CITES: Center for Instructional Technology and Educational Support

If you are an instructor and have materials in a Blackboard course site that you would like to reuse in another Blackboard course site, you may copy these materials by following the directions on this page.

How to create tests and surveys

Blackboard provides tools to create online assessments to deliver to students enrolled in a particular course site. Blackboard distinguishes between two types of assessments: tests and surveys.

Tests are created in the Test Manager, located in the Assessment area of the Control Panel. Questions are scored by Blackboard (with the exception of short answer/essay questions). These scores are available to instructors via the Control Panel's Gradebook. Students access their scores via the Tools area, Check Grade link. Step-by-step instructions on how to create a test may be found on this page.

Surveys are created in the Survey Manager, located in the Assessment area of the Control Panel. Surveys collect students' responses to questions without scoring them and without tying students' identities to their responses. Step-by-step instructions on how to create a survey may be found on this page.

Instructors may also create pools of questions using the Pool Manager, both of which are located in the Control Panel. Questions can be pulled from the Pool when creating either a test or a survey. Step-by-step instructions on how to create and use a question pool may be found on this page.

Assessments must be made available before students can access them. Note that once an assessment is made available to students, it cannot be removed and assessment questions cannot be edited without having to regrade your students' scores.

Students access assessments via links placed in either an announcement or within the content areas of the course site. Instructors may view students' answers to quizzes and responses to surveys in the Gradebook.

How to add other instructors and TAs to your Blackboard site

All instructors of record will be automatically added as users in the appropriate course sites several months before the start of each semester. However, teaching assistants and other instructional support staff will not be automatically enrolled. You may add them by following a two step process: 1) enrolling the user and 2) changing that user’s role.

Note that the instructions below apply to users who have Onyens. If you need to add someone who does not have an Onyen, but has a PID number, direct them to http://onyen.unc.edu to create an Onyen. Blackboard will update its directory almost immediately, and you will be able to add them to your course. For step-by-step instructions on how to add a TA or instructor who already has an Onyen to your course, go to this page.

If someone needs access who does not have a PID number, follow the instructions for adding someone who does not have an Onyen.

How to add a content item such as a PowerPoint or Word document

When you add an item to a content area, you can a) type text or paste text copied from a word processing program into the form that Blackboard provides and/or b) attach a file from your computer’s hard drive.

Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to add a content item.

How to create an announcement

Please view our Flash tutorial on how to create an announcement in Blackboard. If you do not have the Flash Player installed on your computer, you may download it for free at Macromedia's website.

Step-by-step instructions may be found on this page.

How to use discussion boards

CITES has created two Flash tutorials on how to use discussion boards:

You may also view step-by-step instructions on discussion board setup, management, and use on the following pages:

For Faculty: Setting up and managing discussion boards
For Students: Accessing and using discussion boards

We've also compiled a handy list of discussion board etiquette tips and put them together in a PowerPoint slideshow.

How to submit assignments

There are two ways to submit assignments through Blackboard: the Assignment tool, and the Digital Dropbox. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, which are weighed on this page. Instructions on how to use the Assignment tool may be found here.

CITES has created two Flash tutorials on how to use the Digital Dropbox.

How to create group pages

Several School of Nursing classes split into clinical groups, each with their own faculty member, throughout the course of the semester. The course coordinator may wish to create group pages within the Blackboard course site, so clinical faculty can directly communicate with their students via email, discussion board, chat or file exchange. Only those listed in a particular group can have access to its group pages.

CITES has created a Flash tutorial on how to create group pages within a Blackboard course site.