Blackboard 8 Overview

Blackboard 8An overview of new functionality

In this slideshow:

• Interface Review

• New Discussion Board

• Tests and Quizzes

• New Grade Center

• Getting Help

Interface Review

The login screen has changed but is still familiar.

The screen still lists your courses on the right.

Use the yellow pencil to customize the way your courses display (year, term, etc.).

The course home page and Control Panel are very similar to the previous version.

Adding menu items is the same.

1

1.

Uploading documents is the same.

1. Course Documents 2. Edit View 3. Item

1

2

1.

Uploading documents is the same.

1. Course Documents 2. Edit View 3. Item

Uploading documents is the same.

1. Course Documents 2. Edit View 3. Item

1

2

1.3

New Discussion Board

To add a new forum, click Discussion Board and then click Forum.

Give it a name and description. A Forum can contain several discussion topics, or “threads.”

If it makes sense for your course, you can choose start and end dates for your Forum.

You can set your discussion forum to allow grading and ratings.

You can click Discussion Board to post, read and respond to threads.

Thread details are visible in one place.

Tests & Quizzes

Tests and Quizzes can be created through Test Manager with more options for question types.

Click Add Test to create a test.

Enter name, description, and instructions for students.

More question types are now supported.

Set Creation Settings: feedback, scoring, metadata, etc.

Partial credit for answers with multiple parts and extra credit options are now supported.

New Grade Center

Gradebook has changed to Grade Center. It contains more options when adding columns or items.

You can make changes directly to items in the Grade Center.

You can insert columns calculated from others.

Grade Center symbols are now clearer.

Grade Center navigation is simplified via the use of drop-down menus.

Clicking the drop-down icon next to each column name provides a hide column option.

Grade Center reporting is new. You can create reports for grades, selected items, and other data.

Grade Center includes email access and allows you to contact students about grades directly.

You can create reports for yourself on all or selected students and graded items to monitor progress.

Grade history and grade changes are tracked and made available to instructors.

There are new grade options. You may want to hide statistics such as comparison to class averages.

Getting Help

Search the documentation or submit an online help request at

help.unc.edu

or call 962-help