Tag: Admin

Start of Term Blackboard Course Checklist

Posted on by Chrysanthi Tseloudi

This checklist outlines good practices and practical steps that can help you ensure your  Blackboard course is ready for the start of term. You can click on each item to see the rationale and, where needed, links to relevant resources and instructions.

The structure of my unit follows the Faculty template.

Why? This ensures that all units include the minimum required content, and that their layouts are easy to navigate and consistent across all the units that a student is taking.  

See the template information included in the Guidance and Support for Staff section of your unit.

I populated the placeholder items in the different sections of my unit and provided students with all essential information.

​​In Unit Introduction and Resources, students should be able to find:  

  • Unit aims and learning outcomes.
  • Links to relevant programme/school information.
  • Key contacts and ways of communicating.
  • Guidance on how they are expected to engage with the Ultra course.

In Unit Assessment, students should be able to find: 

  • Instructions on how to submit (a link to instructions for standard submission types will be provided in all units but additional details may be needed if a different submission type is used).
  • Assessment briefs (due dates, requirements, marking criteria, learning outcomes).
  • Information on how and when students can access their feedback.

Why? By providing this information you not only minimise the administrative workload related to student queries but also support student competency, self-regulation and increase their chances of success.  

See the template information included in the Guidance and Support for Staff section of your unit.  

Each section and item has a description (if applicable).

Why? Clearly labelling each item can help students navigate your course more easily and support them in understanding the purpose of the content shared. 

There is no empty or outdated content in my unit. 

Why? This means students won’t be confused or misinformed by incorrect or missing information. This is usually an issue when content was copied over from last year’s unit course.  

All the content is accessible.  

Why? It is now a legal requirement to meet accessibility standards in online course pages. Making your content accessible improves the learning experience for everyone.  

See Improve your course’s accessibility using Blackboard Ally.

Learning materials are broken down into manageable sections. 

Why? This supports students in gradual knowledge acquisition and fosters an inclusive self-paced learning experience. 

My unit’s Resource List is populated. 

​​​Why? This means students will be able to easily find the resources required for their unit.  

See Resource Lists: guidance for staff. 

I did not delete, rename or otherwise modify the Assessment, submission and feedback folder.  

Why? This folder is essential for the integration between SITS and Blackboard used for submission points creation and marks transfer. Any changes to the folder will result in the integration not working.

See the How to Use this folder document in the Assessment, submission and feedback folder in your unit.

Where needed, I discussed the appropriate assessment submission types and settings with my School Team. 

Why? The different submission types and settings can support the pedagogical design of your assessment.

See Assessment Planning, Assessment Workflows and Blackboard Tests Workflow. 

I embedded engaging interactive activities using appropriate tools.

Why? Facilitating active learning in online courses can increase engagement and help students to meet the learning outcomes.  

See the Adding interactivity section of the Ultra Ready course.

All activities in my course are well-scaffolded.

This includes providing students with:  

  • A clearly stated rationale for the activity, consistent with the intended learning outcomes.
  • Instructions on how to engage in the activity and what level of engagement is expected.
  • Prompts and exemplars where required.

Why? This helps students to feel competent in engaging with the activities you set up, which means they are more likely to meet the activity’s intended learning outcomes.  

See Discussions in the Encouraging discussion and collaboration section of the Ultra Ready course. 

Where possible my unit uses a variety of formats to represent and convey information.

Why? Representing information in different ways supports diverse preferences and needs of students, and optimises their learning.  

See the Universal Design for Learning guidelines.  

The content students need to see is visible to them. 

Why? Some content in your unit may be hidden by default. Once you’ve populated, created and checked it, you will need to make the content students need to see visible to them.

See how to show or hide items in Blackboard.

I checked the course using student preview.

Why? Some content will display differently to students, so we recommend checking using student preview to view the course as a student.

See Checking what the course looks like to a student.

I know how to access and use analytics in my unit.

Why? Learning analytics can be a useful tool in supporting student engagement and retention. 

See Supporting Student Progression in the Bringing it all together section of the Ultra Ready course.

My unit is available to students.

Why? Once you are ready with your unit being released to students, you will need to make it available to them.

Click Course Settings top right and under Course status, select Open.

I updated my profile on Blackboard.

Why? Seeing your photo and learning how to pronounce your name can make the interactions (especially initial ones) easier.

See the Profile guide on Blackboard support webpages.

Transfer marks from Blackboard to SITS

Posted on by Chrysanthi Tseloudi

Only administrators with the Marks Extractor role in Blackboard can extract marks.

  1. Navigate to the Blackboard course you wish to extract grades from.
  2. Click on View course and institution tools under the Course tools header in the course’s menu bar.
  3. From the list of tools, select Marks extract to SITS. This will launch the Grade Approval Tool LTI, which sends the marks from Blackboard to eVision (SITS). It can take a few moments to load.
  4. From the list, select the unit code and course name you want to extract marks for by clicking on the box to the left of the Course ID. The box will turn green and a tick will appear.
  5. Click on Grade column approval and transfer.
  6. Select the assignment/column name you wish to extract, again clicking on the box to the left of the name.
  7. Click Grade approval and transfer. In the next screen you can either:
    • Search for specific students you want to extract marks for by entering their name details into the search bar. Once you have found the student(s), select them by clicking on the box to the left of their details.
    • Click the box at the top of the list of students to select all of the students in the list with submissions.
  8. Click on Extract grades.

Add and use a Test Student account in Blackboard

Posted on by Chrysanthi Tseloudi

While you can view courses as a student by using Student Preview, if you want to thoroughly test an activity, such as online submission, it is better to use a Test Student account instead. You can set up, add and use a Test Student as follows:

Setting up a Test Student account

If you already have a Test Student account, see how to add it to to your course and use it. You will only require one Test Student account for all of your courses and organisations.

If you don’t have a Test Student account, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk, including the subject line “Test Student Account Request” and provide your Blackboard username and the purpose for your having a Test Student account.

Please make requests for Test Student accounts ahead of their needing to be used. Whilst the DEO makes every effort to provide these accounts quickly, this is not an instantaneous request and may be further delayed in busy periods.

You will receive an email that confirms the account details, including the username and password.

Once you have a Test Student account:

  1. Either open a private or incognito tab in your current browser or open another browser.
  2. Navigate to the Blackboard login page in this private/new tab and click Guest Login.
  3. Enter your Test Student’s username and the password provided by the DEO.
  4. Click on the profile tab on the left-hand side of the screen. This will be denoted by your Test Student’s name (usually Your First Name Test[Your Initials]).
  5. Click on Update External Account Password.
  6. In the panel that opens:
    1. Follow on screen instructions to update your password.
    2. Store your new Test Student account password securely, or use a password that is easy for you to remember.
    3. Click Save.

You must keep these details confidential in line with IT Services’s Code of Conduct for the use of computing facilities. You are responsible for any Blackboard use undertaken using this username and password.

Adding your Test Student account to your course

After setting up a Test Student account, you can add them to your course:

  1. In your administrative Blackboard account, navigate to the course where you want to add your Test Student.
  2. Using the side menu, click on View everyone on your course under Class register.
  3. Click on the + button in the top-right corner of the screen
  4. Enter your Test Student’s username into the text box.
  5. Click on the + button next to your Test Student’s name, changing it into a green tick.
  6. Ensure the box beneath your Test Student is set to Student, using the drop-down menu to change it if needed.
  7. Click Save.

If you have any release conditions on content or assessment items, you will need to ensure your Test Student meets the conditions to access these.

Using your Test Student

  1. Either open a private or incognito tab in your current browser or open another browser.
  2. Navigate to the Blackboard login page in this private/new tab and click Guest Login.
  3. Enter your Test Student’s username and password.
  4. Navigate to the course you have enrolled your student into, using the Courses option in the left-hand menu and searching for the unit ID or name.

Request Blackboard accounts for external users

Posted on by Chrysanthi Tseloudi

In this page:

New process information

Federated identity is a process that allows users to access multiple applications or services using a single set of credentials, e.g. when you sign into an application with a Google/Microsoft account or use single sign on.

From April 2025, there will be a new process for external users to sign into Blackboard using an existing identity (a personal or corporate email address). New external users will use this identity to create an account in system called Microsoft Entra External ID which will then allow them access Blackboard.

The full process for setting up an external user comprises of these four steps:

  1. School Admin requests external accounts using a Microsoft list
    This will replace account requests being emailed to the DEO.
  2. DEO process request
    The DEO will export all new requests to a CSV and bulk create the accounts in Blackboard. They will mark the accounts as complete on the Microsoft list which will trigger an automated email to be sent to the requestor with the account details and further instructions.
  3. School Admin configures Blackboard account and emails external user
    Once the accounts have been configured, School Administrators use an email template to send instructions to external users.
  4. External User creates new account
    The user creates an Entra External ID account. Their email address is matched with the Blackboard account and they are instantly signed into Blackboard.

Requesting a new account

To request a new external Blackboard account, go to Microsoft list.

NOTE: There are various automations built into this list so it’s important to only add data to the first name, last name, email and school/department columns in the default view. The other views in the list are for the DEO to use only.

Request a small number of accounts

  1. Click +Add new item button in the top left corner.
  2. Enter the first name, last name and email address of the external user. Note the email address must not be a bristol.ac.uk email address, the cell will be highlighted in red if it does.
  3. Scroll through the list of schools or start to type the name of your area then select your school/department from the list and click the Save button.

Repeat these steps for each account you wish to create.

Screenshot of the Add new item form, showing fields for name and email and searching for school.
Using the Add new item form and searching for school

Request multiple accounts

  1. Click Edit in grid view in the top left corner and Add new item line (not the button in the top left), this will allow you to type directly into the table.
    Alternatively if you have the details saved in a spreadsheet (with the columns in the same order as the Microsoft list) you can paste the data straight into the table. Paste into the first empty cell in a blank row and all the rows below will be populated with your data. Once you have selected your school or department in the top row, you can drag this down to all the cells below.
    Note the email address must not be a bristol.ac.uk email address, the cell will be highlighted in red if it does.
  2. Click Exit grid view to save your changes.
    • If you get an error message when trying to save your changes, click Fix issues if you’ve left a mandatory field blank.
    • If you’ve accidentally added an empty row, click Discard changes  to remove the row, all other changes will be saved.
Using the grid view to add entries
Some changes could not be saved popup

Receiving account details

Once your account has been processed by the Digital Education Office (DEO), the date the account has been processed will be displayed in the Microsoft list. You will also receive a confirmation email with all the details of the requested accounts.

If you need to make any changes to an account once you have added the details to the list, please contact the DEO directly. Do not delete or edit any of your existing entries once the request has been processed.

Sharing account details with external users

Once you have configured the accounts in Blackboard and granted the appropriate permissions for the relevant courses, you’ll need to share the account details with the external user(s).

Please use the provided email template to send instructions to the external users. If you’re emailing multiple users, we recommend placing all the email addresses in the BCC field.

The external user will need to follow the instructions to create an account in Entra External ID. They must use the same email address that was used to create their Blackboard account when setting up their Entra account, as this is required to link their accounts. If the email address doesn’t match, they will not be able to access Blackboard.

This Entra External ID Guidance outlines the steps required to create an account using Entra External ID. It is not available to anyone outside of the University; its purpose is to help you answer any questions from external users regarding the process, should you receive any queries.