Blackboard

This tip is provided by the Centre for Enhancing Learning through Technology (CELT). The images in this post will expand when clicked.

The Blackboard Home page provides links to services and help for students and staff at DMU. As well as the Module shells that we are enrolled on we can use the Add Resource button to add and remove widgets from this page. For example, the Organisation Catalogue widget enables us to find open shells that cover topics we may be interested in.

Along the top of the page, the StaffGuide and UserGuide links provide access to staff and student help for using the learning technologies that are provided by the university and the Information panel includes quick links to popular help guides.

Beneath the information panel, the My Communities panel is where we access shells that we have found in the Organisation Catalogue.

 

This tip is provided by the Centre for Enhancing Learning through Technology (CELT). The images in this post will expand when clicked.

Blackboard is DMU’s Virtual Learning Environment and every module should have an area or ‘shell’ that students can use to engage with their studies online.

There is a Blackboard module shell policy and as a minimum students can expect to see the following sections within each shell.

Announcements is where any important announcements about the module will appear. All announcements will also be delivered to students via email to their studentid@my365.dmu.ac.uk address

Staff contacts – this section will tell students who is teaching/working on the module along with their contact details and working hours

The Module information section holds information such as the module handbook and a summary of the timetabled sessions

Learning Materials. This is where students will access lecture notes, lab sheets, DMU Replay recordings and any other online materials that support the module

Assessment will provide details of the assessment activities, the mark descriptors and any marking grids that may be used

Turnitin is where links to the online submission tool ‘TurnItIn’ can be found. All written work is submitted through TurnItIn and it can be used to submit other file types, size permitting

In the picture there is also a Discussion Board section. This is not a standard section but colleagues are encouraged to use the collaborative and other tools in Blackboard and place links etc. in an intuitive manner. Students should speak to their module leader about specific tools that might be used in Blackboard alongside the required sections that have been described here.

Colleagues can brush up on the Blackboard module shell policy via the LLS pages of DMUconnect (login required).

This tip is provided by the Centre for Enhancing Learning through Technology (CELT). The images in this post will expand when clicked.

Have you checked out the UserGuide and StaffGuide links in Blackboard?

For colleagues, the StaffGuide link will take you to the CELT Hub where you can read about all the important things you need to do in Blackboard as well as how to create content and collaborative tools. Use this information in conjunction with the Blackboard Module Shell policy to ensure your shell is accessible and consistent with other shells that your students will engage with.

For students, the UserGuide link will take you to the student help pages where you can get help with using the following technologies:

• Blackboard;
• DMU Replay;
• TurnItIn;
• Social Media tools;
• Blackboard Collaborate; and
• The DMU Commons.

This tip is provided by the Centre for Enhancing Learning through Technology (CELT). The images in this post will expand when clicked.

Following the recent Blackboard upgrade staff and students may find that some areas of Blackboard no longer display correctly in Internet Explorer.

This is a known position and Blackboard have published guidance on supported web browsers here https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Administrator/Hosting/Release_Notes/Browser_Support

Internet Explorer is listed as ‘Unsupported’ and therefore there is little that can be done other than use an alternative web browser. On DMU computers; Edge, Chrome and Firefox are available for use – it is recommended that one of these browsers is used when in Blackboard.