Teaching & Learning

Services providing instructional technology and resources directly supporting teaching and learning. Includes learning management systems, instructional technology and design, assessment and learning analytics, lecture capture, and polling and surveys.

Services

Blackboard is a web-based learning management system (LMS) designed to support fully online courses or provide a space for face-to-face course supplementation. Blackboard provides many types of tools and features for enriching the learning experience. Blackboard provides a space (course shell) for each course taught each semester. Student enrollments and faculty assignments are handled automatically by the system. A fully functional course shell provides tools for displaying content, interacting with students, and assessing students’ work. The system also supports various media types for creating engaging content.

Use the procedures below to prepare your Blackboard course(s) for the new semester; deliver course instructions and manage course activities online; and end of term functions such as reporting grades or archiving your course.

Audience

Faculty and Staff

Prerequisites

None

Audience

Faculty, Staff and Students

Prerequisites

None

Accessing Blackboard and Your Courses

The Blackboard Login page can be accessed via the link in the resource column at the bottom of every official TAMU-CC webpage (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox recommended).
Once on the Blackboard login screen, bookmark the page using the Ctrl + D keyboard combination.
On the login page, select the Log Into Blackboard Learn button.
You will be prompted to enter your username and password. Your TAMU-CC username is referred to as an “IslandID” it is usually a combination of your first initial, last time, and sometimes a number. ( Example: George Washington’s IslandID might be “gwashington1”.)
If the login was successful, you will be taken to the institution's Duo two-factor authentication page. Complete the Duo authentication process.
Once authenticated, your Blackboard landing page is display. Courses you have access to are listed alphabetically in the Blackboard module titled "My Courses".

Blackboard offers many communication methods for you and your students. "Emails", "Messages", and “Announcements” are among the most popular choices. This guide also contains instructions for hiding tools you do not wish to use.

Audience

Faculty and Staff

Prerequisites

None

Communicating with one or more students

The Email tool:
- Automatically creates a contact list of all the course users organized by their role in the course (student, instructor, groups, etc.)
- All emails are sent to the recipient’s official university email address (@tamucc.edu for instructors and @islander.tamucc.edu for students).
- All sent emails sent via Blackboard are not saved to an "outbox" or "sent folder" by default, you must choose the "Return Receipt" option in order to keep accurate records of communication.
Using the Email tool:
1. Select “Email” on the course menu.
2. On the “Send Email” screen, select from the choices of groups you can email (Example: “All Student Users”) or individuals you can email (Example: “Single/Select Users”).
3. On the “Email Information” screen give your message a “subject” and use the “message” field to compose your email. Always make sure to select the checkbox on “Return Receipt” before you select “submit” to send your email.

The Messages tool:
- Contacts are selected from a list of all course users and student names.
- All messages both sent and received in "Message" are viewable only in Blackboard or on the Blackboard app – not via email.
- Unlike Blackboard’s Email tool, “Messages” features an “Inbox” and a “Sent” folder.
Using the Messages tool:
1. Select “Messages” on the course menu. On the next page, select the “Create Message” button on the top left.
2. On the “Compose Message” screen select the “To” button. From the list, select the name(s) of the users you want to message and use the right facing arrow button to add them to your “recipients” list.
3. Add a message subject, type your message in the “body” area, and add an “attachment” if you want to.
4. Select “submit” to send your message. There will be record of it in your “sent” folder.
  
  The Announcements tool:
  - Announcements are only visible from within Blackboard or via the Blackboard app by default. However, when you create an announcement you are given the option to also send a copy of the announcement via email.
  - Announcements allow you to use "course links" so you can embed a link to any course content, assignment, or assessment directly in your message.
  - Announcements can be "date restricted" so you can write them ahead of time and then have them release as the semester progresses (ex. reminders about scheduling test proctoring).

Using the Announcements tool:
1. Select the "Announcements" link in the course menu. On the next page, select the "Create Announcement" button on the top left side of the page.
2. Add a “Subject” and compose your message. Finish preparing the announcement by setting "Date Restrictions" or adding “Course Links” if you wish.
3. To ensure everyone sees the announcement on time, select “send a copy of the announcement via email”
4. Select "Submit' to send your announcement.

It is recommended that you hide or delete any communication tool (or other Blackboard tool) that you do not want your students to use or access to avoid any potential confusion.

Hiding and deleting blackboard tool links in the course menu:
1. Find the tool links you want to hide or delete in the left-side course menu.
2. Hover your mouse (do not click) over the name of the tool you want to hide.
3. A chevron icon will appear to the right of the tool's name - select the chevron and a drop down menu will appear.
4. Select "hide link" or “delete” from the menu. Your page will refresh.
  If you hid the link, you will now see a small square icon with a slash through it next to the tool you have hidden. This icon means the tool was successfully hidden. You can unhide a tool at any time by following the same steps above and choosing “Show Link”.
  
  If you deleted the link, that tool link will no longer appear on your course menu.

The Grade Center allows instructors options for providing feedback and managing students' grades for a variety of assessments. Additionally, instructors can create grade columns for any activities or requirements that require grading but do not require submission through Blackboard. A Properly maintained Grade Center allows students to correctly evaluate their course standing.

Audience

Faculty, Staff and Students

Prerequisites

None

Figure 1. Sample Grade Center layout. It is labeled with letters A-F and is intended as a reference guide with explanations below.

Figure 1 Legend

The first two columns of the grade center show your student roster. You can sort your grade center alphabetically by selecting “last name” or “first name” – the grade center will reorder accordingly.
To enter a grade manually - select inside the cell, type the score or letter, and select “Enter” on your keyboard. To grade submitted work - you have two options:
From the "Grade Center" option in the Control Panel, select “Needs Grading”. On the next page, select the student’s name (blue and underlined) that you want to grade. You will be taken to the “inline grading” page (See the Inline Grading in Blackboard tutorial for more information).
From the "Grade Center" option in the Control Panel, select “Full Grade Center”. The yellow circle with exclamation point indicates a submitted assignment. Select the circle, then go to the attempt marked with a date to grade it. (See the Inline Grading in Blackboard tutorial for more information).
Total Column generates a grade based on the cumulative points earned. You will have this column by default in Blackboard, but it can be deleted if you wish to grade with weights or averages instead.

Note:: Selecting the name of any column in the Grade Center will sort the entire grade center in either ascending or descending order based on that columns data. (Example: Selecting the “last name” column will sort the grade center alphabetically).

Use the “Final Letter Grade” column in the Grade Center. Enter a letter grade for each student. These grades will be transferred to SAIL. Blackboard will only accept grades of A, B, C, D, or F. You must submit any other letter grade (e.g. P for pass) using S.A.I.L

Audience

Faculty, Staff and Students

Prerequisites

None

Note

It is highly recommended that the letter grades for all students are verified prior to performing the steps below to submit Mid-term or Final grades using Blackboard since you will not be able to make corrections during the process.

Submit Blackboard grades to SIS

To access the Grade Submission tool, first go to the Control Panel of the course you wish to submit grades for. Scroll until you see the “Course management” panel, then select “Grade Center” and select “Full Grade Center” from the drop-down menu.
On the Full Grade Center page select the “Manage” button and select “Grade Submission to SIS” from the drop down menu.
On the “Step 2: Grade Column Selection” page, select “Grade” from the drop-down menu. A table will appear - select your “Final Letter Grade” column from the table and then select “Next”
You should now see a list of all your students with the letter grades you entered. Select the check box in front of "User ID" in the top row to select all of your students' grades for submission (You may also need to select “Show All” if you do not see your full roster).
Important: For those students receiving an F, you must select the date the student dropped OR their date of last access in your course by selecting the date in the calendar window.
Select on the “Submit” button when you are finished. Once the official grades have been submitted to the SIS, you will see a completion message at the top of your Blackboard Page and a confirmation email will be sent to you. If the message at the top of the page is a failure message then contact the Service Desk at IThelp@tamucc.edu to submit a ticket.

LinkedIn Learning is an award-winning industry leader in online training, with a digital library of over 16,000 courses covering a wide range of technical, business, software and creative topics.

Audience

Faculty, Staff & Student

Prerequisites

None

Important Notes

LinkedIn Learning can be accessed from a web browser or mobile device application.

Getting Started

Download, Install and Sign-in to LinkedIn Learning on a mobile device

LinkedIn Learning can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
Search for “LinkedIn Learning”.
Download and install the application on your mobile device.
Enter your credentials.
1. If you currently have a LinkedIn Profile, you will need to sign-in using those credentials first.
2. If you do not have a LinkedIn Profile sign-in using your TAMU-CC credentials as outlined in the steps below.

Using LinkedIn Learning

Sign-in to LinkedIn Learning

Access the LinkedIn Learning page from a web browser or mobile device.
When prompted, enter your TAMU-CC credentials.
Select Sign In.
Complete the Duo Authentication.

Additional Resources

Create and manage exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to one or more courses in Blackboard, TAMU-CC's official learning system. Create exam questions of various types using the built-in question builder or import questions from external files or test banks, publish exams to or retrieve exam results from a learning management system.

Audience

Faculty and Staff

Prerequisites

None

Import, Publish and Retrieving Test Questions

LockDown Browser® is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within Blackboard, TAMU-CC's official learning management system. The LockDown Browser used is very specific to an institution, therefore, students should only use the LockDown Browser provided by the Division of Information Technology to take exams for TAMU-CC courses. Download TAMU-CC's Respondus Lockdown Browser. Instructors would use the Respondus LockDown Browser tool in Blackboard to specify if an exam administered in Blackboard has to be taken using the LockDown Browser. Once an exam is stared using the LockDown Browser:

Assessments are displayed full-screen and cannot be minimized
Browser menu and toolbar options are removed, except for Back, Forward, Refresh and Stop
Prevents access to other applications including messaging, screen-sharing, virtual machines, and remote desktops
Printing and screen capture functions are disabled
Copying and pasting anything to or from an assessment is prevented Right-click menu options, function keys, keyboard shortcuts and task switching are disabled
An assessment cannot be exited until the student submits it for grading
Assessments that are set up for use with LockDown Browser cannot be accessed with other browsers

Audience

Faculty, Staff and Student

Prerequisites

None

For Students

For Faculty

Technical requirements:

Supported Operating Systems:
- Mac: MacOS 10.15 to 10.12, OS X 10.11, OSX 10.10;
- iOS: 11.0+ (iPad only)
- Windows 10, 8, & 7;
Memory requirement:
- Mac: 120 MB permanent space on the hard drive.
- Windows - 75 MB permanent space on the hard drive.

Respondus Monitor® builds upon the power of LockDown Browser, using a student’s webcam and video analytics to prevent cheating during non-proctored exams. Respondus Monitor integrates seamlessly with Blackboard. Students access exams within the Blackboard as they normally would. After a quick one-time installation, Respondus Monitor will auto-launch from the student's browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE) whenever the exam settings require it. Students are then guided through a pre-exam sequence, including a webcam check. Exams can be taken with Respondus Monitor without advanced scheduling and without additional registration by the student. Instructors use the Respondus LockDown Browser tool within Blackboard to require an exam use Respondus Monitor, and engage in post-exam review of proctoring results.

Audience

Faculty, Staff and Student

Prerequisites

None

For Faculty

For Students

Technical requirements (Students):

Respondus Monitor is a companion product to LockDown Browser. So the first requirement for Respondus Monitor is TAMU-CC's Respondus Lockdown Browser:

A broadband internet connection
Memory requirement:
- Windows - 75 MB permanent space on the hard drive.
- Mac: 120 MB permanent space on the hard drive.
Operating system:
- Mac: OS X 10.10 or higher
- iOS: 10.0+ (iPad only).
- Windows: 10, 8, 7
Web camera (internal or external) & microphone

Teaching & Learning

Services

Blackboard Learn

Accessing Blackboard Learn

Communicating with Students

Enter Grades in Blackboard

Submit Grades to SIS

LinkedIn Learning

Respondus 4.0 Campus wide

Respondus LockDown Browser

Respondus Monitor

Contact Us

IT Service Desk