BB BootCamp #1

Blackboard Boot Camp
Module I - Workshop Outline (Use Firefox Browser)

Our students will be competing for jobs with students from India, China, Russia and Japan and in this global economy they will be doing it in the online environment according to Thomas L. Friedman in his recent NY Times Bestseller The World is Flat.

Blackboard is an online course management and instructional delivery system. There are others out there such as Moodle and Web CT and it really doesn’t matter which one you use as long as you have a strong instructional design strategy in place to teach your course. It is like driving a car. If you learn to drive on a Toyota you should be able to get in a Nissan or Honda and drive away - if you learn on Blackboard you should be able to teach on Moodle or Web CT (with some basic familiarization and training) because you already have your online teaching methodology developed - you are just using a new tool to teach with.

Its important to understand how to use an online course management system to its fullest potential if you are going to teach online. The online environment is very different from the classroom environment and demands a different approach to your instructional methodology. Teaching online is more a matter of understanding how to communicate (instruct & assess) your course content than it is any course management system like Blackboard. Educators must realize its not so much about the tool as it is harnessing and channeling the power of the spftware to do what you want it to do for you.

1. Blackboard Interface Overview
• Content Placement (What goes Where)
• Button (Link) Order and Usage (Turn OFF ALL Buttons You Don’t Use)
• Navigating the Blackboard (Best Practices) Course Map and Course Content Hierarchy)

2. Course Areas and Course Content (pg. 60 & 61)

• Review Control Panel - What you need to know
• Manage Content Areas

a. Add / Remove and edit items and folders
b. Organize order of Items
c. Add and manage (stats tracking) content

3. Content Types Page 61 and 62

Hands On Time

1. Recruits will create a folder and then add an item to that folder in the Assignments Manager. pg. 86 (see handout) The search google and add an external link (web site) that relates to that content. Then will find an image that illustrates that content and place it under the folder as a thumbnail. (Page 64) (Need a word document to do this or type in some content into the dialogue box and click submit)

Review Visual Textbox editor Pg. 28 - 34
File Extensions recognized by blackboard pgs.67 - 69

2. Create an introductory announcement for your class. Page 112 and 113 - add an external link and embed an image from google - be aware that the announcement formatting tool bar doesn’t have the photo icon so you must right click copy and paste the image in or use html code page 36 - 38.

3. Creating, Managing and Grading Discussion Boards 156 - 171

(Create a Discussion Board and add a discussion topic and image from google to illustrate it.)

4. Manage Course menu (Changing order of Buttons) Pg. 173
5. Course Design pg. 178 Uploading a Banner Pg. 179
6. Course Settings pg. 184 Course Availability 186

7. Test Manager pg. 237 - 274 (Creating a Test)

8. Managing Grade Book pg. 274 - 321

9. Evaluating Course Stats - 321

10. Message Board

11.. Q&A