Blackboard is the 'learning management system' (LMS) the University of South Carolina supports so that instructors across all academic units and campuses have a common tool for students to use for their course work. Courses that are delivered online have all or almost all of the material in a Blackboard site.
See Also: Getting Started tab
Quick Links:
Blackboard Help: Students https://en-us.help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student
Blackboard Help: Instructors https://en-us.help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor
YouTube Channel: Bb Help for Students https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLontYaReEU1seUE3ACG3sEc3zR7Br7URU
YouTube Channel: Bb Help for Instructors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLontYaReEU1tzu1T5gfiX-JQA5nBc3isN
As of December 2016 the University of South Carolina is using Blackboard Learn version 9.1 - release "Q2 2016".
You may see reference to Blackboard Learn Original in the Blackboard Help materials, which is the environment we are using. They have a new environment called Blackboard ULTRA, which is still in development.
USC Columbia and the other four-year campuses - USC Aiken, USC Beaufort and USC Upstate - use their own Blackboard template. The Palmetto College campuses - USC Lancaster, USC Salkehatchie, USC Sumter and USC Union - use the Columbia campus template. The most obvious difference among the templates is the color scheme - and references to Gamecocks, Pacers, Sand Sharks, and Spartans! The other major difference is links to the campus-specific my.sc.edu and library resources.
Each course site is different. Some instructors have quite complex sites, using many of the built-in tools and with courses materials that include multimedia or interactive features. Other instructors put little or no information in their course site, maybe just a copy of the syllabus. Some instructors hide a course - or just specific areas of the course - prior to the semester starting while he or she is designing or changing the content.
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