Resources
Faculty/Staff Support: Blackboard
Blackboard is the course management system used by JBU. To request a Blackboard course shell, contact the Help Desk. Please send the course name, course ID and the instructor name. i.e. (BBL1013B, Old Testament Survey, John Smith). Training is provided by Kathy Hogan, Director of Instructional Technology, both on an individual basis and through classes offered throughout the school year. To request Blackboard training or help contact Kathy Hogan (khogan@jbu.edu)
Create A Course Banner
PowerPoint can be used to create a course banner.
- Open PowerPoint, and start a new blank presentation.
- Select the Design Button and Page Setup.
- Drop the “Slides sized for” box down and select Banner.
- Type a banner title by clicking in the text box. You can also use the WordArt tool for a more creative title.
- Add color to the banner background:
- Design Tab
- Background
- Select a color from the color drop down box
- Click Apply
- Change the font, size or color of the title by highlighting and editing the text, if necessary.
- Insert an image on the banner by using the Insert tab Choose Picture, or Clip Art command or insert a scanned or saved image from the Web. Size the image by clicking once to select it and dragging the image size down from the corners.
- Move or rearrange the title and/or image (s) by clicking, holding and dragging them to the desired location.
- Save your slide to your disk as an image file.
- File, Save As
- Enter the name of your course as the filename
- Save file as type .jpg
- Answer “No” to the question “Do you want to save every slide in the presentation?” (This will save only the first slide as the image.)
- Close PowerPoint
- Go to the Control Panel of your course in Blackboard.
- Go to Course Design
- Select the Course Banner link.
- Use the Browse… button to locate the banner file on your computer.
- Click Submit.
- Return to the Announcements Page of your course site to view the banner.
There are also websites that you can use to create a Course Banner. Below are a few:
Add An Assignment
When an Assignment is created in a Content area, a column in the Blackboard Gradebook will automatically be created for the assignment. When a student submits his or her paper via an Assignment link, an exclamation point (!) will show up in the assignment column of the Gradebook. Faculty may then retrieve the assignment diretly from the Gradebook by clicking this exclamation point (!). After examining the students work, they can then assign a grade and type feedback for the student to view. Students can then view their graded assignment and read feedback when checking their grades.
How to Create An Assignment
- From the Control Panel:
- Go to a Content Area (e.g. Course Materials, Course Documents, Assignments).
- Choose Assignment from the pull-down list on the upper right side of the page
Click the Go button .
- Enter the name of the assignment in the Name field.
- Enter the Points Possible.
- Type any necessary information into the blank Instructions text area, then type in (or cut and paste) the actual assignment. Alternatively, you may attach an assignment document.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button.
On the following page click the OK button on the bottom right.
Add An Announcement
The announcement page is a place to put important messages and time-sensitive information such as deadlines, changes, corrections and schedules. Announcements are seen by students when they first log into Blackboard and your course.
How to Add an Announcement
- Click on the Control Panel on the left side of the course site.
- Click on the Announcements link under the Course Tools section to open the Announcement page.
- Click on the Add Announcement button on the left top of this page.
- In the Announcement Information section,
- Fill in a descriptive title in the Subject field.
- Fill in the text in the Message field. You can use the tools on the top of the Message field to edit the text.
- In the Options section,
- Choose Yes for the option of Permanent announcement. It is recommended that announcements be made permanent. Once an announcement is no longer needed, it can be removed manually (see below).
- In the Course Link section, you can add an internal link to an announcement. By doing so, you can easily direct your students to another part of your Blackboard course from an announcement. If you do not want to add a link here, just leave it blank. To add a link,
- Click on Browse button to open the Select Course Link window.
- Click on the item you want to link.
- Click on the Submit button at the bottom of the page.
Send Email
Instructors can send email to individuals who participate in the course from the Send Email page. Emails can be sent to individual users or to groups of users within the course.
How to Send Email?
- Click on Send Email Button from the Control Panel or from the Communication page.
- Choose the group to send email to.
- Fill in Subject and Message fields.
- Add attachments if desired, by clicking on the Add button and finding the file on your computer.
- Click on the Submit button to send your email.
Course Availability
The Course Availability feature allows you to control access to your course. An unavailable course is not visible to students but is visible to instructors, teaching assistants, and course builders. The Course Availability feature allows faculty to develop a course or test out a course site without students having access.
How to Manage Course Availability?
- Click on Control Panel link on the left side of the course site.
- Click on Settings under Course Options section.
- Click on Course Availability.
- In the Set Course Availability section, click the Yes radio button.
- Click the Submit button.