Welcome to the Blackboard Academic Suite™! The Blackboard Learning System offers Instructors a robust set of tools, functions, and features for teaching and the Blackboard Portal System offers the same set of tools, functions, and features for managing a campus Organization. The Instructor Manual provides detailed information about building and managing courses on the Blackboard Learning System. It is designed to be used as a reference tool for teaching a course on the Blackboard Learning System.
In this manual you will find information about all course-related features the Blackboard Learning System offers—from the most basic features for those Instructors new to Blackboard to in-depth looks at all the advanced functions the Blackboard Learning System has to offer. Because this manual is focused on teaching a course, it focuses on the Blackboard Learning System. Although it must be noted that Organization Managers (Organizations are a feature of the Blackboard Portal System) should also use this manual as the features and functions for controlling an Organization are the same as those for controlling a Course.
For detailed information on using other Blackboard Portal System features (and to see how Students interact with the Blackboard Learning System) please consult the Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual.
The Blackboard 6 Education Suite™ includes:
· Blackboard Learning System™ (Release 6.1)
· Blackboard Learning System - Basic Edition™ (Release 6.1)
· Blackboard Portal System™ (Release 6.1)
· Blackboard Learning System - ML™
For most users, it is only important to know what Blackboard products are in use when determining if a particular function is available.
This document does not provide information on Blackboard Learning System – ML.
Note: Organization Managers will find this manual useful in building and running organization Web sites. The functions and tools found in courses are all available for organization management.
The Blackboard Academic Suite Instructor Manual begins by contextually reviewing the teaching and learning environment for Instructors. The bulk of the manual is dedicated to the functions available to Instructors through the Course Control Panel. Beginning with Chapter 2, each chapter corresponds with an area of the Control Panel.
To make this manual easier to use a number of conventions have been put in place. These conventions are detailed in the table below
|
Symbol |
Description |
|
Bold type |
A button or field name. |
|
Courier font |
Text that users should type. |
|
Steps |
Tasks users should perform. |
|
Additional information in a title that may not be included on the Web page. | |
|
[r] |
Required field |
This manual is meant to serve as a reference guide, rather than as a book to be read from cover to cover. If using an electronic copy of the manual, the embedded links enable the reader to click through topics and follow the same workflows that appear in the software.
Please note that the Blackboard Academic Suite Instructor Manual is updated periodically. Check the Date Last Update at the beginning of the manual to ensure that it is the most recent copy. Any updates are listed in the Appendix.
The HTML version is available by clicking Online Admin Manual from the Course Control Panel and at http://www.blackboard.com/products/services/support. Also, the Behind the Blackboard extranet includes the most current versions of the user manuals in PDF format for those who would like to print a hard copy.
To report any comments or suggestions regarding this manual, please contact Blackboard Support.
Please contact your System Administrator to answer questions about which Blackboard product is installed at your institution.