Bb Content tools

21st September 2020

How to add a link to your Reading List in Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content, Bb Content tools, Blackboard

After your reading list is created, follow these steps to add a link to your Reading List from within your Blackboard course. For more information about Reading Lists creation check our online resources or contact Library Enquiries @ Southampton.

Below you can find a tutorial video, and a step by step guide.

Video

Step by Step

1. Check that Edit Mode is turned ON. This can be switched by clicking ON or OFF.

2. Look at your Blackboard course menu. Hover your mouse over the + (plus) icon.

3. A menu appears, select to add a Tool Link.

4. In the Name box, enter Reading List.

5. For type, select Reading List from the dropdown menu.

6. Select Available to Users so that students will be able to access the link.

7. Select Submit.

8. Your Reading List link will be created. You can re-position it within the course menu by clicking and dragging the up and down arrow icon beside it.

9. When you or you students select that menu item, you will be redirected to the Reading Lists page for that course.

25th September 2015

Student Preview

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content tools, Blackboard 0 Comments

Student preview is a feature that allows Blackboard course instructors to review their course in the exact same way as a student. While Edit Mode set to Off would give a very good idea of how the student would see the course, Student Preview will create a temporary student account on the course so that the instructor will see exactly what a student sees. This includes the ability to take tests and receive results.

When Student Preview is turned off the instructor is asked whether they wish to keep the data generated by this temporary student account. To avoid possible confusion in the future this data should always be deleted.

Student Preview Icon

1. From within your Blackboard course click on the Student Preview icon which looks like an “all seeing eye” at the top right corner of your course window, next to Edit Mode.

Student Preview enabled

2. Student Preview will be turned on. An orange bar along the top will be shown reminding you of this.

3. You may use your course as a student.

Finished?

4. When you have finished click on Exit Preview.

Delete unnecessary data

5. You will be asked if you wish to have the data that was generated while within Student View deleted. Choose to Delete the preview user and all data and click on Continue.

6. You will be returned to your usual instructor view of the course.

25th September 2015

Tracking Usage of Your Blackboard Course

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content tools, Blackboard, Tracking in your Bb course 0 Comments

It is possible to track how students are using your Blackboard course. Individual items can be tracked when this option has been enabled, and course wide statistics are also available. A number of other features provide insights into student performance on your Blackboard course.

Note that in order to preserve system performance reporting data is only available for 180 days worth of usage.

Use the guides below to find out more.

small icon icon How to Track Usage of Individual Content Items

Use this guide to find out how to track usage of individual items of content you have added to your Blackboard course that have tracking enabled.

small icon icon How to Access Course-Wide Statistics

Use this guide to find out how to access course wide statistics covering usage of your course as a whole.

small icon icon Performance Dashboard

The performance dashboard provides an at-a-glance view of student progress through your Blackboard course.

small icon icon Retention Centre

Blackboard’s Retention Centre alerts you to students who meet rules that may indicate their educational experience is at risk on each of your courses. Each course is set up with some predetermined rules and you may add your own.

small icon icon Grade Centre

The Blackboard Grade Centre provides an area within your Blackboard course to store results data. Student scores from Blackboard tests and surveys are stored in the grade centre automatically. You may also manually add scores and information that are not automatically added by Blackboard.

25th September 2015

Using the Perfomance Dashboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content tools, Blackboard, Tracking in your Bb course 0 Comments

The Performance Dashboard provides an “at a glance” view of student usage of your course. The dashboard shows the students enrolled on your course, when they last logged into Blackboard, how documents they have marked as reviewed (for documents with “review status” enabled), what is visible to them through adaptive release, and provides a link into the gradebook to view student grades.

Access the Performance Dashboard

1. From your course’s Control Panel, expand the Evaluation section and click on Performance Dashboard.

The Performance Dashboard

2. The Performance Dashboard will appear. The small arrows above each column can be used to change the order of the column. The following information is displayed:

Student Details
The lastname, firstname, iSolutions username, and course role are shown.

Last Course Access
This displays the last time the student accessed the course.

Days Since Last Course Access
This displays the number of days since the student last accessed the course.

Review Status
This shows the number of documents viewed by the student for which review status has been enabled.

Adaptive Release
This opens the Course Map, showing every possible item in the course. Icons beside each item in the Course Map indicate the visibility of an item to that course user, and the review status of any items with a review requirement, if applicable.

Discussion Board
The number of posts made by the student to any discussion forums.

Early Warning System
This shows to for how many rules the student matches the rule criteria.

View Grades
Provides links to the Gradebook: User Grade List page for that user.

An easily printable page is created by clicking on the Print icon.

25th September 2015

"Review Status" for Blackboard Content

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content, Bb Content tools, Blackboard 0 Comments

The Review Status tool allows you to track whether students have reviewed specific content items. Once the you enable the tool for an item, each student may tracks their progress. A Mark Reviewed button appears on the item when the student opens the Content Area. After reviewing the item, the student may select this button to mark it Reviewed. You can check the status of student reviews on the User Progress page.

The Blackboard Mobile App for students does not support review status. Students will not see an option to review status when using the mobile app. This feature does work on mobile web browsers.

Manage item

1. Begin by identifying the content item for which you wish to enable “Review Status”.

2. Click on the modify button and choose review status.

Enable

3. Select Enable and click on Submit.

Note
If you expect your students to mark material as reviewed make sure they are aware of this. Otherwise only a few may do so.

Check user progress

4. To see which students have marked the item as reviewed. Click on User Progress from the Modify button menu.

User Progress

5. A summary is displayed showing to whom the content is visible, and which users have marked the item as reviewed and when they reviewed it.

From the Student View

6. When a student sees and item with Review Status enabled a button is displayed showing “Mark Reviewed“.

From the Student View 2

7. When a student clicks on Mark Reviewed, the button changes to Reviewed.

25th September 2015

How to track usage of individual content items in Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content tools, Blackboard, Tracking in your Bb course 0 Comments

It is possible to track the access of an individual item such as a document in Course Documents or Course Information. To do this it is necessary to select, Track Number of Views when you originally added the item. Tracking information is only collected from the time you answered Yes to this question. If your course has more than 1000 student enrolled, limit your reporting criteria to less than 1000 users.

Item tracking will only tell you if the item has been shown to a student. So if you have an item in a content area it will tell you how many times the student has gone into the content area and therefore “seen” the item. It does not record how many times any file attachments to the item have been downloaded and opened. It will not tell you that a student has read the content of the item nor any attachments. Note that in order to preserve system performance reporting data is only available for 180 days worth of usage.

In general we find that using the Performance Dashboard to see how recently students have logged into your course, and course wide statistics are better methods of assessing usage of your Blackboard course.

A better way to confirm that students have read a piece of content is to use review status. This allows students to declare that they have reviewed content, and you can review who has made this confirmation.

Identify Item for which Tracking Information is Required

1. Find the content item in your course for which tracking information is required.

2. Click on the Modify button beside it.

Select Statistics Report

3. From the menu that appears choose View Statistics Report.

Content Usage Statistics

4. You should see report available named Content Usage Statistics. Click on the Modify button beside it.

5. Click on Run.

Options

6. Select the format of the report you prefer, the default is PDF.

7. Select the date range for the report. If your course has a large number of students you may need to run the report in smaller chunks and collate the totals afterwards. Large cohorts can mean that statistics reports time out before they have finished generating.

8. Select the Users about whom you wish to report. Select multiple users by holding down the CTRL key.

9. Click on Submit to run the Report.

Statistics Report

10. Click on Download Report.

25th September 2015

How to Copy or Move Material Within or Among Blackboard

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content, Bb Content tools, Blackboard 0 Comments

It is possible to Copy or Move material within your Blackboard course or between your Blackboard courses.

Edit Mode

1. Check that Edit Mode is turned ON. This can be switched by clicking ON or OFF.

Identify the item you wish to move / copy

2. Find the content item that you wish to copy or move.

3. Click on the Modify button beside it.

Copy or Move?

4. Choose Copy or Move according to your preference.

Select the Destination

5. If you wish to copy or move the material to a different Blackboard course then select it from the Destination Course dropdown menu.

6. Click on Browse to choose where you wish to copy / move the material within the selected course.

Destination Folder

7. A map of your course will appear, use this to select the area to which you wish to copy or move the material. To select the destination simply click on it.

Submit

8. Click on Submit to finish.

25th September 2015

How to produce Course Statistics for your Blackboard Course

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content tools, Blackboard, Tracking in your Bb course 0 Comments

Blackboard allows you to access information detailing student usage of your blackboard course as a whole. Note that if your course has more than 1000 students enrolled you should limit your reporting criteria to less than 1000 students at a time.

Note that in order to preserve system performance reporting data is only available for 180 days worth of usage.

Access the Control Panel

1. From your course’s Control Panel, expand the Evaluation section and click on Course Reports.

Choose Report

2. Click on the action button beside the report you want and click on Run.

Filter

3. Select the format that you would like the report to appear in.

4. Select a start date.

5. Select an end date.

6. Select the users about whom you wish to report. Use the CTRL key to select multiple users.

7. Click on Submit to run the report.

Output

8. The report will be opened. If you experience difficulties right click on the download link and download the file to your computer first.

25th September 2015

How to Create Advanced Adaptive Release Rules

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content, Bb Content tools, Blackboard 0 Comments

Adaptive Release of Content provides controls to release content to users based on a set of rules you create. The rules may be related to date and time, individual users and groups, scores or attempts on any Grade Centre item, or review status of another item in the course.

Advanced Adaptive Release allows you to set up more than one rule, with each rule being able to contain a number of criteria. However note that the rules cannot be used together e.g. Rule 1 AND Rule 2, rather it will use Rule 1 OR Rule 2.

For example, if different rules apply for different Groups in a course, Advanced Adaptive Release is used. The Instructor may set up a rule for Group A that enables all users in the Group to view an item once they receive a score of 85 on a Test. The Instructor may set up a separate rule for Group B that enables them to see the same content item after they receive a score of 80 on the Test.

Manage item

1. Begin by identifying the content item for which you wish to enable Adaptive Release

2. Click on the Modify button beside it.

Advanced Adaptive Release

3. You should see a set of options like the one above. Click on Adaptive Release: Advanced.

Create Rule

4. Click on Create Rule.

Rule Name

5. Type in a name for your rule, or use the one provided.

Manage Criteria

6. Use the buttons along the top of the screen to add criteria to make your rule. You can use the same criteria more than once, for example several grade centre criteria all requiring 70 marks or more on a number of tests.

Add Date Criteria
To apply a date restriction.

Add Membership Criteria
To apply a membership restriction e.g. by username or group.

Add Grade Criteria
Use this rule to restrict access according to grade centre criteria.

Add Review Status Criteria
Use this rule to apply a “Review Status” criteria.

Refer to the guide to Basic Adaptive Release Rules for more information about these criteria.

Rules

7. Once you have added the criteria to your rule according to your preferences you will be taken back to the screen showing all of the rules, where you can add further rules if you wish. Note that the rules will be used separately, i.e. Rule 1 OR Rules 2.

Check user progress

8. To see which material is viewable by students, click on User Progress from the Manage options page.

User Progress

9. This screen shows content availability to each student on your course. A closed eye icon means the content is not currently visible to the student, while an open eye icon means the content is visible to the student.

25th September 2015

How to Create a Basic Adaptive Release Rule

Matthew Deeprose Bb Content, Bb Content tools, Blackboard 0 Comments

Basic Adaptive Release allows for one rule per content item, although this rule can be based on multiple criteria.

Manage item

1. Begin by identifying the content item for which you wish to enable Adaptive Release

2. Click on the Modify button beside it.

Adaptive Release

3. You should see a set of options like the one above. Click on Adaptive Release.

Date

4. The criteria to choose from will be listed.

5. The first setting is date. If you wish to apply a date restriction to the criteria you can do so here.

Membership

6. The next setting is membership. You can set this to restrict content to a user by their iSolutions username – you can click on Browse to find users on your course. Multiple usernames may be listed with a comma between them e.g. “abc123,def456,ghi789”.

7. If you have set up course groups you can choose to restrict access to course groups.

Gradebook Item

8. You can also restrict access by Grade Centre item, for example restrict the content item to students who have achieved a certain score in a quiz. If you wish to use this option, select the quiz concerned from the drop down list and then select the appropriate criteria.

Review Status

9. It is possible to keep the item invisible to students until they mark another piece of content as “reviewed”. If you wish to use this option, use the Browse button to open a course map and then locate the piece of content that you wish students to mark as reviewed before the further content is viewable by them. This will turn on Review Status for the content item if it is not already enabled.

Further information on review status can be found here.

Submit

10. Click on Submit to finish.

Check user progress

11. To see which material is viewable by students. Click on User Progress from the Manage options page.

User Progress

12. This screen shows content availability to each student on your course. A closed eye icon means the content is not currently visible to the student, while open eye icon means the content is visible to the student.

1 2