Course Content

Organizing Your Course

With the exception of Announcements area, content items can be organized in a folder structure. (Announcements are organized chronologically.) You may build folder structures within content areas to suit any organizational system that works best for your course. Folders can be built to present content to students in units organized by topic, by week, by textbook chapter, or any other system that best suits your course. Subfolders can be created inside folders for more complex organization of information.

By Week	By Chapter

Each content item may include some combination of the following:

Text or HTML information you enter yourself or copy out of a word processing document
Attached files of any format
Embedded media (images, audio, video)
Attached packaged files (e.g. websites that have been packaged for import into Blackboard)
Links to content stored on offline media such as CD-ROMs
Links to assessments in Blackboard

Icon	Content Type	Description
	Item	A piece of content.
	Folder	A folder where similar content can be stored.
	External Link	Link to anywhere outside of Blackboard. Generally a web site.
	Course Link	Link within the Blackboard Course Shell.
	Test	The Content Areas are the only place a test can be made available.
	Learning Unit	A set of content that includes a structured path for progressing through items.
	Survey	Used for polling or evaluation purposes.
	Assignment	An option that is directly linked to the Gradebook. Instructors are able to download all class files as one zipped file. When uncompressed, instructors can view each individual assignment, make comments and upload the modified file into the Gradebook. Students are able to then view the modified file as well as their grade.
	Syllabus	The Syllabus builder allows instructors to create an online syllabus by walking through a series of steps.
	Wiki	Faculty can place students in groups or the entire class can easily work together to organize information into creative multilayered, multimedia websites. The wiki conveniently keeps a history of the work, facilitating review and assessment.
	Blog	Instructors can create blogs in which students can reflect on and analyze course-related topics and assignments. Students can review and comment on their peers' postings, and instructors can participate with students in the evolving dialog.
	Podcast	The podcasting feature allows instructors to easily create RSS feeds and post episodes, and it allows students to subscribe to course feeds with one click.

You can use folders to structure and organize your content items. For example you might, create folders named "Week One," "Week Two," etc. if you want to create a structure that parallels the chronological organization of your course site.

Learning Units: Organize your Content Sequentially

Select Learning Unit from the Select drop-down menu then click on the Go button.

Instead of just uploading the material into folders, instructors may choose to create a Learning Unit. The Instructor can add content items to a Learning Unit, and then set a specific sequential order in which students must access those content items. This allows for the creation of a pre-defined learning flow to guide students through lessons or exercises.

Assessments

Assessments can only be made available through the Content areas. Instructors have many options when deploying assessments including the timing of the test, how the test is viewed, the time period a test can be taken and randomization of questions. The instructor can choose to have an Announcement automatically generated announcing the availability of exams.

Assignments

Using the Assignment tool in the Select drop-down menu, faculty can place assignments in the Content Areas. The Assignment tool places a column in the Gradebook. An assignment typically includes the description of the assignment, any files that are needed to complete the assignment, and due date. The student retrieves the assignment and when completed, uploads or attaches the assignment directly in the Assignment area. Once submitted, instructors can retrieve the uploaded file in the Gradebook area.

Reordering Content Items

You may set the order of items on the page by selecting the drop-down menu next to the item that you wish to reorder within the page, and selecting number that indicates the order of the placement of the item on the page.

Reorder Content items