Your Blackboard course is created and managed for you centrally, so you do not set it up from scratch. What is useful to know is when students can see it.

When your course opens to students

Your course opens to students two weeks before the first day of class. Before that window, students cannot see it.

Make a course private by closing it

If you want to keep students out after the course has opened, you can make it private by closing the course. You can do this only once the course is in that open="" window, so wait until the course has opened, then close it. Open Course Settings, and under Course Access, select Close Course. A closed course still appears in the listing, but students cannot open="" it.

On the Course Content page, select the plus sign where you want an item. From there you can:

• Create a new item such as a document, assignment, test, folder, or learning module.
• Upload a file from your computer. You can also drag files from your computer onto the page. A warning appears when you add more than 25 files at once.
• Add material from the Content Market, the Content Collection, or connected cloud storage such as OneDrive.

Blackboard accepts common file types, including DOC, DOCX, PDF, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, RTF, TXT, HTML, MP4, ZIP, and most image types.

Add video with Video Studio

You can record or upload video without leaving Blackboard using Video Studio. On the Course Content page, select the plus sign, then Record Audio/Video to record from your camera, your screen, or audio only, or to upload a video file. For everything Video Studio can do, including video assignments, feedback, and captions, see the OIR page on Blackboard Video.

Create both containers from the Course Content page: select the plus sign, select Create, then choose Folder or Learning Module.

Folders

Folders are simple organizers. You can create two levels of folders, and a folder inside a learning module holds content items rather than more folders.

Learning modules

A learning module holds a collection of content and lets students move from one item to the next in one place. A module can hold folders and content. You can add a description, add a cover image, and turn on a set order so students work through the items in sequence.

Release conditions let you control when students see an item. You can set an item to appear on a date and time, to appear for specific members or groups, or to appear after students meet a requirement such as a grade on another item.

Set release conditions from an item's visibility menu, where you choose conditional availability and add your rules.

The three dot menu above the content list on the Course Content page holds the tools for reusing content: Batch Edit, Import Content, Copy Content, and Export Course Package.

Copy from another course

Select Copy Content to bring in a whole course or individual items from courses you teach or have taught. A full course copy keeps due dates, visibility, and release conditions. Individual items come in hidden="" from students and do not keep their release conditions. Student participation data is not copied.

Import a course package

Select Import Content, then Import Course Content, and choose the package file. Blackboard accepts ZIP and IMSCC packages. The import brings content only, not enrollments or student data.

Export or archive a course

Select Export Course Package to create a ZIP package you can re-import or share. Blackboard asks whether to include student activity data. Choose no for content only, or yes to create an archive that includes enrollments, submissions, and grades. Packages are removed 30 days after you create them, so download yours promptly.

Batch Edit lets you update many items at the same time. Open the three dot menu above the content list and select Batch Edit. You can select up to 100 items, or use the header checkbox to select all.

• Edit dates by a number of days, based on the course start, to a specific date and time, or per item.
• Edit visibility to show or hide items in bulk. This replaces the current visibility and removes date and time release conditions.
• Delete items in bulk. Deletions cannot be restored without an archive or export, so keep a backup first.

The AI Design Assistant is a tool built into Blackboard that can draft course content for you to review and edit. It gives you a starting point, and you decide what goes into your course.

What it can draft

• A suggested structure of learning modules for your course
• Test questions and question banks
• Assignment prompts
• Rubrics
• Discussion and journal prompts
• Images for a module or page

How you stay in control

• You can set the level of complexity so the draft fits your students. Blackboard offers ten levels, from early grades through advanced graduate work.
• You review and edit everything before you add it to your course.
• Check the output for accuracy and for bias, since it is a draft and not a finished product.

When you build a Blackboard Document, an accessibility checker reviews your content as you edit. A score gauge in the editor shows a live score out of 100 that updates as you make changes.

Select the gauge to open="" the feedback panel. It lists issues such as low text contrast, headings out of order, images that need a description, and tables without headers. Each issue includes an explanation and a suggested fix, so you can correct it while you write.