Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Blackboard Tip: Deleting Duplicate and Unneeded Files in Blackboard

We highly recommend deleting content that is no longer needed in blackboard. Also content that has been unnecessary duplicated (sometimes copied over several times) need to be deleted.
Important Note: When files are deleted in a content area, they are only removed from that area but still remain in the course and located in the Files area. Following steps to delete unneeded or duplicated files. 
From the course control panel click the chevron (Two down arrows) located on the right of Files to load the Files page.


Click on the word Size twice to list the files and folders by the largest first.


Note: Ensure that you have a backup copy of any files that you delete, should you need to upload them again.  You can download a copy of the files to your computer. Select the box to the left side of the file name or file type- click Download package. 



Look for files that have been deleted from a content area or files that are copied more than once.  These files are just taking up space in blackboard and need to be deleted. You can verify that they are not linked to any content areas.
1. Check   the box to the left side of the file name or folder you want to delete
2. Click on the Delete button.




A confirmation message will pop up indicating that the action is final and cannot be undone. If folders are selected to be deleted, all subfolders and files will also be deleted. Click OK
 




Note: If the files selected are not linked to any content areas, they will get deleted and you will be returned to the Files page. If the files selected are linked in the course, you will see a list of the files and folders with Links. Click the 360° view link
On 360ยบ View: page, scroll down to the Links to check information about the files links. If you see there is no "No links available" displayed under links information than it probably then it is safe to delete the file to free up space on blackboard. 
 


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Engaging Students Visually for Better Outcomes

Check out link below to view the intro video for "Engaging Students Visually for Better Outcomes" that will be held at the Professional Development Day next week.

Part  1.
Learn how to get the best of up-to-date story elements, lesson training, social media and other content into your course quickly. Shave hours off of your development time and give your course content that is relevant and easy to create. Organize and use content assets across courses and share them with others in your department or across campus.
Part  2.
Create animation videos quickly and easily, and then share them with you students. This is more than sewing images together into a slideshow, or narrating over existing material. You can literally sit down at your computer and produce great-looking animation videos from scratch - within minutes - without having to draw or operate a camera.
Depending on time constraints we will then continue with easy to use imaging editing tools that can assist you in creating dynamic pictures for your courses. 

No prior experience necessary for all training.

Blackboard 9.1 Tip: Create a Test in Excel-Upload to Blackboard

Typing test questions in excel and uploading them to blackboard is an easy and quick feature added to blackboard 9.1. You can type in an excel several types of questions in excel, save your file (Tab delimited) (*.txt) format and upload the file to blackboard through the test canvas.

-   Open Microsoft Excel, type in your questions as in the following example

First column(A) in the excel sheet identifies the question type ; for example  type MC is for multiple choice and TF is for true or false

The second column (B) is the question text. Type in the question

The third  column (C) is for the answer

For multiple choice question the fourth column (D) will indicate if the question is correct or incorrect- You need to type in correct or type incorrect. Following Columns will include the answer, followed by the column   indicating if the question is correct or incorrect.



-When you have finished your test questions, from excel file menu select save as  



-Type in the name of the test and In the Save as type, from the drop down menu select Text (Tab Delimited), and then click Save



- To upload the test questions to blackboard- From within your course shell Control Panel, Click Course Tools, Click Tests, Surveys, and Pools- Click Tests

- Click the Build Test button.
-  Enter a name for the test (required), description (optional) and instructions (optional)-  Click Submit.

-   In the Test Canvas, click the button to Upload Questions.


Browse your computer to locate your .txt file with the test questions- Enter a point value for the test questions- Click Submit.


 Your test questions will then appear in the Test Canvas. You can edit the question by clicking on the action link next to the question text or enter individual questions’ point values by clicking in the point’s box.


To deploy the test in a content area Navigate to the content area where you would like to place your Click the Assessments button and then choose Test from the drop down menu.
Select your test from the list. -Click Submit.

         Next, choose the Test Options: when to make your test available, set a timer, force completion,
Click submit

Following a video tutorial from Blackboard On demand.