BB 9 - Basic Necessities

Because these four processes represent basic functions in faculty - student communication, each faculty member will want to know how to accomplish them in the new BB9. Knowing how to make your course available, add a syllabus and faculty contact information, and create an announcement will improve your communication with your students.

1. How do I make my BB course available? Remember, in order for students to view your BB course, you must make it available, and the process for doing this is quite different in BB9. Making a course available is now a part of course "customization" described here.
2. How do I add my syllabus? BB9 offers you two ways to add your syllabus to your BB course. You can attach a file as you probably have in the past, or you can use BB's new syllabus builder tool, which will walk you through the component parts of a syllabus (e.g. objectives, materials, etc.). Directions for adding a syllabus are here.
3. How do I add my faculty contact information? The process of putting your contact information in your BB9 course differs from the process used in BB8. Here are the steps for adding your contact info.
4. How do I add an announcement? In BB8 announcements were created via the control panel. Since BB9 has no control panel, creating an announcement in BB9 is quicker. Directions for doing this are here.

Access to Blackboard 9

Would you like to explore Bb 9 now rather than waiting for the May 16 upgrade? If so, you can gain access to a Bb 9 training course if you attend a Bb 9 hands-on workshop. Those who would prefer to learn Bb 9 by themselves using the tutorials may gain access by contacting their campus TAC mentor, who will add them to a Bb 9 training course. Once you've been enrolled in a Bb 9 training course, you will see your course listed at the following web address: explore.vccs.edu (no "www").

Be sure to tell your mentor your Bb userid. Campus TAC mentors and their contact information are listed here .

BB 9 Webinar

Would you like to attend a virtual BB 9 training session? This pre-recorded BB 9 webinar reviews the major differences between BB 8 and BB 9. To view the session, click on the this link and download and run Saba Centra 7 (the eNOVA session tool).

This webinar covers the following new features of BB 9:

• icons
• notifications dashboard
• edit mode
• simplified confirmations
• assignment tool
• journal tool
• blog tool
• groups
• tests and surveys

BB 9 Tidbit - Graded Discussion Forum

When using a graded discussion forum in BB 9, do not change the title of the grade center column that is automatically generated. Changing the title of the grade center column often will cause a disconnect in the link between the grade center column and the forum, resulting in an error message.