Customizing the Navigation Menu

Default Course Navigation Menu

There are eight buttons included on the course navigation menu by default when instructors request a new Blackboard course: Announcements, Course Information, Course Content, Discussion Board, My Grades, Send Email, Blackboard Help, and Tools (hidden from students by default).  For more information about how these work and suggested information to be included within each one, view the New Blackboard Course guide.

Menu Buttons

The following areas are Tool Links, which means they can perform one specific function: Announcements, Discussion Board, My Grades (only visible from student view), Send Email.  Course Information and Course Content are content areas, which means anything can be added within these areas using the buttons on the action bar (shown below):

Blackboard Help is a web link that takes students to the official Blackboard Help page for the current version we have installed.  Tools is hidden by default (instructors can show it if they wish) because there are several tools available that are not used in most courses.  Instead of having all tools visible, instructors can add those they wish to use as additional buttons on the navigation menu.  

Customizing the Navigation Menu

We recommend keeping the number of buttons on the navigation menu to as few as possible to help student more easily navigate a Blackboard course.  Instructors may customize the navigation menu as much as they would like by adding, deleting, renaming, or rearranging any buttons on the navigation menu.  To make changes to the navigation menu:

• drop down next to any menu item to rename, hide, or delete the item
• click on the + sign in the upper-left area of the navigation menu to add a new button (tool link, content link, web link, etc.)
• click on the left end of a menu item and drag it to rearrange the menu items

Resources

For more detailed instructions - and a video - about customizing the navigation menu, visit Instructor Features on the Blackboard Help site.

For additional assistance with customizing your navigation menu, contact the TLC at tlc@icc.edu or (309) 694-8908, or visit us in room 240A on the East Peoria campus.

Next week our Blackboard Users' Group will meet in the TLC on Wednesday, September 2 at 12noon or Thursday, September 3 at 3pm - participants may attend either session.

Our October blog series will focus on the Blackboard Grade Center.

User Management

Instructors may choose to manually enroll their students into a Blackboard course site instead of requesting a batch enrollment.  Those who do request a batch enrollment, however, will still need to manually manage any changes that appear on the eServices roster, as there is no link between eServices and Blackboard.  

To enroll students within a Blackboard course:

1. Click on the Users/Groups area within your Blackboard course site Control Panel
2. Select Users
• If you know the students' usernames, type those directly into the username box.  Multiple usernames should be separated by commas and spaces.
• If you do not know students' usernames, click on the Browse button to search by first or last name.  (Note: It is best to check your eServices roster and use the exact username, rather than trying to search for a student since there can be multiple students with the same first/last name.)
3. Once the usernames have been entered, click Submit

Note: It is possible for a student who recently enrolled to be listed on an eServices roster and not yet be available in Blackboard.  Updates are run each morning, so check back daily to see if the student username appears in Blackboard.

Important: NEVER remove a student from your Blackboard course site once the semester has begun.  Instead, click the drop-down circle next to the student's username in the Users area, and select Change User's Availability in course.  Changing a user's availability to 'No' restricts the student from accessing the course yet retains the student data should you need it in the future (if the student re-enrolls or for date of last attendance information).  

Learn more about batch enrollments on our Beginning A Semester Blackboard guide.  Next week we'll cover tips for customizing the navigation menu in your Blackboard course sites.

Batch Enrollment

At the start of a new semester, instructors have two options for enrolling students into Blackboard courses:

1. Request a batch enrollment from the Teaching and Learning Center (form available from the Quick Links area of the Teaching & Learning Center web page)
2. Manually enroll students from the Users area of the Blackboard course (more about this topic will follow in next week's blog post)

Some tips when choosing to request a batch enrollment:

• Ensure all former students have been removed from the course - failure to remove former students will result in adding the new/current students to the roster of former/past students in the same site
• Know where to find your 4-digit class number (eServices roster or class schedule) and Blackboard Course ID (Customization > Properties) 
• Batch enrollments are completed in the order they are received and cannot be completed at a specific time or on a specific day
• Change course availability to "No" within Customization > Properties if your batch enrollment is processed before you want students to see the course

IMPORTANT: A batch enrollment is a snapshot of your eServices roster at the time the batch enroll was processed - there is no link between the roster in eServices and the roster in Blackboard.  

• It is best to request the batch enroll no earlier than one week before the class is scheduled to start to ensure a more accurate roster.
• If your class enrollment changes, you must add or remove students manually (or change a user's availability) within the Users area of your Blackboard course.  

Learn more about batch enrollments on our Beginning A Semester Blackboard guide.  Next week we'll cover the topic of User Management.

2015-2016 Blackboard Blog Topics

Here's an overview of the monthly topics we'll cover throughout this academic year.  Follow our blog via email, and plan to attend the in-person users' group sessions to learn more about any of these and to exchange ideas with other Blackboard users.

• August - Beginning A Semester
• September - Grade Center
• October - Reports
• November - Collaboration Tools
• January - Assignments
• February - Tests & Pools
• March - Web Content
• April - Ending A Semester

ICC Blackboard Blog & Users' Group

New in Fall 2015 . . . TLC staff will post Blackboard tips and tricks throughout the year, focusing on a different topic each month.  Faculty and staff can subscribe to blog posts via email, revisit any topic at any time online, and engage with others by posting comments and questions within the blog.  A users’ group will meet in the TLC during the first week of each month to discuss and share ideas about using various Blackboard tools to enhance teaching and learning.  See the calendar for monthly topics and users' group meeting dates.