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eHelp » Blackboard » Bb 7.2 Step-by-Step Guides for Faculty » Add Learning Unit

A Flash Movie of this tutorial is also available at http://www.blackboard.com/quicktutorials/learningunits.swf.

The Add Learning Unit feature allows you to create and place a Learning Unit anywhere within the Content Areas. Learning Units are organized collections of content that students move through on a structured path. They can contain documents, assignments, media files, website links, quizzes and surveys. Learning Units can be set to open in a new window, which reinforces the idea that they are distinct learning modules. They can also be set to be viewed in sequential order or to let students move through the items in any order.

The discussion below will cover the following topics:

• Creating a Learning Unit
• Adding an Item
• Adding an External Link
• Adding a File
• Adding a Test/Quiz or Survey

Creating a Learning Unit

From Control Panel:

1. Click on desired Content Areas (Syllabus, Materials, Assignments, Resources). Let's say, if we want to create a learning unit in Assignments you will click on Assignments.
2. On the right upper side of the page, there is a pull-down list. Click on the pull-down list and select Learning Unit and hit Go.
   
3. Under Learning Unit Information area, write the title of the learning unit you want and add a description in the text field.
4. Under Options area, you would see some more options. You could choose when this assignment available for students, to enforce sequential viewing of the Learning Unit, to track number of views, and to add metadata. Here is the description of each option:
   • Do you want to make the content visible? - Visible means that your students can see the Learning Unit. You can change this at any time.
   • Do you want to enforce sequential viewing of the Learning Unit? - This means that students must go through the “pages” in the order you have created them. Choosing ‘No” for this option allows students to use the table of contents to jump between pages in any order.
   • Do you want the Learning Unit to open in a new window? - This option opens the LU in a separate window from the course site.
   • Do you want to track number of views? - This option lets you track how often individual users view the document.
   • Choose date restrictions - This option lets you set the dates that the document will be visible and invisible. This automates the "make contents visible" function.
5. When you are done with the learning unit options, hit Submit.
6. Confirm by hitting OK.
   

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Adding an Item

An item can be in a form of text, HTML, rtf, a Word document, an Acrobat document, a spreadsheet, or any other Blackboard supported files.
To add an item, click on the destination learning unit in which you want to add the item.

1. Hit on Add Item.
   
2. Name the title and add your description in the text field.
   
3. When you attach the file, you have some option, including “display media within the page”. This is useful if you want to show an image with some accompanied text.
   
4. The item options include the options to make your item visible, to track number of views, and to choose date restrictions.
   
5. Hit Submit.

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Adding an External Link

To add an external link, once again, locate the destination learning unit in which you want to add the external link.

1. Click on External Link
2. Type the name and URL of the link and the description as needed.
3. You can attach a file to the external link.
4. Select the options whether you want of make the link visible, open in a new window, track number of views, and add metadata.
5. Hit Submit.
   

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Adding a File

If you want to add a file without any companion text, this function is the right choice. If is specifically useful when you want to display images by themselves. That is the way it differs from Add Item.

To begin the process, click on the destination learning unit in which you want to add the file.

1. Click Add File.
   
2. Type in the course link, upload the file, and name the link of the file.
   
3. Hit Submit.

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Adding a Test/Quiz or Survey

Before you add a quiz or a survey to a Learning Unit, the first thing to remember is to create a quiz or survey. You can create a quiz or test by using Test Manager tool or import it via Pool Manager tool. The survey can be created via Survey Manager tool. Be sure that the quiz or test is unavailable until you want your students do the quiz or test.

Once the quiz is ready to be attached in a Learning Unit, please follow these following steps.

1. Under the Learning Unit in which you want to attach a test or survey, click on either Test or Survey.
2. You will see some options on this page. You can either hit Create to create a new test or pull a test from the test manager by selecting the test.
3. Hit Submit button.
   

You can modify the test availability by clicking on Modify button and select Modify the Test Options.

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