Untitled Document Learning Academy > LearnBb > Faculty Tip Sheets for Blackboard

NEW! Blackboard 8 Grade Center

Click Below to Play a Bb 8 Grade Center Overview Video

Tip Sheet

NEW! Bb 8 Grade Center - Quick Start Guide
A quick 10 minute review of the new features in the Bb 8 Grade Center.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.
Adding Announcements
Add announcements to a course.
A tipsheet is available for adding grades.
Adding Items
Learn how to add items in the Blackboard 8 Grade Center.
A tipsheet is available for adding grades.
Enter Grades
Learn how to enter grades in the Blackboard 8 Grade Center.
A tipsheet is available for adding grades.
Remove Items
How to remove items in the Blackboard 8 Grade Center.
A tipsheet is available for adding grades.
Downloading Grades
How to download grades from the Blackboard 8 Grade Center for use in Microsoft Excel. It is recommended to download your grades frequently as a backup copy.
A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Print Grades
How to print grades from within the Blackboard 8 Grade Center.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Modifying Items
How to modify items within the Blackboard 8 Grade Center.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.
Uploading Items into the Grade Center
Upload items directly intohthe Blackboard 8 Grade Center.
A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

View Grades
Viewing grades inside the Blackboard 8 Grade Center.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.
Excluding Nulls in the Grade Center
How to exclude nulls. Setting up Running Totals in the Blackboard Grade Center. (Running Totals is NOT the DEFAULT gradebook setting.)
A tipsheet is available for adding grades.
Performance Dashboard
Learn how to quickly view a students performance.
A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

How to Remove NO SHOW Students
Learn how to prevent students marked with NS in PeopleSoft from being displayed in the Blackboard 8 Grade Center.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

More Blackboard 8 Tip Sheets are on the way...

Click Below to Play a Bb 8 Overview Video


Adding Content

Tip Sheet

Adding Files/Items
Learn how to add files/Items to your course.

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Adding a Folder to a Content Area
Learn how to add folders to organize your material.

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Adding a Link
Learn how to add links to your content areas.

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Adding Staff Information
Add contact information to your course.

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Adding Announcements
Add announcements to a course.

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Adding Learning Units
Learn how to add Learning Units to a course.

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Adding Tests to Content Areas
Learn how to add tests to content areas.

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Printing Files
Learn how to print files from course documents.

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Saving Files
Save files from course documents.

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What is Adaptive Release of Content?
Learn about Adaptive Release and how it can be used.

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Adaptive Release - Basic
Learn how to setup single rules for single content items or folders.

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Adaptive Release - Advanced
Learn how to setup multiple rules for single content items or folders.

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Adaptive Release - Adaptive Review Status
Make files unavailable until other certain files have been viewed.

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Adaptive Release - User Progress
Track which students have viewed which files.

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Building Assignments

Tip Sheet

Assignments - Overview
Learn the basics about Blackboard assignments.

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Adding Assignments
Add an assignment to your course.

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Modifying & Deleting Assignments
Learn how to change or remove your assignments.

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Grading Assignments
Grade an assignment.

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NEW! Office 2007 Compatibility
Office 2007 files cannot be opened by Office 2003. This tip sheet includes instructions for students.

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Content Tools

Tip Sheet

Digital Drop Box - Disabling the Digital Drop Box
Learn how to disable the drop box.

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Glossary - Adding a Glossary
Learn how add a Glossary to your course.

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Horizon Wimba - Overview
Use Wimba Voice Tools.

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Horizon Wimba - Troubleshooting
Why won't my page load?

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Horizon Wimba - Voice Announcement
Create voice announcements.

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Horizon Wimba - Voice Authoring
Record voice messages into Content Areas.

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Horizon Wimba - Voice Discussion Boards
Use voice messages in Discussion Boards.

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Horizon Wimba - Voice Email
Send voice email.

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Respondus & StudyMate - Overview
Find out what Respondus is and how to use it.

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Respondus - Importing a Test from MS Word
Learn how to import a test from Microsoft Word into Respondus.

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Respondus - Publish to Blackboard
Learn how to publish Respondus content to Blackboard.

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Text Box Editor - Spell Checker
A look at spell checking in the Text Box Editor.

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SafeAssignment
Prevent plagiarism with SafeAssignment.

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Blackboard Scholar
Using social bookmarking for resource sharing, discovery, and organization.

coming soon

Building Quizzes & Surveys

Tip Sheet

Assessment & Evaluation Tools
A brief overview of evaluation tools.

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Assessment - Overview
A brief overview of the "Assessments" Control Panel area.

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Creating Question Pools.
Learn how to create question pools.

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Creating Tests
Learn how to create tests.

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Adding Pools to Tests
Learn how to add a question pool to a test

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Question Test Banks from Publishers
An overview of how to use test banks from publishers.

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Assessments - Online Test Tips
Avoid common test technology troubles.

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Timed Tests
Time how long it takes for student to complete tests.

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Assessments - Questions Overview
A brief overview of assessment question types.

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NEW! Calculated
Learn how to create questions with formulas.

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NEW! Calculated Numeric Response
Learn how to create calculated numeric response question.

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NEW! Creating Either/or Questions
Learn how to create yes/no, right/wrong, and agree/disagree questions.

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NEW! Creating File Response Questions
Learn how to create questions which require files to be uploaded.

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NEW! Creating Hot Spot Questions
Learn how to create questions that require certain areas of an image to be marked.

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NEW! Creating Jumbled Sentence Questions
Create questions that use drop-down menus to display the answer.

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NEW! Creating Fill in Multiple Choice Questions
Learn how to create questions with multiple fill in the blank areas.

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NEW! Creating Hot Spot Questions
Learn how to create questions that require certain areas of an image to be marked.

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NEW! Creating Opinion Scale Questions
Create questions that allow users to submit strongly agree, agree, disagree, strong ely disagree, etc... answers.

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NEW! Creating Quiz Bowl
Create questions where the student is shown the answer and gives the question.

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NEW! Creating Short Response Questions.
Create questions that allow users to input short answers.

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Communication Tools

Tip Sheet

Sending Email
Learn how to send Email using Blackboard.

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Collaboration Tools - Overview
Learn about Collaboration tools.

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Collaboration Tools - Using Collaboration Tools
Learn how to use Collaboration tools like the Virtual Classroom & the Lightweight Chat.

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Collaboration Tools - Creating Sessions
Learn how to create Collaboration sessions for your students.

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Discussion Board - Creating a Discussion Board
Learn how to create a discussion board in a Blackboard course.

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Discussion Board - Using a Discussion Board
An overview of starting new threads and posting on your board.

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Discussion Board - Posting a Message
Learn how to post a message in a discussion board.

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Discussion Board - Managing Postings
Learn how to manage discussion board postings.

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Discussion Board - Creating a Rubric
Learn how to create a rubric for discussion boards.

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Discussion Board - Blocking A Users Access
Block a users access to a discussion board.

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Discussion Board - Hiding Discussion Board Forums
Learn how to hide (make unavailable) a discussion forum.
(Note: You can also use Adaptive Release to control the availability of forums.)

Discussion Board - Hiding Discussion Board Threads
Learn how to hide discussion forum threads or make them unavailable.

Discussion Board - Grading Forum s& Threads
Learn how to grade discussion forum threads or forums.

Discussion Board - Peer Review using Ratings
Learn how to use discussion board ratings for peer review.

Horizon Wimba - Pronto!
How to Sign Up, Download, and Install Pronto for Instant Messaging.

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Sign Up for TXT Messaging
Receive Important Campus Announcements on your Cell Phone!

Groups - Setting Up Student Groups
Learn how to group students within a class.

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Copying Sites

Tip Sheet

Copying a Course
Learn how to copy course materials from one course into other courses. Copying course materials is useful for copying content from semester to semester or from one course section to another section.
(Note: Only run the course copy one time to prevent multiple copies of content from being copied into the destination course.)

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Exporting/Importing Courses
Learn how to export & import courses in Blackboard. Exporting courses is usuful to create a backup copy of your course content to use from semester to semester.
(Note: Only run the import once to prevent multiple copies of content from being imported into the destination course.)

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Blackboard 7 Gradebook

Tip Sheet

Adding grades
Learn how to add grades to gradebook.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Adding Items
Learn how to add items to gradebook.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Removing Items
Remove items from your gradebook.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Downloading Grades/Gradebook
Download grades/gradebook for use in Microsoft Excel. It is recommended to download your gradebook frequently as a backup copy.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Printing the Gradebook
How to print a copy of the gradebook using Microsoft Excel.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Modifying an Item
Learn how to modify items within Gradebook.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Uploading Items into Gradebook
Upload items directly onto Gradebook.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Viewing Grades
Learn how to view grades.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Excluding Gradebook Nulls
Learn how to exclude gradebook nulls. Setting up Running Totals in the Gradebook. (Running Totals is the DEFAULT gradebook setting.)

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Performance Dashboard
Learn how to quickly view a students performance.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

How to Remove NO SHOW Students
Learn how to prevent students marked with NS in Peoplesoft from being displayed in the Bb Gradebook.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Site Design

Tip Sheet

Add a Course Banner
Add custom banners to your site design.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Removing a Course Banner
Remove banners you have added.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Manage Course Menu
Add/Modify/Remove menu items & change the sort order.
(Note: Be sure to click the Refresh button after making changes to your course site menu.)

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Course Design Settings (Menu & Color Scheme)
Learn how to customize your course site.

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Quick Editing
Learn how to use "Quick Edit".

A tipsheet is available for adding grades.

Setting Course Availability
Allow students to access your course by making it available.
(Note: Courses are automatically made available on the semester start date.)

Click here to access the tipsheet.

Browser Configuration

Tip Sheet

Configuring and Troubleshooting your Browser
Learn how to modify and change your browser settings for Blackboard.


Adding Users

Tip Sheet

My Courses Plus
Learn how to add facult or staff to your Bb course. (Student enrollment in courses is managed by the Registrar.) [Quick Video Tutorial]

Content Creation Tools

Tip Sheet

Creating PDFs (Adobe Acrobat Files)
Learn how to create Adobe Acrobat fiels for Blackboard.

Camtasia Studio
Using Camtasia Studio for screen capture videos.

coming soon

Podcasting
Using Audacity and Camtasia Studio to create a podcast..

coming soon

Find an Error in the Tip Sheets? Have a Suggestion? Send Tip Sheets Feedback to: Eric Kunnen

Tip Sheets Index
Bb 8 FAQ

When using the Grade Center with IE6 or 7, it isn't refreshing. How do I correct this?

IE users go to "Tools"->"Internet Options" and click on the "Settings" button for "Browsing History". Make sure "Every time I visit the webpage" is selected for "Check for newer versions of stored pages". This fixes a lot of problems that users have with IE.

I can't see the scroll bar in the Grade Center with Firefox or IE.

This can be fixed by changing the Windows XP scroll bar size back to 20 or smaller .

  1. Open the Windows Control Panel, Display Properties
  2. Click the Appearance tab
  3. Click the Advanced button
  4. Select "Scrollbar" from the Item: drop-down list and change the size to < 20 (the default is 17)
New Bb 8 Features
  • A brand new gradebook called the GRADE CENTER.
    Instructors can: enter scores much more efficiently, select from a dual display of gradebook data, access audit/grade history changes, provide gradebook comments, freeze names for easier scrolling, upload multiple columns at once, build custom views, drop lowest scores, provide more effective comments, print progress reports, and easily email students right from the gradebook. This brand new, easy-to-use gradebook increases instructor efficiency and enables new customization, powerful analysis, and flexibility capabilities.
  • Several DISCUSSION BOARD user interface, navigation, and feature enhancements.
    Originally introduced in 7.3, the new discussion board enhancements provide: enhanced workflow, faster navigation, better collection views, forum level subscription, reply with quote, tagging, and the ability to mark messages read or unread. It's much easier to act on information more quickly and navigate more efficiently with streamlined discussion board.
  • A brand new EARLY WARNING SYSTEM feature.
    Originally introduced in 7.2, this new feature allows instructors to proactively measure, monitor, and communicate student performance with students, advisors, and other academic support personnel. Combined with the new Grade Center, Performance Dashboard, and Course Statistics, monitoring student engagement and enhancing student retention is more effective.
  • A brand new SELF AND PEER ASSESSMENT tool.
    This new feature allows instructors to give students more individualized feedback, as well as to focus on critical thinking skills.
    Self-assessment tools give students better insight as to what the evaluation criteria is and help build critical thinking skills, as well as promote active learning. Peer assessment tools give students the opportunity to provide constructive feedback to their peers and help faculty easily manage group assignments.
  • Blackboard SCHOLAR included.
    Scholar provides self-directed research and student contributions to course resource collections. It allows students and faculty to share resources, develop relationships, and collaborate across institutions across the globe.
  • Blackboard SAFEASSIGN included.
    Plagiarism prevention tools help instructors detect plagiarism, protect the originality of work and educate students on proper citation and attribution.
  • WHAT'S NEW is now available.
    The What's New feature was originally introduced in 7.1. However, it was unable to be used since the performance of the tool impacted the response time of the server. With Bb 8, the module can be loaded asynchronously so that the My Bb page loads much more quickly for students and instructors. The What's New tool is an effective way for students and faculty to increase awareness of new content, gradebook, discussion, and announcements items that have been posted in their courses.
  • EMAIL ANNOUNCEMENTS is a new feature.
    This allows instructors to easily create an announcement and also email their students with 1 action. This improves communication with students and is especially helpful in critical and timely messages.
Additional Resources

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Updated on 07-JUL-08
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