Ease stress during the final weeks of your semester with our closing checklist. Leverage these Blackboard course tools to complete helpful and simple tasks for a successful semester conclusion. Each tip takes you through an important step in your closing checklist for your course.

1. Insert Automatic Zeros (Ultra only)

In your Ultra course, you can set the gradebook to automatically assign zeros for any missing work beyond the due date. This feature can be enabled any time in the semester. If enabled earlier, students can still submit work after a zero is assigned, if you allow late work, and you can grade the submission. Automatic zeros apply to assignments, tests, and discussions, but do not apply to offline assignments.

2. Download Your Gradebook (Original / Ultra)

As a matter of best practice, you should always download a copy of your gradebook after you are finished entering grades and submitting final marks to PeopleSoft, the official record. Remember, while your Blackboard gradebook is downloadable in CSV format, which can be opened in Excel or Google Sheets, it does not synchronize to PeopleSoft.

3. Download Student Submissions (Original / Ultra)

If you need to refer to student work after a class ends, it is faster to download the entire collection of student submissions to review at a later date rather than go back into your course and find the individual file for a specific assignment. You can download student submissions in bulk for both Original and Ultra courses.

4. Clean Up Your Course Files (Original / Ultra)

While a course export is created in Blackboard’s proprietary format, instructors can download and access course files uploaded to the Content Collection. Once these files are on your computer, you can review and remove duplicate or outdated documents, presentations, handouts, etc. Be sure to move media files (audio and video) to Panopto to optimize your students' streaming experience and keep your course quota healthy.

5. Export Your Course (Original / Ultra)

While your course to course preparations will leverage the course copy tool, it is helpful to have your own back-up of your course content. Generate an export at the end of the semester and save it in the cloud for your future reference. When courses are retired, you will already have a copy of your courses with syllabi, rubrics, handouts, presentations, etc. 

NOTE: If you do nothing else in your end of semester course wrap-up process, this is the most important tip!

6. Modify Course Duration (Original only)

By default, DoIT sets all Blackboard course shell durations to expire approximately 6 weeks after the end of a given semester. Some instructors change the duration of an Original course to continuous, which means the course always appears as “current” to both instructors and students. This can be frustrating to students who see courses they’ve already completed on the main Courses page as a new semester starts. Therefore, make sure you change the course duration back to a reasonable end date.

7. Identify Students Who Need Incomplete Access (Original / Ultra)

If a course has an end date, and the end date passes, then students can't access the course any longer, whether or not the course is still available. For example, by default, all Fall 2021 shells will be made unavailable to student access January 9, 2022. Instructors can request special access to their courses for students who need to continue to work in a course beyond the semester’s conclusion. You may need to adjust any relevant dates within the course so students can access content or assignments.

Once the semester over, grades are submitted, and your Blackboard course closing checklist is complete, take a deep breath and enjoy your break.

Do you have a tip to share with other faculty? Please comment in this post and let us know!

Blackboard course shells for WT2022 and SP2022 were created on November 29, 2021.

The Ultra Course Preview setting is again enabled in WT/SP2022 courses, which allows faculty to convert a new Original course to see what it looks like in Ultra and adopt Ultra. Please review the release notes for the latest updates to compare Original and Ultra tools. Many new features and tools are available to increase Ultra's parity with Original. Have a question about Ultra? Ask an Ultra Ambassador!

Ally, an accessibility tool, is also enabled in all course shells. Ally automatically scans uploaded and created course content, then performs a series of steps to make that content more accessible. Please review the Ally FAQs for more information about the accessibility indicators on course content and alternative formats.

For faculty who will be teaching hybrid or online, the instructional technology team would like to share several resources to support online course development and instruction.

1. Choose from our PIVOT Solo lessons to refresh or enhance your online teaching preparation. Five key topics cover course organization, active learning, community building, assessment, and supporting students. 
2. Explore our Panopto folder for a wide variety of recorded webinars on various instructional technologies available at UMBC.

• If you are an instructor, and your name is not associated with the course you are teaching in the SOC, please see your Departmental Scheduling Coordinator to resolve the issue. Once you are listed in the SOC, your Bb course shell will be created automatically. 
• If you and your Department Scheduling Coordinator believe you are correctly assigned as the instructor of record in the SOC and you do not see your course shell in Blackboard, please submit a Request Tracker (RT) ticket via my.umbc.edu/help.
• If you need a Bb shell for a research or independent study course, please submit a new course request.

Instructors who teach multiple sections of the same course will find those enrollments merged into one Bb course shell. These sections may be split upon request by an RT ticket, which we recommend submitting at least one week before the semester starts, if not as soon as courses are created in Blackboard. NOTE: Courses should not be split after student grade data and engagement activity is recorded since it will be purged as part of the separation process.

Student enrollment in Bb mirrors the official registration in SA and updates hourly. However, courses are not accessible to students by default until the instructor of record makes them available.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

• Academic Continuity | Keep On Teaching | Student Technology Resources
• Check our extensive FAQ collection 
• Open a ticket via RT
• Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups
• Sign up for a webinar & other training 
• Request a consult with instructional technology staff

Prepare your Blackboard course shell for the new semester with our updated baker’s dozen checklist.

1. Review new tools & features in Blackboard.

Our Blackboard site receives updates and enhancements every month -- check out the latest news to learn what’s new for Ultra courses.

2. Copy your course content from a previous semester.

Bypass the long wait and digital file transfers required for export and import. Use course copy -- it’s faster and more convenient. TIP: Prep your courses ahead of the new semester for a stress-free start. Request a development course shell for ongoing content development and maintenance. 

3. Create a central Start Here area for your students so they know how to get started.

Include a welcome video. Use Panopto to invite students to explore the course with a course tour and orientation. Let students know what to do first before classes start and where to find important content. Be sure to caption your videos for accessibility.

4. Check course links for broken or missing content.

If you use a lot of external links and third-party tools, check the validity of those resources. You’ll want to verify permissions for Google, Box, and Panopto to make sure your students can view these essential media and files.

5. Update library reserves.

Digital reserves are available through the AOK Library, making it easy for you to request from your desktop and for students to access, read, view, or listen from the convenience of their own devices. Course reserves are synchronized through your Blackboard courses. 

6. Upload multimedia to Panopto and large files to UMBC Box or Google Drive.

Please remember that Blackboard is not a streaming service. When you update your course content with new resources, be sure to place multimedia (video, audio) in Panopto and other large files to cloud storage. Your students and Blackboard course will thank you for a streamlined delivery. View our 30-minute webinar for additional tips to optimize your course quota.

7. Check your course content for accessibility.

Use your course’s Ally accessibility report to gauge the accessibility of course content and prioritize improvements. Ally automatically creates alternative versions of your files for students including Electronic Braille and mobile-friendly HTML.

8. Update due dates, adaptive release dates, availability, etc.

Use the Date Management tool in Original or Batch Edit in Ultra to modify nearly everything with a date in your course whether availability or conditional release.

9. Set up your virtual gradebook.

Students benefit from knowing how they’re doing in your course throughout the semester. If your course uses a weighted grading system to calculate the final grade, set up your Ultra gradebook or Original grade center as soon as possible.

10. Prepare virtual meeting places.

Create spaces to meet with students virtually. Use Collaborate or Webex for lectures, office hours, drop-in support, student study groups, and more.

11. Welcome students to your course.

No matter what format you teach, create an online introduction to create a sense of connection and build community in your course. Send an opening email or post an announcement to your course to greet your students.

12. Configure your personal notifications.

Choose which notifications you receive about activity in your courses. Notifications can appear in the Activity Stream or via email digest for new messages, gradable items, discussion posts, or student performance alerts.

13. Set your course availability.

Students cannot access your course until you make it available. Use one of three methods to turn your course on for students. TIP: If you use Ultra and you'd like to open your course earlier than 2 weeks before the semester starts, you might need to request support to make sure students see your course when you want them to have early access.

Do you have a tip to share with other faculty? Please comment in this post and let us know!