Office of Instructional Technology

Features of myCourses

This page is dedicated to showing you about the features in myCourses, the Blackboard Learning System Campus Edition program. The following is a List of features and their functions.

For demos of myCourses in action visit the Blackboard official site.

Features, tools, and utilities in myCourses

New Features	What it does
ActionLink Menus	Drop down menu of options available to tools and utilities. Only presents options a tool can use.
Announcements	Announcements appear in members' myCourses or on the Announcements screen as text and/or as pop-up messages which appear when members log in to the course.
Assessments Quizzes Self Tests Surveys A new option is to enter designer notes about the question that only the designer and instructor can see.	Types of questions Calculated Combination Fill-in-the-blank Jumbled sentence Matching Multiple choice Paragraph Short answer with one correct answer Short answer with several correct answers Short answer with several correct answers (bonus marks for the correct order) Short answer with several answers in order True/false
Assessment Manager	Grid with tabs for Graded, Not Graded, Not submitted, All. Allows quick access to desired tab for one or all assessments at once.
Assignments	Choose text-based or web-based assignments Choose individual or group assignments Choose gradable or not-graded assignments Control take-back and edit permission
Assignment Dropbox	After students submit assignments, they can be viewed and managed. assignments that are submitted assignments that are not submitted assignments that are graded or marked complete assignments that are published all assignments, regardless of their status
Calendar	Allows creation and viewing of dated reminders about events. Entries can be viewed for a day, week, or month. Calendar can link to individual assessments, assignments, web links, and discussions.
Chat/Whiteboard	Allows communication in real time with all users or selected users. The combined whiteboard allows interactive object drawing, entering text, importing images, and creating slide shows.
Content Links	Assessments, Assignments, Web Links, Discussion topics, Chat rooms, etc. can be linked to content. "View Links to this Item"shows a map of links.
Discussion Categories Discussion Topics	Users can post and reply to text or HTML messages. Can create discussion Categories to group similar or related discussion topics together. Topics can be assigned grades and add a column to grade book. Postings may be edited.
Files	Can create text or HTML files or select files from the File Manager.
File Manager	Create and store files used in a course. Upload, locate and view files Create, manage, and view file folders Create and use DAV folders Access or share files across courses
Folder	Heirarchical container for course content.
Goals	Allows recording goals for a course and create categories to organize them. Associate files and course content with one or more goals.
Grade Book	Course management tool View, enter, and manage grade for students Enroll, grant or deny access for all members Freeze column feature Audit trail Instructor's comments box Directly access student Performance Records
Grading Forms	Create rubrics specifying criteria and levels of performance for consistent grading and structured feedback. Link to graded tools.
Group Manager	Create groups where students are individually chosen or randomly assigned Create sign-up sheets Send mail messages to all members of one or more groups Create Discussion and Chat/Whiteboard rooms for groups
Home Page (Course Content homepage)	Initial screen users see when logging on to a course section.
Learning Module	Organize and deliver course content. Offers content links to assessments, assignments, chat, discussions, media library, SCORM, and web links.
Local Content	Allows users to reference media files that would be inefficient to download from the server. Creates links to multimedia files without slowing down online activities.
Mail	Allows asynchronous exchange of messages between users within a course section, in text or HTML format and with file attachments.
Manage Course	Central management area for course design tools. Course Menu Colors Course Content Icons Settings Import (learning modules, assessments, SCORM modules, learning objects) Backup Reset Date Rollover
New item notice	Gives notice of new items in any tool
Notes	Create general or learning module notes to use as reminders relevant to content.
PeopleLinks	PeopleLinks allow users to perform some specific tasks, such as creating and sending a Mail message, directly from tools where user names and group names appear.
Performance Report	Pop-up window accessible from PeopleLinks throughout course, showing individual student performance data.
Role-specific tabs and tools: Designer Tools Instructor Tools My Tools Each role remains distinct and maintains an identity, even multiple designers or instructors. The student tab that the designer or instructor sees offers a true student view, the Demo Student even being allowed to take quizzes and submit any assignment without affecting course statistics.	Designer tools (Section Designers), BUILD tab: Manage Course File Manager Selective Release Instructor tools (Instructors, TAs) TEACH tab: Manage Course Assessment Manager Assignment Dropbox Grade Book Group Manager Tracking Notes Selective Release My Tools (Students, Auditors) STUDENT VIEW tab: My Grades File Manager My Progress Notes
Roster	View profiles for course members.
SCORM	Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM)-compliant packages created outside of myCourses and imported into course section (usually files or quizzes).
Search	Conducts a search for data within a course according to criteria chosen.
Selective Release	Grid/tree that shows how one content tool is linked to another for all items in course and from which selective release based on date, members, groups, or grade book can be set.
Sign Up Sheet	Creates empty groups that students sign up for, accessed from the Course Content tool.
Syllabus	Makes syllabus available to students to provide them with course information. Can compose in tool or link a file.
Tracking	Runs reports on various student activities during a specified date range. Summary of overall user activity Tool usage Entry and Exit Page or Tool File Usage Student Tracking activity of individual students
Web Link	Link to internet address.
Who's Online	Use the tool from myWebCT to chat in real time with users who are enrolled in any of your courses and logged in to WebCT at the same time you are logged in.

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