Saint Mary's College - Notre Dame, Indiana

Instructional Technology Resource Center - Saint Mary's College - Notre Dame, Indiana
  
 


This page is for Faculty using Blackboard to create online web pages for courses. Blackboard delivers course content in a web-based virtual classroom environment that also provides a comprehensive array of tools. Instructors can build Web-based courses using simple point and click techniques to design a virtual class Web site without knowledge of HTML; make available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, your syllabus, course description, calendar, office hours, course documents, and contact information. There are many features that can be chosen to enhance courses.

  • instructors can use the My Tasks tool to enter assignments, descriptions and due dates
  • an assessment engine for developing online quizzes and surveys
  • communication tools such as bulletin boards
  • email communications with students
  • digital drop boxes for collecting student assignments

Class Administration:

  • download class roster to spreadsheet
  • post grades to permits students to securely view quiz grades
  • make course materials available only to members of your class

Class Materials:

  • make lecture notes and handouts available for students to download
  • course outlines
  • reading materials and lists
  • charts
  • lists of useful web sites with comments
  • previous exams and study guides

Announcements:

  • post announcements directly
  • email to class roster with a copy in the announcements
  • links to surveys and online quizes

Web Links:

  • provide students with a list of web sites categorized and organized in folders with comments
  • library reserves and textbooks
  • links to the instructor's homepage

Discussion Boards:

  • multiple uses ... collaborative student writing assignments, to "prime" classroom discussion, to allow students to read other points of view
  • auto-notification
  • sorting by author and date
  • limited to class members

Interactive Tools:

  • web surveys to get more student feedback
  • practice quizes

Multimedia:

  • photographs
  • audio / video clips
  • slide shows

Guides to Using Blackboard Software:

Customization:

  • change the look and feel of each web site
  • add customized navigation menu
  • add discussion board if desired
  • possibility of having students serve a Blackboard TA.s

The Benefits of Hybrid Courses: