ITL Links • Getting Started With Blackboard • Designing Your Blackboard Site • Adding Users to Blackboard • Adding Content to Blackboard • The Gradebook • Using Quizzes • Online Discussions • Collaboration • Blackboard Tools
Blackboard is a Web-based integrated teaching and learning environment. It has been available at UIC since the May of 1999. Course site development and navigation is accomplished through a consistent and easy-to-use web browser user interface. Any instructor can request a course site for their class by clicking on the "Request a site" link.
In order to login to Blackboard a user must have an account - instructors can get an account by requesting a site or having another instructor request that you have access to their Blackboard site. That single account can be enrolled in many course sites with different access levels. Upon login a user will see a list of course sites that their account is associated with. The user access level for each individual site will determine what types of tools and links the user will have access to. A single user can theoretically be enrolled in one site as an instructor and another site as a student.
How are sites created?
Sites are generally created on a semester by semester basis. If you teach a recurring course you can request that next semester's site be a copy of a previous semesters site - we will copy all the content and quizzes that you have created but leave the old student enrollments behind. Student users are enrolled based upon the call number that you provide at the time of site request. Your rosters will be uploaded automatically two weeks before each semester begins. If you have a site that would require special enrollment instructions you can e-mail blackboard@uic.edu and provide us with the specifics of how you would like your enrollment processed. You can request a course site at any time.
How do I specify when a site will be active?
Sites will be available to students based upon the date range of availability that you provide in your site request. For typical semester based sites they will remain available to students until two weeks after the semester ends. The course site itself will remain available on the server to you and any other instructors that you have added in for one full year - this is to facilitate the requesting of course site copies and to allow you to continue course content development. After that period your course site will be backed up and removed from the server. You can request that your course site be restored at any time by sending an e-mail message to blackboard@uic.edu.
Can I add a cohort, or have instructors participate in my site from other
institutions?
You have the ability to add in external (non-UIC affiliate users). If you would like to add these users to your course site please e-mail blackboard@uic.edu.
How do students get support?
Students typically understand how to use the system and will not have many problems.
In order to have their password changed they will need to use the on-line password
changing utility or visit a CSO consultant.
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Can you keep track of what students are doing on the system?
All user access is continually logged and monitored. Via the webserver's access log, we can completely trace each student's moves on the system. If someone claims to have had mysterious problems, please point this out to them before asking us to check into their problem. After hearing this information students often change their account of what happened.
When you request a site be sure to specify a few important bits of information - if you have it.
1) Call number: This is the number that students use when the register for your course. We use this information at the beginning of the semester to enroll your students. If you do not supply this information or if it is incorrect then there may be a delay in enrolling your students. If you do not have a call number type in 99999 on the site request. Keep in mind that you will have to either notify us of which students you'd like enrolled by providing us a list of their netids when you'd like them enrolled. If at anytime you have a question, or if your enrollment doesn't look complete feel free to e-mail blackboard@uic.edu.
2) Course Duration: We use this information to determine the type of site that we will create for you. This date range is directly correlated with when students will be able to login - when this date range is over students will see the site set as "unavailable". After your site is created you can adjust this information yourself at anytime by logging in and clicking "Control Panel>Settings>Course Duration".
A majority of sites on the server are semester based sites. They will be used during the course of a regular semester - when the semester is over the site will become unavailable to students. The site will remain on the server for one full year afterwards so you can request copies of it for subsequent semesters. After that it will be archived and taken off the server. It can be restored at any time by e-mailing us at blackboard@uic.edu.
If your site is for an external education program and will need to run at an irregular interval we will create a temporary course site. These course sites will be available based upon the date range that you submit. They will also remain on the server for one year to again facilitate the copying of the content of this site into a new site. At that time they will be archived and removed.
If your program never ends we will create this site as a continuous course site. Continuous course sites never have a regular roster upload interval - in addition, we do not back up these sites at regular intervals. Since the course is never copied this can cause the roster for the site to become bloated. We ask that anyone creating a continuous site please contact us at blackboard@uic.edu to set up a regular backup and maintenance interval for your site.
Students are enrolled into your site based upon the call numbers you specify in your site request. The batch enrollment process is run two weeks before the semester begins, and then on every Tuesday and Friday until the Add/Drop deadline has passed. The batch enrollment will add students into your course site, but you will need to remove students that drop.
If you are running a course site that does not have a call number you can send a list of the netids of the students that you'd like enrolled to blackboard@uic.edu.
If the students or users you wish to enroll in your site are not affiliated with UIC or do not have netids please contact us by sending an e-mail to blackboard@uic.edu.
If for some reason your students did not get captured by the batch upload you can enroll student accounts already on the system into your course site. Please review the "Adding Users" section for more information.
There are many blackboard support resources available to UIC faculty and staff. We have extensive documentation available on-line, including white papers, FAQs, and a variety of How-To guides and UIC specific troubleshooting scenarios.
We highly recommend stopping by the ITL for a Blackboard CourseInfo introductory or refresher session when you first begin using the system. Despite the fact that the system is very easy to use we have found a strong correlation between Blackboard intros and positive Blackboard experiences! Simply visit the ITL homepage and click on the link labeled "Making reservations" to request an appointment.
If you are unable to find the information you are looking for in our support documentation, or if you are experiencing a problem that has not been covered in the documentation you can send us an e-mail at blackboard@uic.edu. This special account has been set up to assist Faculty members with their Blackboard questions.
To obtain guest access to a course
site please contact the instructor of the site.
If you wish to grant guest access to someone not affiliated with UIC, or to someone
who does not have a UIC netid please e-mail blackboard@uic.edu.
For more information on adding and enrolling users please review the "Adding Users" topic pages.
All students that are affiliated with UIC and need to use Blackboard for a course site that they are registered for will have accounts automatically created for them.
If you would like to get a Blackboard account please fill out a request for a Blackboard site; if you'd like to be added to someone else's site please have that instructor send an e-mail to blackboard@uic.edu requesting that you be added into their site as an instructor.
For all other accounts that you'd like to create (external users, test accounts, dummy users, and temporary access) please e-mail blackboard@uic.edu.
Blackboard is a very easy to use system, but there are a few tips that can help you to really make the most out of it.
3. Stop in for a Blackboard intro session, or request one at any time by visiting the ITL Homepage and clicking on the link labeled "Making Reservations". These sessions can really get you up to speed, and more importantly can be customized to deal with your discipline specific questions and help you make the most out of the system.
To login to the system you must have an account (username and password). If you are an instructor and you do not have a username and password you can request a site by clicking on the link labeled "Request a Site" above.
If you already have a Blackboard account visit http://blackboard.uic.edu and login using your username and password.
If you have forgotten your password you can try to reset it yourself by visiting http://passwords.accc.uic.edu.
If you are unable to login altogether please send an e-mail to blackboard@uic.edu.
At the end of the semester your Blackboard site will remain on the server for one full year. This will allow you to request a copy of the course site if you teach it annually, or if you teach it every semester.
Student access to your site will be turned off according to the dates of availability you submitted in your Blackboard site request (by default this will occur two weeks after the semester ends). Your site will remain accessible to you and all other instructors for the full year.
After your site has been on the server for one full year we will archive it, save it on disk, and remove it from the server. If at any time you would like an old site restored you can submit a request to blackboard@uic.edu and we will restore it to the server.
Blackboard is a web browser based learning management system. Most students are able to use the system with little to no training. If a user knows how to browse the web they will know how to use Blackboard.
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Last Modified: July 8, 2005 - Instructional Technology Lab