Start of the semester

This section of the knowledge base will provide a checklist to ensure your Blackboard site is ready to engage new students for the upcoming academic year or semester.

Each cohort of a module should usually be supported by their own Blackboard module site.

The first step in your new Blackboard site is to ensure that all staff who are teaching on it can access the site.

There are many possible ways to use a Blackboard module site. It can simply be a place for students to access key administrative information (such as the module handbook and marks/feedback), or it can be an integral part of students' learning experience in the module.

Your new Blackboard module site will not feature any announcements by default.

One common student request for Blackboard sites is to have contact details for the staff involved. The Staff Details section of your Blackboard site is a convenient place to put this information.

All Blackboard sites have at least some content in them, such as the module handbook or assessment briefs. Lecturers often include handouts and lecture notes on their module site too.

Grade Centre, online assessments and other gradable items need to be set up in your Blackboard site each year.

In order to comply with the University’s Threshold Standards for Supporting Learning with Technology, you must articulate how, when and in what format students can expect to receive feedback on their work. 

You may wish to stimulate student engagement within your Blackboard site through the use of online discussion. A Discussion Board can be added to your site in which you can create different forums to discuss different topics.

Now that your Blackboard site is fully built, and populated with staff and students, you must ensure that the site is available for students to access. By default all new sites are set unavailable so students do not see a site before it is ready.