Blackboard Tip: Adding Instructor Information

Please check and send to faculty

While instructor contact information and office hours are added to the course syllabus ,as an online teaching best practice , instructors are encouraged to add contact information in a separate blackboard contact page  Following steps to add contact information

    From course control panel click “Course Tools” – “Contacts”

   From the Action Bar, click “Create Contact”

     Fill out the information form , if you are an adjunct faculty , you can enter "By appointment" in the office hours section.

;    Under  Options – Select  Yes near “Make the Profile Available”.  You can add a profile image to this section , click Browse near Attach Image to select the image from your computer ,  the recommended size is 150 by 150 pixels

    Click Submit

      If not found on the course menu you need to add the page. With “Edit Mode” set  to “On” –click + Sign - Tool link

       Type in the name (Instructor Information ) , from the drop down menu select Contacts

- Check the box near "Available to Users " and click Submit

Blackboard Tip : Embed YouTube Videos by Creating an Item

Users  are getting an error when trying to embed a YouTube video through Mash ups feature in blackboard : “Error: An error was returned by YouTube: No longer available”

Until the problem is resolved you can you embed YouTube videos through creating an item.

From within the content area click Build Content- Create Item.

Enter the name of the video.

Open YouTube website in another window or browser tab.  

Search for a YouTube video by entering the video name in the search box and clicking on the search button.

      

Click on the video title you want to embed into Blackboard.

On  the video page , click Share

The link is selected by default, right click and select Copy  

 Go back into the editor in Blackboard

 Click Embedded Media icon

<![if !supportLists]>·         <![endif]>From the Type drop down menu select Iframe

Paste url in the File/Url section – Click anywhere outside that space (you should be able to see a preview of the video) -click  Insert

Click Submit

Tip: For the current YouTube videos  that were embedded through Mash ups the workaround seems to be that the users right click the thumbnail and select play the video in a new window.

Important Information for Online Teachers

The Distance Education department is eager to help you improve and enhance your online courses so more students will be successful. As you successfully complete the semester with your online students please remember the following guidelines.  In addition, I have attached a rubric for evaluating your online course.  

Expectations for Online Courses

As an instructor for a course taught fully online, there are basic requirements that must be met.  Below are the basic expectations:

• Courses must have sufficient content.  For example, a three credit traditional course meets 2.5 hours per week and then there is work outside of class.  An online class must mirror this.  There needs to be teaching content for students to interact with that engages them for as much time as would a traditional course.  This content can be handouts, readings, instructor created audio lectures, videos, or a wide range of other learning activities. 
• Online courses must have the same learning outcomes as traditional courses.
• Teachers must be actively engaged with the course.  They cannot set-up a course on “auto-pilot” and then not be present in the course.  Teachers must log into their online courses, interact with the students and keep grades current.
• Students must have the opportunity to interact with the teacher and with other students.  Interactions include emails and discussion boards, but can also be other interactions such as phone conferences, feedback in the grade center, and others. 
• Students should not have to wait for a response to an inquiry (email, phone, discussion board, etc.) for more than 48 hours.