Teaching Tip: Three ways to use Blackboard to your advantage

April 8, 2015

Marissa Carl

 

An institutional learning management system (LMS), like Blackboard, can become an obstacle by changing the way you teach instead of supporting it. Software developers continuously add new features that address this tendency, so faculty members can customize the LMS to better support their teaching.

1. Customize your landing page

By default, when you and your students log into Blackboard and go to your course, everyone lands on the Announcements page. This wasn’t working for Susan Renes, an associate professor in the School of Education and a 2014 fellow in the Chancellor's Innovation in Technology and eLearning program.

“The focus of my class is based around an active discussion forum, with student’s posting, reading, and commenting several times a week,” she says. “I want students to have easy access to it.”

Renes changed the settings in Blackboard so she and her students go directly to the Discussion Forum when they log in to her course.

1. Use InLine Grading

There have been many upgrades to the Grade Center, including Inline Grading. When students attach a file to an assignment, the instructor can view it right inside of Blackboard and use built-in commenting and highlighting tools to give feedback.

Gary Copus, professor emeritus in the College of Liberal Arts, uses this tool. “It’s so convenient to be able to review assignments without having to download documents or worry about what version of software students use,” he says. “The ability to make comments right on their documents has been a time saver.”

1. Reorder modules

Many Blackboard courses are organized into units or modules with a folder for each week. By week 13, you and your students could be scrolling through a lot of modules to get to your weekly content. Conquer this problem by using the reordering feature. Look for the reorder icon in the upper right of your course to move past modules to the bottom of the list quickly. By the time you’re through the semester, your list will be back in order and ready for the next semester.

-- Teaching Tip by Heidi Olson, UAF eLearning Learning Design Coordinator

Read the full tip on iTeachU.uaf.edu.

Have other features in Blackboard you want to share or learn more about? Consider signing up for a Faculty on T.A.P. session.