Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual |

Blackboard manuals detail the construction, customization, and management features that Instructors and Administrators use to build an impressive education environment on the Blackboard platform.

The flexibility of the

Blackboard Academic Suite

means that not all the tools and functions that are available are documented in this manual. Blackboard System

Extensions allow System Administrators to add a variety of materials, tools, and functions to

Blackboard Academic Suite

. Individual System Extensions are not documented in this manual. For assistance with a System Extension, please contact your System Administrator. In addition, the tools and functions that are documented in this manual may not be available to users or only available in certain areas of the platform because Administrators and Instructors can customize the availability of most aspects of the platform. Finally, some tools and functions may appear differently in the

Blackboard Academic Suite

than the examples in this manual because System

Administrators and Instructors can customize the name and appearance of many aspects of the platform.

The

Blackboard Academic Suite

™ includes:



Blackboard Learning System

™ (Release 6.1)

Blackboard Learning System

- Basic Edition ™ (Release 6.1)

Blackboard Portal System

™ (Release 6.1)

Blackboard Learning System

- ML ™



For most users, it is only important to know what Blackboard products are in use when determining if a particular function is available.

This document does not provide information on

Blackboard Learning System

– ML.

Manual Organization

The

Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual

begins by introducing the

Blackboard

Academic Suite

. The second section of the manual is dedicated to the course Web site environment of the

Blackboard Learning System

and the final section provides a review of the

Blackboard Learning System

basic portal and the advanced features of the

Blackboard Portal System

Manual Conventions

To make this manual easier to use a number of conventions appear throughout. These conventions are detailed in the table below.

Symbol

[r]

Bold type

Courier font

Steps

Required field

A button or field name.

Description

Text that users should type.

Tasks users should perform.

Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual

Using this manual

This manual is best read as a reference, rather than as a book to be read from cover to cover. If the manual is viewed online, the embedded links enable the reader to navigate quickly through topics and follow the same workflows that appear in the software. For readers that prefer to print out and read a paper copy of the manual, refer to the table of contents to locate topics that are referenced in the text.

Manual Updates

Please note that the

Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual

is updated periodically.

Check the Date Last Update at the beginning of the manual to ensure that it is the most recent copy. Any updates are listed in the Appendix .

The HTML version is available through the Student Manual feature in each course and at http://www.blackboard.com/products/services/support . Also, the Behind the

Blackboard extranet includes the most current versions of the user manuals in PDF format for those who would like to print a hard copy.

To report any comments or suggestions regarding this manual, please contact

Blackboard Support.

Which Blackboard product is installed?

To find out which Blackboard product you are using contact your System

Administrator.

Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual

Part One: Introduction to the

Blackboard Learning System

Overview

Part One Contents

This part of the

Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual

includes the following chapters:



Chapter 1 - Welcome to the

Blackboard Learning System

Chapter 2 - Blackboard Platform Gateway

The

Blackboard Learning System

delivers a complete course management system.

Within the

Blackboard Learning System

environment navigation is simple with a header frame that includes images and buttons customized by the institution and tabs that navigate to the different common areas.

The Blackboard Gateway page welcomes users and provides an access point to the

Blackboard Academic Suite

. It should be noted that some institutions may choose to skip the Gateway page entirely and allow users to login through a function on the header frame.

Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual

Chapter 1

–

Welcome to the

Blackboard Learning System

Introduction

The

Blackboard Learning System

is a comprehensive and flexible e-Learning software platform that delivers a complete course management system. While the

Blackboard

Learning System,

and the

Blackboard Learning System

- Basic Edition are all course management systems, the

Blackboard Learning System

includes advanced integration tools and APIs to seamlessly assimilate the

Blackboard Learning System

with existing institution systems. Furthermore, the

Blackboard Learning System

includes additional customization features and the ability to build out the platform with Blackboard

System Extensions. Finally, the

Blackboard Portal System

includes a customizable institution-wide portal with online communities.

Blackboard Building Blocks allows institutions to integrate external applications, tools, content, and services into the

Blackboard Learning System

The following are some things to keep in mind when using the

Blackboard Learning

System

 Due to the fact that the

Blackboard Portal System

and the

Blackboard Learning

System

are highly flexible and customizable platforms, which can integrate third party applications, there may be certain tools that are not documented.

 System Administrators have the ability to disable certain tools within the application. If you encounter tools that you are unable to access contact your

System Administrator.

 The openness of the platform allows Instructors and Administrators to be very creative; therefore, the names for items users see in the application may differ from those in the documentation.

The

Blackboard Learning System

environment

The

Blackboard Learning System

environment includes a header frame with images and buttons customized by the institution and tabs that navigate to different areas within the

Blackboard Learning System

. Clicking on a tab will open that area in the content frame. Web pages containing specific content, features, functions, and tools are accessed from the common areas.

Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual

Header frame

The header frame contains a customizable institution image and navigation buttons that allow the user to access the institution home page, access the Blackboard help, and logoff of the

Blackboard Learning System

The table below details the buttons that appear in the header frame and their functions.

Button Description

Click

Home

to return to an institution home page. This URL is set by the system administrator.

Click

Help

to access an institution defined help site. This URL is set by the System Administrator.

Click

Logout

to end a session.

Common Areas

Blackboard Learning System

and

Blackboard Learning System

– Basic Edition include two common areas for users:



My Institution:

The My Institution common area contains tools and information specific to each user ’ s preferences. Tools and information are contained in modules, which users can add and remove from their My

Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual

Institution common area. While users can choose which modules appear, the

Administrator may restrict access to or require specific modules.



Courses

: Courses are listed by role: courses that a user teaches as an

Instructor and courses that a user takes as a Student. Users click on a course from the Courses common area to access the course Web site.

Users also have access to the following common areas with the

Blackboard Portal

System



Community:

The Community common area lists organizations specific to each user, the Organization Catalog for the institution, and institution-wide

Discussion Boards. User organizations are listed by role: organizations that a user administrates as a manager and organizations that a user participates in as a member. Users simply click on an organization from the Community common area to access the organization Web site.



Services:

The Services common area contains links to other institutional offerings outside of the

Blackboard Learning System

. The links are set by the

System Administrator and cannot be modified by an individual user.

In addition, the

Blackboard Portal System

enables the institution to create custom tabs and present a different environment, or Portal, to users based on the User ’ s role at the institution.

Tabs

The tabs are navigation tools that access the common areas of the

Blackboard

Learning System

. Tabs also appear in search boxes as a means of changing the search parameters.

Click on a tab to access that common area.

Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual

Content frame

The content frame always contains one of the following pages:



Common area

: The area that appears in the content frame when a tab is clicked. Common areas hold broad information and allow the user to access

Web pages containing specific content and features.



Web page

: A Web page appears in the content frame when accessed through one of the navigational tools described below. Web pages contain specific content or features and originate from common areas.

Navigating within the

Blackboard Learning System

The

Blackboard Learning System

contains several ways to move from one area or page to the next. Only the material in the content frame changes when moving to a new area or page. The tabs and header frame are always available for quick access to those navigation features.

The table below describes each navigation tool available in the

Blackboard Learning

System

Tab

Navigation Tool Description

Click a tab to navigate to a common area. Top-level navigation is always available no matter what page or area appears in the content frame.

Button

Link

Image

Click a button to navigate to a page within the

Blackboard Learning

System

. Some buttons also lead to areas outside of the

Blackboard

Learning System

. In addition, buttons execute functions.

Click a hypertext link to access another Web page within the

Blackboard Learning System

. The page will appear in the content frame.

Links can also open Web sites outside of the

Blackboard Learning System

Click an image to navigate to another page. The customized images that appear in the platform can be linked by the Administrator to another URL.

Click one of the hypertext links that appear in the navigation path to access that page. The navigation path appears at the top of pages to allow users to quickly return to the previous page that led to the current page.

Path

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Blackboard Academic Suite User Manual |

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