Managing and Using Blackboard Organizations



Managing and Using Blackboard 9 Organizations

A Blackboard organization is similar to a Blackboard course but is designed for student organizations or administrative work groups. Many of the same resources used in Blackboard courses are available in Blackboard organizations. This document provides basic information for managing and using a Blackboard organization. I. Creating a Blackboard Organization II. Managing Organization Members A. Accessing your Organization B. Adding a Member III. Managing Documents A. Creating Folders B. Posting Documents C. Replacing a Document IV. Turning Off E-Mail Notifications V. Making an Organization Unavailable VI. Archiving an Organization VII. Deleting an Organization

I. Creating a Blackboard Organization
Using your AccessNet account, you can access Blackboard through TUportal. To log in to TUportal: 1. Go to the TUportal web site at: http://tuportal.temple.edu 2. At the TUportal window, type your AccessNet username and TUsecure password. 3. Then, click Login.

4. At the Blackboard window, click the Course Tools tab. Note: The Course Tools tab is only available to Temple University employees. If you are a Temple University employee and do not see the Course Tools tab, contact the Instructional Support Center (215-204-0789).

5. Click Create New Organization.

6. Review the Copyright Statement and click I agree.

7. At the Create New Organization window: a) Enter a name for the organization. b) To permit guest access to your organization, click the down arrow to select Yes. c) Click Next >>.

8. At the Create New Organization window, review the information for your organization and click Next>>.

9. At the Organization Created window, click Finish to complete the process.

II. Managing Organization Members

A. Accessing your Organization
1. Log in to TUportal and in the MY PORTAL tab, go to TUAPPLICATIONS and click Blackboard.

2. Blackboard will open in a new window. Under the My Organizations module, click the organization name.

B. Adding a Member
1. In the Control Panel, located on the left of the screen, click Users and Groups > Users.

2. Click Find Users to Enroll.

3. In the Username box, type the AccessNet username of the person you wish to add. Note: If you do not know the person's AccessNet username, click Browse. You can then search for participants by username, first name, last name, or e-mail address.

4. Perform the following: a) Select the role you wish to assign to the user. By default, new members are added as Participants. Members added to the Blackboard community can be assigned different access rights based on roles. The main roles and functions are: Participant Participants can view information. Organization Builder Organization Builders can view information, post documents, and perform group functions such as adding and removing members to a group. Builders cannot add (or remove) members to the community. Leader Leaders can make any changes to the site including posting documents and adding (and removing) members to the community. b) Verify that Enrollment Availability is set to Yes. c) Click Submit.

III. Managing Documents
A. Creating Folders
1. Access your Organization as described in Section II, Part B. 2. From the upper left navigation pane, click Content.

3. Verify that Edit Mode on the upper right portion of the screen is set to ON.

4. Click the Build Content tab. Then select Content Folder under the New Page heading.

5. In the Create Folder page, perform the following: a) In the Name box, type a name for the folder. b) Type an optional description of the folder in the Text box. You can use the options within the box to add formatting, such as font and color. c) Fill in the Options section only if you wish to perform the following: Prevent users from viewing this content Track the number of views Set date and time restrictions for how long the content appears d) Click Submit.

B. Posting Documents

1. Access your Organization as described in Section II, Part B. 2. From the upper left navigation pane, click Content.

3. To post the document within a folder that you previously created, click on the folder name.

4. Verify that Edit Mode on the upper right portion of the screen is set to ON.

5. Click the Build Content tab. Then select Item under the Create heading.

6. In the Create Item page, perform the following: a) In the Name box, assign a name for the file. b) Select an optional color of the file name. c) Under Attachments, click Browse My Computer and select the file. d) Fill in the Standard Options section if you want to: Prevent users from viewing this content Track the number of views Set date and time restrictions for how long the content appears e) Click Submit.

7. To see how the document will appear to a participant, verify that Edit Mode on the upper right portion of the screen is set to OFF.

C. Replacing a Document
To replace a document with an updated version: 1. Access your Organization as described in Section II, Part B. 2. From the upper left navigation pane, click Content.

3. If the document resides in a folder, click the folder name.

4. Verify that Edit Mode on the upper right portion of the screen is set to ON.

5. Click the down arrows to the right of the file name and select Edit.

6. In the Edit File page, perform the following: a) Under the file name, click Select a Different File. Then select the new file. b) The Name box will be automatically filled in with the filename. You can update this name, if you wish. c) Select an optional color of the file name. d) If you would like the file to open in a new window, click Yes next to Open in New Window. e) Fill in the Standard Options section only if you wish to perform the following: Prevent users from viewing this content Track the number of views Set date and time restrictions for how long the content appears. f) Click Submit.

IV. Turning Off E-Mail Notifications
By default, a daily e-mail digest of new announcements is sent to organization participants. The e-mail digest will only be sent if there are new announcements for the day. Note: Participants in your organization can choose to not receive these e-mail digests. As an organization leader or builder, however, you can override this setting when creating the announcement

To turn off the e-mail digest feature, perform the following steps: 1. At the top of the Blackboard screen, click My Places.

2. In the My Places screen, click Edit Notification Settings.

3. Under Edit Individual Organization Settings, click on your organization.

4. In the Email column, remove the check marks next to Announcement Available and Assignment Available. Then click Submit.

V. Making an Organization Unavailable
As an organization builder or leader, you have the option of hiding (or making unavailable) your organization from participants.
To make an organization unavailable: 1. Access your Organization as described in Section II, Part B. 2. In the Control Panel, located on the left of the screen, click Customization > Properties.

3. In the Set Availability section of the Properties screen, click No to make the organization unavailable to users or Yes to make the organization available to users. Then click Submit.

VI. Archiving an Organization
The Archive Manager feature enables you to back up the contents of your organization. This enables you to reuse the materials in Blackboard if the existing organization is ever deleted. An organization archive file is a single compressed (zipped) file that contains all of the documents posted in your organization. If you ever need to restore some or all of the materials to the Blackboard system, take the archive file to the Instructional Support Center (ISC).
1. Access your Organization as described in Section II, Part B. 2. In the Control Panel, located on the left of the screen, click Packages and Utilities > Export/Archive Organization.

3. In the Export/Archive Organization screen, click Archive.

4. Click Submit.

5. You will receive an e-mail notification when the archive is complete. To download the archive: In the Control Panel, located on the left of the screen, Packages and Utilities > Export/Archive Organization.

6. On the Export/Archive Organization page, click the file link. Then follow the prompts to save the file on your computer.

VII. Deleting an Organization
1. Click the Course Tools tab.

2. At the Course Tools window, click the delete icon to the left of the organization name.

3. At the Delete Course window, click Yes.

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