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Quick Start

Blackboard is a learning management system (LMS) that helps you deliver course content, communicate with students, manage assessments, and track progress. As an instructor, you’ll set up your course, create materials, manage grading, and engage your students.

Setting up your course

Before your course begins, complete the initial setup to ensure a smooth experience for your students. We recommend starting with a clear course structure and syllabus.

  • Course Banner: Upload a custom banner to personalize your course and give students a visual cue that they’re in the right place. A well-designed banner can also set the tone for your course and reinforce your branding or theme.

  • Course Settings: Review and adjust settings such as course availability, language preferences, grading schema, and content visibility. These foundational settings impact how students experience your course and should be finalized before the course is made available.

  • Calendar: The calendar helps students stay organized and reduces the number of questions about due dates. Most dates, such as due dates, automatically populate in the calendar when you create course content or an assessment. You'll only need to manually add custom events that are not connected to course content or assessments. You can also sync the calendar with external tools like Outlook or Google Calendar.

  • Course Roles: The system administrators for your institution create most course roles. However, you can add a teaching assistant or grader, or other collaborator if you have one for your course.

Creating course content and assessments

We recommend building your course content and assessments before the term starts, though you can add or modify materials anytime. Planning ahead helps ensure alignment with learning objectives and reduces last-minute stress.

You can create course content and assessments several ways:

  • Import items from other sources, including from Blackboard Original or another LMS.

  • Copy items from a previous course using the Course Copy tool.

  • Create new content.

When you've finished setting up your course and creating course content and assessments, review your course before making it available to students. You can use the Student Preview mode to test your course from a student's perspective.

Grade settings and grading assessments

You can configure grade settings at any point in the semester in your Gradebook. Some grade settings are available in the Assessment Settings or Test Settings panels, which are available when creating or editing an assessment or test.

You can begin grading once students submit their work. To keep students informed and engaged, grade their assessments regularly and provide timely feedback.

Interacting with students

Regular interaction fosters engagement and supports student success. Blackboard offers several tools to stay connected:

  • Announcements: Share updates, reminders, and weekly overviews. Schedule them in advance to maintain a consistent communication rhythm.

  • Messages: Communicate privately within the course. Encourage students to use this channel for course-related questions.

  • Discussions: Facilitate class-wide conversations. Use forums to encourage peer interaction and critical thinking.

  • Collaborate or Teams: Host live sessions, virtual office hours, or group meetings.