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Faculty Development and Resources

Ideas and Strategies for Online Teaching

Making Online Learning Active (Steven Mintz - Inside Higher Ed)

Accessing videos: When you click a (Video) link on this page, you may be taken to the Blackboard or Azure login page. If you are, please enter your SUS network username and password to view the video.

Common Tasks in Blackboard

Building a Course

Navigation...

  1. Blackboard login and homepage navigation - Instructors and students (Video) 
  2. Navigate the new Blackboard course shell - instructors (Video)
  3. Navigate the new Blackboard course shell - Students (Video)

Grade Center (grade book): How do I...

  1. Create grading columns (for assignments, tests, discussions, etc)? (MS Word)
  2. Setup grading categories? (MS Word)
  3. Edit the Overall Score Column? (MS Word)
  4. Set or change the order of grading columns? (MS Word)
  5. Show or hide grading columns? (MS Word)

Assignments (drop box): How do I...

  1. Create an assignment? (MS Word)
  2. Edit an existing assignment? (MS Word)
  3. Show and hide an assignment? (MS Word)
  4. Delete an assignment? (MS Word)

Assessments (exams/tests/quizzes): How do I...

  1. Create a test from scratch? (MS Word)
  2. Use a test generator to create a pool of items for a test? (MS Word)

Rubrics: How do I...

  1. Create a grading rubric? (Video)
  2. Associate a rubric to an assignment? (Video) (MS Word)
  3. Grade an assignment using a rubric? (Video)

Moving Items: How do I...

  1. Move items within my course? (MS Word)
  2. Move items from one course to another? (MS Word)

Content Accessibility: How do I...

  1. Sullivan University Accessibility Guidelines (MS Word)
  2. Make MS Word documents accessible for students with disabilities? (MS Word)
  3. Make PowerPoint presentations accessible for students with disabilities? (MS Word)
  4. Make Excel documents accessible for students with disabilities? (MS Word)
  5. Make PDF documents accessible for students with disabilities? (MS Word)

Teaching a Course

Statement of Academic Responsibility for Online Instructors (PDF)  

Course Content: How do I...

  1. Create a course announcement (Video)
  2. Insert a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF or other files into a lesson? (Video) (MS Word)
  3. Show and hide content? (Video) (MS Word) 
  4. Find free/open educational content for my courses? (Website)

Content Collection: How do I...

  1. Upload content into My Content and use it in my courses? (PDF from NIU)

Giving Feedback: How do I...

  1. Provide audio/video feedback for an assignment? (MS Word) 

SafeAssign Originality Checker: How do I...

  1. Configure an assignment to check for originality? (Video)
  2. Access and interpret a SafeAssign originality report (Website)

Retention Center: How do I...

  1. Identify "at risk" students in my course? (Video)

Reporting Census (Friday of week 2)

  1. How to report student engagement for census (Video)

Last Date of Engagement: How do I...

  1. Run a report to determine Last Date of Engagement? (PDF)
  2. Add an "LDE" column in the grade book? (PDF)

Mid-Term and Final Grades: How do I...

  1. Post mid-term grades (PDF)
  2. Post final grades, download & submit grade books (PDF)

How Do I Get Help with Blackboard?

Contact Krista Lyons and Lorie Long at onlinefacultysupport@sullivan.edu

Creating a Category (percentage)-based Grade Center in Blackboard

Creating a Category (percentage)-based Grade Center - Preferred

This is the most common grade center type used in our online courses. It is the most user-friendly for students and "does the math" for the instructor. In the video below, you will learn the three steps for creating a percentage-based grade center: 1) determining the categories (papers, quizzes, etc.); 2) weighting the categories and 3) creating the assignment columns in the grade center and selecting the category for each assignment.