User Introduction to the Blackboard Content System

The ”My Content” Tab

The Blackboard ’Content System’ can be thought of as an online disc drive, where you can save all your material.

You access it via the ”My Content” tab. As you can see, the left hand side is divided into different sections: 1) ”My Content”: your personal disc space 2) ”Course Content”: disc space reserved for your various courses. The ”Course Content” section contains a folder for each of the courses to which you are assigned. If more than one instructor is assigned to one course, you share the relevant ”Course Content” space. 3) ”Organization Content”: disc space reserved for your various communities. ”Organization Content” contains for each of the communities of which you are a member. 4) ”Institution Content”: disc space reserved for SDU as a whole.

When you want to add folders or files to ’Content System’, go to the place in which you want the folder/file to be placed. You do this by double clicking on the folder in the structure on the left hand side of the page, which may look like this:

1 To create folders or files, use the command bar at the top of the display:

Click here to copy multiple files or folders from your hard drive into Content System

Click here to create Click here to a document create a folder

Creating a Folder: You create a folder by clicking on ”Folder”. On the page which now appears you need only to fill in ”Folder Name”, and then click on ”Submit” at the bottom.

Enter folder name

2 Adding a Document: To add a file (to the folder you are presently in), click on ”Item”. On the page which now appears, click on ”Browse”, find, on your own computer, the document you wish to copy into ’Content System’, double click on it (or highlight it and click on ”Åbn”/”Open”). In the Blackboard display, click on ”Submit.

To add multiple files or an entire folder, go to the folder in which you want the files/folder to be placed, then click on ”Webfolder”. You can now drag or ’Copy-Paste’ files/folders into ’Content System’ in the same way you would transfer files between folders on the computer.

Adding a Document or Folder from the Blackboard ’Content System’ to a Course in the ’My Courses’ Section

When you add a document or folder from ’Content System’ to a course, this does not consist in posting a copy; a link is created from the course to the document or folder in ’Content System’. This means that you can use the same material for several courses without having to make multiple copies. This also means that you only need to manage and update one location.

To link from a course, go to the course via the ’My Portal’ or the ’My Courses’ tab. Click on ”Control Panel” and choose the destination area, e.g. ”Course Documents”. In the tool bar, choose "Item". Enter a name in the ’Name’ panel, and, if applicable, a description in the ’Text’ panel. Next to Link to Content Collection item: click on Browse to search for the file or folder in ’Content System’.

3 Mark/highlight the file or folder, then click on ”Submit”. A text box will appear with a warning that the file or folder will now be displayed to course participants. Click on ”OK”.

You can enter a title next to ’Name of Link to File’, if you want the students to click on a string of text rather that the link path to open the file. Then, simply click on ”Submit”, followed by ”OK”.

Editing a Document in the Blackboard Content System Go to the folder containing the document which you wish to edit. Do this by double clicking on the folder in the structure on the left hand side of the page.

Click on ”Webfolder”:

4 In the new window, open the document by double clicking on it.

Make the required changes to the document and save them: File Save.

Close the document by going File  Exit, or by clicking on the white X-mark in the red box in the top right corner.

Close ”Webfolder” by clicking on the white X-mark in the red box in the top right corner. The edited file has now been saved in ’Content System’. If courses contain a link/links to the file, the changes will also be seen when the document is opened via these.

Activating Version Management

It is possible to activate version management for documents in the Blackboard ’Content System’. This means that a new version of a document will automatically be created every time it is saved after changes have been made to it. The most recent version of the document will always be displayed, but previous versions remain accessible. You activate version management for a document by clicking on ”Modify” next to the document:

Click on ”Versions”, then on ”Enable/Disable Versions”. Mark/highlight ’Enable’, click on ”Submit” and then click twice on ”Ok”. You will now see an underlined number next to the file, which varies proportionally with the number of versions:

This number works as a link to all previous versions of the document.

Remember that you must open the document via ’Webfolder’ in order to edit it (see ‘Editing a Document in the Blackboard Content System’ above).

5 Granting Other Users Access to Reading and Making Changes/Additions to a Document in the Blackboard ’Content System’ It is possible to grant such access to internal (SDU Blackboard) users as well as external users, meaning individuals without a Blackboard account.

Granting Internal Access: Place a document in a folder in ’Content System’. Click on ”Modify” next to the folder:

Click on ”Permissions” and then on ”Add Users”. Find the user by clicking on ”Browse”, and grant reading/viewing and, if applicable, writing access by marking ‘Read’ and, if applicable, ‘Write’. Mark ’Overwrite’ under 3 and click on ”Submit”. Click twice on ”Ok”. Mark the folder to the right, choose ’Workflow: share’ in the roll-down menu at the top right corner, then click on ”GO”:

In the display which appears, you must as a minimum enter a name in the ’Name’ panel, find the user’s ’Username’ by clicking on ”Browse”. Mark the ’Email Users’ panel and ’Read’ and, if applicable, ’Write’ under 4, before clicking on ”Submit”. Click twice on ”Ok”.

Granting External Access: Click on ”Modify” next to the document to which you wish to grant access:

Click on ”Passes” and ”Add Pass”. Enter, via the roll-down menu next to ’Lifetime’, the time-span for which the user is to be granted access to the document, and, via the roll- down menu next to ’Permissions’, indicate whether the user in question is to have reading access (’Read’) or readaing and writing access (’Read/Write’), then click on ”Submit”. Click on ”Ok”.

6 Now, mark the ’Pass’ you have created on the right:

Then click on ”Email Pass”. As in the case of a regular e-mail, enter an address in the ’To’ panel, a subject in the ’Subject’ panel, and a message in the ’Message’ panel. The only thing you must not erase is the path to the file in the ’Message’ panel! Example:

Click on ”Submit” and then on ”Ok”.

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