Blackboard Glossary of Terms
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Adaptive Release
This feature accessed by clicking "manage" located to the right of
any course content allows for the Faculty Member to restrict the access of
course content to certain students for a limited period of time, or only after
users have met (or fail to meet) predetermined objectives.
Asynchronous
This term, meaning 'not at the same time', refers to methods of communication
such as email, voice-mail and discussion boards, that do not rely on the sender
and recipient being online at the same time.
Assessment Manager
Located in the Control Panel, the Assessment Manager allows faculty to create
or update a quiz, test, pool or survey. It is also the location for accessing
the Gradebook and requesting Course Statistics.
Assignment Manager
Faculty may create Assignments and post them for Students to complete. Faculty
may attach separate files and students may send additional files to the Faculty
Member with the completed Assignment. Faculty view and grade Assignments, once
they are submitted, from within the Gradebook.
Blackboard
Blackboard is a course management system. The package was purchased by the
university after a careful search and selection process. All teaching faculty
and staff at NIU may use the software at no charge. Blackboard courses are
accessed using a web browser, which necessitates no special software for either
faculty or students in most cases.
Browser
A browser is a software program that enables a user to access hypertext files
from any computer connected to the Internet. Commonly-used browsers include
Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. Note: Netscape Navigator is now longer
supported for Bb. Blackboard recommends using Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
or Firefox for best results in accessing course materials.
Button Bar / Course Button Bar
Each course within Blackboard is created with a series of buttons along the
left hand side. These buttons allow access to the different 'Content Areas'
within the course.
Chat / Chat Room
This is known as the Virtual Classroom in Blackboard. It can be used to hold
real-time (synchronous), online classroom discussions and question/answer forums.
Chat features a community whiteboard where students and faculty can share webpages,
and provides a forum where guest speakers and subject-matter experts can talk
with the class.
Content
Area
Faculty use the Content Areas to present information in many formats, from
basic text to multimedia. Faculty can add course materials to the Content Areas
from the Control Panel.
Control Panel
The Control Panel gives access to the various features and tools available
within Blackboard for course design and maintenance. All course administration
is done through the Control Panel. It is accessed via a button on the course
button bar, which is only visible to users with the role of Faculty Member,
Teaching Assistant, Grader, or System Administrator.
Course Builder
See
Users/User Roles
Course Navigation Menu
Each course within Blackboard is created with a series of buttons along the
left hand side. These buttons allow access to the different 'Content Areas'
within the course.
Detail View
This view of the course navigation menu displays the folder structure of all
course contents, making it possible for the user to navigate directly to a
particular location in the course.
Digital Drop Box
The Digital Drop Box is a personal file storage space for Blackboard users.
It can also be used to exchange files between student and professor. A user's
digital drop box can not be accessed by any other user. Students have a separate
drop box where they can store files on the Blackboard server. Faculty Members
cannot access student's drop boxes but students can send files from their drop
box to the Faculty Member's drop box.
Discussion Board
One of Blackboard's communication tools, Discussion Boards are asynchronous
discussion areas where faculty and students can exchange ideas on a topic,
post requests for assistance or conduct informal conversation. An overall topic
for discussion, a FORUM, is created by the professor; subtopics within the
forum are called THREADS and can be added by students.
Download
The act of transmitting a file from a computer in another location to your
own computer. The opposite of upload, where data is sent from your computer
to another location.
Guests
See
Users/User Roles
HTML
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language, the common language used for web
pages. Blackboard text editor allows you to creat web content without knowing
HTML. However, you may use HTML if you wish to enter or embed content using
within Blackboard.
Instructor
See
Users/User Roles
Learning
Unit
Blackboard Learning Units enable students to follow a structured path for progressing
through content. Faculty Members can present content items, files, and assessments
in Learning Units. Faculty Members also have the option of enforcing the sequential
path or allowing students to access any page within the Learning Unit at any
time.
Login
To establish a connection to a computer or online service before using it.
Users login to Blackboard using their Bb login and password. You must contact
the Coordinator of Distance Learning to obtain your Blackboard login and password.
Logout
To close the connection to a computer or online service after using it. To
log out of a Blackboard session, click on the Logout button at the top of the
screen. The logout process removes your login information from the Blackboard
system and is highly recommended when ending a Blackboard session.
Module
Blackboard modules are information boxes appearing in the Blackboard portal
after logging-in to Blackboard. These information boxes can be customized and
the changes retained.
Netiquette
People navigating in a virtual environment should follow proper protocols and
have good online "manners" generally known as netiquette, or etiquette
on the Net. You can review examples of online netiquette at: Albion's
Online Book on Netiquette
Plain Text
Text will appear just as it is entered. Links are not created automatically,
and HTML tags are
not recognized and rendered.
Pools / Pool Manager
A test pool allows the Faculty Member to create and search collections of related
questions. Questions can be grouped by any number of criteria, including topic,
subject matter or difficulty of question. A question pool will generate a test
of randomized questions from the database the Faculty Member creates. Pools
can be created from (1) new questions or (2) made up of questions in previously
written assessments. Faculty Members can create test pools using the Pool Manager
located in the Control Panel.
Quick View
This view of the course navigation menu is the traditional button or text view.
Review
Status
Review status makes it possible for students to note within Blackboard when
they have reviewed content items.
Rule
A rule is a set of criteria that determines the visibility of the content item
to users. If multiple rules are created, the content will be visible to the
user if any or all the rules are met, depending on how the rules are applied.
Shell
If a faculty member wishes to develop materials a semester or more before a
course is to be offered, he or she may request a "shell" or development
course in which to upload and arrange course materials. All shells are automatically
made "unavailable," meaning that they are not accessible by students.
Faculty can modify existing materials, add materials, and make any desired
changes to these development courses and those changes will be saved. Faculty
should not, however, attempt to add users to the shell. Faculty can request
a shell from the Distance Learning
Coordinator. Fill out a course shell request
form.
Smart Text
This is the default when viewing Blackboard in Internet Explorer and all-around
best choice. Smart Text will automatically convert web addresses entered with
an "http://" prefix into clickable links. Smart Text will also recognize
and render any HTML
tags.
Students
See
Users/User Roles
Synchronous
Synchronous communication allows users to login simultaneously from a variety
of locations to participate in discussion. For example, a face-to-face or telephone
conversation, a videoconference and a chat-room discussion are all forms of
synchronous communication.
Teaching Assistant
See
Users/User Roles
User Management
Located in the Control Panel, this area provides tools for the Faculty Member
to add, modify and remove users and groups.
Users / User Roles
A Blackboard user is anyone using Blackboard, whether she/he is teaching staff,
students, or administrative staff. There are six types of users:
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