Course Creation
Blackboard course sites for Fall and Spring are created 120 days prior to the start of every semester. Sites are made unavailable to students by default, and instructors determine when to make their courses available to their students. Instructions on how to make a course available can be found on the Beginning of Semester page.
Course Enrollments
- Instructors are added at the time courses are created, 120 days prior to the start of the term.
- Students are added two weeks prior of the start of the term. This will vary depending on the school and if it's an elective. Electives are self-enrolled by the students.
Student enrollments and faculty assignments are done manually by the System Admin or Program Admin.
Course Availability
Blackboard course sites are made unavailable to students by default, and instructors determine when to make their courses available to their students. Instructions on how to make a course available can be found on the Beginning of Semester page.
Special Requests
Instructors can request the following services sending an email through the BCM Blackboard Support Center. [
- Course Site Copy – Request to copy Blackboard content from one course site to another.
- Course Site Template – Request a template to help you start your Blackboard course with built-in best practices in instructional design.
- Course Site Merge – Merge multiple course sites into a single Blackboard course.
- Course Quota Increase – Each course site in Blackboard is restricted to a size limit of 2 GB for course materials. This quota is necessary to properly manage storage resources and ensure adequate system performance. If more storage space is needed, the quota can be increased in 1 GB increments by submitting a request in the BCM Blackboard Support Center. []
- Request Ongoing Course Site – Courses that span all year.
- Restoration of Archive Course Site – Under special circumstances, courses older than eight years can be restored per instructor request.
- LTI integration – Third-party tools can be integrated to Blackboard per request. The approval process for each tool will include reviews for functionality, accessibility, security, FERPA, legal, cost, as well as other factors as explained in the LTI Policy and FAQs document.
General Capabilities
- Create or upload text, audio, video, and interactive content for students to access online. Content can be added using Blackboard Learn tools or using third-party software that integrates with Blackboard. You should always create to all students.
- Communicate, interact, and collaborate with students via course announcements, email, discussion board threads, blog posts, and other
- Assess concept mastery through the use of , , and other tools that enable instructors to record and assess students’ work in a variety of ways. A Grade Center column is created automatically when an assessment is created, and grades are populated as instructors grade assignments.
System Requirements
Web browsers used with Blackboard Learn must have Java and Javascript enabled, cookies and third-party cookies enabled, and pop-up blocker disabled. Firefox and Google Chrome are the recommended web browsers. Use the to verify whether your browser supports the most recent release of Blackboard Learn.
Accessibility
Blackboard Learn offers accessibility features that allows users to easily navigate and read the Blackboard Learn web interface. The web interface supports screen readers for all available creator and viewer interfaces. The web interface also support keyboard access, allowing you to use the tab key to access all available functions. All sessions fully support adding and displaying captions. For additional information on Blackboard Learn’s accessibility features, visit .
Compliance
Blackboard provides secure, private, online communication of FERPA-sensitive information in addition to group spaces where students and instructors can interact and exchange information that is not FERPA-sensitive. Restrictions that apply to your classroom teaching also apply in the Blackboard Learn environment, such as not allowing students to see others’ grades or graded work and not using external email to communicate FERPA-sensitive information.
Blackboard does not warrant or provide any assurances that your use of the Products will comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. For more information, visit the page or contact us at ed-tech@bcm.edu.
