- How do I combine all sections of a course into one Blackboard site?
- How do I combine select sections of a course into one Blackboard site?
- Can I have one course site for two cross-listed courses?
- I need a combined course site but also a way for instructors/TAs in each section to communicate with their students. What can I do?
How do I combine all sections of a course into one Blackboard site?
If you are teaching all sections of a course and wish to combine them into a single Blackboard course site, please contact the UIS help Desk or use the Blackboard Help Request Form and state that you are teaching all sections of the course and would like them to be combined. Please note that once the course sections are combined, the individual course sections and any pre-existing content in them will be removed. The new combined course site will be blank and unavailable. The course ID of the combined course site will include "C1" in place of the section number (e.g., BIOL-101-C1.Fall2005).
Note: If you wish to combine only some sections of a course, please see "How do I combine select sections of a course into one Blackboard site?".
How do I combine select sections of a course into one Blackboard site?
You can combine select sections into one course site (e.g., you are teaching sections 03 and 04 of BIOL-101, which has nine sections) if you are listed as an instructor in each of the sections you wish to combine.
The solution for combining select sections involves choosing one course section to be the "main" section and then copying the student enrollments from the other sections into the main section. Please note that you should wait to do this until your class starts, since once you combine select course sites, changes in the enrollments for other sections will not show up in the main section.
Instructions:
- Choose one section to be the main section, which will be available to students of all your sections.
- In Blackboard, go to the course site of a section whose users you wish to add to the main section (e.g., if section BIOL-101-03 is your main section, go to the course site for section BIOL-101-04).
- Click on the Control Panel.
- Under "Course Options," click on "Course Copy."
- Click on "Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course."
- Click on "Browse."
- A text box appears. Click "Search" and a list of the courses you teach will appear.
- Click the "Select" button next to the name of the course you wish to add.
- In order to copy users from one section to another, you must check at least one content area to copy as well. We recommend choosing an empty content area (e.g., "Glossary") unless you have actual content you wish to copy into the other section.
- Scroll down to Section 3 and put a check mark next to "Enrollments."
- Click "Submit."
- Click "OK."
- Repeat steps above for any additional sections you wish to add to the main section.
After completing the steps above, you will be sent an automatic email once the course copy process has completed. We advise instructors to make all non-main course sections "unavailable" to students and only make the "main" course site "available." This will eliminate confusion for those students who would have seen two section links if the "non-main" section was to be available (see "How do I make my course site available to my students?" for instructions).
After you combine course sections, you may wish to customize your course list on your Blackboard Desktop to display only the main (combined) section of the course. See "How do I remove course sites from my Blackboard course list?" for details.
Note: After you copy the student names from one section into another, you will need to maintain the student roster manually when students add or drop the other course sections. We suggest following the class list in Faculty Access+ until the add/drop period ends.
Can I have one course site for two cross-listed courses?
Yes. If you are teaching a cross-listed course it is possible to have the different course sites combined into a single course site.
The procedure is the same as combining select course sections into a single course site. Follow the steps in "How do I combine select sections of a course into one Blackboard site?"
Note: After the course has been combined, you will need to maintain the student roster manually when students add or drop the other course section(s). We suggest following the class list in Faculty Access+ until the add/drop period ends.
I need a combined course site but also a way for instructors/TAs in each section to communicate with their students. What can I do?
Within any Blackboard course site it is possible to set up groups to allow students and instructors/TAs in each section to email each other, participate in discussions and virtual classroom sessions, and post/exchange files to members of the group. After the course site sections have been combined (see "How do I combine all sections of a course into one Blackboard site?" and "How do I combine select sections of a course into one Blackboard site?"), you or anyone with the role of instructor or teaching assistant can create a group for each section of the course by following the instructions in "How do I create student groups?".
Alternatively, instructors can use Faculty Access+ to communicate to students in individual course sections (combining course sections in Blackboard does not combine the sections in Faculty Access+).
