Post on 14-Mar-2018
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DLF Training Guide Syllabus & Course Menu Date revised, 08/11/2015
Distance Learning and Faculty Development (DLF) Training Guide: How to Add a Syllabus & Organize the Course Menu
Description: This Guide shows you how add a syllabus (using three different methods), and how to organize the course menu. Beginning in the Fall 2015 semester, all courses must at least add the syllabus and grades in Blackboard. Table of Contents: Go to my.CSMD ................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Go to Blackboard (“Bb”) .................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Go to your Bb course section ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Dashboard and Edit Mode .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 Course Menu default items ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 Adding a syllabus by attaching a file.......................................................................................................................................... 3 Adding a syllabus by creating an item with a file attached .............................................................................................. 5 Adding a syllabus by using the HTML Editor ......................................................................................................................... 7 When to re-organize the Course Menu ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Moving a link on the Course Menu ............................................................................................................................................. 8 Deleting or hiding a link on the Course Menu ....................................................................................................................... 8 Renaming a link on the Course Menu ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Go to my.CSMD
Go to http://www.csmd.edu/ Click on -- Visit my.CSMD
Figure 1: my.CSMD link
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DLF Training Guide Syllabus & Course Menu Date revised, 08/11/2015
Go to Blackboard (“Bb”) In my.CSMD, click on -- Login for Blackboard Courses
Figure 2: Blackboard link
Go to your Bb course section
You will see the My Institution page. Find the My Courses module in the middle of the page. Find your course section, and click on it. (This opens the course/section shell.)
Figure 3: Course Name link
Dashboard and Edit Mode The Dashboard page appears first by default. The list on the left is your course menu. Look to the far right. By default, the Edit Mode should be on, showing a green dot followed by
“ON.” If you see “OFF” instead, click OFF and it will change to ON.
Figure 4: Dashboard & Edit Mode
Course
Menu
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DLF Training Guide Syllabus & Course Menu Date revised, 08/11/2015
Course Menu default items The course menu contains the items the students will see, unless the link is empty. For example,
the gray box next to Syllabus in Figure 5 means that this link is empty. The course menu contains five default items (Syllabus, Dashboard, Announcements, Course
Messages, and My Grades) with a divider line before My Grades. Only instructors see the Course Management area on the lower portion of the course menu.
Figure 5: Course Menu Default Items
Adding a syllabus by attaching a file
On the Course menu, click on -- Syllabus A new area will appear to the right; it is the Syllabus page. In the menu bar under Syllabus, click
on the button -- Build Content You will now see a blue box with choices. Click on -- File
Figure 6: Build Content - File
Course
Menu
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DLF Training Guide Syllabus & Course Menu Date revised, 08/11/2015
The Create File page will appear. In the “1. Select File” section next to name, type a name or description
In the “1. Select File” section next to Find File, click on -- Browse My Computer
Figure 7: Add a name and attach the file
In the new pop-up window, find and click once on a file to select it. Click on the Open button. You are then returned to the Create File window; see Figure 8 below. Note that the file you
selected now appears in in the Find File area. In the “2. File Options” section, click in the circle next to Yes to select option, “Open in New
Window” There is no need to change any of the other options, so click -- Submit
Figure 8: Confirm the file is attached and select open in new window option
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DLF Training Guide Syllabus & Course Menu Date revised, 08/11/2015
Adding a syllabus by creating an item with a file attached
You can add a syllabus file and add more text by creating an Item. On the Course menu, click on -- Syllabus A new area will appear to the right; it is the Syllabus page. In the menu bar under Syllabus, click
on the button -- Build Content You will now see a blue box with choices. Click on -- Item
Figure 9: Build Content - Item
The Create Item page will appear. In the “1. Content Information” section next to name, type a name
Use the HTML Editor to type additional information In the “2. Attachments” section next to Attach File, click on -- Browse My Computer
Figure 10: Create Item window
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DLF Training Guide Syllabus & Course Menu Date revised, 08/11/2015
In the new pop-up window, find and click once on the file to select it; click on the Open button. You are then returned to the Create Item window; see Figure 11 below. Note that the file you
selected now appears in in the Attachments area. There is no need to change any of the other options, so click -- Submit
Figure 11: Create Item with file attached
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DLF Training Guide Syllabus & Course Menu Date revised, 08/11/2015
Adding a syllabus by using the HTML Editor On the Course menu, click on -- Syllabus A new area will appear to the right; it is the Syllabus page. In the menu bar under Syllabus, click
on the button -- Build Content You will now see a blue box with choices. Click on -- Item
Figure 12: Build Content - Item
The Create Item page will appear. In the “1. Content Information” section next to name, type a name
Use the HTML Editor to type your syllabus. Note that a copy/paste from word processing software does not work well.
When you are done, click -- Submit
Figure 13: HTML Editor
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DLF Training Guide Syllabus & Course Menu Date revised, 08/11/2015
When to re-organize the Course Menu If you are exporting/importing an old shell or copying a master shell, you may need to re-
organize the course menu after the import or copy process is done to ensure that Syllabus appears at the top.
If you are just adding the syllabus to your shell, you may also want to reorganize the course menu.
Moving a link on the Course Menu
If you copied an existing Syllabus link, move that to the top. To move -- point to the left of the link until you see the arrows and drag it up
Alternatively, you can click on the Reorganize button at the top of the course menu.
Figure 14: Moving a Course Menu link
Deleting or hiding a link on the Course Menu
To delete or hide, point to the right of the link to see the options button. In the blue box, click -- Delete (See Figure 15 below) You will be asked if you really want to delete several times; select -- Yes. Note: If you copied an existing Syllabus link, delete the default Syllabus link. If you have a
second Dashboard link, delete it. If you have a second Announcements link, delete it. The name of the messages in Blackboard is now consistently named, Course Messages. Delete
any other links with different names (e.g., Messages, Messages in Bb). Renaming a link on the Course Menu
To rename a link, point to the right of the link to see the options button
Figure 15: Renaming, hiding, or deleting a link on the Course Menu
Contact the DLF Team if you have questions. Our central line is 301-934-7572. You can also email Joel Kinison at JoelK@csmd.edu.