It is December, and many instructors are finalizing their fall courses while getting ready for the Winter semester. Below are a few tips to make the transition to the new semester easier.
Need Help with Using the Grade Centre?
Do you have questions about how to calculate grades, import from a spreadsheet, curve grades, use categories, add bonus marks, use the Weighted Total column, import Scantron results, or exporting from Blackboard to eGrade? Sign up for a Name Your Topic session to get one-on-one help and save yourself some time and aggravation to get your grades finalized.
Do you use the Assignments tool? Changes for the W2018 Semester
If you have used inline grading (Crocodocs) in the Assignments tool, Blackboard will be switching that tool off and providing service to a new tool effective the beginning of the Winter 2018 semester. Crocodocs service will no longer be available, and any documents with annotations will be burned into a pdf document for future reference. No data will be lost. The new tool, New Box View, will provide expanded support for file types and fonts and will offer most of the functionality that currently exists with Crocodocs. Some of the features that will no longer be available are the free-hand drawing and strike-through text tools, but the point-based comments and highlighting options will remain. More information on various grading scenarios are found in Blackboard’s article Crocodoc and New Box View Annotations Use Cases.
Getting Tired of Too Many Course Sites to Look Through?
Are you frustrated with multiple courses showing up in your Home tab or Courses tab that you are not using anymore? You can change the view and order of which sites appear on your Courses tab, and also on your Home tab. This short “Blackboard: Organizing “My Courses” and “Course List” video (4:21) shows you how. Please note, you have to change and update both of the locations (Home and Courses).
Want to Merge Multiple Sections into One Site?
Sometimes when instructors are teaching multiple sections of the same course, it is more convenient to have all of those sites merged into one main site. To have this done, log in and submit a Service Request at http://www.uwindsor.ca/bbhelp and click the Open Ticket button. Please specify which site (Course Code and Title) you wish to be the main site, and list all of the full course codes that you want to be merged into that site. Note: if you have placed materials into any of the secondary sections you wish to be merged, you will lose them, therefore, be sure to move materials into the primary site ahead of the merge request.
Need to Import Last Semester’s Content into your winter Course Shell?
Often, instructors want to copy over material from a previous Blackboard course into a new course shell. This can be done by using the Packages and Utilities options found under the Control Panel in the left menu of a course site. One of the easiest ways to prepare your site if you just want to copy an existing or previous site is to use the Course Copy option. Full details on using this tool are found in Blackboard’s Copy Courses article.
Know of any New Instructors (or their Assistants) to Blackboard that needs Training?
There are a few spots left in upcoming training events to welcome new instructors (and their assistants) into using Blackboard. Sign up for one-on-one or group training at http://www.uwindsor.ca/bbworkshops.
For more online self-help for using Blackboard, visit the University of Windsor Help Wiki. To fill in a Service Request for specific help, visit http://www.uwindsor.ca/bbhelp.