How-To Guides for Blackboard Vista
These Guides, created by the Center for Teaching and Learning, are useful as stand-alone tutorials or may be printed for use in conjunction with any Blackboard Vista workshops relating to these topics. If you have additional questions regarding the use of these tools, please contact Help Center.
All Blackboard Vista How-To Guides will be tagged with “(BbV)” to distinguish them from Moodle How-To Guides.
When you originally opened your course, you chose the tools you wanted. However, after working with the section, you may find that you want to add tools you want to use or delete tools you will never use. You can add and delete tools if you are a Section Designer or Section Instructor and have access to the Build tab or Teach tab. read more »
You can use the Page Options ActionLinks menu to change the appearance of the headers and footers on the Home Page screen or any content folder. The Home Page screen is the first screen that students will see when they log into your course. This is a good place to state the name of the course and any other information you want students to know. read more »
The Syllabus Tool provides a convenient way to build your syllabus online or upload your existing syllabus. This handout will walk you through uploading and linking to a document you already have on your computer. read more »
The Assessment tool is used to create quizzes, surveys and self tests. If you did not add the Assessment tool when you set up your Blackboard Vista section, you can add the tool if you are a Section Designer or Section Instructor. read more »
Before you can add questions to an assessment, survey or self-test, you must first add the questions to the Question Database. read more »
Once you have added questions to the Blackboard Vista Question Database, you can use them to create assessments, self tests, and surveys. read more »
You can use the Announcements tool to create and send course-wide notices or tips to students and other section members. Students, teaching assistants, instructors, and auditors can access announcements from the Course Menu. read more »
The first time you log into the Blackboard Vista system, the Browser Checker will automatically run in a new window. The window will remain open if there is a problem or if you run the check manually. read more »
The Calendar tool allows instructors, teaching assistants, and students to exchange scheduling information quickly and effectively with dated reminders and events. read more »
The Chat and Whiteboard tool in Blackboard Vista enables faculty and students to communicate synchronously in comparison to the Discussions asynchronous method. You can use it for text messaging, drawings that you might create on a chalkboard or traditional whiteboard, and sharing images and/or links during collaboration. Some faculty use the Chat tool to hold virtual office hours. read more »
This handout will not look at the chat/whiteboard room in depth but we will open a room so you can see important options within a combined chat whiteboard room. It will also look at chat logs. read more »
If you have already taught a Blackboard Vista course or started developing a course before the beginning of a semester, you can copy the course content to your new Activated course. The “Copy content from another course” option is only available the very first time you access your new Blackboard Vista course. read more »
The Learning Module is the primary tool for presenting material to your students. It helps you to modularize your course, order your material, and directs the student’s progress. It has a hierarchical structure via a Table of Contents which enables students to find specific content. read more »
Research shows that group work improves critical thinking and problem-solving skills through discussion, clarification, and evaluation of others’ ideas. The Group Manager tool allows you to create and edit groups enabling students to work on projects collaboratively or cooperatively. read more »
With the Group Manager tool, you can create group discussion topics and group chat and whiteboard rooms. read more »
With group assignments, students work collaboratively on a project and all students in the group receive the same grade. Except for the Send assignment to settings, the process for creating group assignments is the same as for creating individual assignments. read more »
Sign-up sheets allow students to add themselves to groups. However, you control the maximum size of the group and whether students can see who has signed up. read more »
You create assignments from the Build tab. Regardless of the assignment type or collaboration options, the basic process for creating assignments is the same. read more »
When you create multiple groups, you can either create empty groups and select members later, or you can create groups with randomly assigned students. This How-To will show adding members later. read more »
When you create multiple groups, you can create groups with randomly assigned students. Randomly assigning students allows the computer to select the groups of students based on the number of groups or the number of students per group. Randomly selected groups can be shuffled by the instructor. read more »
