INSTRUCTORS
Use any theory or model for teaching your online course with Blackboard Learn because it's open, flexible, and centered on student achievement.
Whether you're new to online instruction or new to Blackboard Learn, you can start with the basics and add to it over time. Start with a week or two of materials and add more later. This process helps you get students involved while you develop and refine the next portion of materials.
We've compiled the basics of course building for the novice Blackboard Learn instructors. We want to help you build the basic course to get you started. As you get more comfortable working in Learn, you can add more to your courses.
Students may have anxiety about online courses too. You can help them feel comfortable in these ways in your Start Here Module:
- Include information on how to contact you and where to find your course information.
- Add an introduction video about you. You can help students realize that their instructor is a real person with enthusiasm for the subject matter.
- Upload a syllabus.
- Hold office hours in discussions, Blackboard Collaborate, or the Microsoft Teams for Blackboard LTI integration to help orient your students to your courses and answer questions on a regular basis.
- Ask your students to find quiet places to work, turn off cell phones, and remove distractions.
- Provide resources for working online and materials that they can print or download for future reference.
Teaching online can be overwhelming to start, but we're here for you! After you complete these basic steps, you'll have a course ready for students!
Help for Instructors
The starting point for everything Learn Ultra for you, as an instructor. Find how to start as a new user, common questions, and a guide for troubleshooting. You can also choose to explore and learn about accessibility on Learn, assignments, course content, grading, tests, pools and surveys, and how to better interact with students or how to set up a course and track performance, among other interesting topics.
For information on course building, design, collaboration, and more.
For the Blackboard Help Video series
Blackboard Academy
Blackboard Academy offers high quality professional development for educators, by educators through cohort-model series, stand-alone and self-paced courses that focus on digital learning best practices, empowering educators to drive innovation within their institutions.
Exemplary Course Program
The Exemplary Course Program (ECP) recognizes instructors and course designers whose courses demonstrate best practices in four major areas: Course Design, Interaction & Collaboration, Assessment, and Learner Support. Submitted courses are evaluated by a peer group of clients using the Exemplary Course Program Rubric.
