Learn how to navigate BLACKBOARD!
Every course has its own layout. However, most of the functions are shared among a great number of courses so you will always need to navigate the same main tabs inside a BlackBoard course.
The first page you will see by default is the course's home page, which often looks like this:
The red square here is meant to indicate which tab you're on. In the course home, you will usually see summary information about the latest announcements and graded activities, as well as whatever the professor has designed as the course homepage (sometimes it is nothing at all).
The important navigation points inside of BlackBoard are:
- Syllabus
- Announcements
- Getting Started
- Discussion Board
- My Grades
You will need to access these tabs at least once, so we'll break down their functions for you briefly.
Syllabus
You will have already seen this at least once before when a project was presented to you. Still, most courses include either a breakdown of class activities on this page or a link to a downloadable file with all syllabus details. Please remember to check all the important sections.
Announcements
One of the tabs you want to check frequently. Professors communicate with all students through these means. Any changes in schedule, updates, reminders, important instructions, class-wide feedback, or anything else the professor needs everyone in the class to know will be posted here. Every time you log in, check these! You don't want to miss an important course update and have issues with the class. You can also check the date and time each announcement was posted (on the upper right).
Getting Started
A super important tab that you'll need to check when you first begin with the course. Here, you'll see all the relevant info related to the course: course overview, course objectives, course schedule, the certification you have to take when starting, and the link to start the first week. It's important for you to check these because you need to complete a pre-test (which is usually not graded) and the certification in order to start the course.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The certification you have to complete for BlackBoard courses is simply a mini-quiz with a single "question," that actually is just accepting that you're taking this course and that you agree with its rules. It's basically a "I agree with the terms" thing, and it won't take longer than 5 minutes.
Discussion Board
In this tab, you will find a list of all discussion posts where you can share your contributions. This tab is especially helpful for finding optional or dateless discussion assignments that might not be listed anywhere else.
My Grades
In this tab, you will find all the links for the assignment's submissions and their respective grading. Here you will be able to see the grades you've gotten and also the professor's feedback for each assignment once it's graded.
Bonus - Weekly Tasks
Right under the "Getting Started" tab, you'll see tabs for each week of the course. When you click on them, you'll see a breakdown of each week's assignments, discussions, quizzes, overviews, and more. These tabs are super helpful to staying organized and not missing a deadline. We recommend you upload work and check prompts from here.