Managing Documents in Blackboard

• 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

Do you have some course documents from a previous semester's course which you'd like to copy into this year's course space? Did you change your mind about which folder you'd like a particular document to be in? Documents may be copied from one course to another or moved from one folder to another within the same course. Here's how:

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 "action button" to the right of 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.  To copy assignments, you must select the Grade Center as well as the content area in which the assignment is deployed.  To copy quizzes or tests, you must select the Grade Center, the content area in which the quiz or test is deployed, and the Test, Surveys and Pools option.  To copy discussion boards, blogs, journals or wikis, you must copy the Grade Center if any of these items have the "Graded" option turned on.  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)

In addition to the Edit, Copy, and Delete options of a content item's popup menu, you will see a number of other options. These other features include:

• Statistics 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. Hover over the "Build Content" tool button and select the "Item" option from the flyout menu.
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 module on the Course Home page.
3. Click the "More Announcements" link.
4. Click the "Create Announcements" button.
5. Enter Subject and Message and then click Submit (one may also set Date Display options, include a link to another part of the course, or send an email).

Adding an External Link (URL)

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

Adding a Link to a YouTube video

1. Turn Edit Mode to On.
2. Hover your mouse over the "Build Content" button and select the "YouTube Video" option under Mashups (righthand side).
3. Search for the video you want.
4. Preview videos from the results returned and click Select when you've found the video you want.
5. And any description desired, select options and click Submit.  

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 "Files" area of the Control Panel.
3. Hover your mouse over the "Upload" button and select the "Upload Package" option.
4. Click the Browse button to navigate to your zipped file.
5. 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. Turn Edit Mode to "On" and go to the content area where you'd like to upload the file.
4. Hover over the "Build Content" tool button and select the "Video" option.
5. After selecting the file, you can check the playback with the "Preview" tool. 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

For video clips longer than three minutes, one should upload the file to our Streaming Server and create a link to the file in Blackboard.  This will result in a much better viewing experience for students, since the Blackboard server is not set up to handle large video files.  For assistance, please contact the Instructional Technology Services team (x4877).

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