Blackboard For Dummies

Howie Southworth, Kemal Cakici, Yianna Vovides, Susan Zvacek

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780471798323
• eBook ISBN: 9781118052945
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Computer Science General
• Index: Computer Science

Use the quick-start guide to create your course in a flash
Post course materials, give quizzes, facilitate discussions, and handle grades You're an educator, not a psychic, so how would you know how to use Blackboard with no instructions? These step-by-step examples show you how to set up a Blackboard classroom, put your materials on the Internet, communicate online with students, and even evaluate their performance. Discover how to
* Navigate the Blackboard environment
* Customize your course menu
* Add and organize course materials
* Give online assignments
* Conduct online discussions and chat rooms
* Keep track of grades

Part I

What’s Blackboard All About?

In this part . . .

T his part of the book is only the beginning of something wonderful for both you and your learners. Trust us, and we’ll make your life easy (at least the online part of your academic life!). The inaugural part of Blackboard For Dummies starts you off nice and easy with a first-timer’s look at the real deal and finishes off with a loud round of applause from you, the reader. We’ll take you to a place where you’re the superorganized instructor, prepared to delve into the very heart of every Blackboard use.

Chapter 1 hands to you a brief overview of what you see on the inside of Blackboard. Call it a geography course that presents a visual guide through the elements on your Blackboard screen that you’ll want to know about before diving in. What does your Control Panel look like? What are bread crumbs, anyhow? Look forward to answers to these questions and many more.

Chapter 2 begins with a quick-start guide to using Blackboard at a minimum, from uploading a syllabus file to entering grades into the Gradebook. The chapter concludes by giving you a methodical path to walk that includes all the grand details of planning a comprehensive Blackboard course, from soup to nuts.

Let’s get this party started!

Chapter 1

Your First Look at Blackboard

In This Chapter

Introducing Blackboard

Finding your way in the course

Mapping out the Control Panel

Discovering a few shortcuts

We understand that finding how to use a new application or even staying up-to-date with upgrades and new features can be overwhelming, especially with Web-based applications. You may ask, “Why is that?” The reason is that, depending on which browser you use, you may or may not encounter problems for some items versus others, and some features are supported in one browser and not in another. The list of issues can seem endless at times.

You may also be wondering why we’re starting out this chapter with a less-than-motivational introduction. The reason is that what you will love about Blackboard may also be the source of some frustration, much like in other Web-based applications you may be using. Remember that you’re working on the Web, and keep in mind the four concepts in the following list. (The first letter of each concept combines to create, sort of, the acronym AKA Bb — or “also known as Blackboard” — so we use that as a mnemonic device to help you remember.) Here’s our list:

Access — get connected: To access Blackboard, you need to have Internet access. That’s the beauty of Web-based applications such as Blackboard: After you get connected to the Internet, you can access your Blackboard account from any Internet-connected computer anywhere.

Knowledge — know your browser: Get comfortable with the options in your browser, such as enlarging or reducing text size, locating or setting your default folder for downloading files, and enabling or disabling your pop-up blocker. Allowing pop-ups is important because Blackboard utilizes pop-ups for some of its functions.

Address — remember your Blackboard URL: You probably know many ways to access your Blackboard login page and have already bookmarked all of them, right? Just in case your memory fails you, write down your Blackboard Web address and keep it in your back pocket so that you can access it from any Internet-connected computer anywhere. Also keep your institution’s IT help desk number handy, just in case you have no idea what the address...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : What’s Blackboard All About?
• Part II : Easing into Blackboard
• Part III : Earning Your Blackboard Black Belt
• Part IV : The Part of Tens
• Part V : Appendixes