Bb Blogs

25th September 2015

Blogs and Journals

“Blog” is short for Web Log, and is a term used to describe a journal or diary that is online. You may use blogs in your Blackboard course. Blackboard uses the terms “blogs” and “journals”. Blogs are shared within the course while journals are usually private between the instructor and student. These guides explain how to use and set up Blogs and Journals.

Differences between Blogs and Journals

Find out what the difference is between Blogs and Journals.

Blogs

Using blogs

This guide covers using Blogs, from understanding the user interface to creating a blog entry.

How to setup course blogs

This guide explains how to set up Blogs for your whole course to use. A Course Blog will show posts one below the other as you would expect.

How to setup group blogs

This guide explains how to enable blogs for groups that you have already created in your Blackboard course.

How to setup individual blogs

This guide explains how to set up “individual” blogs (where each student has their own blog that is readable by all other students). Individual blogs show only the posts of the user currently logged in. They can view the posts by other course members by clicking on that person’s name in the list displayed on the right.

How to add a blog menu item to your course menu

This guide will show you how to add a Blogs entry to your course menu. It will also show you how to add a direct link in your course menu to a specific blog.

Journals

Using journals

This guide covers using Journals, from understanding the user interface to creating a blog entry.

How to setup individual journals

This guide explains how to set up “individual” journals. These are blogs where each student has their own journal and only they and the instructor can access it, unless the instructor opens it up to the whole class.

How to setup group journals

This guide explains how to enable journals for course groups that you have already created.

25th September 2015

How to add a blog link in your Blackboard course menu

Matthew Deeprose Bb Blogs, Bb Course Design, Blackboard 0 Comments

You can easily and quickly add a link in your course menu to the Blogs area of your course.

Menu [+]

1. In your Blackboard course menu click on the [+] button.

Tool link

2. Choose Tool Link.

Details

3. In the Name box enter text of your choice.

4. In the Type dropdown menu select Blogs.

5. Tick Available to Users.

6. Click on Submit.

Menu item created

7. If you wish you can move the menu item up and down the list by dragging with the up and down arrow to the left.

8. Clicking on the menu item will take users to the Blogs area.

Direct Blog link?

9. If you have a course wide blog (or indeed any other blog) you may wish to add a direct link to it in your course menu. This is a little convoluted but possible. Use the following steps.

10. First we need to add a Course Link to the blog in a content area. Identify the content area where you wish to add the link and hover over Tools and choose Blogs.

Link to Blog

11. Choose Link to a Blog.

12. Select the Blog you wish to link to.

13. Click on Next.

Submit

14. If you wish you may fill in the text box and set the options. Click on Submit when finished.

Link to a link

15. Now we will add a link to this link in the course menu. Trust me, it doesn’t make sense, but it will work!

16. In your Blackboard course menu click on the [+] button.

Course Link

17. Choose Course Link.

Browse

18. Click on Browse.

Course Map

19. The Course Map will appear. Find the link you just made and select it.

Details

20. The Name and Location boxes will now be automatically populated. You may overwrite the name if you wish.

21. Tick Available to Users.

22. Click Submit.

Success!

23. You now have a link in the course menu that goes direct to the blog you selected. Do not remove the link you created in the content area in the previous steps.

24. If you wish you can make the blog the default entry point of the course. There is a separate guide on our website that covers this. In brief the line to follow is Control Panel -> (Teaching) Style -> Entry Point.

25th September 2015

Creating a course blog in Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Blogs, Blackboard 0 Comments

A course blog can be accessed by all users. Entries may be added by all users. Comments if enabled can be added by all users. A Course Blog will show posts one below the other by all users within the month or week.

Course Tools

1. From your course’s Control Panel expand the Course Tools menu and click on Blogs.

Create Blog

2. Any existing blogs will be shown here. Click on Create Blog.

Name and Instructions

3. Enter a Name and any instructions. For instructions you may wish to inform your students that all instructors and students may view and add entries to the blog.

Available?

4. For students to be able to access the blog, Blog Availability must be set to Yes.

Date and time restrictions?

5. If you wish you may place date and time limitations on when this blog will be available to students.

Blog Type

6. Set the Blog Type to Course. You may choose to allow anonymous entries and comments if you wish. iSolutions cannot identify who made anonymous entries or comments. Therefore only enable this option if you are certain you will never want to identify the person who made an anonymous comment or entry.

Settings

7. Set the blog settings according to your preference:

Index Entries: Choose for entries to be indexed in a monthly or weekly format.

Allow Users to…: Choose whether you wish users to be able to edit and delete their entries and / or comments

Grade Centre?

7. If you wish to add a Grade Centre column for the blog choose to Grade Blog and set the maximum number of points possible to score for the work on the blog.

8. Click on Submit to finish.

9. Your course blog has been created. Make sure that you have added a link to the blog in your course menu so that students may find it.

25th September 2015

Differences between Blogs and Journals in Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Blogs, Blackboard 0 Comments

Blogs and Journals in Blackboard look and behave in similar ways. They both provide Blog like features and functionalities. The key difference between the two is that Blogs are shared within the course, and journals are usually private.

Differences between Blogs and Journals
Type	Blogs	Journals
Course-wide (For overall course)	You can have any number. Anyone can post to it. Anonymous blog entries may be made Click here for the guide.	n/a
Group	Accessed via group area. Need to set up groups to use it. Any member of group can post. Anyone else can view and post comments. If you want this then add a Blogs tool link in your course menu to give users an easy way to access all blogs. Anonymous blog entries and comments may be made, this is the default option but can be disabled by editing the blog via Control Panel -> Blogs Click here for the guide.	Accessed via group area. Need to set up groups to use it. Any member of group can post. All group members can see each other’s journal posts. You can choose whether non-group members should be able to view posts by group members or not, by default non-groups members can view journal posts of other groups. No anonymous posts nor comments. Click here for the guide.
Individual	Accessed via Blogs screen or by adding Blog to Content area from Tools menu. Each user has their own area where they can post (they click on their own name to find it). All other students can read and make comments. Only anonymous comments may be made Click here for the guide.	These are best added within a Content area from Tools menu. Each user has their own journal. Instructors can set the journals to be private or shared. A private journal can only be viewed by the student themselves and the instructor, the shared journal can be read by all course users. No anonymous posts nor comments Click here for the guide.
	When using blogs it can be beneficial to add a blog link to your course menu.

25th September 2015

Group Blogs

Matthew Deeprose Bb Blogs, Bb Groups, Blackboard 0 Comments

Group Blogs can be enabled when creating a Blackboard group. See the guide for more information on setting up groups. If you have already made a group and want to enable a blog for that group follow the guide below.

Be aware the group blogs are not private to the group. Any other course user may read other group’s blog entries and make comments.

Groups

1. Find the group for whom you wish to enable blogs in the Groups area (found via Control Panel -> User and Groups -> Groups), click on the Modify button beside the group and click on Edit.

Tool Availability

2. Under the Tool Availability section tick Blogs.

3. If you wish you can choose to have a Grade Centre column added for this blog.

4. Click on Submit.

Finding the blogs

Group Blogs can be found in the following ways.

1) From the general blogs area accessed via Control Panel -> Course Tools -> Blogs.

Finding the blogs (2)

2) From the Control Panel – Users and Groups – Groups menu.

Finding the blogs (3)

3) Students and instructors who have been made members of the group can access the blog also in this way.

25th September 2015

Group Journals in Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Blogs, Bb Groups, Blackboard 0 Comments

Group Journals can be enabled when creating a Blackboard group. See the guide under what’s related for more information on setting up groups. If you have already made a group and want to enable a journal for that group follow the guide below.

Be aware the group journals should be private to the group. However the extra step detailed at the end of this guide is necessary to achieve this.

Groups

1. Find the group for whom you wish to enable journals in the Groups area (found via Control Panel -> User and Groups -> Groups), click on the Modify button beside the group and click on Edit.

Tool Availability

2. Under the Tool Availability section tick Journals.

3. If you wish you can choose to have a Grade Centre column added for this journal.

4. Click on Submit.

Finding Group Journals

Group Journals can be found in the following ways.

1) From the general journals area, accessed via Control Panel > Course Tools > Journals. (Instructors only)

Finding Group Journals (2)

2) From the Control Panel > Users and Groups > Groups menu. (Instructors only)

Finding Group Journals (3)

3) Students and instructors who have been made members of the group can access the journal also in this way via the Groups menu.

Make Journals private

To ensure that students who are not in a group cannot see that group’s posts do the following.

1. From the Control Panel, expand Course Tools and click on Journals.

grpjournalpriv1

2. Find the group journal in question and click on the action button beside it and click on Edit from the menu that appears.

grpjournalpriv2

3. Scroll down to Journal Settings and untick “Permit Members to View Journal”.

grpjournalpriv3

4. Click on Submit

Repeat the above process for any group journals where you wish for them to be private from the other groups.

25th September 2015

Individual Blogs in Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Blogs, Blackboard 0 Comments

Individual Blogs are blogs where each course user has their own blog area that only they can post to. All users can read each other’s posts and make comments.

Blogs

1. From your course’s Control Panel expand the Course Tools menu and click on Blogs.

Create blog

2. Any existing blogs will be shown here. Click on Create Blog.

Name and instructions

3. Enter a Name and any instructions. For instructions you may wish to inform your students while they each have their own individual blog, all course users can read their blog entries and make comments.

Available?

4. For students to be able to access the blog, Blog Availability must be set to Yes.

Date restrictions

5. If you wish you may place date and time limitations on when this blog will be available to students.

Individual

6. Set the Blog Type to Individual to all Students. You may choose to allow comments if you wish. iSolutions cannot identify who made anonymous comments. Therefore only enable this option if you are certain you will never want to identify the person who made an anonymous comment.

Settings

7. Set the blog settings according to your preference:

Index Entries: Choose for entries to be indexed in a monthly or weekly format.

Allow Users to…: Choose whether you wish users to be able to edit and delete their entries and / or comments.

Grade Centre?

7. If you wish to add a Grade Centre column for the blog choose to Grade Blog and set the maximum number of points possible to score for the work on the blog.

8. Click on Submit to finish.

Blog

9. You will see the blog you have created. To enter it click on it. Note that you may click on the Modify button beside it to bring up the edit menu.

10. You may want to add a link in your course menu to the blogs area. See the guide on our website.

25th September 2015

Individual Journals in Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Blogs, Blackboard 0 Comments

Individual Journals are journals where each course user has their own journal area that only they can post to. Only the student themselves and course instructors may view their posts and add comments.

Adding Journal

1. You can add Journals in a number of ways. In this guide we will start by adding the journal into a course content area. From any content area hover over the Tools button and choose Journals.

Create New Journals

2. Click on Create New Journal.

Name and Instructions

3. Enter a Name and any instructions. For instructions you may wish to inform your students they each will have their own individual journal, and that unless you (the instructor) choose otherwise in the subsequent options no other students will be able to read their journal or add comments to it.

Available?

4. For students to be able to access the journal, Journal Availability must be set to Yes.

5. If you wish you may place date and time limitations on when this journal will be available to students.

Preferences

6. Set the journal settings according to your preference:

Index Entries: Choose for entries to be indexed in a monthly or weekly format.

Allow Users to…: Choose whether you wish users to be able to edit and delete their entries and / or comments

Permit Course Users to View Journal: If this option is selected then all students will be able to read each other’s journals. This option could be useful if you would like to open up the journals at a later date so students can see how their peers dealt with their journals.

Grade Centre

7. If you wish to add a Grade Centre column for the journal choose to Grade Journal and set the maximum number of points possible to score for the work on the journal.

8. Click on Submit to finish.

The Adventures of Link

9. The journal you created should now be in the Link to a Journal box. Click on Next.

Contextual Info

10. This final stage is to complete creating the link to the journal. Set the options as you wish. It is wise to add some contextual information in the Text box.

Success

11. The journal has been created. To access it click on the link. If you wish to go back and change the options go through Control Panel -> Course Tools -> Journals, and click on the modify button beside the journal you wish to change.

25th September 2015

Using Blogs in Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Blogs, Blackboard, How to… Bb Guides for students 0 Comments

Type of Blog

1. You can tell which type you are using by clicking on the Blog Details link in the box to the right of the blog posts.

Course Blog: Everyone can post and everyone can view entries

Group Blog: Only Group Members can post and everyone can view entries

Individual Blog: Each person has their own area of the blog and by default see their own entries. However every user also can view each other’s posts.

Who else has posted?

2. In the middle of the box you can see who else has made posts in the blog by clicking on the All Course Members box and click on their name to view their posts. You may also use the [<] and [>] arrow buttons to move between people’s posts.

Entries

3. The final section of the box shows a breakdown of entries per week or month depending on how it has been set up by the instructor.

Creating an entry

4. To create a blog entry click on Create Blog Entry.

Enter text

5. Enter a title and then fill in the larger text box with your entry. Note that if you plan on pasting text into the text box from Microsoft Word, make sure to use the Paste From Word feature described in step 7.1 of this guide.

Useful buttons

6. Some particularly useful buttons are:

1 – Spell Check
2 – Full Screen Editor
3 – Add attachment
4 – Add picture
5 – Add media
6 – Mashups (described in more detail in next slide)
7 – Insert Table

Mashed

7. Some very useful features are hidden within the Add MashUp button:

1 – Embed a YouTube video

2 – Embed a Flickr Photo

3 – Embed a SlideShare Presentation

Anonymous?

8. If permitted you may choose to make your post anonymously.

Attachments

9. If you wish you can attach a file by using the Browse My Computer button.

Post-it

10. Click on Post Entry to finish.

25th September 2015

Using Journals in Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Blogs, Blackboard, How to… Bb Guides for students 0 Comments

Type of Journal

1. There are two types of journal in Blackboard. You can tell which type you are using by clicking on the Journal Details link in the box to the right of the journal posts.

Group Journal: Only Group Members can post and only group members and instructors can view the entries and add comments.

Individual Journal: Each person has their own journal and by default see only their own entries. Only instructors can view user entries unless the instructor enables all students to view each other’s entries.

Is it private? (Is it safe?)

Is it private?

Note that it is difficult to tell whether an individual journal really is private, especially if the instructor does not make this clear within their descriptive text. To be sure click on the Tools menu and then Journals to get to the list of all Journals on the course. This shows the visibility of the Journal.

For instructors

2. In the middle of the box you can see who else has made posts in the journal and click on their name to view their posts. You may also use the [<] and [>] arrow buttons to move between people. Note that instructors by default see only their own posts and should click on the names of other users to see their posts.

Entries breakdown

3. The final section of the box shows a breakdown of entries per week or month depending on how it has been set up by the instructor.

Creating an entry

4. To create a journal entry click on Create Journal Entry.

Your entry

5. Enter a title and then fill in the larger text box with your entry.

Useful buttons

6. Some particularly useful buttons are:

1 – Spell Check
2 – Full Screen Editor
3 – Add attachment
4 – Add picture
5 – Add media
6 – Mashups (described in more detail in next slide)
7 – Insert Table

Get mashed

1 Embed a YouTube video

2 Embed a Flickr Photo

3 embed a presentation from the SlideShare web site.

Attached?

8. If you wish you can attach a file by using the Browse My Computer button.

Post Entry

9. Click on Post Entry to finish.

1 2