Document Management

• Display Mode and Edit Mode
• Copy or Move documents between areas or courses
• Other Content Menu Options(tracking views, adaptive release, review status)
• Adding Material to Blackboard (Documents, Links, Multiple Files, etc.)
• Special Instructions for Video Files

Display Mode and Edit Mode

The Display Mode will only show materials which students can see. If you want to add material or change anything about a course, you must be in Edit Mode. Look for the Edit Mode link (switch icon) in the upper-right corner. Click on this link to change the mode from Off to On (or vice versa). When you are done modifying the course, switch the Edit Mode to Off to return to the students' view. Content areas will appear to students only if there is course material in them.

Copy or Move documents between areas or courses

1. Enter the course space which has the document you'd like to copy or move (remember, courses labeled unavailable or inactive can still be accessed by instructors).
2. With Edit Mode on, go to the Content Area where your document or folder is located, click the chevron next to the content item and select Copy from the menu.
3. You will then see a page where you can choose the destination course from a drop-down list (same as the source course if moving between areas in the same course).
4. Click the Browse button to select the area/folder from the Course Map to which to copy or move the document.
5. At the Remove Item after Copy option, select Yes for a Move operation or No for a Copy.
6. Click Submit.

If you have a large number of documents, external links, assessments, etc. to move from one course to another, you may wish to use the Course Copy feature instead:

1. In the Control Panel area of the previous semester's course, under Packages and Utilities, click Course Copy.
2. Enter the Course Id of the new course (or click Browse to find it -- this is not the title, but the dept-number-section code).
3. Check which materials should be copied to the new course. There is no need to copy enrollments; these are supplied automatically.
4. Click Submit; depending on the size of the files, this may take a few minutes. You will receive a Confirmation message.

Other Content Menu Options (tracking views, adaptive release, review status)

• Tracking -- see which students accessed this document and when
• Adaptive Release -- control who sees this document and under what circumstances, by setting rules related to grades, dates, group membership, or review status  (see additional instructions under Monitoring Student Progress)
• Review Status -- have your students mark when they have read a document (may be tracked in the Performance Dashboard, more information under Monitoring Student Progress)
• User Progress -- track adaptive release and review status for the entire class

Adding Material to Blackboard

Uploading a document (or any other type of file, such as a dataset)

1. Turn Edit Mode to On.
2. Go to the area where you'd like to post the document.
3. Click the "Create Item" button (below the content area title).
4. Enter the name and any instructions in the Text box.
5. Under (2), Content, click the Browse button to navigate to your file.
6. Click Submit. (One may optionally set display from/to dates.) 

Adding an Announcement

1. Turn Edit Mode to On.
2. Go to the Announcements area.
3. Click the Create Announcements button at the top.
4. Enter Subject and Message and then click Submit (one may also set Permanent and Date Display options, or include a link to another part of the course, for example, Assignments).

Adding an External Link (URL)

1. Turn Edit Mode to On.
2. Go to the area in which you'd like to add the external site.
3. Hover your mouse over the "Build" button and select the "External Link" option.
4. Enter the name of the web site and the URL (it is often easier to copy and paste it from a browser window opened to that site).
5. Enter information about the web site in the Text box.
6. Click Submit. (One may also choose whether to open in a separate window or to track students" views.)  

Uploading a number of files at once (for folders of Word or PDF files)

1. Compress the files into a single "zipped" file using Stuffit or Windows Compressed Files.
2. Go to the area in which you'd like to upload the files.
3. Turn Edit Mode to On.
4. Hover your mouse over the "More" button and select the "Add Document Package" option.
5. Click the Browse button to navigate to your zipped file.
6. Click Submit. (Folder structure will be preserved after upload.)

Special Instructions for Video Files

Putting video clips in Blackboard

1. For copyright compliance, clips should be no longer than three minutes; check with the Library for specifics.
2. The recommended format is Quicktime; search the ITS Support site using the keyword "compression" for details or call 4877 for help in compressing digital video.
3. Follow the steps above for uploading a document.
4. After browsing and selecting the file, be sure to select the Special Action "display media file within the page."
5. After you click Submit (and the file uploads), there will be a second screen entitled "Content Actions." In order to display the controller bar (which will allow students to start/pause/replay the clip), you will need to add 16 mm to the Height dimension. "Set Width" can remain at 320; "Set Height" should be 256. All other default values may remain the same. Click Submit.
6. When students access the video clip, they will need to wait a few moments for the file to load; then they may click the Play button on the controller bar.

Uploading Streaming Media