Announcements appear on the first page of a course (unless you have set an alternate Course Entry Point).
Go to the Announcement page.
Click the Edit Mode switch to On (upper right corner of course).
Click on the Create Announcements button.
Fill out the "Subject" and "Message" fields.
You have two options for dates: Permanent (the announcement is always displayed); and Date Restricted (the announcement displays from the date chosen to the date chosen).
In section 3, you can directly link to specific area of the course.
Click Submit and you will go back to the Announcements page.
Announcements appear in the order they are created, last item created at the top. If you would like to change that order, drag and drop the double-headed arrows to the left of the announcement.
One of the most convenient features of Blackboard is that all of your students' e-mail addresses are already in the system. This means that you can send e-mail to your class without having to look up everyone's e-mail and generate your own mailing list.
To send e-mail to everyone in your class:
Click on the particular course.
Click on the Tools course area (on the left-hand side).
Click on Send E-mail.
Select the option which best fits your need.
Clicking on All Users will send an e-mail to every student registered for the class; Select Users allows you to check individual users. Although you send the e-mail out from Blackboard, it goes to the students' regular Hamilton e-mail accounts, so that they can read it anywhere. Note: The outgoing message will NOT appear in your Out or Send box, but a copy of the e-mail will be automatically sent to the sender.
Adding content to your course is easy with the templates that exist for any content area. We will use a syllabus as an example but you may add many different types of documents in the same manner (including datasets for class exercises).
Click the Edit Mode switch to On (upper right of course page).
Select the course area where you wish to post the document.
Under the title of the area you have selected, you will see five tool buttons. The Create Item button will open the page for uploading a document. Enter the Name of this item and any special instructions. In section 2 you can Browse to wherever your syllabus is stored and select it. Decide whether you need any date/time restrictions and click Submit.
If you hover your mouse over the Build, Evaluate, Collaborate and More buttons, you will see many other options for items you can add to your course space.
To see how the document will appear to students, click the Edit Mode switch to Off. Clicking on the link to the item you just created should open up a window with the syllabus in it. Your students will now be able to access the course syllabus and print it instead of asking you for an extra copy.
To modify or remove an item, click the Edit Mode switch to On. Click the "chevron" next to the item title. This will produce a menu of all the options for this item, including Edit, Copy and Delete.
The good news is that you can use this same procedure to upload any file for your course -- not just the syllabus, but articles, exam questions, bibliographies and any other material which currently exists in a standard Microsoft Office file (or other file for which your students have access to the necessary application, for example, datasets for SPSS).
You can add information about yourself or anyone associated with your course (i.e. lab instructors, student assistants) in the Contacts area.
Click the Edit Mode switch to On (upper right of course page).
Click on the Contacts link in the course menu.
Click on the Create Contact button. Enter your name, e-mail address, phone, office hours and other pertinent information (you may even upload your picture or create a link to a pre-existing home page).
