To complete a course copy from an Ultra Shell to an Ultra Shell, see the Copy Course Content tutorial.

Preparing Your Blackboard Course Shell

Preparing your Blackboard shell for a new term is one of the most important tasks to master when teaching online. Research indicates that the first day often sets the classroom dynamic for the remainder of the course. This concept is no different in the online learning environment, and as such, proper course preparation is key to your success as an online educator and key to your students’ comfort within the course.

Quick Search

• Preparing the Destination (New) Shell
• Copying Content
• Clean-Up the Course Menu
• Confirm Questions Exist in Test Pools
• Removing Old Discussion Board Posts
• Reconfiguring Availability and/or Due Dates
• Removing Duplicate Grade Center Columns
• Adding Link to SBT Syllabus
• Adding/Updating Instructor Information
• Announcement Review & Clean-Up
• Making the Course Available
• Frequently Asked Questions

 

Preparing the Destination (New) Shell

Prior to copying course content, it is best to prepare the destination shell (the new shell where content is needed) by removing menu areas to minimize the amount of cleanup work that is necessary following the course copy.

NOTE: The steps below assume that the destination course is empty. Do not perform these actions if content is already present in the course. Removing a menu area that contains content or documents will permanently remove them and they will be inaccessible and unrecoverable.

1. Enter the destination shell (the new shell for the upcoming course) by clicking it on your Courses list.
    
2. Enable Edit Mode in the upper right-hand corner, if it is not already enabled.
    
3. In the course menu on the left, start by removing the bottom-most menu item (likely Library). Remove the item by clicking on it's drop-down menu and selecting Delete.

4. Click OK.
    
5. Continue removing all of the items on the course menu, with the exception of Announcements.

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Copying Content

Blackboard has a Course Copy feature which allows content to be copied from one Blackboard shell to another. While Course Copy is very useful, it's important to follow a specific procedure in order for all materials to be copied correctly and to minimize the work involved with course preparation.

NOTE: If this is your first time teaching a particular online course with CMU, or if the course was recently revised, the content of your Blackboard shell will be copied on your behalf by the Office of Curriculum and Instructional Support.  An email would have been sent to you notifying you if this is the case.  If this true for you, proceed to the section below titled: Post Course Copy Cleanup. Once master course content for your online course has been provided the first time, instructors are responsible for performing the course copy themselves thereafter.

Once the destination shell menu has been cleared, the content of the source course (the previous shell that you taught with) can be copied into it.

1. Enter the course which contains the materials to be copied.
    
2. From the Control Panel, click Packages and Utilities followed by Course Copy.
    
3. Click Browse to search for a course. When the destination course is found and verified, click the radio button to the left of the course name and click Submit.
    
4. Next, click Select All. If desired, Announcements may be unchecked to avoid announcement cleanup in the destination shell.
    

**NOTE: Do not try to copy just the Assignments or Exams menu areas - these are linked with the Grade Center - Column Organization and Tests, Surveys, Pools options, and everything must be selected and copied at the same time. Using the SELECT ALL button will ensure that everything is copied and that everything will work correctly in the new course. It's much easier to delete any unneeded items than try and re-copy items that were missed!

5. Keep the File Attachments default selection of: Copy links and copies of the content
    
6. Click the Submit button to send the copy request to the Blackboard system. Copy requests are held and processed by the system as soon as possible. An email confirmation will be sent to your @cmich.edu email when the process is complete. If for any reason the copy appears not to have completed properly, contact the Help Desk to seek technical support.

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Post-Course Copy Cleanup Actions

Clean-Up the Course Menu

Once a course has been copied, certain items in the course menu may need to be addressed.

• Remove any duplicate menu items. If you completed the steps outlined above in Preparing the Destination Shell, this should only amount to removing an extra Announcements link. If you did not prepare the destination course in advance, however, this may mean additional cleanup work is necessary. Caution should be taken, however, as removing a menu item that contains content will render anything therein permanently inaccessible.
   

NOTE: A small gray square following the menu name indicates that area is empty. Although empty areas are automatically hidden from students, it’s good practice to delete empty areas altogether if they are not being used.
 

• Ensure that the Tools link is present and available to students in the Course Menu. The Tools area provides access to important course tools, such as Email, Discussion Forums, Groups, and more.
  • If the link is present, but is hidden, unhide it by clicking on the link’s action menu and selecting Show Link.
     
  • If the link is not present: Click on the + button and click Tool Link. From the drop-down menu, select Tools Area. Check the box to make the link Available to Users and click Submit.
     
• Re-order menu items so they follow a logical flow. Not all of the following items may be present, but the recommended order is:
  • Announcements
  • Introduction
  • Syllabus or Syllabus/Schedule
  • Instructor Info
  • Course Materials
  • Exams
  • Assignments
  • Discussion Board
  • Tools
  • Course Grades or My Grades
  • Library or Library Services

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Confirm Questions Exist in Test Pools

If the content being copied includes test pool questions, it's good practice to confirm the pools were correctly copied and contain questions. To check the questions, access the Control Panel>>Course Tools>>Tests/Surveys/Pools>>Pools area. If the copied pools are present, but display "0" in the Number of Questions column, contact the OIT Help Desk at (989) 774-3662 and request a work order. The LSS Team will need to bulk delete the existing content and perform another course copy on your behalf to correct the issue.

NOTE: The problem of missing test pool questions is sporadic and does not always occur when copying, but multiple instructors have encountered this issue.

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Removing Old Discussion Board Posts

If Discussion Board forums are present in the course, posts from the previous course’s students will likely be present in the destination course following a course copy. It is important to remove these before the course is made available, both to limit confusion for your students and to make it easier to view new posts. To remove them:

1. Enter the Discussion Board area by accessing Course Tools in the Control Panel followed by Discussion Board.
    
2. Click on the linked Course ID to enter the Discussion Board area.
    
3. Click on a forum title to enter the first forum in which old discussion board posts appear.
    
4. Click on the Select All check box to the left of the red flag icon.

5. Once all of the boxes are selected, click Delete.
    
6. Repeat steps 3-6 until all discussion board posts for each individual forum have been removed.

 

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Reconfiguring Availability and/or Due Dates

When a course is copied, any pre-configured availability and due dates are copied exactly as they exist in the source course. This could potentially impact timed-release exams, content items, assignments, and the like. Availability dates, if present, should be updated following the new term’s calendar to reduce student confusion. The Date Management tool is a great time saver for updating all dates quickly within a shell. Refer to the separate tutorial Date Management for more information.

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Removing Duplicate Grade Center Columns

Each course, by default, contains a Total column in the Grade Center. When a course is copied and Grade Center Columns and Settings is checked (which is recommended), the Total column from the source course is copied into the destination course, where a Total column already exists. As such, it is best to remove any duplicate columns, which helps to keep the Grade Center area organized and limits potential confusion. To do this:

1. In the Control Panel, expand the Grade Center group and click on Full Grade Center.
    
2. Locate a Total, Running Total, or Weighted Total column to be removed. Click on the column’s dropdown Action Menu and then click Delete Column.

NOTE: At least one Total column should remain in the course, but all others should be removed.

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Adding Your Syllabus 

Your syllabus should be added to the Bb Syllabus menu button by either uploading your syllabus document or providing a link to your SBT-completed syllabus.  The CMU Syllabus Build Tool (SBT) provides an electronic syllabus template that instructors complete and submit for posting. After the syllabus has been cleared for posting, a link to the completed syllabus can be added within Blackboard.

1. Ensure Edit Mode is ON and select the Content Area (Syllabus, Course Info, Course Materials, etc.) where the SBT link should appear.
    
2. From the top toolbar, click on Build Content and select Web Link.

NOTE: If an existing SBT link from a previous semester already appears in the course, you can simply edit the existing link and update the EPN and term to match your course, following the directions in step 4.

3. Enter a name, such as Course Syllabus in the Name field.

4. Enter https://sbt.globalapp.cmich.edu/public/PublicSyllabusViewer.aspx?EPN=epn, where epn is the 8-digit section number of your course. For example, if a course’s EPN is 22212345, then the SBT link would be https://sbt.globalapp.cmich.edu/public/PublicSyllabusViewer.aspx?EPN=22212345
    
5. Do not check the Tool Provider link box if present. Be sure that the Permit Users to View this Content box is checked and click Submit.
    
6. The external link to the syllabus will be added to the content area. Test the link to be sure it is working correctly.

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Adding/Updating Instructor Information

Adding Contact Info

The Instructor Info. or Meet Your Instructor menu button within a Blackboard course shell is designed to hold instructor contact information for easy student access.  To add or edit your contact information follow these steps:

1. In the course shell in which contact information is to be added, expand the Course Tools area of the Control Panel and click on Contacts.
    
2. Click on Create Contact.
    
3. Fill in the profile information (title, first name, last name, email address, work phone number, and office location). More information can be written in the Notes section.
    
4. Under the Options area, select Yes to Make the Profile available.

5. To add a photo (150x150 pixels is the recommended size), click Browse, locate the photo on your computer and click Open to attach it.
    
6. Enter the URL to a personal website if desired.
    
7. Click Submit to finish or Cancel to quit without saving.

 

Modifying Existing Contact Information

NOTE: If the Instructor Info link in not present within the Course Menu, it can easily be added. To do this, click on the + button, select Tool Link, enter a name for the tool (e.g. Instructor Info.), select Contacts from the drop-down, check the Available to Users box, and click Submit.

1. Click on the Contacts link under the Course Tools section of the Control Panel and enable Edit Mode.
    
2. Click on the Action Link (double-arrows) next to the existing contact and select Edit.
    
3. Make the needed changes to title, name, email address, office phone number, office location, office hours or notes
    
4. If necessary, modify the photo or change the personal website URL.

• 4.1. To change the image, click on the box next to Remove this image or browse for the new image to upload.
   
• 4.2. To change a personal link, delete the current URL and enter a new URL.
   

5. Click Submit at the top or bottom of the page.
    

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Announcement Review & Clean Up

Removing Old Announcements

It is recommended that new announcements be posted within a course from term to term, rather than recycling old announcements. While the content of an announcement can certainly be recycled from term to term, recycling physical announcements by updating availability dates is not recommended, as the time and date stamp of the announcements will reflect a date and time of a prior term and possibly create confusion among students.  To remove an Announcement:

1. Make sure the Edit Mode button is switched to ON and select the Announcements link under the Course Tools section of the Control Panel.
    
2. Click the Action Link next to the announcement title and select Delete. Click OK to confirm deletion.

 

Posting a Welcome Announcement

A welcome announcement is an ideal way to greet students as they enter the course. Suggested content for the welcome message includes:

• A general welcome to the course with the course start and end dates.
   
• Your contact information (or directions for accessing your information in the syllabus or Instructor Info area).
   
• Guidance on where students should begin when viewing the course for the first time (e.g. the Introduction area, or the Syllabus area).
   
• Required pre-class assignments.
   
• Contact information for the OIT Help Desk

 

To Post a New Announcement:

1. In the course menu, click on Announcements.
    
2. Enable Edit Mode by clicking on the button in the upper right.
    
3. Click the Create Announcement link.
    
4. The Create Announcement page will appear. In the Subject field, enter a Subject for the announcement. This will appear as the title of the announcement.
    
5. Type the announcement directly within the Message box.
    
6. Under the Web Announcement Options area, select Not Date Restricted to have the announcement persist in the course indefinitely. Announcements that are not date restricted will appear immediately and will remain visible until removed or hidden.

7. Otherwise, to have the announcement appear for a specific period of time, select Date Restricted. Place a checkmark in the Display After box and enter the date and time the announcement should appear. To have the announcement stop appearing at a later date, place a checkmark in the Display Until box and enter the desired stop date and time.
    
8. To have an email of the announcement sent, click the Send a copy of this announcement immediately box.
    
9. Click Submit to complete the announcement.
    
10. The new announcement will appear below the repositionable bar.

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Making the Course Available

By default, courses on the system are unavailable to students. It’s a best practice to keep a course unavailable throughout the preparation process. Once a course has been prepped and a Final Review Before Opening the Course has been completed, the course should be made available to students so they can access the shell. To do this:

1. From the Control Panel, expand the Customization menu and select Properties.
    
2. Under section three, Make Course Available, select Yes.
    
3. Click Submit.
    

NOTE: CMU Online staff requests that all course shells be made available to students at least three weeks prior to a course’s start date.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. I am teaching multiple sections of the same course within the same term. Is there something I can do to better manage and/or combine my courses?
A1. Yes. A merged shell can be created, which will combine the enrollments of all of your sections into one Blackboard shell. To request a merged course shell submit a Merged Course Request ticket.  To learn more about merged shells, see Merged Course FAQ.

 

Q2. Why do I have to enter the destination shell before the copy to remove existing menu items? This seems like a lot of work to me.
A2. Removing menu items in the destination shell is optional, but it does help to alleviate additional work following the course copy. Often times, menu items are duplicated and will change in order in the destination course following a Course Copy. Removing the menu items ahead of time ensures the menu stays exactly the same and reduces any potential confusion that duplicate items may cause.  Follow the best practices and you'll see that It creates an exact view of your course as it looked in the source course, with everything in the same order on the course menu. 
 

Q3. Where can I go for additional Blackboard technical support?
A3. The OIT Help Desk is the first resource at your disposal. They can be reached at (989) 774-3662, helpdesk@cmich.edu, or http://helpdesk.cmich.edu. Also, the Blackboard Knowledge Base is available 24/7 and contains many articles and how-to guides for faculty.

 

Q4. How do I know when to contact the OIT Help Desk versus my Faculty Support Coordinator or my Department?

A4. The OIT Help Desk should be contacted for any technical or Blackboard course questions (e.g. how do I make my course available? How do I download assignments that my students have submitted? Etc.). Your Faculty Support Coordinator should be contacted for questions specific to managing your online course with the course content provided by CIS.  Departments schedule course offerings, manage waitlists/late registration/over capacity requests, and staff the course sections. 

 

Q5. How can I find replacement links for University website links that have moved?

A5. There is a Website Link Replacement Knowledge Base article that the Faculty Support Coordinator keeps updated with commonly-used University resource links for online course sections (for use in Blackboard and on course syllabi). 

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