This session covers:
- The grand tour
- Class register
- Groups
- Student Preview
- Releasing your module
1. The grand tour
When you go to the Modules section of My Dundee, there are some useful features to know about like the ability to flip between list view of modules or grid view.
The Module section can store all of your modules here, so you may want to use the search option if you’re looking for a particular module.
We also encourage you to make use of the stars located next to modules as these will keep the module at the top of the page under Favourites. If you have a module you’re going to use regularly you can click the star icon to favourite or un-favourite it.
In the grid view, the images on modules are randomly assigned. If you want to use your own image here, you can click on the 3 dots at the top of the image and select the option to edit the image. The image that you use should be 1200 x 300 pixels.
Now go into your sandbox and look at the top bar which contains your module name, here you can click on the pencil beside the title to edit course name if you wish to. Going down to the next line it shows your name and role on this module, or it will contain a generic icon and Multiple Instructors.
If you have multiple instructors, there isn’t currently a way to change this to show the name/image of the primary instructor, nor can you customise this banner area.
If you look at the top of the page you’ll see icons for
- Course Content
- Calendar
- Discussion Boards
- Gradebooks
- Messaging
- Course Analytics
As we travel down the left hand side, we have the Details and Actions area. These are the selection of tools for an Ultra module. This guide will cover a few of the things available here: the class register, groups, and student preview mode.
See this in action in the video from about 03:00 – 12:00
2. Class Register
In the Details and Actions area, click into the link under Class Register that says View everyone on your course. Here you will see two views of the class register (list and grid view again). Both views will allow you to see everyone enrolled on your module and what role they have in the module. You can use the magnifying glass at the top right of the page to search for specific users who are enrolled in the course.
You can enrol members of staff on your course by clicking the + icon at the top right of this screen. Please do not enrol students – all student enrolments should come through SITS, if you need any help with a student enrolment please contact Help4U.
To enrol a member of staff, you must type in their username, not their full name. Someone’s username is their UoD email address with any dots removed For instance, you would type in hloveday (no full stops), not Hamish Loveday. Click on the plus sign by their name, and select the appropriate role from the drop-down menu. You can review Blackboard’s page of default roles to help you find the best role for the user.
Click on the blue X when you’re done with this page to go back to the Course Content page of your module.
See this in action in the video from about 12:00 – 20:00
3. Groups
In the Details and Actions area, click into the link under Course Groups that says View sets & groups. You can use this area to create groups for your course. Click on the + icon at the top right of this page to create a new group set. There are three ways you can create group sets: custom, randomly assign, or self-enrolment.
3.1 Custom group sets
Making sure you have Custom selected from the drop-down menu, you can begin to create a custom group set. Click on the link that says New Group Set [date] to change the title of this group set. We recommend that you name this something meaningful to yourselves and to students, e.g. Tutorial groups, Presentation groups, etc.
Click on the purple plus sign below the list of student names to create a new group. You can click on the plus sign as many times as needed to get the desired numbers of groups.
You can re-name the groups by clicking on the group title (defaults to New group #) and then entering a clear and meaningful name (e.g. Laura’s tutorial group, Presentation topic X, etc.). You can use the area that says Add a group description to enter any relevant information for that group.
To add people to the groups you’ve created, go to the top of the page where all of the students are listed and click on the three dots next to a user’s name. You can then use the drop-down menu to select the group you want to add them to.
3.2 Randomly assigned group sets
Making sure you have Randomly assign selected from the drop-down menu, you can use the Number of groups menu to determine the number of groups and students per group.
Click on the link that says New Group Set [date] to change the title of this group set. We recommend that you name this something meaningful to yourselves and to students, e.g. Tutorial groups, Presentation groups, etc.
You can re-name the groups by clicking on the group title (defaults to New group #) and then entering a clear and meaningful name (e.g. Laura’s tutorial group, Presentation topic X, etc.). You can use the area that says Add a group description to enter any relevant information for that group.
Remember that this randomly assigns students who are enrolled on your course at the time you create this group set. If students are added to the course later you’ll have to edit this group set to assign that student to a group.
3.3 Self-enrolment group set
Making sure you have Custom selected from the drop-down menu, you can begin to create a custom group set. Click on the link that says New Group Set [date] to change the title of this group set. We recommend that you name this something meaningful to yourselves and to students, e.g. Tutorial groups, Presentation groups, etc.
You can use the description box at the top of the page for general instructions for students. You can choose a date that the self-enrolment will become available to students, and the date when this will close. At the end date, any students who have not enrolled in a group will be automatically assigned.
You can enter the maximum members per group, and decide if you want to hide the enrolled students from their peers, or allow them to see who has enrolled in a group.
Click on the purple plus sign below the list of student names to create a new group. You can click on the plus sign as many times as needed to get the desired numbers of groups.
You can re-name the groups by clicking on the group title (defaults to New group #) and then entering a clear and meaningful name (e.g. Laura’s tutorial group, Presentation topic X, etc.). You can use the area that says Add a group description to enter any relevant information for that group.
You can see the group set-up in action in the video from about 24:00 – 35:00
4. Student Preview
Student preview is incredibly important when designing your module to be able to see what your students are seeing.
A suggestion is to use student preview as much as possible as you are setting something up in modules, especially in your sandbox where you can play around with it all you want without it affecting anybody.
Click on the Enter student preview mode link at the very bottom of Details & Actions menu.
When you click on this you’ll see a warning to say you are switching over to student preview mode. Once you’re in student preview mode you’ll also see a banner across the top of the module.
Once in this mode you can take part in discussion boards, take quizzes, and interact with any Blackboard content as a student would. Note that you cannot access Turnitin while in student preview mode, this is because Turnitin is a different company and doesn’t integrate with this made. You may also see a similar error for any items you add through the content and tools option.
To exit student preview mode, click on the 3 dots at the top in the banner and select either Exit preview or Reset preview. Exiting keeps all of the things you did in the student preview mode (e.g. test submissions, discussion posts, etc), reset preview removes the data of what you did in student preview mode.
You can see this in action in the video from about 35:00 – 43:00
5. Releasing your module
To make your module available to students, click on the link Students can’t access this course below the item Module is private. Select Open to students.
Once your module is open, this link will give you two options: make course private, and complete course. Complete course is ideal for after your course has finished – it allows students to still see all of the content in the module, but it prevents any user (instructors included) from making any changes, including submitting work or contributing to journals or discussion boards.
You can see this in action in the video from about 43:00 – 48:00
References
- Ultra Introduction
- Class Register & Enrolments (US calls it a Roster)
- Groups
- Calendar
- Student Preview
- Module Availability