Export and Import Course Content or Course Copy
You can copy your content from one course to another by using either "Course Copy" or "Export/Import". Neither option seems to be a perfect solution, so remember to always gives yourself time to review the copied content. Export/Import does give you a back-up copy of your content saved to either your computer or other storage device, and Blackboard reps have stated that this is a more reliable process, especially if you have a lot of content. At Southside, however, we have seen some problems when using export/import related to copying tests in Blackboard, so please be aware of that.
Whatever method you choose, do this sooner rather than later. Don't leave copying content until the week before classes begin, or even worse, the day that classes begin. Give yourself plenty of time to review and update your content. I know that sometimes classes are added at the last minute, and nothing can be done about those situations, but for classes that are on the schedule now...go ahead and complete this step early.
If you course copy or use Export/Import to copy content from a previous course(s) into a new course shell in Blackboard or if you use a publisher cartridge, you may unintentionally bring over additional buttons that you don't need. You shouldn't have duplicate buttons on your course menu. Please either remove those or make them unavailable to students. (See the Blackboard Training Materials below.) Here are some tips to keep in mind before you begin this copy process.
- Review this handout on export/import if you plan to use this process to copy content.
- Review this handout on course copy if you plan to go this route.
- Be prepared to wait. When copying, it might take a few minutes, a few hours or even over a day for your course to copy. Do NOT under any circumstances run the copy process more than once for a course. If a course copy takes more than a day, submit a ticket to Issuetrak to have this checked, but do not start it again. If you do, you will end up with multiple copies of your course content and deleting the duplicate content will take you quite a bit of time.
- Select "Grade Center Columns and Settings" during course copy and export/import if you utilize tests in Blackboard, the Assignment feature that allows students to upload work into BB, or the "grade forum" option with discussion boards. If you want your grade center columns to copy over or if you have anything linked to the Grade Center, this must be selected during course copy or export/import. This DOES NOT bring over your students' names or grades from a previous semester.
- No matter what process you decide to use, if you copy content, review it carefully after the process is completed. Correct dates, modify content, and reorganize as needed. Within the assignments area, you will have more that one READI assignment due to the copy. Get rid of the items identified as READI assessments, and keep only the one called SmarterMeasure. This is the updated item that was in our template. Also, if you have two "Student Grades" buttons on your course menu, get rid of one. (See the template information below.)
Blackboard Template
Once again, course shells were created in Blackboard based on a template. Within the template a course menu was created with the minimum expectations on what should be found and used in all SVCC cyber courses (Announcements, Syllabus, Instructor, Assignments, Discussion Board, External Links, Student Grades, Email, and Student Help). You can add areas as needed, but the areas that are on the menu should be utilized appropriately. (Ex. Your syllabus should be in the syllabus area.) The hope is to have some consistency from course to course.
Information concerning copyright in higher education has been added to the "Instructor Resources" section. Take a look at what is available in the "Student Help" area so that you will be able to direct students there as needed. DO NOT REMOVE these buttons!!! If you remove the buttons from the course menu, all of the content located there will be removed from your course as well.
The Course Evaluation button has been hidden on the course menu. Be careful not to remove this from the menu, just leave it as unavailable to students for now. Near the end of the semester, all cyber and hybrid course instructors will need to make this area available to students on the course menu for online students to complete. This is only for CYBER and HYBRID COURSES. This online evaluation will not be completed by seated courses. There is a link at the bottom of this entry that will take you to a handout concerning adjusting the course menu.
The "Instructor Resources" area is not available to students and should not be made available to them on the course menu. There are links to materials and information on online resources that may be of interest to you. There is also a link to Southside's course syllabus template which you can download.
Course Cartridges
Course cartridges are publisher supplied content. If you plan on going this route, please pay careful attention to the following:
- Publishers are not always clear about whether there cartridges require additional access keys to be purchased by students. Before ordering a cartridge, make sure that your students will not have to buy access keys. If they do, it is up to you to make arrangements with the Bookstore. Managing access keys is NOT supported by the Blackboard Administrator--it is an issue completely between the publisher and the instructor.
- Course cartridges can take several hours to load, and they can load a tremendous amount of content into your class. Be sure to budget time to review the loaded content before your class starts.
- When you order your cartridge, be sure and ask the publisher to copy kelly.goscinski@southside.edu when they send the key. Also, be sure to submit a ticket to Issuetrak or email me at the blackboard address above when the publisher sends you the key to request that the cartridge be loaded into your course.
Blackboard Training Handouts
Blackboard Training Materials
Here you can find handouts on the following:
Adjusting the Course Navigation Menu (How to make the Course Evaluation Available to students); Modifying Course Availability; etc.
Blackboard Enrollments
Remember as students enroll in courses, do not enroll the students in your course(s)yourself. Please click on the BB/SIS link below for information concerning enrollments. Students will automatically be enrolled in all summer courses in Blackboard on May 18th, but they will not have access until instructors make those course areas available.
Each instructor does have a student account which you can enroll in your courses so you can see your course exactly as your students do. Soon, instructors will no longer have the ability to enroll students in their course areas. When this happens, your student account will automatically be enrolled in your course areas for you. (More information on that later.) For now though, you must enroll your instructor-student account yourself. I have added a link below on how to enroll and utilize these accounts.
BB/SIS Integration Tool
Enrolling and Utilizing Instructor-Student Accounts
Contact Information
Let me know if you have any questions or need any assistance with Blackboard. You can contact me at kelly.goscinski@southside.edu.
- Please submit all help requests concerning Blackboard through Issuetrak.
- Contact Ashley Leslie (ashley.leslie@southside.edu) for help in designing and developing your course content.
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