• Start Blackboard in 10 steps
• Bb - Starting a Semester
• Bb - End a Semester
• Bb - Backup & Beyond

Putting your course online may seem like a daunting task, but it is really very simple. Just follow these 10 easy steps, and you'll be on your way to creating a successful online component for your course.

1. Prepare Yourself

• Educate yourself by reading articles about web-based training, instructional design, technology education, and online learning.
• Practice using the software. Take a training course, do a tutorial, or explore the program.
• Locate and introduce yourself to the Blackboard staff on your campus. (Barb Stephens, 280-2263; Alice Smith, 280-2560; both in lower Reinert Alumni Library.)
• Know your login information (username is your netID; password is your BLUE password). Contact DoIT's Service Desk if you have questions.
• Request or find your course/site. All courses maintained in the Registrar's database will have a course site registered automatically. For other courses or sites, complete the online form.
• Make sure your computer is set up with the correct browser requirements.

• Gather your course materials and content in a central location. Include items such as handouts, slide shows, syllabus, overheads, lecture notes, projects, assessments, and discussion topics.
• Determine what formats your materials exist in. Take note of items already in electronic formats such as word documents, spreadsheets, and slides.
• Accommodate different types of learners. Make sure visual learners have graphics and text they can see to foster learning. Provide narration and text for verbal learners.
• Identify measurable course objectives. These should incorporate materials delivered both in class and online. Determine what core competencies and knowledge students will need to meet these objectives.

• Make an outline that matches each course component with associated date, lecture materials, labs, assignments and corresponding items. This comprehensive outline can be very helpful in Step 5 - Building a Course Skeleton.

4. Determine How to Deliver Materials

• Determine which materials should be delivered in-class and which items can be delivered online. Select items that are relevant to course objectives and student learning experiences.
• Prepare the materials for electronic delivery. This may include scanning graphics, creating files in HTML or Word, or developing PowerPoint slides.
• Avoid delivering materials that will distract the student from the course objectives. Do not add irrelevant information to "fill-up" your website.

• Create the organizational (or skeleton) structure of your course. This involves creating a series of clearly labeled folders that will hold course materials.
• Make a folder for every item in your outline (from Step 3) or mimic the structure of your syllabus.
• Enter the Course Information area in your Blackboard course site and create folders for the Syllabus, Grading Policies, and other basic items relating to course management.
• Enter the Course Documents area and create folders that correspond with the main topics or sections of your course. Create sub-folders for sub-topics as necessary. For example:
  • Week 1: Introduction to English Grammar, (folder)
  • Week 2: Working with Nouns (folder)
  • Week 3: Mastering Verb Tenses (folder)
    • Regular Verbs, (sub-folder)
    • Irregular Verbs (sub-folder)
• Enter the Course Documents area to create Assignments which when graded, will automatically be placed in the Gradebook.

6. Add Staff Information

• Enter the Staff Information page editor in your Blackboard course site and create an entry for yourself. If you have a picture of yourself, include that too!
• Create additional entries for teaching assistants, graduate assistants, guest speakers or other course staff members.

• Enter each folder in your Course Documents area in your Blackboard course site and add the content.
• Include a short description for each item. Indicate what the item is and how it is relevant to the lesson. This description helps students understand how to associate this item in relation to rest of the course materials.

8. Incorporate the Technology into Other Course Components

• Enter the Blackboard Discussion Board and post an introductory assignment. Ask each student to write one to three paragraphs explaining who they are and why they took this course. Require students to read entries from other students. This is the first step in creating an "online community" for your course.
• Plan on adding one new topic to the discussion board each week. Make sure this topic requires students to formulate an answer and back it up with facts to demonstrate their understanding. Monitor and respond to student threads and encourage students to do the same.
• Locate at least three external websites that relate to information you are teaching. Place these in the External Links area and recommend students explore these sites on "virtual fieldtrips." Optionally, structure an assignment that incorporates researching and reporting information from these fieldtrips.

• In your Blackboard course site, post an introductory message in the Announcements area. Welcome the students to your course, direct them to the Course Information area to obtain the syllabus, and indicate where to find the first class assignment or reading.

• Preview course materials by checking each link, proofreading descriptions, and viewing the course from a student perspective.
• Provide students with Creighton's Blackboard URL (https://courses.creighton.edu/). Instruct them on how to log on. Their username is their netID (3 letters followed by 5 numbers, found on their ID card) and their password is their BLUE password.
• Enjoy teaching with your online course site!