Course Setup Essentials
Below is an outline of the process used to generate BbLearn courses and enrollments. There are a number of changes that make the BbLearn Course Setup process different than Blackboard CE8. The first thing you will notice is that official course spaces and student enrollments are now auto-generated.
Course Delivery Checklist
The BbLearn Course delivery checklist provides a quick reminder on the process required to run a Course offered "for credit" through BbLearn.
- Department Admin Assistant assigns "Instructor of Record"
Instructors and TAs assigned to course in Banner via COWS. - Official BbLearn Course Auto-generated
Course setup as unavailable for students. - "Instructor of Record" added Automatically
Instructors and TAs added to BbLearn course two months before semester. - Instructor Adds Content
Instructor builds content directly in BbLearn Course or adds through COURSE COPY. - Students added Automatically
Students added to BbLearn course one week before semester and throughout term. - Instructor Makes Course Available
Course activation email sent to students. - Instructor Teaches Course
Maintain a sense of presence by involving learners in a variety of activities. - Instructor Submits Final Grades
Final grades are submitted through Vandal Web.
Official Course Site
Instructors no longer have to request an official course space. Official course sites are automatically generated by the Registrar about two months before the start of the class. If you don't see your course, contact your department's administrative assistant to ensure that you've been added as an "Instructor of Record" to Banner through COWS. Official course sites are setup as unavailable to students. You may copy your course content from an older course into a current course space. When the course site is ready to go, instructors must make the course available to students.
OPTIONAL: To combine multiple sections, Request Course Merge.
OPTIONAL: To work ahead, Request a "PREP" Course.
Student enrollments are automatically added to classes approximately one week prior to the start of the Fall and Spring semesters. Summer session students are automatically added to ALL summer sessions approximately one week prior to the start of the first summer session. Students who add or drop the course will automatically be added or removed from the BbLearn course. Students automatically lose access to their BbLearn course about 4 weeks after the class ends.
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Instructors and TAs are added by your Department Administrative Assistant to the official course site through COWS as an "Instructor of Record". Instructor can add additional people to the official course site as a Course Builder, Grader, or Facilitator / Participant.
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Unofficial [PREP] Site
Another new feature in BbLearn Course Setup is the ability to work on your course ahead of time by requesting an unofficial course preparation space (i.e. [PREP] site) that can be setup at any time, even before your official course site is generated. Request a [PREP] site now.
Compare Official Course Site & Unofficial [PREP] Site
The basics of how official course sites and unofficial [PREP] sites work and how they are different from one another, are summarized below:
OFFICIAL Course Site
- Sample Title: Fall 2012 - ENGL101: Intro
- Auto-generated two months before class begins by the Registrar and are initially setup as UNAVAILABLE
- Students are added one week before class begins.
- INSTRUCTOR makes course available to students.
- INSTRUCTOR adds content directly or by copying content from an existing BbLearn site.
- Official course sites are removed 2 years after class begins.
Unofficial [PREP] Site
- Sample Title: [PREP] ENGL101: Intro
- [PREP] sites are generated by DEE at Instructor's request.
- [PREP] sites have NO STUDENTS.
- [PREP] sites are used as a preparation space for course development.
- [PREP] sites are not removed automatically.
Timing of Course & Enrollment Events
Below is a timeline summarizing when the different Course Setup and Enrollment events occur in BbLearn:
Where's my Course?
To access your official course sites and unofficial [PREP] sites, login to BbLearn. Your main BbLearn page displays a list of your BbLearn courses. Click on the course title to access the course. Below is a screenshot of a sample instructor's course list in BbLearn. Official course titles begin with "Fall", "Spring" or "Summer". Preparation course titles begin with "[PREP]".
