Faculty Tutorials for Blackboard 9
Bb 9: What's New?
This version of Blackboard contains some exciting new social learning and teaching tools, an improved course site workflow and a more accessibile interface. New tools and features include:
- Course Wikis - providing a collaborative student space for group projects and adding grading capability
- Blogs - promoting commenting and conversation and adding grading capability
- Journals - promoting individual reflection and adding grading capability
- Mash-Ups - integrating Web 2.0 resources from YouTube (videos), Slideshare (presentations) and Flickr (images) and automatically adding credits to the source for these objects
- Enhanced Course Menu - adding lines for subdividers and bolding text
- Improved Grading - moving from one cell to another more rapidly
- Faster Assessment Creation - improving question categorization and adding color to certain grading criteria
- Advanced Accessibility - increasing options for universal design for learning
Several features and tools that have been present in previous versions of Blackboard are no longer available, including:
- Control Panel - replaced with an "Edit" and "Nonedit" button
- Digital Dropbox - replaced with Assignment Links
- Student Homepages - replaced with Blogs and Journals
Review, save or print a "Where Is It?" quickstart guide that shows you where tools are located in Blackboard 9.1.
View a detailed document of changes between Blackboard version 8 (our current version) and the new Version 9 that we will be using beginning May 23, 2011.
Bb 9: "How To..." Tutorials
Blackboard 9's "look and feel" introduces some changes from previous versions, and therefore it will look different. You may wish to get acquainted with this new interface by viewing the following tip sheet and/or video tutorials first:
- Adding a link to a Film on Demand video into your Bb course site
- Adding YouTube Videos to Your Blackboard Course
- Downloading your Bb Grade Center into an Excel Spread Sheet
- Getting Started with Your Course Environment
- Using the Text Editor
- Working with Your Course Menu and Customizing the Course Home Page
For a complete range of tip sheets and/or video tutorials on using tools and features, visit each of the areas below (may require scrolling):
- Understanding and Building Your Course videos
- working in the course environment
- tip sheet: getting started with course content
- building course content
- tip sheet: getting started with learning modules
- setting permissions
- course utilities
- Communicating and Collaborating videos
- using the discussion board
- tip sheet: getting started with groups
- managing group work
- blogs and journals
- wikis
- announcements and scheduling
- Assessing Learners videos
- tip sheet: getting started with the grade center
- grade center
- tip sheet: getting started with building a test
- tests, surveys and pools
- tip sheet: getting started with safe assign
- tip sheet: getting started with assignments
- assignments
- student performance
View the Instructor Manual for the new Version 9 that we will be using beginning May 23, 2011.
Bb 9: Browser Guide
View recommended browsers for use with this version of Blackboard and also find instructions for your browser version, fixing pop up security warnings,blocked site notices, compatibility mode issues and enabling JavaScript.
Bb 9: Known Issues and Bug Reports
View a continually updated list of faculty-reported issues and work-arounds. Please report any issues you experience to Faculty Blackboard Technical Support (847.925.6090 or via email to bbtechsupport@harpercollege.edu so they can be researched and then added to the CII Blog as resolutions are found.
Bb 9: JAWS Accessibility Tutorial
View a screen reader accessible tutorial for using this version of Blackboard, as well as locate a list of JAWS keyboard shortcut keys for accessing various Blackboard functions.
Watch a JAWS screen reader in action with commonly used Blackboard tools from both a student and faculty perspective.
Bb 9: Additional Learning Resources
Review the Blackboard resources found here, and submit others you find helpful so we can keep the resource list growing!
Ask Dr. C (ADC) is an active blog site moderated by selected faculty across the country and beyond. Visit this site to view best practices for Blackboard use and locate some ideas that might work for you!