NYCCT ITMS Blackboard 8.0
Logging on to Blackboard:
You need to logon to CUNY Portal to log in Blackboard by
visiting the CUNY website at http://www.cuny.edu=>Portal
Log-in/Blackboard/eSIMS=>Blackboard 8 Direct >>type in
your username and password.
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Click the arrow on the Select box and select
Assignment.
Click the Go button.
Enter a name and points. You can also attach a file.
Click Submit.
Copying and Moving Course Content
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In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel,
select the content area that you want to move. Click
the Copy button.
To copy content to another course, select
Destination Course. To copy a folder within the
same course, select Destination Folder. Select
browse and choose the folder that you want to copy.
Click the Submit button.
Using the Syllabus Builder
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Creating an Announcement
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In the Course Tools section of the Control Panel,
click the Announcements.
Click the Add Announcement button.
Enter a subject and text. The text box is similar to MS
Word.
Click the Submit button and the OK button.
Sending E-mail
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Making a Course Available
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To make a course available to students:
Go to the Control Panel of the course you want to
make available.
Click on Settings under Course Options.
Click on Course Availability.
Select Yes next to Make Course Available.
Click Submit to finish.
Adding Course Information or Course
Documents
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Click the Control Panel in the Course Menu.
In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel,
click Course Information or Course Documents.
Click the Item button.
Enter a name and text. To attach a file, click the
Browse button next to the Attach local file box.
Locate and select the file then click Open.
Submit.
Creating an Assignment
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In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel,
select the content area you want the assignment to
appear in.
In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel,
select the content area that you want to add the
syllabus to.
Click the arrow on the Select box and select Syllabus
from the resulting menu.
Click the Go button.
Enter a name in the Syllabus Name box.
Do one of the following:
• To create a new syllabus, select Create New
Syllabus.
• To use a syllabus file that you have already
created, select Use existing file. Attach the
file and submit.
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Go to Communication and select Send Email OR
go to the Course Tools section of the Control Panel,
click Send Email.
Select who you want to send an e-mail to.
Optional: To verify delivery of the email, check the
Return Receipt box.
Click the Submit button after writing the email.
Creating a Glossary
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In the Course Tools section of the Control Panel,
click the Glossary Manager.
Click the Add Term button.
Enter the term in the Term box.
Enter the definition in the Definition box.
Click the Submit button.
Creating a Message
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Go to Communication and select Messages OR go
to the Course Tools section of the Control Panel,
click Messages.
Click the New Message button.
Click the To button.
Select a recipient in the Select Recipients box and
click the Add Recipient button. Optional: Click the
Cc and Bcc buttons copy users.
Click the Submit button after writing message.
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Sent messages appear in the inbox of messages
within Communication.
Discussion Board
To add a forum
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In Discussion Board, Click the
button.
Enter a name for the forum in the Name box.
Enter text in the Description box.
Optional: Select options in the Forum Availability
section.
Select options in the Forum Settings section.
Under Forum Settings you have the following
options:
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Allow anonymous posts- Allows users to comment
on forums without identifying themselves. This
feature is now unchecked by default.
Allow author to remove own posts- This will allow
the user to either remove all posts or only posts with
no replies.
Allow author to modify own published posts
Allow post tagging- allows you to later attach "tags"
to posts in order to create easier searching.
Allow users to reply with quote- This feature will
allow a user to quote the user that they are
responding to in a thread.
Allow file attachments- This feature will allow a
user to attach a file with their post.
Allow members to create new thread
Subscribe- Users can subscribe to entire forums or
individual threads via a Subscribe button that
appears in their forum. An Email notification is
received each time a new post is made. The
notification either includes the post or a link to the
post.
Allow members to rate posts
10. Force moderation of posts- This tool requires that
all messages are reviewed by a moderator or the
instructor before they are posted.
11. Grade - Instructors can grade users on overall
participation in a forum/thread. A column in the
Gradebook is added.
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Click the
button.
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To add a thread:
In Discussion Board, click the forum name to access
the forum.
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Click the
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Enter a subject in the subject box.
Enter thread text in the message box.
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Click the
button.
button.
Self and Peer Assessment
Self and Peer Assessment- students can evaluate work
submitted by themselves or their peers. The instructor
provides rating criteria.
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In the Content Areas section of the Control Panel,
select the content area you want to add the
assessment to.
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Click the arrow on the Select box and select Self and
Peer Assessment.
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Click the
button.
Enter a name and instructions for the assessment.
Enter or select dates during which students can
make submissions in the Submission Dates section.
Enter or select options in the Self and Peer
Evaluation Options section (If the assessment is
only to be self-evaluated, enter 0 in the Number of
Submissions to Evaluate box.).
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Optional: Enter a response in the Model Response
box. Optional: Select Yes or No in the Available
section.
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Click the
button.
Note: Once the evaluation period has started, you cannot
modify the submission window
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Click the
button
Adding Questions to Self and Peer Assessment
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Click the
button next to the assessment you
just created.
Click the Assessment Canvas.
Click the
button.
Enter the question in the Question Text box.
Example: Read chapter 11 in the text and write an
essay explaining what you think the author is trying to
say.
button and click the
Adding Evaluation Criteria for Self/Peer
Student Evaluations
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At the “Assessment Canvas” screen, click the
button to the right of your new question.
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Click the
button and enter criteria.
Example: did the paper summarize the key points
made in the reading assignment?
Assign the maximum number of points.
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Select whether you want to allow students to be able
to give either all or nothing or partial credit for this
criteria.
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Managing Self and Peer Assessments
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In the Control Panel, go to Course Tools and click
Self and Peer Assessment.
Note: Students access Self and Peer assessment by
clicking on Assignments and selecting the Self and
Peer assessment.
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Click the name of the assessment you want to
manage.
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Click the Submission, Evaluations, and Results
shortcuts to view assessment information.
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Click the
Click the
control panel.
button.
button twice more to get back to
Safe Assignment
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In the content areas section of the control panel,
select the content area that you want the safe
assignment to appear in.
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Click the arrow on the Select box and select Safe
Assign from the menu.
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Click the
button.
Enter the name of the assignment, and the number of
points possible.
Enter any instructions.
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Drafts-Set to NO. You can let students submit drafts
of their papers. However, drafts are not sent to the
college database to be checked for plagiarism. If they
send a draft, the final paper CANNOT be checked
against the database. We recommend leaving the
default choice as no and having students submit their
Final Papers to the database. This should be used in
place of the old digital drop box.
Student Viewable -The Students Viewable option
allows the student to see if they’ve plagiarized.
Urgent Checking- The typical amount of time it
takes for urgent checking is 15 minutes for urgent
assignments and 90 minutes for non-urgent ones.
Note: Students will access the assignment by going to
the area that the assignment is in (i.e., assignments,
course documents, etc.) and click the view complete
button.
Optional. You can create an announcement about the
assignment you just posted.
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Click submit to finish.
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To view a safe assignment:
In control panel, go to course tools and click Safe
Assign.
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Click the "View" link to see the assignment.
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Here you will see the records of all the students.
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Click the text icon to see the report.
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Click the file icon to download the report.
Click the check icon under SA report to check the
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Under direct submit, you have private and shared
tabs.
Files in the private tab are only viewable to the
person who submits the file.
Files in the shared tab are viewable to all users in the
course that have access to the control panel (i.e.,
another instructor or a teaching assistant).
Each tab comes with a default folder titled "Top
Folder". New folders can be added by entering a
folder name in the text box, then clicking add.
Click on the
button.
Next, you can choose to either upload your file, or
copy and paste the document. Click
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plagiarism report.
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Any plagiarized text that matches the original
articles will be in different colors and are linked to
the sources. If you click on the text you’ll get the
report for the link of the source and comparison of
the students’ work and the original work on the
Internet.
Direct Submit - This is the tab next to safe assignments.
It is used to submit reports on papers outside of a safe
assignment, and you can also add papers to the college
database. To direct submit, click on the direct submit tab.
Blog
A blog covers a topic of interest to the blogger or a topic the
professor assigns. Other students are able to leave comments
on what the blogger has written.
Creating a blog
Go to one of the content areas in the control panel. From the
Select dropdown menu on the right hand side, select blog and
click Go
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view just one student's work, FILTER by the name of
the student.
Wiki
A wiki is a website for students to add and edit content
collectively. The best known example is Wikipedia
Create a wiki:
Go to one of the content areas in the control panel. From the
dropdown menu, select wiki and click Go.
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Fill out the name, description and select the features
that you want available.
For member settings, select the students and groups
that will be members of the blog and determine what
permissions they will have. (i.e. Modifying, deleting a
blog)
Set date and time restrictions for editing the blog.
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To create a blog entry, go to the content area that
you placed the blog in.
Scroll down to your blog and click view.
Click new entry. Create a title for the blog and enter
your journal into the text box. Click save.
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Creating a Private Journal- A Private Journal is a
blog that only an individual student and the
instructor can see.
To create a Private Journal simply follow the
directions for creating a blog and choose the
following options while completing the steps:
When selecting a blog type, choose Private journal.
Choose whether or not you want the members to
view the instructor’s entries.
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When selecting members, select "All Course
Members".
Create a name and description for the wiki, and
choose whether you want to make it available.
You will also choose how you will reference users in
the wiki. (i.e. By name, user name, both, or given
name)
For member settings, select the students and groups
that will be members of the wiki and determine what
permissions they will have. (i.e., Modifying, deleting a
wiki.)
Set date and time restrictions for editing the wiki.
You may also choose to allow nonmembers to view
the wiki, or create a Gradebook entry for it.
Click
To create a wiki entry, go to the content area that
you placed the wiki in.
Scroll down to your wiki and click view.
Click new. Create a name for the wiki and enter your
information into the text box. Click save. The wiki
shows up on the right hand side of the entry under
site navigation.
To make revisions to your wiki, click edit. Here you
can change the name of your wiki and its content.
Click save.
If you would like to revert back to an older version of
the page, click on History. Click on the view diff
button of the entry you want to revert, then click
revert. All other versions are saved in your history
so you will not lose work.
If you want to save the wiki to your desktop: Click on
export site button on the right-hand menu and you
can download the zipped wiki.
Using the Early Warning System
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You, as the instructor, can see all of the students’
work in one place. To see everyone's work, go to the
FILTER and filter by “All Authors.” If you want to
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The Early Warning System allows you to warn
students if there are problems.
In Control Panel, go to Assessment and click Early
Warning System. Here, you can create a grade rule,
a due date rule, or a last access rule.
To create a warning based on grades, click the Grade
Rule button.
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To create a warning based on due dates, click the Due
Date Rule button.
Enter rule information and click the submit button.
Activity: Click the Grade rule button.
Create a name for your rule (i.e., Failing grade rule)
Select grade center item: Choose one of your grade
center items from the drop down menu.
Define criteria: we recommend that you leave this
under "less than or equal to."
Enter the score for your criteria.
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Send Notification: Click the rule. Then, click the
checkbox of student that you wish to notify. From the
notify dropdown menu, select "Student users only"
and click go.
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Here you may either use the default message or
create one of your own. Check return receipt if you
wish to have a copy of the email.
Click submit. The student will receive the warning in
their email.
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Click
to finish.
The rule will automatically show up in the Early
Warning System.
Note: Once a rule is created, you must check the rule
and refresh so that the new rule is applied to the
student information. The early warning system does
not apply changes automatically. You have to refresh
for each change that you make to your rule.
Delete a rule: click on the checkbox next to the rule
and click the
button.
Note: This process may take up to ten minutes or
more.
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To see which students fit the criteria for a warning,
select the rule. All students will be listed, including
those which do not meet the warning criteria.
Clicking on their user Id number will show a full
report on which rules the student should receive a
warning for. Click ok.
Notification log- Click the
button. This shows you which students have
received a warning. Click ok.
Viewing Course Statistics
Note: Remember that statistics are only recorded after the
tracking is made available (anything that happened before is
not tracked).
• In the Assessment section of the Control Panel,
click the Course Statistics.
• Click the arrow on the Select Report box and select
a report type. Submit.
Using the Performance Dashboard
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The Performance Dashboard displays user activity
for the course.
In the Assessment section of the Control Panel,
click the Performance Dashboard.
Optional: click the links or buttons in the Early
Warning System columns.
(This topic is covered in the Assessment workshop.)
You may invite users to join your network
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From your homepage, click invite a user.
In the window, type the email address of the person you
would like to invite. Write a message if you like.
Choose yes or no if you want to invite a friend to your
network when the user’s account is created.
Click send invite.
Creating a Group
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In the User Management section of the Control
Panel, click the Manage Groups.
Click the Add Group button.
Enter a name in the Name box.
Enter a description in the Description box.
Select options in the Group Options section.
Click the Submit button and click the OK button.
Click the Modify button next to the group you just
created.
Click the Add Users to Group.
Click on the List All tab. Click List All again and add
users. Click Submit.
Customizing the Course Menu
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In the Course Options section of the Control Panel,
click the Manage Course Menu.
In the Add section, add content, tools, etc.
To add a new content area, click the Content Area
button. Click the arrow on the Name box and select
the content area you want to add.
Click the Submit button and click the OK button.
Install the Bookmarklet
After you create your account, install the Scholar Bookmarklet
to add a Scholar button to your browser’s toolbar. The onscreen instructions will guide you through the process, just
click
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Once installed, click the Scholar button to quickly add a web
page to your Scholar Home page.
Viewing Bookmarks
On your Scholar Home page, bookmarks are on the left and
the tags used to classify the bookmarks are on the right. You
can choose which category of bookmarks to view: Mine, All, or
Popular. When you wish to return to the Scholar Home page,
just click the Scholar logo.
How to enable Horizon Wimba
From a course Control Panel=>Course Options=>Manage
Tools=>Building Block Tool Availability=>Mark Wimba
Classroom List=>click Submit
Note: If you do not make your course available, your students
will not see your course.
Blackboard Scholar
My Scholar Home is for social bookmarking.
In addition, each course in the Blackboard Learning System
can have its own Scholar Course Home page. Instructors can
add dynamic and current resources as well as let students add
bookmarks.
1. From your Blackboard course, click the Scholar tab. The
Scholar Home page appears.
2. Complete the required fields.
3. Check the boxes to agree to the terms and to indicate you
are over 13 years of age.
4. Click Create User.
5. Enter your desired profile information.
6. Click OK
Using Search
Enter any search terms in the Search Bookmarks field and
click the Search button. Basic Search will search for the
keyword(s) in the Title, Description, or Tags of bookmarks.
You can Save a Search (just the parameters, not the results) to
easily repeat a search in the future. parameters, not the
results.
Saved searches can also be added to your Scholar Home page
as a Stream. Fill in the fields and choose how many results
Sending an invitation
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you would like to view each time you access the search.
the Scholar Course Home page, but only the instructor may
add streams.
Register your course
• From the Control Panel, under Course Tools, select
Blackboard Scholar.
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Click Register/View Scholar Course Start Page.
Select the discipline.
Click Register Course.
Add the Scholar Course Home page
Adding Resources
From a website
1. From the desired website, highlight any text to include in
the bookmark description.
2. From the Links (IE) or Bookmarks (Firefox) toolbar, click
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3. Enter your tag criteria
4. Click Save.
Adding a bookmark:
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From your homepage click add a bookmark.
Fill out the form. Be sure to type in the bookmark name
and the URL that it links to.
You may also enter any tags that you want for this
bookmark.
Click save.
Your bookmark will show at the very top of the other
bookmarks.
From a Content Area in your course, select Edit View.
Click Course Link
Enter a name and description.
Click Browse for a course link location.
Select Tools and click Scholar Course Home.
Click Submit.
Add Scholar bookmarks and streams
You can add Scholar bookmarks and streams to any Content
Area .
To add a Scholar bookmark:
1. From the Content Area, select Edit View.
2. From the drop-down menu, select Scholar Bookmark (or
Scholar Stream) and click Go.
3. Enter the search criteria, and click Search.
From the list of results, select the bookmarks you want to
add.
4. Click Add Selected Bookmarks to Blackboard.
Importing bookmarks
1. Save your bookmarks to a file.
2. From the Scholar Home page, click Settings.
3. Click Import Bookmarks.
• Browse for the saved bookmark file.
• Enter desired tags and choose how to handle
duplicate bookmarks.
• Click Import.
Using the scholar in a course
Each course in the Blackboard Learning System can have its
own Scholar Course Home page. Scholar Course Home is
similar to My Scholar Home, except it is accessible by all
members of the course. An instructor can add course-specific
bookmarks and streams to Scholar Course Home, just like
with My Scholar Home. Students can also add bookmarks to
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