BLACKBOARD 9 IS COMING!

Blackboard will be down from 5am on Friday, May 18th, through 6am on Wednesday, May 23rd. During this time you will not be able to access any Blackboard materials so please plan accordingly.

Click here for more details and information on preparing for the upgrade

Summer courses are NOW AVAILABLE in Blackboard, so you can begin copying information from previous courses into summer courses. When the upgrade takes place in May, content from all courses currently available in your Blackboard account will be automatically transferred to the new version.

Blackboard access will resume at 6am on Wednesday, May 23rd, so that students are able to start work on their orientations or other course requirements before the semester begins on Tuesday, May 29th. We are working closely with the learning labs, the library, the testing centers, distance learning and other departments to make sure students are aware of the Blackboard upgrade and minor visual differences.

Click here to find out what's new in Blackboard 9

Watch the BB9 movie preview and read more about the new features: What's New in Blackboard 9?
Search the Workshops Database for Blackboard workshops offered by IDS. All BB workshops are now taught in BB9.
Work through the Blackboard 9 QuickStarts.

Need help with Blackboard 8 (current version)? Click here for BB8 support resources.

Blackboard 9 :: QuickStart Documents

The following guides reflect the content covered in the series of five Blackboard workshops offered by IDS. They outline major functionality of Blackboard 9 step-by-step.

Blackboard 9 - 1: The Basics

Learn about the most commonly used features of BB9. Topics include building a course menu; managing course appearance; creating tool links; adding a syllabus; adding a discussion board and using the grade center.

Blackboard 9 - 2: Building Content

Get in-depth information about building online course content in BB9. Topics include creating course content including files, folders, and pages; editing content and adding mashups from YouTube, Flickr and SlideShare.

Blackboard 9 - 3: Assessments and Assignments

Find out how to use BB9 for assessments, practice activities and assignments. Topics include creating and deploying tests/quizzes, surveys and assignments.

Blackboard 9 - 4: The Grade Center

This QuickStart covers the details of using the Grade Center in BB9. You will learn to create grade columns, average grades, organize your Grade Center, download grades to Excel, and more.

Blackboard 9 - 5: Interactive Tools

Learn about the variety of interactive tools in BB9. Topics include using discussion boards, journals, wikis, blogs and chat tools. You will also learn how to create groups to facilitate small group discussion.

Try BB9 Now!

Practice with the new interface by logging in to the BB9 demo server at http://bb9demo.austincc.edu. You may export a current Blackboard course (Control Panel > Export > Save on Desktop) and import into the Blackboard 9 test server (Utilities > Import Package) . Contact an Instructional Design Specialist for additional help.

Blackboard 8 :: Support Resources

QuickStart Documents

Additional Resources

Online Self-paced Tutorials

A Certificate of Completion is provided with a final Quiz score of 80% or greater and can be submitted to appropriate supervisors for Professional Development hours approval.