Read "Welcome to Your Sandbox" then:

• Explore the course. Click on menus to see what they make available. Please explore freely. You can’t break anything permanently!
• Find the Student Preview button on the top right side of your screen. Read about Student Preview and why you'd want to use it.
• Find the Edit mode toggle button on the top right of your screen. Turn Edit Mode on and off.

Watch this short video about edit mode:

Add your instructor information :

• Set edit mode to “On.”
• In the left side course menu, click on “Instructor Information.”

Part 1

• At the top of the page, click “Create folder.” Name the folder with your name.
• In the text area, use the Insert/Edit image tool to add a photo of yourself.

Read more about adding images.

Read more about editor icons and options.

• In the text area below your photo, type any information you’d like to share.
• At the bottom of the page, make sure the “Make Available” button is selected, then click the “Submit” button.

Part 2

• At the top of the page, click “Create Contact.” Fill in your profile information. In the "Personal Link" field, paste the link to your OWU faculty profile if you have one. It's a great idea to have one. You can find them here. Here's an example.
• Click the “Submit” button. Here’s how this looks for two instructors in the Teaching Online course:

Make sure Edit Mode is on.

• In the left side course menu, click “Announcements.” At the top of the page, click “Create Announcement.”
• Type the announcement title in the Subject box. Type a message in the message box. For this assignment, simply make up something. You can use the formatting toolbox to format text and add hyperlinks, pictures, attachments, and embedded videos. Experiment as time permits.

For more information, view the video below. t tells you to start by going to the control panel. This is not necessary since OWU courses have the link to announcements in the course (left side) menu.

• In the left side course menu, click “Email.”
• Send an email to “Single/Select Users.” Choose me (Roberta Niche). Make up the content. Below the message box, you will see an option to get a return receipt and a link to attach a file. Include an attachment (any file will do) and check the box for Return Receipt.

Blackboard Learn keeps no record of sent or received email. Any email you receive from Blackboard Learn appears in your external email inbox. Keep a copy of important messages. For more information, view the video below.

The first thing to know is the terminology. If you're not sure what is meant by a forum and a thread, read this.

There are two ways to create a discussion forum. The steps below guide you to do it the simpler way.

You'll add a discussion forum to the discussions page. The discussions page is what you see when you click on the “Discussions” link in the left side course menu. In your discussions assignment directions, you’d then direct students to go the discussions page and find the forum.

• Make sure Edit Mode is on.
• Think of an open-ended question or prompt that would stimulate a good discussion in your course.
• In the left side course menu, click “Discussions.” At the top of the page, click “Create Forum.”
• Type a title for the discussion in the “Name” box. Enter the question or prompt in the text box. Note that you can format text and add links, attachments, images, videos, and more. Experiment as time permits.
• Explore the forum setting options. You can leave them as is (default) or experiment. One interesting option is to require that students submit their post before they can read other people’s posts.
• Click “Submit.”
• In the left side course menu, click “Discussions.” You should see your forum in the list. Click to the left of its title. You’ll see a down arrow with the option to edit or delete it. When you have more than one forum, you’ll be able to drag them to change their order.

The second way is to add a discussion forum as an assignment. This is how our Teaching Online course is set up. You click on the blue assignment title and go directly to the specific discussion forum. If you’re interested in learning how to do this, let me know. For more information, read Discussion Board Page and view the video below.