Preparing for Fall 2017 Courses in Blackboard Learn

As you start to think about your fall courses, we wanted to share with you the following important information that will help you prepare your course site in Blackboard Learn.

Copying a Course
To copy a previous course site into a new one in Blackboard Learn:

1. Go into the course site that has the content to copy. In the Control Panel, expand the "Packages and Utilities" section and click Course Copy.
2. On the next screen, in the “Select Copy Type” section, make sure Copy Course Materials into Existing Course is selected in the drop down menu.
3. Now, in the “Select Copy Options” section, next to the Destination Course ID field, click Browse. Then, find and select the Course ID for the new course (the one you want to put the content into). Click Submit.
4. Select the Course Materials that you want to copy over to the new course. Usually, Select All is the best choice, although you might not want to copy announcements.
1. If Select All is not used, make sure to include Grade Center Columns and Settings if Assignments and/or Tests are being copied.
2. Also, under Discussion Board, select Include only the forums, with no starter posts if threads are not created by the instructor for students to respond to. If not, all student threads will copy over as anonymous and they will need to be deleted.
5. In the “File Attachments” section, keep the default settings.
6. Click Submit.

Please note: When a previous course site is copied over into a new course site, any new or changed content areas will be added to the bottom of the course menu.

Make Your Course Available
All Blackboard Learn course sites are unavailable to students by default. Here are the directions for making the course site available to your students. To open your course:

1. Go into the course site.
2. On the Control Panel, expand the "Customization" section and click Properties.
3. On the next screen, in the "Set Availability" section, select Yes to make the course available.
4. Click Submit.

Preparing a Blackboard Learn Course Site for a New Semester
Please check out this handy reference at http://goo.gl/pZbUZ8 to help you prepare a  Blackboard Learn course site for a new semester.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Blackboard Learn Helpdesk at bbhelp@northshore.edu if there are any issues with Blackboard Learn.

August and September Blackboard Learn and Instructional Technology Workshops

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation's Instructional Technology and Design team will be holding various Blackboard Learn and Instructional Technology workshops in August and September.

In August and September, the CTLI's Instructional Technology and Design team will be sponsoring a series of workshops on a variety of topics around integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment as well as on using Blackboard Learn.

Workshops include:

• Introduction to Blackboard Learn
• Blackboard Learn Interaction Tool: Discussion Board
• Blackboard Learn: Using Interactive Grading Rubrics
• Blackboard Learn: Assignments and Safe Assign
• Blackboard Learn: Tests and Surveys
• Blackboard Learn: Grade Center and Grading
• Blackboard Learn: Mobile Apps and Mobile Course Design
• Blackboard Collaborate: Virtual Classrooms
• Using Google Docs for Communication and Collaboration
• New to Smart Classrooms

To view the complete schedule of workshop sessions (with descriptions) and to RSVP, please visit this web site: https://goo.gl/forms/aVtgRWsTsGb2GDO62.

If interested in attending a workshop, please make sure to RSVP. A workshop will be cancelled if less than three people sign up for it.