Blackboard 9 @ USC

Help

Seven Ways to Get Blackboard Help at USC

If you are a USC student, faculty, or staff member and need assistance with Blackboard,

  1. Call (213) 740-5555 and choose option 3.
    ITS Customer Support Center Blackboard consultants are available by telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  2. Send an email to blackboard@usc.edu.
    ITS Customer Support Center Blackboard consultants will respond to your email within 2 business days.
  3. Browse or search USC’s extensive Blackboard knowledge base at tinyurl.com/uscbbsupport.
    Developed by ITS and Blackboard, Inc., the searchable Blackboard knowledge base contains hundreds of illustrated how-to articles and guides.
  4. Watch USC’s Blackboard how-to movies at www.usc.edu/blackboardhelp#movies.
    ITS has dozens of short, online movies that show you how to use Blackboard.
  5. Read USC’s Blackboard how-to guides at www.usc.edu/blackboardhelp#guides.
    ITS has more than 100 illustrated handouts that show you how to use Blackboard.
  6. Faculty and TAs: Enroll in a Blackboard workshop at cst.usc.edu/events.
    ITS offers live instructor-led and online self-paced Blackboard workshops throughout the year.
  7. Faculty: Request a customized Blackboard training workshop for your department by sending an email to blackboard@usc.edu.
    ITS’ Blackboard-certified trainers are available to provide customized face-to-face Blackboard training workshops for groups of 5 or more.

Additional Support

Distance Education Network [DEN]

  • If you are a DEN student, you can access the DEN Blackboard system at den.usc.edu.
  • If you have any questions or problems with the DEN Blackboard system, please contact DEN at webclass@usc.edu or 213-821-1321.

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Instructor How-To Movies

Scroll down for Student How-To Movies

USC Blackboard Instructor How-To Movies

Tip: lynda.com has over six hours of additional Blackboard 9 training movies. Login to http://www.usc.edu/its/lynda and then search for "Blackboard 9 Essential Training for Instructors".

A Blackboard course website is automatically created for every course at USC. Spring courses are automatically created on November 15, Summer courses are created on March 15, and fall courses are created on April 15. This streamlines the course creation process and supports the Provost's Emergency Preparedness initiative. By default, new Blackboard courses are visible only to the instructor. Please read Making a Course Available to Students (HTML).

Adding Content to a Course

Managing Courses, Students, and TAs

Collecting Papers and Assignments from Students

  • Creating Assignments: Collecting Student Papers and Files Online (Movie, 03:32)
  • Downloading Assignments: Copying Student Assignment Files from Blackboard to Your Computer (Movie, 03:19)
  • Grading Assignments: Posting Student Assignment Grades on the Grade Center and Returning Assignment Files to the Students (Movie, 03:30)

Posting Student Grades to Blackboard

Monitoring Student Activity

 

  

Communicating with Students

Enhancing Student Communication and Collaboration

Managing Group Work

  • Creating a Group: Creating Single Groups So That Students Can Collaborate on Projects and other Course Activities (Movie, 03:09)
  • Creating Group Sets: Creating Multiple Groups at the Same Time (Movie, 02:58)

Customizing the Course's Look and Feel

Naming and Compressing Files

Printing

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Student How-To Movies

USC Blackboard Student How-To Movies

Tip: lynda.com has over an hour of additional Blackboard 9 training movies. Login to http://www.usc.edu/its/lynda and then search for "Blackboard 9 Essential Training for Students".

Course Navigation

Submitting Papers, Files, and Assignments

Communicating with Instructors and Students

Resolving Common Problems

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Instructor How-To Guides

Scroll down for Student How-To Guides

USC Blackboard Instructor How-To Guides

A Blackboard course website is automatically created for every course at USC. Spring courses are automatically created on November 15, Summer courses are created on March 15, and fall courses are created on April 15. This streamlines the course creation process and supports the Provost's Emergency Preparedness initiative. By default, new Blackboard courses are visible only to the instructor. Please read Making a Course Available to Students (HTML).

Getting Started Guides

 

  

Adding Content to a Course

Copying Course Content

Managing Content

Managing Students and TAs

Communicating with Students

Discouraging Plagiarism

Posting Student Grades to Blackboard

Assessing Students

No purely online assessment system can prevent all forms of cheating. Unless you are giving the test as a proctored computer lab test, you should consider Blackboard assessments tantamount to a take-home exam. If you are not comfortable with take-home exams, you should not be using Blackboard for assessments.

Miscellaneous

  

Customizing a Course

Enhancing Communication with the Discussion Board

Enhancing Communication with Chat Sessions

Creating and Working with Groups

Instructional Design

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Student How-To Guides

USC Blackboard Student How-To Guides [requires USC Login]

Using Blackboard 9

Accessing Courses

Miscellaneous

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Instructor Workshops

USC Blackboard Instructor Workshops and Training

Movies

USC has created dozens of just-in-time, how-to videos that show you how to perform most of the tasks instructors and students want to do in Blackboard. To view the instructor movies, scroll up this page or visit http://goo.gl/8vuJZ. To view the student movies, scroll up this page or visit http://goo.gl/E9Re5.

lynda.com also offers several hours of additional Blackboard 9 training movies for both instructors and students. Login to http://www.usc.edu/its/lynda and then search for "Blackboard 9 Essential Training".

Workshops

The Center for Scholarly Technology offers both face-to-face and online Blackboard training workshops on a variety of topics. For more information, or to enroll in a workshop, please visit http://cst.usc.edu/events/

Archived Recordings of Online Workshops for USC Instructors

For one-on-one or departmental consultation, to schedule a live training workshop for 10 or more people, or for assistance with setting up a Blackboard 9 course, please contact blackboard@usc.edu

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About Blackboard 9 @ USC

Blackboard is USC's e-learning platform. Instructors use Blackboard to post and distribute course content such as syllabuses and handouts; to communicate with students via announcements and email messages; to assess student learning through quizzes and online assignments; and much more.

During the winter of 2011, Information Technology Services upgraded Blackboard from version 9.1 HF1 to version 9.1 SP7 HF1. This upgrade offers several improvements to the Blackboard interface including improved Blackboard performance, streamlined access to the Grade Center, and a simplified process for adding course content.

Visit the Blackboard login page at blackboard.usc.edu to view a collection of how-to videos and written instructions related to new Blackboard 9 features as well as information about upcoming training workshops. If you are a USC instructor or student and have questions or concerns, please contact blackboard@usc.edu.

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How-To Movies How-To Guides Instructor Workshops Help