Control Panel > Content Area

Select a "Content Area" from within the Control Panel:

Add Course Information, Assignments, etc.:

1. Choose to Add by clicking on the "Item", "Folder", "External Link", "Course Link", or "Test" button.
2. In the Name field choose the appropriate “Name” from the dropdown list. Alternately, you could choose "Other – Add Text Below" and enter your own title instead of using one of the pre-defined titles.
3. By default, document titles in Blackboard are black, however you can color-code your titles. Click on the "Pick Color" button, and select a color from the color-picker window that opens.
4. In the "Text area" , type the Information as you wish it to appear or if you have the text already written, copy it from Word/WordPerfect and past it into this section. Leave the text formatting option set to Smart Text.
5. In the "Attachments" section you can attach a file to the above information. You may wish to attach Spreadsheets, large WordProcessing Files, multimedia files, etc. To attach a file:
   1. Click on "Browse" to find the file to attach
   2. In the "Name of Link to" file text box, type what you wish to appear on the screen for students to see.
   3. Leave the Special Action set to “Create a link to this file.”
6. In the "Options" section, scan the options, but generally the ones that are set are what you will want. You can set a start date and end date if you wish.
7. Scroll to the bottom and click "Submit".

Add an External Link:

1. Select "External Link" from the Content Areas section.
2. Click on the "Add Link" button.
3. In the "Name" field, enter the title of the web site.
4. In the "URL" field add the web address after the “http://”
5. Enter a brief description of the link in the Description field and leave the text setting to “Plain Text.”
6. To open the link in a new window, select Yes to the "Launch item in external window?" option.
7. Select "Yes" next to “Do you want to make item visible?”
8. Scroll to the bottom and click "Submit".
   

Control Panel > Course Tools > Discussion Boards

Start a discussion board forum, where students can post questions or have asynchronous discussions.

1. Select "Discussion Boards" from the "Course Tools" area in the Control Panel.
2. Select "Add Forum"
3. Enter the "Title" for the forum, as well as a "Description".
4. Choose the forum settings: will you allow anonymous posts, allow message editing once posted, allow the author to remove their posts, allow file attachments and allow new threads.
5. In the "Forum User Settings" area, all of the students will be listed in the window area (scroll down to see all of the users) . You can give individuals administrative or normal access to the forum (administrative access would enable them to change the forum and user settings). In addition you can block or unblock individuals, by selecting their name and clicking on the appropriate button.
6. Select "Submit".

You may create numerous discussion boards, so if you wanted one to only discuss the assignments for a course, you can specify that in the description box.

Control Panel > Course Options > Import Package

1. Select "Import Package" in the "Course Options" section of the Control Panel.
2. Click "Browse" and find the Exported Course ZIP file.
3. Select one or more areas in the package to import.
4. Click "Submit".
5. Click "OK" to go back to the control panel.

Check your course to see that the data has been imported. You may need to reorganize some of the information. Note: that all of a particular content area will have been imported.

Control Panel > Course Tools > Course Copy

1. Select "Course Copy" in the "Course Options" section of the Control Panel.
2. Click on "Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course".
3. Click on the "Browse" button in the first section "Select a Course".
4. Type your Username (NetID) into the text box, select "Search By: Instructor" and click on "Search".
5. Click on the "Select" button to select the course into which you wish to copy material.
6. Check off the relevant boxes to select which aspects of your course you wish to copy. DO NOT check Enrollment.
7. Click on "Submit".
8. Click "OK" on the screen telling you that your request has been queued. You will receive an email telling you when this has been done. The process may take some time but should not take longer than 10 minutes during normal times.
9. Check your new course and make sure that the content has copied over correctly.
   

Export Content

Control Panel > Course Options > Export Course

1. Select "Export Course" in the "Course Options" section of the Control Panel.
2. Select one or more areas of the course to export.
3. Click "Submit".
4. Click on "Click here to download the exported course site" and save the ZIP file to your computer or network drive.