Design Course Content in Blackboard

Blackboard Help for Instructors: Course Content >

Visit Blackboard's course content overview page for details on how to create content.

See below for a summary that can help you structure content within your Blackboard course.

In general, there are two ways to present course material within each content area, as files for students to download or as Web-based content that combines text, images, links, and other types of media for students to view online. 

• If you need to show course content for students to view directly (including links to external Web sites) you can do so using Blackboard's content authoring features.

• If the content for your course consist primarily of readings, handouts, or other documents for students to download (e.g., MS Word, PDFs, etc.), you should start by learning how to upload and manage course files in Blackboard.

For more information on how to organize your course into different areas and to learn how to build content within each area, follow the links at right.

Blackboard uses a series of Course Areas or "containers" to organize and display course content. The Course Content portion of a Blackboard course is accessible to participants through the Course Menu, located at the top of the left-hand side column of the Blackboard interface.

By-and-large, each of these "containers" is a blank slate where you can place course content as needed (e.g., downloadable files, links to course tools & activities, multimedia content, etc.). The difference between them lies in how each one displays information (e.g., as a Web page, a list of links, a set of indexed pages, etc.). Choosing the best fit for you depends on the structure of your course and your particular needs as an instructor.

• Content Areas: large sections or all activities of a certain type within your course (e.g., "Readings", "Homework", "Projects", "Topic A", "Topic B", etc.).
  
  
• Folders: smaller divisions used to organize the content within an area (e.g., within "Readings" = "Week 1", "Week 2", etc.).
  
  
• Learning Modules: used to display material for online viewing, like a page on a Web site or an article in a blog. 
  
  
• Lesson Plans: used to collect and present content in a way that shows continuity based on a course's schedule or goals.