Blackboard Learning System- Year End Procedure 2008

To prepare the Blackboard Learning System for the next academic year new 2008-2009 courses need to be created, the status of old 2007-2008 courses needs to be determined, and materials may need to be copied from the old 2007-2008 courses to the new 2008-2009 courses.

The information below explains what you need to do if you are an instructor on a Blackboard course. Please read the information carefully and complete the relevant forms, if possible, by Friday 25th July 2008. As we receive forms we will endeavour to process them as quickly as we can.

Please note that these instructions are for the Blackboard Learning System (i.e. Courses found under The Portal's Academic tab) and not the Blackboard Community System (i.e. Organisations found under The Portal's Faculty tab). No action is needed for the Blackboard Community System.

Please contact us if you are at all unsure about what to do and we will be be happy to advise you.

Blackboard Courses for 2008-2009

Instructors need to let us know about Blackboard Courses that are required for 2008-2009 and, where appropriate, copy content from 2007-2008 (or earlier) Blackboard Courses into 2008-2009 Blackboard Courses. If there are several Instructors on a Blackboard Course, only one of you should complete the forms and copy the content.

Blackboard Courses for Modules in the UEA Module Catalogue

A Blackboard Course will automatically be created for each module in the UEA Module Catalogue and appropriate students will be automatically enrolled on the Blackboard Course.

Staff will not, however, have automatic access to Blackboard Courses so you will need to let us know which Blackboard Courses you need to be an Instructor on by completing this form.

Content will also not be automatically copied from your 2007-2008 Blackboard Course to your 2008-2009 Blackboard Course so you will need to manually copy any content you wish to use again. Guidance on doing this is available as a worksheet and a screencast.

Blackboard Courses for Modules outside the UEA Module Catalogue

If you require a Blackboard Course for teaching which is outside of the UEA Module Catalogue, you will need to fill in the form to request a Blackboard course. You should use the same form to let us know which staff need to be an Instructor on the Blackboard Course as staff will not have automatic access to it.

Students will not be automatically enrolled on these courses so you will also need to provide student enrolment data. Student usernames should be emailed in a spreadsheet (one username per record) to us with relevant Blackboard details. We will then manually enroll your students but you will be responsible for adding and removing students thereafter.

Blackboard Courses from 2007-2008 (and earlier academic years)

Blackboard Courses from 2007-2008 and earlier academic years will automatically be disabled in October 2008 unless we are told otherwise. These Blackboard Courses will then be unavailable to staff and students

Please fill in this form if you wish to leave a 2007-2008 Blackboard Course available in 2008-2009 for those students who were enrolled on it in 2007-2008. Please also fill in the form if you wish to leave a Blackboard Course from an earlier academic year (e.g. 2006-2007) available in 2008-2009 for those students who were enrolled on it in that previous academic year.

Further Information

If you require further information or guidance about the end of year procedure please contact us and we will be happy to advise you.

We would also encourage you to regularly visit or subscribe to the Blackboard Support Blog for up-to-date information about the end of year procedure, the summer upgrade, and general information about Blackboard at UEA.