual student and the instructor can see.

• To create a Private Journal simply follow the directions for creating a blog and choose the following options while completing the steps:

• When selecting a blog type, choose Private journal. • Choose whether or not you want the members to

view the instructor’s entries.

• When selecting members, select "All Course Members".

• You, as the instructor, can see all of the students’ work in one place. To see everyone's work, go to the FILTER and filter by “All Authors.” If you want to

view just one student's work, FILTER by the name of the student.

WikiA wiki is a website for students to add and edit content collectively. The best known example is Wikipedia

Create a wiki:Go to one of the content areas in the control panel. From the dropdown menu, select wiki and click Go.

• Create a name and description for the wiki, and choose whether you want to make it available.

• You will also choose how you will reference users in the wiki. (i.e. By name, user name, both, or given name)

• For member settings, select the students and groups that will be members of the wiki and determine what permissions they will have. (i.e., Modifying, deleting a wiki.)

• Set date and time restrictions for editing the wiki. • You may also choose to allow nonmembers to view

the wiki, or create a Gradebook entry for it.

• Click • To create a wiki entry, go to the content area that

you placed the wiki in.• Scroll down to your wiki and click view.• Click new. Create a name for the wiki and enter your

information into the text box. Click save. The wiki shows up on the right hand side of the entry under site navigation.

• To make revisions to your wiki, click edit. Here you can change the name of your wiki and its content.

• Click save.• If you would like to revert back to an older version of

the page, click on History. Click on the view diff button of the entry you want to revert, then click revert. All other versions are saved in your history so you will not lose work.

If you want to save the wiki to your desktop: Click on export site button on the right-hand menu and you can download the zipped wiki.

Using the Early Warning System • The Early Warning System allows you to warn

students if there are problems.• In Control Panel, go to Assessment and click Early

Warning System. Here, you can create a grade rule, a due date rule, or a last access rule.

• To create a warning based on grades, click the Grade Rule button.

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• To create a warning based on due dates, click the Due Date Rule button.

• Enter rule information and click the submit button.• Activity: Click the Grade rule button.

• Create a name for your rule (i.e., Failing grade rule)• Select grade center item: Choose one of your grade

center items from the drop down menu.• Define criteria: we recommend that you leave this

under "less than or equal to."• Enter the score for your criteria.

• Click to finish.• The rule will automatically show up in the Early

Warning System.• Note: Once a rule is created, you must check the rule

and refresh so that the new rule is applied to the student information. The early warning system does not apply changes automatically. You have to refresh for each change that you make to your rule.

• Delete a rule: click on the checkbox next to the rule

and click the button.

• To see which students fit the criteria for a warning, select the rule. All students will be listed, including those which do not meet the warning criteria. Clicking on their user Id number will show a full report on which rules the student should receive a warning for. Click ok.

• Send Notification: Click the rule. Then, click the checkbox of student that you wish to notify. From the notify dropdown menu, select "Student users only" and click go.

• Here you may either use the default message or create one of your own. Check return receipt if you wish to have a copy of the email.

• Click submit. The student will receive the warning in their email.

Note: This process may take up to ten minutes or more.

• Notification log- Click the button. This shows you which students have received a warning. Click ok.

Viewing Course Statistics Note: Remember that statistics are only recorded after the tracking is made available (anything that happened before is not tracked).

• In the Assessment section of the Control Panel, click the Course Statistics.

• Click the arrow on the Select Report box and select a report type. Submit.

Using the Performance Dashboard

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• The Performance Dashboard displays user activity for the course.

• In the Assessment section of the Control Panel, click the Performance Dashboard.

• Optional: click the links or buttons in the Early Warning System columns.

• (This topic is covered in the Assessment workshop.)

Creating a Group• In the User Management section of the Control

Panel, click the Manage Groups.• Click the Add Group button.• Enter a name in the Name box.• Enter a description in the Description box.• Select options in the Group Options section.• Click the Submit button and click the OK button.• Click the Modify button next to the group you just

created.• Click the Add Users to Group.• Click on the List All tab. Click List All again and add

users. Click Submit.

Customizing the Course Menu• In the Course Options section of the Control Panel,

click the Manage Course Menu.• In the Add section, add content, tools, etc.• To add a new content area, click the Content Area

button. Click the arrow on the Name box and select the content area you want to add.

• Click the Submit button and click the OK button.

How to enable Horizon WimbaFrom a course Control Panel=>Course Options=>Manage Tools=>Building Block Tool Availability=>Mark Wimba Classroom List=>click Submit

Note: If you do not make your course available, your students will not see your course.

Blackboard ScholarMy Scholar Home is for social bookmarking.In addition, each course in the Blackboard Learning System can have its own Scholar Course Home page. Instructors can add dynamic and current resources as well as let students add bookmarks.

1. From your Blackboard course, click the Scholar tab. The Scholar Home page appears.

2. Complete the required fields.3. Check the boxes to agree to the terms and to indicate you are over 13 years of age.4. Click Create User. 5. Enter your desired profile information.6. Click OK

Sending an invitation

You may invite users to join your network

1. From your homepage, click invite a user.2. In the window, type the email address of the person you

would like to invite. Write a message if you like. 3. Choose yes or no if you want to invite a friend to your

network when the user’s account is created.4. Click send invite.

Install the BookmarkletAfter you create your account, install the Scholar Bookmarklet to add a Scholar button to your browser’s toolbar. The on-screen instructions will guide you through the process, just

click .Once installed, click the Scholar button to quickly add a web page to your Scholar Home page.

Viewing BookmarksOn your Scholar Home page, bookmarks are on the left and the tags used to classify the bookmarks are on the right. You can choose which category of bookmarks to view: Mine, All, or Popular. When you wish to return to the Scholar Home page, just click the Scholar logo.

Using SearchEnter any search terms in the Search Bookmarks field and click the Search button. Basic Search will search for the keyword(s) in the Title, Description, or Tags of bookmarks.

You can Save a Search (just the parameters, not the results) to easily repeat a search in the future. parameters, not the results. Saved searches can also be added to your Scholar Home page as a Stream. Fill in the fields and choose how many results you

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would like to view each time you access the search.

Adding ResourcesFrom a website1. From the desired website, highlight any text to include in the bookmark description. 2. From the Links (IE) or Bookmarks (Firefox) toolbar, click

3. Enter your tag criteria 4. Click Save.

Adding a bookmark:1. From your homepage click add a bookmark.2. Fill out the form. Be sure to type in the bookmark name

and the URL that it links to.3. You may also enter any tags that you want for this

bookmark.4. Click save.

Your bookmark will show at the very top of the other bookmarks.

Importing bookmarks1. Save your bookmarks to a file.2. From the Scholar Home page, click Settings.

3. Click Import Bookmarks.• Browse for the saved bookmark file.• Enter desired tags and choose how to handle

duplicate bookmarks.• Click Import.

Using the scholar in a courseEach course in the Blackboard Learning System can have its own Scholar Course Home page. Scholar Course Home is similar to My Scholar Home, except it is accessible by all members of the course. An instructor can add course-specific bookmarks and streams to Scholar Course Home, just like with My Scholar Home. Students can also add bookmarks to

the Scholar Course Home page, but only the instructor may add streams.

Register your course• From the Control Panel, under Course Tools, select

Blackboard Scholar.•

• Click Register/View Scholar Course Start Page.• Select the discipline.• Click Register Course.

Add the Scholar Course Home page• From a Content Area in your course, select Edit View.• Click Course Link

•• Enter a name and description.

Click Browse for a course link location.• Select Tools and click Scholar Course Home.• Click Submit.

Add Scholar bookmarks and streamsYou can add Scholar bookmarks and streams to any Content Area .

To add a Scholar bookmark:1. From the Content Area, select Edit View.2. From the drop-down menu, select Scholar Bookmark (or

Scholar Stream) and click Go.3. Enter the search criteria, and click Search.

From the list of results, select the bookmarks you want to add.

4. Click Add Selected Bookmarks to Blackboard.

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