As you begin the Fall 2018 semester, here are some important updates to Blackboard we’d like to share with you.
Automatic Course Creation
All courses will now be created in Blackboard automatically. There is no longer a course request system. Your courses will be displayed in the “My Courses” area on the page after the login screen. All created courses are set to unavailable and must be turned on by the instructor when ready. You can do this using the Qwickly module (http://goqwickly.com/demos/) on the home screen of Blackboard or by going into the course and going to Customization -> Properties -> Availability.
Merging Courses
Since all courses are being automatically created, there is a new way to merge your courses within the Blackboard platform. This creates a “parent/child” relationship where you maintain one course for working with the students. The student will see the course in which they are enrolled as the title of the course but will be directed to the parent course. More information on merging courses can be found here: http://bit.ly/2OAj2eJ
Organize your course list by term
To help you manage all the courses (past, present and future), it is recommended that you turn on “Group by term” in the “My Courses” area. To turn this on, hover over the “My Courses” title bar and click on the gear icon to the right of the title. On the next screen, click on “Group by term”. Once this is on, you can rearrange the terms, select which ones are visible to you, select which ones to expand when first logging on, etc. Step-by-step instructions can be found here: http://bit.ly/2n2CcgI
Viewing student photos after Course Copy
If you copy a previous course into your new course, don’t forget to dismiss the completed notification so that student photos will appear under Tools -> Student Photos. More information can be found here: http://bit.ly/2LV5ZX0v
Students no longer removed from Blackboard courses
Beginning with Summer 2018, students will not be removed from courses until they graduate from the University. This means that if you do not wish for students to have access to your course after the end of the semester, you will need to make the course unavailable. You can do this using the Qwickly module (http://goqwickly.com/demos/) on the home screen of Blackboard or by going into the course and going to Customization -> Properties -> Availability.
We hope you have a successful semester and if we can assist in anyway please contact blackboard@richmond.edu or call 287-6860. For additional assistance please visit https://blog.richmond.edu/blackboard.
Thank you,