Slide walk through of how to use blackboard in your classroom and how to simplify access for your students.

1. Getting Your Students
Onboard with Blackboard

2. Benefits of Using Blackboard in your Face to
Face Courses
• Multiple Learning Styles: Blackboard can allow you to provide multiple
content formats (text, images, sound, audio, animations, graphs, etc.), which
allows for students to find material based on their preferred learning style.
• Convenience and Flexibility: Course materials are available on Blackboard
on-demand from any location, allowing students to learn when and where
they like. It also allows you to post materials outside class sessions.
• Student Expectations: Many Triton students come to campus having
utilized online resources and learning management tools in their previous
education. If not, most students have engaged with social media for years,
which presents information in mixed media formats. Offering a less tech-
engaged or multimedia centered learning environment may feel stale to
today’s students.

3. Measuring/Assessing Students’ Blackboard
Skills and Knowledge
•What have you experienced as the main
roadblocks to student usage of Blackboard?
•How do you make sure that your students can
and do use Blackboard?

4. Logging On: How to Begin
• Every member of the Triton community logs into Blackboard in the same way:
• Username: last eight digits of the Triton ID
• Password: last four digits of Social Security Number
• Some students will not know how to log on, and will not have access to their student ID.
• As the instructor you can access each student’s username.
• 1) Control panel
• 2) Click on “users” under users and groups.
• 3) The username (last 8 digits) is listed for each user in the left-hand column.
• 4) Share that number with each student
• The next slide contains a screenshot of where this information can be found in your
course.

6. Tech Support/Student Accommodations
• The ETRC is Triton’s primary computer lab, open to students,
faculty, staff and community residents.
• ETRC is located on the first floor of the Learning Resource Center
(library) room A-100. (708) 456-0300 Ext. 3361
• The ETRC is the student support center for most Blackboard
courses. Services include orientations, online tutorials, tutoring,
e-mail, telephone, walk-in and online HELP form.

7. How to Use Blackboard in your Face to Face Course: Curating
Content
• Audio/Video/Websites: Small movie clips can be added into a Blackboard course or larger
videos can be uploaded from streaming services such as YouTube or vimeo. Articles from
websites as well as homepages themselves can be embedded into Blackboard to make it more
visually impactful and appealing. Adding podcasts on relevant topics can energize your
instructional content, bridging the gap between videos and lectures.
• These materials function as primary learning materials or you can create lessons or resource
collections on particular topics.
• Curating resources from a wide variety of sources and in a variety of formats:
1. Increases the multi-modality of your course.
2. Facilitates low-cost or now cost alternatives to costly textbooks (data states that students
increasingly less able and less willing to purchase costly textbooks, even at the risk of their
success in your course)
3. Allows your learning materials to be more in line with current events.

8. How to Use Blackboard in your Face to Face Course: The
Virtual Classroom
• Instructional content resurfaces online: You can provide materials online to
allow students to review (syllabus, lectures, links, etc.) information on their own
schedule. Access to PowerPoint presentations, old exam questions, homework
answers, etc., can provide students with study tools that will improve their
grades.
• I do not offer these materials off Blackboard– they must access Blackboard to
access these resources

9. How to Use Blackboard in your Course:
Assignments
• Assignments: Blackboard allows you to create an assignment that is
placed anywhere within the content area. Having a central repository
for assignments can streamline and simplify the grading process.
• Safe Assign also allows you to check submissions for plagiarism.
• Posting an assignment online allows you attach and upload specific
instructions, assignment rubrics, and model/mock examples of the
assignment.
• You can also upload media as an assignment prompt in an easy and
accessible way.

10. How to Use Blackboard in your Course:
Assessments
1. You can use tests and surveys to measure student knowledge, gauge progress,
and gather information from students.
2. More instructions can be found here:
3. https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Tests_Pools_Surveys

11. How to Use Blackboard in your Course:
Discussion Board
• Discussion Tool: Bb provides a threaded discussion, which allows students and
instructors to share concepts, ideas, questions and answers. This can:
1. engage students in ways that they might not be comfortable with in a face-to-
face classroom.
2. extend class time discussion by providing tools outside of class
3. ready them for a class session beforehand.

12. How to Use Blackboard: Course Wikis
• Course Wikis allow course members to contribute and modify one or more
pages of course-related materials and provide a means of sharing and
collaboration.
• Wiki how to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l6778cP0jM&t=173s
• All course members can use the wikis tool to record information and serve as a
repository for course information and knowledge.
• A course wiki can be a good source of information compiled by course members.
• Wikis can help build a community of collaboration and learning, as social
interaction increases during the exchange of information.

13. Posting Grades to Gradebook
• In the Blackboard Grade Center, you can post your students’
grades for assignments, tests, discussion posts, journals, blogs,
and wikis, and for ungraded items, such as surveys or self tests.
• You can also create grade columns for any activities or
requirements you want to grade, such as special projects,
participation, or attendance.
• Posting grades to Blackboard allows students to independently
track their progress.
• To learn more about setting up Gradebook, attend the 11/15
session (this Thursday!) with Pam Harmon.

14. Tracking/Analyzing Blackboard Use
• Every item added/uploaded to Blackboard can be set to track each
learner and their use of these materials.
• You can run a report that shows who, when, and the number of times
a user accesses each piece of material.
• Including these statistics could possibly be used as part of student
participation points.
• Tracking views and learner access informs you which materials are
deemed most useful/interesting/relevant to learners.

15. Retention Alert
• The Retention Center helps you determine which students in your course are not
engaging and participating with Blackboard materials or performing well on
assignments and assessments.
• Based on default rules and rules you create, you can easily see which students are
at potential risk.
• There are four categories that can be monitored:
1. Missed Deadlines
2. Grades
3. Course Activity
4. Course Access
• From the Retention Center, you can communicate with struggling students and
help them take action for improvement.

16. Guide/Instructions: Uploading Images
• Go to course materials or other course area where you would like to insert
materials (course materials, announcement, discussion, assessment)
• Click on “Create Item” if placing image in course materials as a stand alone
item
• Click on Insert/edit image thumbnail in the toolbar
• Resize/align as needed
• Include a caption if desired
• If you choose to attach image as a file at the bottom, you will just get a
download link, the image will not be visible in the content area.
• Sites such as google, pixabay, creative commons , OER resources are great
places to find images and allow you to select images based on licensing
status.

17. Guide/Instructions: Linking to Website
Materials
• Select and click the course content area where you want to add
the web link
• Click Build Content and select add URL from the menu
• Websites may also be inserted in the “add item” option
• Add a name for your link in the Name field and paste the URL
into the URL field from your browser's address bar
• Add explanatory text if needed or desired
• You have the option to attach a document to this URL, and
choose among a number of Options (including date limits,
tracking viewers etc)

18. Guide/Instructions: Uploading
Audio/Video into your Course from your
own files
• You can directly insert audio files into Blackboard from your
computer.
• You can 1) “add item” and then insert as a regular file OR 2) ‘Add
Audio” or “Add Video”
• Blackboard accepts the following file types: AIFF, MP3, MIDI, MP,
WAV, and WMA
• Video: ASF, AVI, MOV, MOOV, MPG, MPEG, QT, SWA, SWF, and WMV
• Not the best way to add media: Files often too large in size, students
might have trouble downloading or buffering will be jumpy, and most
importantly, COPYRIGHT VIOLATION for many works, particularly
commercial ones.
• Linking and Embedding is your best option!

19. Guide/Instructions:
Linking/Inserting/Embedding YouTube Videos
in Your Course
•
• Five different ways you can insert YouTube videos in your course.
• 1) Click on Build Content> “Add Web link” as we did to link to any
website.
• 2) Click on Build Content> “Add Item” you can then either 1)
insert a web link, 2) use the ‘Insert/embed media’ button, 3) or
go to mashups and search for a video, 4) embed it like any other
resource (we will discuss that later in this presentation)

20. Guide/Instructions: Embedding
Materials from the Web
• Variety of ways sites allow you to embed materials—survey the page
• Look for a “share” or “embed” button
• Copy the embed code
• Some sites (like CNN) require you visit a site like www.embedly.com
to complete the process
• Go to selected area of Blackboard course, create an item
• Type/write any information or directions you would like to appear
before the material is inserted
• Go to the HTML code view button and click (a box will pop up)
• Insert the copied embed code in that html pop up box
• Click submit

21. Guide/Instructions: Embedding Library Resources in
Blackboard
• Visit http://library.triton.edu/home
• Click “find articles tab”
• Explore different resources—Credo link is a useful repository
• Find material you would like to include
• Locate and Click on the Embed Code </> and a box will pop up
• Copy the embed code that pops up
• Make sure that the Triton library proxy is in front of the webpage so that learners can access materials
off the campus network
• https://triton.idm.oclc.org/login?url=
• Go to selected area of blackboard course, create an item
• Type/write any information or directions you would like to appear before the library resource is
inserted
• Go to the HTML code view button and click (a box will pop up)
• Insert the copied embed code from the library resource.
• Press enter to complete the process.

22. Guide/Instructions: Embedding Self-
Recorded Videos in Your Course
• Screencast-o-matic is free and allows you to record yourself, record what is on your computer
screen, or a combination of the two.
• https://screencast-o-matic.com/
• Need a Gmail/YouTube account
• Open screen cast-o-matic and follow prompts (You will need to download the application
every time you use it)
• In pop up screen, select screen cast, video recording, or combo, and select audio input (mic or
computer audio).
• Press “Record,” make recording then click “Done”
• Upload to YouTube: Make sure YouTube setting is set to public, select “Publish”
• Copy YouTube link of the video you just created.
• Follow procedure as you would for embedding any other YouTube video.
• You may also upload to other sites such as DropBox if you do not want to use YouTube.

23. Need Help?
We are email away!
bbhelp@triton.edu