Group Pages: Sending Email

Please note that the SPU Blackboard system only uses SPU email addresses.  If a user has chosen to forward their SPU email to a different email address, any messages sent from Blackboard will automatically forward to that alternative address.

1. Log into your course site.

2. Locate and click on the name of your Group.

3. Under Group Tools, click Send Email.

4. Select the names of those persons you want to email and click the arrow pointing to the right to move users from the Items to Select to the Selected Items box.

5. Type a subject and message.

6. If you want to include an attachment, click the Attach a file link.

7. Once you have finished composing your message and have attached any accompanying documents, click the Submit button.

Note: A copy of the email will be sent to your SPU email address.

Group Pages: File Exchange

Users within a Group and the Instructor can upload files to the Group space using the Group File Exchange.

1. Log into your course site.

2. Locate and click on the name of your Group.

3. Under Group Tools, click File Exchange.

4. Click the Add File button.

5. In the Name field, type in the name of the document as you’d like it to appear.

6. Click the Browse for Local File button.

7. In the window that appears, locate your file, and click Open.

8. Click the Submit button.

Group Pages: Creating a Group Discussion Board Forum

Your online course provides a discussion board as a communication tool. This feature is designed for asynchronous use, meaning users do not have to be available at the same time to have a conversation. An additional advantage of the discussion board is that conversations are logged and organized by forums that contain threads and all related replies.

The first step in setting up an online discussion is to create a forum.  We recommend creating a new forum for each new discussion topic.

Creating the Discussion Forum

1. Log into your course site.

2. Locate and click on the name of your Group.

3. Under Group Tools, click the Group Discussion Board link in the navigation menu.

4. Click the Create Forum button.

5. Next, type a title and description for your forum.
6. Under Forum Availability, you may choose to make the forum available right away by selecting Yes.  You may also set a date restriction, if desired.  Typically, we recommend that you leave a forum available to students once they have access to it.

7. Under Forum Settings, we recommend that you check the following options:
Allow author to modify own published posts
Allow members to create new threads
You may choose to check other options depending on your preferences.  Please note that typically it is not recommended that you check Allow anonymous posts.  It is best to have the author take responsibility for their statements.

8. Click the Submit button.

Group Pages: Description of Forum Settings

The following is a quick summary of each option available under Forum Settings.

Allow anonymous posts
This option allows students to post messages without revealing their identity. It should be used only when you are looking for everyone in your course to post anonymously, such as a mid-term discussion on how your students feel the course is going. However, it is not the most efficient way to gather anonymous messages. This feature requires that the students check a box to make the post anonymous. If they forget, the message will be posted with their name attached. If you need to gather information, such as course feedback, it is a good idea to create a survey instead of allowing anonymous posts.  

Allow author to delete own posts
This option allows students to post a message and then remove it without any evidence of the initial posting. We STRONGLY recommend that this option not be used. If a student removes his or her message, it may also remove any other messages associated with that thread. If posting messages is part of the requirements for the course, other students’ work will be affected. Please avoid using this option. 

Allow author to edit own published posts
This option allows a student to post a message and then, if he or she discovers a typo, to go back and correct that error without removing the message entirely. 

Allow users to reply with a quote

This option allows students to place a copy of the original message in their reply to that posting.

Allow file attachments
This option allows students to attach a document or other media to a message. This option may be useful when asking students to submit resources, projects, or papers for other students to review. If you ask students to submit papers or projects for your review (and other students do not need to review the attachments) or for grading purposes, we suggest using the Assignment feature. 

Allow members to create new threads
This option allows students to create new messages.  Please note that if you do not choose this option, you will need to set up the initial thread to which your students will respond. Otherwise, no messages can be posted by students. 

Allow members to subscribe to threads
If you select the option to Allow members to subscribe to threads, then participants in a discussion may choose to receive an email alert when a post is updated or a user posts a reply. 

Allow members to rate posts
The Discussion Board can be a good place in a course for peer review. Each student may start a thread and include their work in the initial post. Other students then review the work, assign a rating to the initial post, and include comments in a response. As users respond, the feedback expands as users reinforce and build on points made by other students. 

Force moderation of posts
Instructors can assign Discussion Board members to act as moderators. Moderators review posts before they are added to a thread and displayed to the class. The Moderator may be the Instructor or other responsible participants.  In general, it is advised that the instructor and students agree on guidelines for posting to the discussion board at the start of a course rather than designate someone to filter all messages. 

Grade
The Instructor has the option to grade students at the forum level or at the thread level. In this way, the Instructor can accurately compare student participation to the expectations set forth.

An alternative to the instructor reviewing and grading every posting is for students to complete self-assessments of their contributions to the discussion.  For more information about how to create a discussion board self-assessment, please contact us.

Groups Pages: Creating a Virtual Classroom or Chat Session

1. Log into your course site.

2. Locate and click on the name of your Group.

3. Under Group Tools, click Collaboration.

4. Click the Create Collaboration Session button.

5. Type a name for the session.  Note:  It is a good idea to name the session with relation to the topic you intend to discuss.

6. Under the Schedule Availability section, you may choose to set a date restriction for participation in the session.

7. Under the Collaboration Tool section, you may choose either Chat or Virtual Classroom.

8. Click the Submit button.

Viewing Survey Results

Once you have deployed a survey in your course site, a Grade Center column is automatically generated for that survey.  It tracks which students have completed the survey and also provides the instructor access to the results of the survey.  Results collected are anonymous, meaning that you won’t be able to identify who submitted a given response.

To view survey responses:

1. Log into your course site.

2. Under the Control Panel, click Evaluation > Grade Center.

3. You will see a green checkmark in the cell for students who have completed the survey.  And while you have the option to View Grade Details for a specific user, you won’t be able to view their individual responses.

4. To view a summary of the survey results, click the action link to the right of the name of the survey column and choose Attempts Statistics.

5. To download the results into a spreadsheet format, click the action link to the right of the name of the survey column and choose Download Results.

Creating an Online Survey

It is a good practice to compose the survey offline before creating the survey within your course site. Typically, assessments are created in Microsoft Word and then cut and pasted into the online format.

1. Log into your course site.

2. Click on the area (i.e. Content) in which you want the survey to appear.

3. Click Content>Evaluate > Create Survey.

4. Click the Create button.

5. Type a name for the survey.

6. Type a description of what will be assessed, if desired.

7. Type the instructions to accompany the survey.

8. Click the Submit button to proceed to inputting questions.

9. Before creating a survey question, you may want to adjust the default settings for the survey by clicking Creation Settings.  Note:  You do have the option of adding images to your assessment, amongst other options listed under Creation Settings.  If you would like assistance with adding images to your assessment, please contact us.

10. Once you have determined your settings, click the Submit button.

11. You are now ready to start adding questions to your survey.  There are a variety of question types available within the Survey Canvas.  You also have the option of reusing survey questions.  Click the Create Question or Reuse Question button and select the type of question you would like to add.

12. Fill in the information for the question and answer possibilities.

13. Click the Submit button.

14. Repeat the question creation process until all questions have been added.

15. When the last question has been added, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click OK.

16. You will return to the Create Survey window.  Click on the name of the survey you just created and click Submit.

The Survey Options page should appear.

17. Under the Survey Availability section, click Yes to make the link to the survey available. You may also choose to have the system automatically generate an announcement informing students of the test availability. You may also choose to allow students to take the survey more than once. It is not recommended that you choose the Force Completion option or set a time limit. You may choose to set a date range during which the assessment will be available.  If you use these options, be sure to inform your students of the availability of the survey.  If you choose NOT to use these options, be sure the boxes are left unchecked.

18. Under the Self-assessment Options section, you may choose whether or not you want the score to be included in final grade calculations.

19. Under the Survey Feedback section, you may choose to have the following items display:  status and submitted answers.

20. Under the Survey Presentation section, you may choose to have all questions display at once or one at a time.  If you choose to display questions one at a time, you may also choose to limit backtracking to questions that have already been answered.  Another option you have is to randomize the questions.  This displays the questions in a different order for different users.

21. Once you have made your selections, click the Submit button.  Your online survey has been created successfully.

Blackboard 9 Workshop Resources

If you missed a Blackboard 9 workshop during September 2009 or if you’d simply like to review that information, you can watch a screencast of the workshop (1 hr 15 min) and/or download the workshop handout (PDF).

Reviewing Student SafeAssignments

To view student submissions and their SafeAssign reports, please do the following:

1. Log into your course site with the Edit Mode set On.

2. Under the Control Panel, click Evaluation > Grade Center.

3. Click on the action link to the right of the exclamation point that appears in the column for that student, and choose View Grade Details.

4. Click the Open Attempt button.

5. Click the SA Report icon to view results.

6. To view a sample report, click here.

Submitting Your SafeAssignment & Reviewing Results

SafeAssign is a tool that students and instructors can use to check a document for plagiarism.  The tool provides feedback as to whether or not the text in a document is a close match with other documents on the Internet, in journal databases, and submitted to Blackboard.  This tool is intended to help students appropriately use and cite sources before submitting their final work for assessment.  This is not a foolproof system for detecting plagiarism.  Rather it is a tool to help students review their work with a critical eye.

Submitting Your Assignment

1. Log into your course site.

2. Locate the SafeAssignment, and click the View/Complete link.

3. In the Comments section, type any comments you have for your instructor.

4. In the Files to Attach section, click the Browse button.

5. Locate your completed assignment, and click Open.

6. Click Submit.  It may take several minutes for the system to check your document.

Reviewing the Results

1. Log into your course site.

2. Locate the SafeAssignment, and click the View/Complete link.

3. Click on the icon in the SA Report column.

4. To view a sample report, click here.