As you start to think about your summer 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- If Select All is not used, make sure to include Grade Center Columns and Settings if Assignments and/or Tests are being copied.
- 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.
- In the “File Attachments” section, keep the default settings.
- 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.
Making your Course Shell Available to Students
When your course shell is ready for students to view, you will need to give them access. All course sites are unavailable to students by default. You can easily make your course sites available from the My Home page using the Qwickly multi-course tool.
If you are in your course site, here are the directions for making it available to your students. To open your course:
- In your Blackboard Learn course shell, in the Control Panel, expand the Customization section and click Properties.
- On the next screen, scroll down to the “Set Availability” section and select Yes to make the course available.Note: We recommend that you select Yes instead of Use Term Availability. Term Availability is set to the last day of classes and will close your course site that day (even though your students might still need access to finish up the course).
- Click Submit to enable your students to see and access your course shell.
Preparing your Blackboard Learn Course Site for a New Semester
If you have already been using Blackboard Learn for your courses, please check out this handy reference to help you prepare your Blackboard Learn course site for a new semester at http://goo.gl/pZbUZ8.
Blackboard Learn Pre-semester Course Checklist
Once you course has been copied over, please review this checklist at https://goo.gl/18q3r5 to help you make sure your course site in Blackboard Learn is ready to go for the upcoming semester.
Please do not hesitate to contact the Blackboard Learn Helpdesk at bbhelp@northshore.edu if there are any issues with Blackboard Learn.
Welcome to iDevelop, a weekly eNewsletter providing faculty with information about professional development opportunities at NSCC. The intent of this eNewsletter is to spotlight the various professional development events for faculty in one convenient location as well as share best practices, resources and tips related to the teaching practice. iDevelop is being brought to you by the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CTLI).
20 Minute Online Professional Development
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the spring semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets. The topic for the week of May 7th is How Can I Write Better Letters of Recommendation? The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week. For information on accessing the presentation and supplemental materials, please view the Bulletin or the email version of iDevelop.
More information about this session (including description, topics, and learning goals) is available at https://www.magnapubs.com/online/mentor/how-can-i-write-better-letters-of-recomendation-14570-1.html. The complete spring schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2018/01/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.
Looking for transcripts of past Monday Morning Mentor sessions? Please email ctli@northshore.edu with the session title and we can provide you with the transcript and supplementary materials.
Other Professional Development Opportunities
- New @ NSCC - Virtual Classrooms with Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. Faculty are invited to learn about a new instructional technology available at NSCC, Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a virtual classroom tool that allows faculty to have synchronous, real-time conversations with their students that can include audio and video interaction with students, an interactive whiteboard, application and desktop sharing, informal polling, and breakout rooms for student groups. If you would like to learn more about how Blackboard Collaborate Ultra can be used in your face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses, we hope you can join us at our New @ NSCC session on Thursday, May 10th from 2:30pm to 3:30pm in Lynn South, LS314 (CTLI Training Room). If you are interested in attending, please RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/PothEwANQRm3h9bx1. If you are unable to attend but would like more information on Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, please contact Andrea Milligan to set up a time to talk more at your convenience.
Upcoming Webinars of Interest
- Designing courses as a student Hero’s Journey [BITS] on May 9, 2018 at 1:00pm Eastern. The speaker, Dr. Szymon Machajewski, "will synthesize the Exemplary Course Program Rubric and Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to help instructional designers and instructors tell an epic story in their courses." Register at https://community.blackboard.com/events/1901-bits-designing-courses-as-a-student-heros-journey.
- The Importance of Student Collaboration in OER Projects [CCCOER Webinar] on May 9, 2018 at 2:00pm Eastern. "Students have a valuable role to play in advocating for open education as well as the creation and revision of OER. Join us to hear from faculty, a student, and several administrators on how student collaboration has helped advanced their OER initiatives and contributed to student digital literacy."
More information with registration information at https://www.cccoer.org/webinar/may-9-the-importance-of-student-collaboration-in-oer-projects/.
Share Your Teaching Resources and Professional Development Opportunities
Please share your ideas, teaching strategies, and tips by emailing ctli@northshore.edu and we will share them in the next few issues of iDevelop. Also, please feel free to share any teaching resources or professional development opportunities that other NSCC faculty might be interested in.
We hope you have enjoyed this weekly eNewsletter and would love your input. Please let us know if you have any feedback on the format, content, and resources or if there is anything else you would like to see in the eNewsletter.
Thank you,
Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation
