Checking Functionality

Of course, you will go through your Blackboard course and click all the tabs and links to see if things show up correctly. You have already checked your spelling and grammar (haven't you?) and asked someone else to look at it. Here's one more thing you can do. From your Control Panel, click on Enroll User. You are given the option of enrolling an existing user; click the link. In the search box, enter the word "demo," and hit the Search button. Now click on the checkbox to the left of the name "Demo, Demo," click Submit, then OK. Now log out of Blackboard and log in as "demo" (password = "demo"). Select your course and you can see it from a student's perspective. Does everything make sense? Ask a friend or relative to look at it for inconsistencies. Now you are set to go.

When you are finished with "demo" you can send an email to the Virtual Campus requesting that "demo" be removed from your class. Otherwise, your fellow teachers who enroll "demo" will be able to access your class as a student.

Now that you are ready for the students, think about what they will need to know in order to accees all the wonderful content you have provided. Put together a Welcome or Orientation page for the students to see when they first enter the Blackboard course. This page should declare your expectations about their participation in the class and about how your course is structured. You may need to clarify what each button in your menu leads to. For example, are the quizzes located in "Course Materials" or "Assignments"? Is there a link you want them to click on every time they enter the course? Give the students all the clues you can about how to succeed in your course. This sets the tone for the rest of the term and can help reduce the number of duplicate questions that you get. If you do not choose to post your Welcome as an announcement (it may be too long for that), at least put up an announcement telling the students where to find the Welcome page! You might place a note at the end of the Welcome page requiring that they send you an email declaring that they read through the whole page. I know one teacher who gives extra credit for this sort of thing.

Does your Blackboard course look the way that you want it to? You can change the
    color
 and
    shape
 of the buttons, you know. From the Control Panel, select Course Design, then Course Menu Design. Have fun!