Why use Blackboard?
Reason #1 –
You can save some time with the organization and management of your class.
Blackboard
isn’t just an electronic course delivery system for your students; it’s a
course management system for
you.
• Blackboard can help you organize your course materials and files in one
central place that you can access anywhere in the world with a computer
connected to the Internet.
Your
course notes and overviews can be hidden from your students’ view.
• Start using the Blackboard Announcement area to remind your students about
upcoming deadlines or recap your class lectures and assignments.
• If you have to miss a class at the last moment, you can post it on your
Announcements and let them know that class is cancelled. Send them to
the discussion board and hold an asynchronous class for that week.
• Tired of keeping track of emails, phone calls and messages hung on your
office door from students? Use the Blackboard Messages feature for
your class communication. Students communicate with you and other
classmates through the messages tool within the course site. You also
eliminate the frustration of trying to get all your students to update their
email address in the system. The Messages tool doesn’t require email
addresses.
These are a few of the reasons to use Blackboard that boil down to one
valuable fact – Blackboard can save you administrative time with the
management of your course.
Blackboard Tip of the Month
You may want to consider using the
Blackboard Messages tool to communicate with your students as a way of
supplementing or replacing email communication. On strength of this option is
that your students do not need
to have their current email address on the college system because Blackboard is
not dependant on the email system. In addition, you can send private and
public messages with attachments to your students and your students can do the
same. It's all contained in your Blackboard course site. Your
communications and file attachments are easily accessible and organized
Here's how to do it:
Creating a new message
1. Click on the Messages button or
Communication > Messages in the left navigation bar.
2. Click the New Message button.
3. Click the To button.
4. Select a recipient in the Select Recipients box, and
click the Add Recipient bottom.
Repeat for each recipients.
5. Click the Submit button.
6. (Click the Cc and Bcc buttons to send copies to additional users)
7. Enter a message subject in the Subject box.
8. Enter a message text in the Body box.
9. Click the Submt button. > Click the OK
button.
Reading a message
1. Click on the Messages button or
Communication > Messages in the left navigation bar.
2. Click on Inbox.
3. Click the subject name to open the message.
4. Optional Reply: Click Reply, Reply All, or Forward.
Select recipients and click Submit.
5. Click the OK button when you are finished reading
and/or replying to message.
For more information on messaging through Blackboard, contact the TLC at 8959
(Press 2)
Check back each week for more BB Tips.