eHelpThe guides listed below were originally created by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CSU Hayward, and CSU Long Beach using a grant from the Chancellor’s Office. They provide Step-by-Step instructions on each specific function. Also included in the guides are short explanations of the features and a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The graphics, extended guides and animated tutorials have been added by our Blackboard Support Team by using Blackboard Manual as the resources.
The following how-to guides include these following topics:
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Before planning and designing a course in Blackboard 9, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with Blackboard 9 environment. The Blackboard environment includes a header frame with images and buttons customized by the System Administrator and tabs that navigate to different areas. Clicking on a tab will open that area in the content frame.
Once you log in to Blackboard, you will be able to see these following tabs on the top of the page:
Blackboard 9 has introduced a new feature called My Places. Using My Places, you will be able to:
The course menu is the navigation links inside the course. After you click on your course, the course menu can be found on the left-hand side. Below is the list of the default course menu within a Blackboard cours site and ideas of what could be posted in each menu:
The Course Menu above appears on the left side of a course page. It holds buttons or text links to Content Areas, Tools, and links. The Course Menu is usually arranged by subject or the order in which Students progress through the course.
The Instructors need to make sure that the Edit Mode is ON to display Add button and the Keyboard Accessible Reordering button. Use these to add new items to the Menu Area and to reorder those items.
Other ways to edit the Menu Area:
Course Content Areas are used to organize all Course content materials. Instructors create and manage Content Areas from the Course Menu. Instructors may decide to create additional Content Areas or edit existing Content Areas. For example, a Content Area for Assignments may be added and the name of the area may be changed to Homework.
The new Content Area appears on the Course Menu. If the Content Area contains no content, an icon of a dotted square appears. If the Content Area is unavailable to students, an icon of a square with a line through it appears.
The Content Collection allows users to store, share, and publish content within personal user folders (My Content) and Organization folders (Organization Content Collection).
Course Tools are communication and collaboration tools that enhance interaction between users. Some of other assessment tools are also included within Course Tools.
Evaluation is an area within the Control Panel that allow Instructors to keep track students' progress. Some of the functions available within Evaluation are Early Warning System, Grade Center, Performance Dashboard and Tracking Report. Please review each individual function from the items below.
Instructor can manage the users in their Courses. For example, Instructors may add an user to a Course and create groups within a Course.
Customization allows Instructors to control how they present their Courses in Blackboard. Customization settings include Course availability, Tool Availability, and Style.
Packages and Utilities includes tools to copy a Course, archive or recycle the Course, and import content.
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This page was last updated on September 14, 2009.
