Communication @ blackboard.blog-city.com

How can an instructor delete a specific post in a discussion thread?

roger.gardner — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:08:00 GMT

To delete a specific post in a discussion thread:

Click on the Forum
Click on Tree view in the top right
Click on Expand all to see all posts
Select the ones you wish to remove
Click Remove

How can I allow participants to keep updated about discussions in a forum?

roger.gardner — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:07:00 GMT

In Blackboard 8, it is now possible to subscribe to a discussion thread or forum. This means that whenever a new post is made in a forum or as part of a particular thread, you are notified by email. See http://blackboard.blog-city.com/how_can_i_stay_informed_of_whats_happening_on_a_forum.htm for details of how to subscribe.

This can be enabled by the instructor in the discussion forum settings, as shown in the screenprint below. To edit the settings find the discussion board page and click on Modify to the right of the relevant forum.

How do I add an activity to my Blackboard course?

roger.gardner — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:21:00 GMT

A range of activities are available in Blackboard, which can be added to your course, e.g. assignments, discussion boards, wikis and blogs. These can be added as follows:

Open the Control Panel
Open the Content Area where you want to add the activity.
Click on the Select drop-down menu in the top right.
Click on the activity which you want to add and click Go.
Give the activity a name and fill in the other required fields, then click OK.

What is Blackboard?

Andy Ramsden — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:32:00 GMT

Blackboard is the centrally supported institutional online learning environment of the University of Bristol. All students and staff of the university have access to Blackboard. Blackboard provides a range of tools to support teaching and learning.

In the words of Sheffield Hallam University:

Blackboard is a flexible e-learning platform enhancing teaching and learning over the Internet. It is easy to use, and has many features. Tutors can make unit descriptions, staff information, assignments, reading lists and useful web sites available on the Internet (without knowing any HTML), and make existing Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and Powerpoint presentations available online.

Tutors also have an opportunity to make important announcements, create interactive tests with instant feedback to students, track student activity and create statistical reports of student grades. Students can work together in small groups, and share files with each other through the use of discussion forums.

Blackboard is an ideal forum for discussion, learning, and integration outside of the classroom.

Source: Sheffield Hallam University (http://elearning.shu.ac.uk/blackboard/index.html)

How do I add my staff information to my Blackboard course?

Kate Reader — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:06:00 GMT

As an instructor you can add information about you that students can access. This includes, contact details, office hours, and a photo. To add your details then,

Click on Control Panel
Click on Staff Information (Course Tools)
Click on Profile
Complete the form
Click on Submit

Other faq's are available from the Blackboard Service Blog - simply go to http://www.blackboard.blog-city.com, and select FAQ from the tags area.

How can I stay informed of what's happening on a forum?

Hilary — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:24:00 GMT

Blackboard discussion boards now allow you to subscribe to a thread and receive email notification of any updates or changes to it.

Open the forum
Enter the thread
Click Subscribe

Notice for students: If you cannot see this feature it may be that your lecturer has decided not to use it, please check with your course instructor / administrator :-)

Podcasting material from your Blackboard course

Andy Ramsden — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:18:00 GMT

Students can subscribe to your content (assuming you let them) through their version of iTunes, Juice and other software, and all you need to do is add your content to Blackboard in the same easy way.

To release your material as a podcast, you need to do the following.

1. Create the material, for instance, a recording of your lecture or a discussion with students
2. Upload to Blackboard. In a content area, select the drop down menu (right side of the screen), and select podcast content. Then complete the form, uploading the material. Please note, as with most options in Blackboard you can also add supporting text and attach other files. Students can access your recordings direct from this point.
3. To podcast you need to create a podcast feed. You can do this automatically, simply click on Manage Podcast. Ensure you've set the visibility option to Everyone. Then either add the communication tools via the control panel (manage tools) or add the podcasting tool to the left navigation (manage course menu). Your students will be able to find the subscription from here.

Please note - step 3, only has to be completed once.

If you have any questions then please email bb-help@bristol.ac.uk.

Below is an example video on how to add content for podcasting in Blackboard.

What is the sign-up list?

Andy Ramsden — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:15:00 GMT

It is a tool which you make available through a content area in your course so that students can enroll themselves (sign up) for a tutor groups, activities, workshops, essays etc., It can be viewed as an electronic version of a sign up sheet that use to be pinned onto a departmental notice board.

The tool offers significant flexibility in allowing you to create multiple sign up lists, controlling the group size, allowing people to reserve places, not displaying the names of those you have signed up, and using the sign up lists generate Blackboard group membership.

Thread, forum, discussion board - what's the difference?

Hilary — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:59:00 GMT

Discussion board: each Blackboard course contains a Discussion Board area, which can be accessed from Communications / Discussion Board. The Discussion board page contains a list of forums which have been created on the course.
Forum: a forum is an area that has been set up to house discussions, for example discussions around a particular topic or for a particular group. Click the underlined name of the forum to access the content. A forum is always listed on the Discussion Board page, but can be accessed from any part of the course if a link is created. A forum may have multiple threads, or asynchronous discussions.
Thread: a thread is a set of messages (posts and reples).

As an instructor can I add students to a specific list?

Andy Ramsden — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:48:00 GMT

Yes you can. You need to access the point in Blackboard and it will display the number of places filled and the people who have signed up. As an instructor you will also have an Add button and a Modify button.

To manually add people then click on Add, then it will display all the people enrolled on the course and you simply tick the ones you’d like to add, then click on submit.

How do I use the sign up lists to drive group membership in Blackboard, for adaptive release etc.,?

Andy Ramsden — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:41:00 GMT

Once the groups are full, or the sign period has ended then you can transfer the membership of the sign up list to a specific Blackboard group. This will allow you to use other group functions, in particular adaptive release.

To do this, simply access the sign up list in Blackboard then click on the Group Tool button. You can then select the group you want to add the people into from the drop down menu. If you want to add a new group then simply click on the Create a new group button. After you’ve created the group you’ll be returned to this page. You need to decide what you’d like to do with the exiting students in the group, i.e., leave them and just add new people, or remove them before populating with the sign up membership.