Blackboard Beginning of Semester

To make a course available:

From the Courses tab

• Locate the course you want to make available.
• Click on the three dots on the far right (•••)
• Select Open Course [view screenshot] to make the course available

From the Course Properties Page

• Login to Blackboard and enter the course.
• On the Control Panel, expand the Customization section and click Properties.
• In the Set Availability section, click Yes. [view screenshot]
• Click Submit.

From a Course Homepage or Content Area

• Login to Blackboard and enter the course. 
• Access the Course Homepage or a Content Area in the course, such as Course Documents or Assignments. 
• In the top right-hand corner of the course, next to Student Preview, click on the lock icon to make the course available. [View screenshot] When the course is unavailable to students the lock is red and closed. When the course is available the lock is black and open.

Additional Resources from Blackboard:

• View Blackboard's short "How-To" video entitled: Making Your Course Available.

Login to Blackboard and enter the course.

• On the Control Panel, expand the Customization section and click Properties.
• In the Set Availability section, click Yes.
• In the Set Course Duration section, select the radio button next to Select Dates.
  • Check the box next to Start Date and select the date that you would like the course to become available to students. The course will become available at 12:00 AM on the date selected.
  • Optionally, you can check the box next to End Date and select the date that you would like the course to no longer be available to students. The course will become unavailable at 11:59 PM on the date selected.
• Click Submit.

If students try to access the course in Blackboard before the set start date, the title of the course will be grayed out and will be followed by a message indicating when the course will be available. [View screenshot]

Use course terms to define the beginning and end of a period of study. You can make courses available during a specific course term.

1. From the left navigation, chose Admin (must have access to view this tab) . [view screenshot]
2. On the Administrator Panel, in the Courses section, select Terms.  [view screenshot]
3. To create a new term, select Create Term.
4. -OR-
5. To edit an existing term, open the term's menu and select Edit. [view screenshot]
6. On the Edit Term page, type a Name and optional Description.
7. For Availability, select Yes to make the term available to courses throughout Blackboard Learn. Select No to make the term unavailable. [view screenshot]
8. Set the Duration for the term.
   • Continuous: Create a term with no beginning or end.
   • Select Dates: Set calendar dates for the beginning and end of the term. The Start Date must be earlier than the End Date. Courses become available on the morning of the start date (00:01). Courses become unavailable on of the evening of the end date (23:59).
   • Days from the end of enrollment: Define a course term as beginning at the close of course enrollment and lasting a specified number of days.
9. Select Submit.

For more information about Terms, visit the Blackboard Terms page

• View video on YouTube: How to Make Your Course Available to Students (Blackboard)

• Enter the older Blackboard course that has content you want to copy.
• On the Control Panel, expand the Packages and Utilities section and click Course Copy. [View screenshot]
• Select the option: Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course. [View screenshot]
• In the Destination Course ID box click the Browse button to view a list of your courses. [View screenshot]
• • In the popup window that appears, select the appropriate course ID from your list of courses and click Submit. The course ID will populate in the Destination Course ID Box. [View screenshot]
• Select the course materials that you want to copy over to the existing course. We recommend Select All.
• In the File Attachments section, select Copy links and copies of the content
• DO NOT select Include Enrollments in the Copy.
• Click Submit.

First, export the test from the current course:

1. Navigate to the course that contains the test.
2. Click Course Tools in the Control Panel. [View screenshot]
3. Ensure the Edit Mode is ON, found at the top-right of your course window.
4. Click Tests, Surveys, and Pools. [View screenshot]
5. Click Tests. [View screenshot]
6. Click the arrow to the right of the test name. [View screenshot]
7. Select Export. [View screenshot]
8. Save the file to the desktop of your computer.

 
Next, import the test into the course of your choice:

1. Navigate to the Blackboard course you will add the test to.
2. Click Course Tools from the Control Panel. [View screenshot]
3. Ensure the Edit Mode is ON, found at the top-right of your course window.
4. Click Tests, Surveys, and Pools. [View screenshot]
5. Click Tests. [View screenshot]
6. Click Import Test. [View screenshot]
7. Click Browse My Computer. [View screenshot]
8. Select the file of the exported quiz on your computer. [View screenshot]
9. Click Submit.
10. Click OK.
11. The final step is to deploy the test in a content area where your students can access it. Visit Tests and Quizzes for more information about deploying the test and selecting your test settings.

1. Ensure the Edit Mode is ON, found at the top-right of your course window.
2. Click the arrow to the right side of item/folder name. [View screenshot]
3. Select Copy or Move. [View screenshot]
4. Use the Destination Course drop down menu to select the course you would like to copy or move the item or folder to. [View screenshot]
5. Click the Destination Folder Browse button. [View screenshot]
6. Select the area in the course you would like to place the item or folder in. You may need to click the Plus Sign (+ button) to find a folder within a folder. [View screenshot]
7. Click Submit.

1. On the Control Panel, expand the Users and Groups section and click Users.
2. On the Users page, click Find Users to Enroll. [view screenshot]
3. Type a user's BCM ECA (Example: u23581 or astarke) [view screenshot] -or- click Browse to search for a user. Only users that are not already enrolled in your course will be listed in the search results. Select or type as many usernames as needed. Separate multiple usernames with commas.
4. Note: New users don't automatically have access to Blackboard, accounts must be manually created by Ed-Tech.  View the Batch enrollment instructions on the Users and Groups page for what to send to Ed-Tech to get accounts created.  Contact the Ed-Tech at ed-tech@bcm.edu for issues.
5. Select a Role and Enrollment Availability for the user(s).
6. Click Submit.

Located Users: Search results display up to 25 names on a page. Searches that result in more than 25 users will display users on multiple pages. You cannot enroll multiple users who appear on different pages. Instead, select users to enroll from a single page and click Submit. Redo the search to select additional users to enroll.

Availability: You cannot enroll users who have been made Unavailable in the Blackboard course. Contact Ed-Tech at ed-tech@bcm.edu for assistance enrolling Unavailable users. Users who have been enrolled in your course, but made Unavailable by you, will not see your course in the Courses tab and do not have access to your course.

1. Click on the Control Panel within your course.
2. Click Users and Groups..
3. Put a check in the box next to the name(s) to remove.
4. Click Confirm Users.
5. Click Remove Users.
6. You will see a warning notice that deleting someone from the course site will delete all their course work and grades as well. You cannot get the data back.

Note: Removing students from a course also deletes all their course data (tests, surveys, discussions, assignments, grades.). 

Removing Manually Added Instructors:
If you would like to remove a manually added instructor from a course, contact the Ed-Tech at ed-tech@bcm.edu for assistance.

Navigate to the lower left Control Panel, select Course Tools, Date Management. You will see the following Select Date Adjustment Options: [View screenshot]

Use Course Start Date

• Use this option when changing from one semester to another. The Current Start Date displays the date that the course is currently set to start. Click in the New box and enter the date when this new course is going to start. All dates in the course adjust by the number of days each date occurs after the start date.
• Example: The original course started Sept. 1 and there was an assignment due Sept. 26, twenty-five days after the start date. If you adjust the new start date to Jan. 12, the assignment is now due Feb. 6, twenty-five days after the new start date.

Adjust by Number of Days

• Use this option when you know exactly how many days you want to adjust dates by.
• Type the number of days you want to adjust all dates in the course by. This is based on the dates that are currently set for each item in the course, not today's date.
• Example: On June 1 you adjust dates by 30 days. The assignment that was set to be due Sept. 1 is now due Oct. 1.
• Negative numbers move the dates back. Positive numbers move the dates forward.

List All Dates for Review

• Use this option when you want to review dates before adjusting them in batches or one-by-one. Select this option to display a list of all content and tools with dates set on the Date Management Review page.
• After selecting one of these options click Start in the lower right corner. This will start the Date Management process. It may take several minutes, you will receive an automatic email message when the process is finished. When the process is complete click Next to go to the Date Management Review page.

This page displays all content and tools that have dates set in the course. Review all dates and adjust as appropriate.

1. If you want to return to the first page and adjust dates automatically, click the Date Management link in the top left bar. The first page also shows when the Date Management process was last run.
2. Click Refresh to refresh the current page if there have been changes made to the course since date management was last run.
3. You can Filter your review by Item Type (Announcement, Assignment, Test, etc.) or by Date Type (Due Dates, Availability Dates, or Adaptive Release Dates).
4. Select one, multiple, or all items in the list and click Adjust Dates to batch adjust dates. Indicate by how many days the selected item dates should be moved. A negative number will move the dates back. When finished click Go.
5. Click NAME to sort the list by item name.
6. To change a date for an item, click on the date or on the item's pencil icon on the right. Change the date and time, then click the green checkmark button to submit the change. If you change your mind and don't want to change it, click the arrow/cancel button instead.
7. Review when items are made available. Under AVAILABILITY click STARTS or ENDS to sort the list by item availability start and end dates.
8. Review the adaptive release dates for items. Under ADAPTIVE RELEASE click STARTS or ENDS to sort the list by adaptive release start and end dates.
9. Navigate between pages if you have more items beyond those displayed on the first page. By default, each page displays 25 items.

All items with dates set can be displayed and controlled through Date Management. This includes:

• Content (items, files, folders, etc.)
• Assessments (tests, surveys, assignments)
• Tools (discussions, blogs, journals, announcements, etc.)
• Manual grade columns
• Course and Organization tasks

Publisher content is shown on the Date Management Review page but you cannot adjust the dates of publisher content from this page.