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Accessing Blackboard
You will access your online course through the Blackboard (Bb) icon along the bottom of your MyTrent portal (icon pictured below).
Finding Your Course
Once you click the Blackboard icon, you will be taken to the Blackboard Learn interface. This is where you will find the sections you will be teaching this term. Be sure to filter by 'Terms' to ensure you are looking at the current section of courses. Click on the course icon to enter.
Introduction to Blackboard
A great place to start learning about Blackboard is the video below! Give it a quick watch for an introduction and overview of the Blackboard Learn interface.
Getting Started in Blackboard
Let's explore some of the key features of Blackboard that you will need to familiarize yourself with!
A) Course Menu: access to all course content. Instructors and the AQ Office have the ability to edit links along the menu.
B) Control Management: This section is only visible to the AQ Office and instructors. This is your access point for course management functions, such as course style, course tools, and users.
C) Student preview: If you are curious what students are seeing. You can review content through this student view.
D) Edit Mode: Courses are always left in Edit Mode' to allow instructors and the AQ Office to make edits as necessary.
E) Functions: Depending on which page of the course you are on you will see various options here (e.g., build content, assessments, tools etc.)
F) Menus: Whenever you see a small grey arrow, there are drop down options available for that item. You will see this option in menus, content areas, Grade Center columns, discussion/task boards etc. It is through this menu that you are able to edit, delete, or make content unavailable to students.
The Main Menu
Along the left-hand side of the screen, you will see the main menu. You will access all course content through this menu. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the various menu items. Your course menu links may be named slightly differently than the examples below, but the links generally hold the same information.
Exploring the Menu links
Announcements- Home Page - this is your home page; new announcements and updates will be posted here. This is the main entry point to the course.
Course Contacts - students will be able to see their instructor's email address and contact information for the AQ Office here.
Syllabus & Due Dates - includes your course syllabus and all the important course dates.
Using the Task Board/Discussion Board- students can review Task Board/Discussion Board expectations here
Task Board/Discussion Board - here students will post responses to Module tasks and read those of their classmates and instructor.
Dropbox – students will submit assignments here.
My Grades- students will view their grades here.
Modules - guide you through course work and include tasks for students to complete.
Resources - have links to course specific materials as well as Blackboard Help links.
Course Management Buttons
Within the menu of your course there is a section labelled 'Course Management'. These buttons are only accessible by instructors of the course and the AQ Office team. While there are many buttons here, the following are most important to you as an instructor:
Grade Center- There are four options on this drop down menu. You will use the following most often:
Needs Grading- this is where you can see all assignments that have been submitted and still require your grading.
Full Grade Center- here you can view all assignments and tasks which are worth marks. You can view assignments here and input grades as needed.
Users and Groups- There are multiple options here in the drop-down menu. You may find the following most useful to you in your role:
Users- view all students in your section and their Trent email address in one place. This section will also provide you with information about when students last accessed the courses.
The Blackboard Learn website is worth exploring for further learning-
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