Are you making the most of Blackboard for your synchronous and asynchronous classes? Check out these features from Blackboard you can use to keep up with your hybrid classes.
Customize Your Homepage Course List
Your Blackboard homepage is the most convenient way to access your classes. It has a complete list of all your past and current courses. However, instead of scouring this list for a specific course, you can personalize your homepage to only display your active courses. Here’s how:
- Login to Blackboard
- Go to the personalization page: Click the small gear icon on the right of the “My Courses” heading on the homepage
- Unselect past courses so just your current courses show up on your homepage
Access Content On the Go
When you’re on the go, use the Blackboard mobile app to stay on top of your classes. Use it to access your course content, like syllabi or assignments, and check upcoming due dates for assignments. Most important, you can see your grades! The app will even send you a notification when grades are posted, as well as for other course announcements. The app is available for both Apple and Android devices.
Record, Rewind, Replay
Do your professors record your Blackboard Collaborate meetings? You can access recordings on the same page where you meet for Blackboard Collaborate. Here’s how:
- On your course’s Blackboard Collaborate page, select the three horizontal bars in the top left of the “Sessions” heading and then select “Recordings” from the menu to see the 30 most recent recordings.
- To see earlier recordings during a certain time range, adjust the filter in the top right corner.
Pro tip: You can download a Chrome extension like Video Speed Controller to speed up or slow down Blackboard Collaborate recordings! I like to slow down recordings when taking notes and increase the speed when reviewing. This extension also works on a variety of video content, such as .mp4 files uploaded to Blackboard or on other webpages.
Panopto Video Annotating
Some professors post asynchronous video content on Blackboard through Panopto, a video capture and hosting platform with advanced viewing features. When you click on a Panopto-hosted video in Blackboard, you are directed to Panopto, where you can turn on automatically generated close captioning, easily advance or rewind with 10-second skips, or adjust the viewing speed. You can also add notes or bookmarks while watching.
Good luck!
