Modify Bb Course Menu
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Modifying the Blackboard Course Menu
Instructors have a great deal of control over the menus within their Blackboard courses.
Buttons can be added, deleted, renamed and reordered as needed.
To modify the menu in your Blackboard
course you must access the Control
Panel. In the Control Panel click on
Manage Course Menu – located in
Course Options (lower left hand corner
of the Control Panel.)
Renaming Course Menu Items
The name of the course menu buttons is completely customizable. (It is recommended
that less than 18 characters are used in the name.) To change the text click on
“Modify” to the right of the menu item.
In the Set Area Properties window there are two ways to rename menu items. You
can choose one of the suggested area names from the drop down menu or you can
type your own area name in the text box just below the drop down menu. Click on
Submit to save your changes.
IMPORTANT: The menu items which appear in the Course Tools area of the Control
Panel can be renamed in the course menu but those changes will not appear in the
Control Panel. To clarify – if you rename “Staff Information” to “Faculty”, the menu item
will now display “Faculty.” However, the area in the Control Panel which allows you to
edit the instructor profile will still display “Staff Information”.
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Reordering Course Menu Items
Reordering menu items is a simple matter of choosing a new number from
the drop down menu to the left of menu item.
When you move an item from a low number to a high number, the moved
item is placed below the item currently in the position you chose. (If I
move number 4 to number 8, the current number 4 will be placed after the
current number 8 in the menu. Those items which were numbered 5, 6, 7,
and 8 will be renumbered to 4, 5, 6, and 7.)
If you move an item from a high number to a low number the item currently occupying
that place is moved down one place on the menu.
Deleting Course Menu Items
You can remove items on your course menu which you are no longer using simply by
clicking on the “Remove” button to the right of the menu item. Please do not delete the
“Announcements” area.
You will receive a warning message anytime you remove something in Blackboard.
Disabling Course Menu Items
You can temporarily remove items from your course menu by making them unavailable
to students. Unavailable items do not appear in the course menu but are available to
Modify Bb Course Menu
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instructors, teaching assistants, and course
builders through the Control Panel. This
allows instructors to have areas inside of the
Blackboard course to store documents or to
share information with others when team
teaching. Click on Modify next to the item
you wish to disable. Remove the checkmark from “Available for Student/Participant
users” and then click on Submit.
The Groups area shown above, and many Tools
areas, are only available to enrolled
Student/Participant users. Content areas can be
made available or unavailable to individuals other
than enrolled students. You can make content
available for Guests (prospective students),
Observers (visitors who shadow a student), and
Students.
Adding Course Menu Items
New menu items can be added to your course menu if you need an area which cannot
be created through renaming another button. Click on the appropriate area from the
Add New Area Menu. Give the new area (menu item) a name, make any setting
choices necessary and then click on Submit.
Content Area
The instructor has complete control over content areas. You can add anything you like
to these areas: documents, spreadsheets, graphics, web links, tests, etc.
Tool Link
Tool links are buttons which take you directly to a particular Blackboard tool. This is
frequently used to add a button on the course menu which takes students directly to Email or the Gradebook.
Course Link
Think of a course link as a shortcut button. Adding a course link to your menu creates a
button which takes the students directly to a particular area in your course. For
example: You can create a course link which takes the students directly to this week’s
assignment or directly to the folder containing your quizzes.
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External Link
An external link takes your students to an area outside of your course. The most
common use for this is linking to a website. However, you can also link to another
Blackboard course provided that everyone in the first course is also enrolled in the
second course. For example: The students enrolled in the BIO160 classes also have
access to a BIO160 Resource Center. A link can be place in the BIO160 classes which
takes the students directly to the Resource Center.