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Getting Started with Blackboard

The Blackboard Course Management System

Blackboard is SMU’s online course management system (CMS) that makes it easy to upload files, post assignments, etc. Its campus home page is http://courses.smu.edu/.

To set up your course quickly:

1. Request a Blackboard Course to be set up for your class

  1. Fill out the online form at: http://courses.smu.edu/request_cms_course.html
  2. The CMS Operations Team will email you when the course is ready.

2. Add students to your course. You can do this yourself from the course Control panel, or ask the Blackboard Operations Team to add all currently enrolled students as follows:

  1. Log into access.smu.edu with your SMU ID number and password.
  2. Go to your class roster and at the bottom of the list of students, press the Import Class Roster link. (This should be more correctly labeled Email a class roster to my SMU account)
  3. Forward the class roster to cms@smu.edu, and request that a Blackboard  account be set up for you. Include the class name and number, your name, your SMU id number, your email and phone.
  4. In a half-day or so, your account will be set up and all students added to it. A message will be sent to your official SMU email address (usually name@mail.smu.edu) announcing the availability. If this is a student's first such course, his/her login ID and password will both be set to their SMU ID number.

3. Add content. You can then browse to the Blackboard site cms.systems.smu.edu, log in with your SMU ID number and password, and select your class. The Control Panel lets you

    • post announcements,
    • upload files to the Digital Dropbox,
    • create discussion boards and class calendars,
    • post assignments,
    • distribute grades privately,
    • set up areas for group projects
    • email some or all of the students
    • view the Blackboard users manual
    • accept time-stamped assignments uploaded by students (who cannot see each other’s uploads)

You may like using this to have more personal control over the posted info, unlike public web sites. This facility is maintained by SMU’s Digital Commons.

Dick Barr

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