To enroll a TA into your course: Send an email to blackboard@uvm.edu with:

• the CRN of the course,
• the course name and title,
• your name and netid,
• the names and netid(s) of the TA(s) you need added to your course.

What is Respondus?

Respondus is software program to create and manage online quizzes. You can use Respondus to move your quizzes from WebCT to Blackboard. You can also start test for Blackboard from scratch in Respondus. It is also possible to create a test in Microsoft Word it upload into Respondus and then move to Blackboard.

Continue reading "What is Respondus and why would I use it with Blackboard?" »

All courses that are currently listed in Banner now have a Blackboard course space available. To access your course, go to http://bb.uvm.edu and enter your netid and password.

About the Courses on this Server

The courses on this server are your official course spaces, all of which have been automatically created. Enrollments have also been added, however the courses are still unavailable to students. This means that while you can see your enrolled students listed in your course, the students cannot access the course until you make it available. You can read more about changing the availability of your course in the support knowledge base.

How Do I Moving Content from a Practice Bb Space?

If you were given a temporary course space with which to begin developing your course, that space (and the material within) resides on the blackboard hosted server at https://uvm.blackboard.com. You will need to move the content from that space to your official course space. Here's how:

1. Log into https://uvm.blackboard.com and follow these instructions for exporting your course.
2. Once you have downloaded an export of your course, log back into UVM’s official blackboard server at https://bb.uvm.edu/, and follow these instructions for importing the downloaded export package into your official course space.

How do I add Graduate Teaching Assistants and other UVM affiliated faculty to my Blackboard course space?

Since Blackboard and Banner are fully integrated, adding teaching assistants and other faculty to a course is initially done when your department submits your course information to the Banner schedule builder. As long as an individual is identified as faculty associated with the course within Banner, then s/he will added to your Blackboard course space.

ONLY faculty and graduate teaching assistants who are both teaching the course and responsible for submitting grades should be attached to the course through the BANNER student information system.

If you need to add teaching assistants and other instructors to the course after the course schedule building process, please contact your department's administrative assistant. S/he can contact the Registrar's Office via email or amending the online course building form and request that those individuals be coded as an instructor for your course. Once this process is complete (this can take up to 24 hours), they will be added to your Blackboard course space within several hours.

Please note, graduate teaching assistants and other instructors must already have a UVM netid in order to be associated with your course. Please also note that any teaching assistant or instructor associated with your course is empowered to enter grades for the course.

Getting help

To access 24/7 Blackboard Support at UVM:

* By phone: 1-866-588-3195
* Email and live chat is also available via the “Help” link at the top of this page.

For face-to-face, “drop-in” support on campus:

* The Doctor Is In program is available Tues - Thurs, 11 am - 2 pm in
001 Bailey Howe.

» Online version of the Getting Started workshop handout

» Instructions for Migrating Quizzes from WebCT Using Respondus

Blackboard training season is now open! There are several sessions of Getting Started with Blackboard scheduled. This one-hour workshop introduces the Blackboard interface. It provides an overview of features, including the instructor's tools for building courses and structuring course content. There will be an opportunity to add content to your own practice course space. This workshop is meant to be a beginner experience. No prior knowledge of Blackboard or WebCT is necessary.

Note: Students will not have access to Blackboard campus-wide until Fall 2008, the space you receive in this workshop is for testing only.

To register, please go to the CTL web site

Blackboard is similar to WebCT in that it's an integrated online toolset for class communication and the delivery of course content, assignments, and grades. However, we're very excited that Bb offers a few new and robust tools specifically for collaborative, student-directed learning.

What's similar or different?

Similar features:

• A secure Web environment for posting course materials
• Tests and quizzes with detailed feedback opportunities
• An assignment tool that integrates with the grade book
• Grade management
• Online discussions and internal course messaging

New Features:

• Blackboard is fully integrated with Banner! You will no longer have to fill out the "request a course" form or add students to your course from Banner. Course creation and population will be automated.
• Blogs and wikis for discussion and student collaboration
• Podcasting for delivery of audio files
• There are a variety of other differences between the two tools. Blackboard is not difficult to learn, but for those of us who are familiar with WebCT, it does take some getting used to.

Stay Tuned...

A schedule of training events will be posted in January. Check back frequently for more detailed Blackboard information and "How-To" documents.

If you don't see something you need, let us know! Our goal is to help you easily transition into teaching with Blackboard over the coming year.

It's official! By the semester of Fall'08, Blackboard Learning System will be the University's supported online course tool, replacing WebCT. We're excited about the expanded array of teaching tools that Blackboard offers, such as secure blogs and wikis for collaborative group writing.

To make this a smooth transition, the CTL, Academic Computing Services, and College of Medicine COMET team will be working closely together to offer ample training opportunities, demos, online resource materials, and one-on-one assistance.

Before the start of Spring semester 2008, we will notify faculty about scheduled training and support opportunities to re-build their courses in BlackBoard.

A broad timeline is shown below and more specific information will be posted on this website throughout the next year, so please check back frequently.