Adding Content
Blackboard Manual Directions:
Items: 
File Attachments:
Folders:
Adding Content Using the Document Package Tool:
Adding a Content Item
Step 1: Select Course Information from the Content Areas section of the Control Panel.
Step 2: Click the Add Item button.
Step 3: Under section 1, Content Information, type Course Goals in the text box by the word Name.
Step 4: By default, document titles in Blackboard are black; however, you can color-code your titles. Click on the Pick button, and select a color from the color-picker window that opens.
Text Box Area
Function |
Description |
| Font Style | Select a style for the text. The options correspond to standard HTML Style types. |
| Font size | Select the size of the text. |
| Font | Select the font. |
| Bold | Make selected text bold. |
| Italics | Make selected text italics. |
| Underline | Underline the selected text. |
| Align left | Align text to the left. |
| Align Center |
Align text in the center. |
| Align Right | Align text to the right. |
| Ordered list | Create a numbered list or add a numbered list item. |
| Unordered list | Create a bulleted list or add a bullet list item. |
| Decrease Indent | Move text left. |
| Increase Indent |
Move text right. |
| Second Row – Additional Basic Actions |
|
| Find | Search for a word or phrase in the text area. |
| Spell Check | Select the ABC checkmark to open Spell Check. |
| Cut |
Cut the selected items. |
| Copy | Copy the selected items. |
| Paste |
Paste copied or cut content. |
| Undo |
Select the circular arrow pointing to the left to undo the previous action. |
| Redo | Select the circular arrow pointing to the right to redo the previous action. |
| Hyperlink |
Add a hyperlink. |
| Create Table | Add a table. |
| Horizontal Line | Add a line. |
| Background Color | Add a highlight color to the selected text. |
| Text Color | Specify the color of the text. |
| WebEQ Editor | Open the WebEQ Equation Editor icon (x2) to add an equation. |
| MathML Editor | Open the MathML Equation Editor icon (x ) to add an equation. |
| HTML View | View the HTML code that is generated by the Text Box Editor. Users may also edit the HTML in this view. |
| Preview | Preview the content as it will be seen by the end users. |
| Help | Select the question mark to launch the Help page. |
| Third Row – File Attachment Actions |
|
| Attach file | Add a file to the text area. The Insert Link to File page will appear. |
| Attach image | Add an image to the text area. The Insert Image page will appear. |
| Attach MPEG/AVI | Add MPEG/AVI media content to the text area. The Insert MPEG file page will appear. |
| Add Quick Time file | Add Apple QuickTime media to the text area. The Insert QuickTime File page will appear. |
| Add audio | Add an audio file, such as .mp3, .midi or .wav to the text area. The Insert Audio File page will appear. |
| Add Flash/Shockwave | Add Macromedia Flash or Shockwave media to the text area. The Insert SWF File page will appear. |
Step 5: In the Text area, enter the course goals:
"This course will introduce you to the ecology of various rain forests around the world and acquaint you with some of the political and cultural issues surrounding use and conservation of the resources of the rain forests."
Step 6: Skip section 2, Content Attachments. You will work with this in a later exercise.
Step 7: In section 3, Options, leave the options set to their defaults.
Step 8: Click Submit. You will receive a receipt to confirm that the content has been added.
Step 9: Return to the Student View of the course by clicking the CourseID in the Navigation Path.
Step 10: Click on the Course Information button in the Navigation Menu to see your content item.
You have created your first Blackboard content item. This example was quite basic — you didn't work with attaching files or with setting the options. Since you will not work with the content item options in detail in this tutorial, here is a brief overview of the options.
Overview of Content Area Options
| Option Explanations | |
Make the content available |
Setting content visibility allows you to manually control the availability of content in the Student View of the course. |
Track number of views |
Selecting "Yes" places a button labeled Tracking next to your Modify and Remove buttons. Clicking the Tracking button allows you to access statistics on the number of times the content item has been displayed on a page (a "page view"). Statistics can be filtered by date range and by user. Use this to analyze user “traffic patterns” in your course Web site. |
Choose date restrictions |
Setting date restrictions allows you to control the release and recall of content in the Student View of the course. This feature was described in the "Adding an Announcement With Date/Time Settings" exercise earlier in this tutorial. |
Attaching a File
In the previous examples, you added content into the course by directly entering the text into the content editors. It is also possible to attach existing files to Blackboard documents. You might choose this approach because: - You have pre-existing content in digital file formats.
- The kind of content cannot by typed into a content item's Text field (for example, a spreadsheet or a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation).
- Re-typing or copying-and-pasting the content would be inefficient because of format or length.
- You want the students to be able to download and/or save the content file.
When you attach files, students must have appropriate software to open and use the files. For example, if you attach a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, students must have Microsoft PowerPoint, the free Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer, or some other application that can view PowerPoint files already installed on their computer. Because of this, you should consider the file formats in which you will distribute content and whether your students are likely to be able to access that file format.
In this exercise, you will attach a Microsoft Word file to a Blackboard content item.
Step 1: From the Content Areas section of the Control Panel, click Course Information.Step 2: Click Add Item.
Step 3: In the Name field, type the document title: Introduction.
Step 4: The content will be in the attached file, but you may still want to use the Text field to enter a brief description of the file you are attaching. Type the following text and format it using the toolbars in the Text area:
"The attached Microsoft Word document introduces some of the main concepts we will address over the duration of this course. "
Step 5: In section 2, Content Attachments, click the Browse button to the right of the File to Attach field.
Step 6: Browse your computer to find and select the file named introduction.doc from the sample content files you previously downloaded to your computer (see the "What You Need" section earlier in this tutorial). When you find and select the sample content file, the path to the file will appear in the field to the left of the Browse button.
Step 7: For Name of Link to File, enter Course Introduction (Microsoft Word document). The text you enter for Name of Link to File becomes the linked text that the user clicks to open the file.
It is a good idea to use the Text description or the Name of Link to File field (or both) to indicate the file format to the user. That way they know if they have the appropriate application to open that file before they click on the link to download it.
Step 8: Leave the Special Action set to the default Create a link to this file.
Step 9: In section 3, Options, leave the options set to their defaults.
Step 10: Click Submit. You will receive a receipt to confirm that the content has been added.
Step 11: Click OK to clear the receipt and return to the content listing.
Step 12: Return to the Student View of the course by clicking the CourseID in the Navigation Path.
Step 13: Click the Course Documents button in the Navigation Menu of the Student View.
Step 14: Beneath the content item titled "Introduction" you will see a link. Click on the Course Introduction (Microsoft Word document) link to download and/or view the document. If you have Microsoft Word, the word processing program will launch and open the file.
Depending on the combination of browser and word processor you are using, the file may launch differently. For example, Netscape browsers will typically ask whether you want to open or save a Microsoft Word document. If you select “Open”, the document will open in a separate Microsoft Word window, leaving a grayed-out pane in Blackboard. Alternately, Microsoft Internet Explorer will open a Microsoft Word document within the browser itself instead of launching Word separately unless the user’s default Windows settings have been changed
Step 15: Close the document if it opened in a separate window.
You have now attached a Microsoft Word file to a content item. The process would be exactly the same for attaching any type of file to a Blackboard content item.
Creating a Folder
In most cases, you will have many files online. You can organize the files by creating a directory structure of folders and building your content items inside the folders. In this exercise, you will create a folder and put a document inside it.
Step 1: From the Content Area section of the Control Panel, choose Course Documents.
Step 2: Click the Add Folder button.
Step 3: In the “Specify your own name” field, type: Class Session 1. You may specify a color of the folder name by clicking the color Pick button next to Choose Color of Name.
Step 4: Add a short description to the folder to give students an indication of the material it contains.
Type:
"This folder contains information you need for our first class reading. Review the document before attending the first class session. "
Step 5: Click Submit. You will receive a receipt to confirm that the folder has been created. Click OK.
Step 6: Return to the Student View of the course by clicking the CourseID in the Navigation Path.
Step 7: View the folder you just created by clicking on the Course Documents button.
Step 8: Enter the folder by clicking the folder's title.
Notice there is nothing in the folder now. In the next exercise, you will place a content item inside the folder.
Adding Content Items to a Folder
To store content inside of a folder, you must build the content item inside the folder.
Step 1: From the Content Area section of the Control Panel, choose Course Documents.
Step 2: In the content listing for the Course Documents area, you will see listed the folder that we just created. Click on the folder title, Class Session 1, to enter the folder.
Step 3: Click Add Item.
Step 4: In the “Specify your own name” field, type: Class Session 1 Reading Assignment. You may specify a color of the folder name by clicking the color Pick button next to Choose Color of Name.
Step 5: In Section 2, Content Attachments, click Browse and locate the file named types.doc from the sample content files.
Step 6: In the Name of Link to File field, type: Types of rainforests.
Step 7: Leave the Special Action option set to Create a link to this file. Leave the options in the Options section set to their defaults.
Step 8: Click Submit. You will receive a receipt to confirm that the content has been added. Click OK to clear the receipt and return to the content listing for this folder.
Step 9: Return to the Student View of the course to navigate through your content area and folder. Click the CourseID in the Navigation Path.
Step 10: Click the Course Documents button in the Navigation Menu.
Step 11: Click the folder title, Class Session 1, to enter the folder.
Step 12: In the folder, you will see the content item that you just created. Click the attachment link, Types of rain forests, to open this file or save the file to your computer by right-clicking on the link and choosing, “Save Target As.”
Step 13: Close the file if it opened in a separate window.
