Blackboard

To Begin using Blackboard:

1. Using your browser, go to https://ucmo.blackboard.com
2. Select UCM Faculty & Staff. You will be redirected to UCM Single Sign-On.
3. Enter your UCM assigned network username and password.
4. Click “Sign in”

Personalizing Your Blackboard Account:

Navigate to your Profile by clicking your Name on the left side of Blackboard. Most items in your profile can be edited, once completed be sure to press “Done” at the bottom.

1. Access Blackboard at ucmo.blackboard.com.
2. Log in using your UCM network credentials.  These are the credentials you use to log into the UCM network.
3. The courses for which you are assigned as an instructor are listed under the Courses tab on the left-hand side of your screen.
4. Each course is provided with the UCM template - you have the ability to add or remove any content in your specific course shell.
5. To return to your list of courses, click the Red "X" near the top left of your screen.
6. To log out, click the "Sign Out" button located in the lower left-hand side of the screen.

Everyone already has a Blackboard shell. They are created for every class and are made available to you prior to student enrollment.  Instructors on record and students enrolled are automatically populated to these courses. Updates are made in Blackboard within 24 hours of a change; therefore, any student enrolling today will not show up in the course until tomorrow.

Blackboard courses are created as unavailable to the enrolled students. The instructor must make a Blackboard course available before the students can access materials in the course. For information on making a course available, please see Course Availability immediately below.

If you have never used this course, you must make Your Course Available

1. Go to the Course you wish to make available
2. Click on the padlock icon in the upper right-hand corner
3. The padlock icon will be locked when it is not available to students
4. The padlock icon will appear unlocked when the course is available to students

Course shells are provided to the faculty on record prior to the start of student enrollment.  Each course is assigned a generic Blackboard shell.  To see the Bb shells for courses you have been assigned follow these steps: 

• Log in to ucmo.blackboard.com
• Click on the Courses tab found on the right-hand menu
• You will see the courses you are assigned either as a list or as thumbnail images depending on which viewing feature is selected. 

Course navigation menu items

Left-hand navigation: All UCM Blackboard courses are created with default menu items as follows: 

• My Status - default landing page for your course 
• Start Here! (Content Area)
• Syllabus, Course Information, and Policies (Content Area)
• Faculty Information (Content Area)
• Course Content (Content Area)
• Discussions (Tool Link)
• My Grades (Tool Link)
• Tools (Tool Link)
• JCK Library (Web Link)
• JCKL Research Support (Web Link)
• Help (Web Link)
• Achieve (Training Materials)
• Privacy Statements (Web Link)

1. Make sure Edit mode is on.
2. To the right of each course menu item is a chevron icon
3. Click on the chevron
4. From the drop down menu, select Rename Link option
5. Modify the name for the link
6. Click on the green check mark to accept, or the red ‘x’ to cancel

A final warning will appear - This action will permanently delete the item - select Delete if you are sure you want to delete the course navigation menu item

First, make sure Edit mode is on.

1. Hover the mouse pointer over the "+" icon above the Course Menu
2. From the drop down menu, select the desired course item, (Tool Link, Web Link, Course Link, Content Area, etc.) 
3. Type a Name for the new item
4. If you choose Tool Link or Web Link, make sure the Type matches the item from the drop down menu
5. Make the item available to your users
6. Click on Submit

Finally, move the item where you would like it to be within your course menu area using the directions immediately following

1. Make sure Edit mode is on.
2. Hover your mouse to the left of each course menu navigation item and you will see up and down arrow icons
3. Click and hold the arrow icon to drag the item up or down in the menu list
4. Release the mouse button when you are done moving the item

1. Make sure Edit mode is on.
2. To the right of each course navigation menu item is a chevron icon
3. Click on the chevron
4. From the drop down menu, select the Delete option
5. An additional window will open to confirm deleting process
6. Select Delete content in this window
7. A final warning will appear - This action will permanently delete the item - select Delete if you are sure you want to delete the course navigation menu item

Every section where you or the learner can create content has a Text Box Editor toolbar. This is where you can type and format your content using common options (underline, bold, italics, etc.) or import various types of media (image/photo, video, PDF, etc.). If you cannot see all rows of the various buttons as depicted below, just click the three dot button in the upper right of the toolbar to expand the toolbar button set. Note: Your toolbar may be arranged slightly differently based on the width of your display.

The most commonly used buttons on the toolbar are: 

1. Font Style - bold, italic, underline, strikethrough
2. Style - headings, sub-headings, paragraph format
   Font choice - remember to use a sans serif like Arial, which is the default
   Size choice - remember to use a larger font - at least 12pt is preferable
3. Bullets and Numbers
   Text color
   Highlighting 
4. Clear Formatting, return to default text formatting
5. Cut, Copy, Paste, and Find and Replace
6. Undo/Redo
7. Align left, center, right, and justified
8. Increase/decrease indent
9. Superscript/subscript
10. Insert/edit link, Remove link
11. Create table, delete table
12. Table/Row/Cell properties, insert/delete column/row
13. Edit HTML
14. Accessibility Checker
15. Preview, Help, Fullscreen
16. Add multimedia content, insert from local files, content collection, or from cloud service
    Add content from Dropbox, Medial, Panopto, YouTube, and more

For detailed instructions for creating a written assignment, click on the Create a Written Assignment link.

Tests may be created in three ways:

• By directly creating individual questions inside the Test Creator, 
• Using questions from a Test Pool, 
• By importing tests or question pools from 3rd party textbook publishers.

1. Select Test from the assessments tab inside a content area or folder in which you wish to create a test. 
2. At this point you will be able to choose to create a new test or to deploy a test that already exists in the course’s test bank (if you have completed a Course Copy or copied exams from previous courses they will be seen here). To create a new test, choose the Create button.
3. Type a descriptive name for the new test. You might also add the word Test or Quiz to the title for clarity to your students.
4. Make learners aware of any restrictions you’ve set, including time limits, open or closed books, completion in one sitting, automatic submission, multiple attempts, etc. 
5. Provide any additional instructions (such as how to submit for a “file” type question, or use the mathematical notations). These appear when the test is launched, with test settings details below instructions.
6. Click Submit

See detailed instructions with screenshots here.

1. Navigate to Course Management>Control Panel>Tests, Pools and Surveys 
2. Select Pools
3. Use the Build Pool button
4. Name your question pool (description optional)
5. Click the SUBMIT button to create.
6. Build your Pool of questions in the Pool Canvas:
   1. Create Question - for new questions you create 
   2. Find Question - to use existing questions inside your course
   3. Upload Questions - from specially formatted text files

Remember to look for the More Help link at the top of the page in the header, during each step of Blackboard creation processes for more detail. 

See detailed instructions with screenshots here.

Setting Test Availability Exceptions allows instructors to respond to student emergencies or disability accommodations that require individualized time extension, number of attempts, or dates of access.

To grant student(s) extended time, or unique access dates on timed quizzes or tests:

1. Use the chevron next to the title of test/quiz
2. Select Edit Test Options
3. The third section you’ll see is Test Availability Exceptions
4. Select Add User or Group
5. Check the box next to the name of the student needing an exception
6. If more than one student needs the SAME exception, you can check all the students that will need this specific exception
7. Submit those checked names
8. Depending on the parameters you’ve set for that test/quiz you will see areas you can edit that will allow that student to see or access it uniquely from your general settings.
9. If you have other students who need different settings, use the Add User or Group that appears above the first student exception information.
10. Create as many unique situations as you need with this process.
11. Don’t forget to use the SUBMIT button at the very bottom right of the page when you’ve finished.
12. Exceptions can be cleared using the X found to the very right of each student’s exceptions detail line.

Assignments are not timed, so there is no way to provide extended time, unless you use Adaptive Release rules to extend a due date. You can do this based on individual or group, so if you have an individual that needs extra days, you can provide that. 

Any activity to which you have assigned points in Blackboard will appear in the Grade Center (this includes assignments, tests & quizzes, discussion boards, blogs, and wikis). It always appears in the very last position of the Grade Center, so if you can't find something you just created, just scroll to the right and you should find it. 

Click on the Grade Center and Layout link here for identification of each area within the Grade Center.

Copying Content between Courses

1. Select Course Copy from the Packages and Utilities area of the control panel of the source course (the section with the material in it you want to reuse).
   
   
   
2. Select Copy Type and Click Browse from the Copy Course screen.
   
   
   
   
3. In the new window that opens, select the destination course (the course you want to copy to) and click Submit.
   
   
   
   

Copying Blackboard Courses

1. Select the areas and settings you want to copy and click Submit. You can be selective about what is copied, but typically it is best to select everything and then remove what you don’t want from the destination course once the copy process is finished. If you do not check all boxes, some materials (assignments & tests) may not be copied
   
   Note: Under Settings there is an option for Availability. Selecting this will use the availability setting of the source course. In most cases this should not be selected.
   
   
2. Under section 3 “File Attachments,” choose the second selection (default). Changing this option from the default selection will cause permission errors when students try accessing file attachments in the destination course.
   
   
   
   
3. DO NOT check the option to Include Enrollments. This will copy all students from the source course to the destination course.
   
   
4. You will receive an email in your UCM email account when the process is complete. Course Copies can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes or more depending on how large your course is. Please wait an additional 30 minutes before accessing or modifying the course.
   
   Important: Avoid copying to the same course more than once. Blackboard does not replace existing material, but only adds to what is there. You can end up with duplicates of anything that was copied previously. It is best to copy material to an empty course shell for the same reasons. Always add new content after the copy has been completed.

If you have any questions regarding copying course sections, contact UCM Technology Support at tsc@ucmo.edu or call (660) 543-4357.

Archiving Blackboard Courses

When you archive a course, you create a complete “backup” of your Bb section (course content, settings, student grades, course statistics, etc.). This gives you a permanent record of everything you and your students have done in the section for the semester. Archives are only viewable when reloaded back into the Bb system. They are not intended for frequent reference, or for content re-use, use the export process instead. Archives can only be restored by a system administrator.

Archiving a Course

1. In your course under Course Management, go to Control Panel > Packages and Utilities and click Export/Archive Course.
   
   
2. Click Archive Course from the Export/Archive Course screen.
   
   
3. Be sure to include Grade Center History and File Copies in the course archive. Then press Submit.
   Note: Failing to select these options will cause student permission errors in the restored section.
   
   
   
   

4. You will receive an email in your UCM email account when the process is complete. Archives can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes or more depending on how large your course is.

    

5. Once you received the email from Step 4, navigate back to the course you archived and follow Step 1. Then proceed to Step 6.

    

6. You should see the archive file listed on the Export/Archive screen. Click the chevron next to the archive file and select View Basic Log.
   
   

   Important: Check the log to ensure the archive completed without errors. Take note of any errors or warnings reported. You may see some errors dealing with links, announcements, discussion board posts, etc. These deal with things being removed from the course. You want to make sure there aren’t any fatal errors. If you see errors here and have questions about them do not hesitate to contact UCM Blackboard Support.

    

7. If no errors, download the zip file by clicking on the file name (the name left of the chevron). When prompted save the file to your computer. Choose a file location that is easy to remember.

   Note: We suggest you do not remove Archive from the .zip file’s name. Also avoid modifying the .zip package. You could corrupt the archive file and make it unusable.