The document provides instructions for instructors on setting up and customizing their course site in Blackboard at UIC. It discusses preparing the course shell, accessing the shell, customizing the design, adding content like syllabi and announcements, adding grades to the grade center, and getting help. Key steps include setting the course availability, adding a welcome announcement, uploading files to the content system, and customizing the course menu and tools.

1. UIC
Blackboard
Portal
GETTING
STARTED
IN
BLACKBOARD
PREPARING YOUR BLACKBOARD LEARN
COURSE SHELL
A course shell is automatically created for all CRN
Based courses about 90 days before each semester
starts. If you have previous courses in Blackboard, you
can copy the content or request a copy to be made by
the ITL staff. You must be the “Instructor of Record” as
known by the registrar’s office, for both the source and
the destination course. The courses will be listed in
you’re My Courses tab. You need to fill out a merge
courses form if you have to combine two or more
sections with different CRNs into one course shell.
NOTE: You must have an active netID and password to
access Blackboard.
ACCESSING YOUR COURSE SHELL
• Go to Blackboard.uic.edu to access the portal. Use your
netID and password to login.
• In the My
Courses
tab
you
locate
the
My
Courses
Plus
module.
You
will
see
a
list
of
courses
sorted
by
semester,
for
which
you
are
the
instructor.
You
can
expand
or
collapse
each
semester
folder
as
needed.
Click
on
the
course
site
you
want
to
access.
• Edit Mode Selection
Make sure the Edit Mode located in the upper-right
corner is set to ON. With Edit Mode OFF you see what
your students see.
NOTE: You can also use the Go To
Student View Button to test the course
site as student.
SETTING UP YOUR COURSE SITE
You can customize your course design by changing
the color and style of the course menu and displaying
a banner. In addition, you can also change the Entry
Point of the Course.
• In the Control Panel, click Customization > Teaching
Style
• Select the Course Entry Point.
• Select a Course Theme.
• Select the Menu Style and the
Default Content View.
• Upload a banner by browsing your computer
files
> Submit.
Customizing the Course Menu
• To add a new course menu item click on the
and select the area you want to add > enter a Name
for it, checkmark Available to Users > then
submit.
• To remove, hide or delete a course menu
item click on the contextual menu icon that
appears on the right side of each course menu link
and select the desired option.
NOTE: If you remove a menu item, all information
within that area is removed permanently.
• To
change
the
order
of
the
course
menu:
click
the
up-­‐down
arrow
on the left side of each course
menu > drag until you see a dotted line (where you
want to move the menu) > release the click to
finalize the move.
• Course Menu: contains links
students use to navigate your
course site. You can rename,
add or delete any of the menu
items.
• Control Panel: allows you
easy access to all the
instructional and customizing
tools.
NOTE: You can expand/collapse items in Course Menu
and Control Panel by clicking any of the menu buttons.
In the Course Menu, select Tools > in the Tools page, click on
the Hide Link button next to the tools that you are not using.
NOTE: You can make it available to students by
clicking Show Link next to the tool if you decide to use
it later in the semester.
ADDING CONTENT TO YOUR COURSE SITE
When you save a file that you will be uploading into
Blackboard it is very important that you and your
students follow specific naming conventions. Do NOT
use any special characters (#, !, &, etc) or blank spaces.
As a convention, the filename of any file you submit
should be less than 12 characters in length and must
include only letters, numbers, hyphens, and
underscores and it must end with a file extension.
Course Site
Customizing Your Course Design
Turning Off Unnecessary Tools (hiding links)
Naming Files

2. If you are using a shell for the
first time, Go to the Control
Panel menu, select Content
System > your course folder
corresponds to your course ID #.
Click Upload > Upload Files.
NOTE: This allows you to reuse
files in multiple areas within your course(s).
Building Content
Various types of content can be selected from the
Build Content drop down menu and added to a Content
Area.
NOTE: Most Content added to a Content Area can be set
to display on a specific date and time and to stop
displaying on a specific date and time. Display restrictions
do not affect content, only the availability of the content
item to your students.
1. In the Course Menu, select Course Documents
or Course Information > hover over Build
Content and select Item.
2. Type in the Name of your Syllabus or document.
Include the file type and relative information in the
Text box.
3. Browse Content Collection for the file, select the
radio button, provide the Link Title, select the
desired Options >Submit.
on the Create Contact button > complete the template >
Submit.
NOTE: You must select Make the Profile Available =
Yes for students to see the information.
WELCOMING YOUR STUDENTS
In the Course Menu, select Announcements > click on
the Create Announcement button > fill in the Subject
and Message fields and select the appropriate Options >
Submit.
NOTE: Consider posting a Welcome Announcement. In
this message you may want to include the date/time of
class, a brief course overview, instructor’s name and
contact information, any textbook information, where
your students can find the syllabus, as well as how you
intend to use Blackboard.
In the Control Panel, click Course Tools > Send Email >
in the Send Email page, select the All Users > type in a
Subject and a Message > Submit.
In the Control Panel, click Customization and select
Properties > Set Availability, Make Course Available
= Yes > Submit.
NOTE: All courses are set to unavailable to students by
default. Before you make your course available, go
through all course content and make sure all URL’s and
documents are current and reflect current semester
information.
ADDING GRADES TO YOUR COURSE
Adding Grades in the Full Grade Center
There are several ways to add grades or
assessment columns in the Blackboard Grade
Center.
• Automatically
o Created when you select items from the
Create Assessment menu or grading for
any of the communication tools.
• Manually
o Select Grade Center
o Select Full Grade Center
o Select Create Column
• Enter the column information.
• Select Score for the Primary Display and/or
the optional Secondary Display.
• Select the desired Category) from the drop
down menu
• Enter in the Points Possible.
• Select the optional Due Date. (this will show on
the students Bb course dashboard .)
• In the Options area, select Yes to Include this
Column in the Grade Center Calculations and
Show this Column to Students and Show Statistics
if you want the students to see these options.
• Click Submit.
• To enter/change grades in a spreadsheet-like
way: 1) in the Full Grade Center page, click on the
cell in which you would like to put a grade (you may
need to scroll to the right to find the column)
• type the grade directly into the cell and 2) press Enter
to save the grade. The cursor will be moved one cell
down by default.
• To override grades in the grade details page:
• From the drop down menu next to any
automatically graded item select View Grade
Details, 2) select the Manually Override tab. You
will then be able to enter the grade, 3) click Save
and Return to Grade Center.
GETTING HELP WITH BLACKBOARD
Email: Blackboard@uic.edu
Phone: (312) 996-9824
• Blackboard Website: http://blackboard.uic.edu
Adding Files to Your Content System
Uploading Your Syllabus or other course documents
Creating Your Contact Information
In the Course Menu, select Staff Information and click
Posting a Welcome Announcement
Sending a Welcome Email
Making Your Course Available (REQUIRED for your
students to access your course site.)