Discover Best Practices

Course Websites (Bb Strategies)
A course website in Blackboard is more than a collection of web pages. It’s also a tool to help communicate with students and manage the class.

• Why Have a Course Website?
  • Post syllabus, assignments, written lectures, articles, hyperlinks, etc. online and eliminate the expense and labor of making copies.
  • Use it as an online meeting space where students take quizzes, participate in discussions, and collaborate on projects.
  • Create a course site with common materials and “clone” it for multi-section courses.
  • Manage grades, collect papers – even use it to help discourage plagiarism!
  
  
• Strategies for instructional use
  • Template and Model Toolkit
    Use models to help you organize and present course materials. Create templates and share them across programs and departments for a consistent look and feel. Mix and match components from different templates and models to create a custom look for your online course materials. In some cases (like Powerpoint), you can "apply a template" and change the look of an entire group of materials with a few mouse clicks. Or you may download a syllabus template and use it as a starting point for your course. In other cases (like Blackboard), use models as guides and examples.
    • Course Website Design Guidelines (100 Kb)
      Whether or not you use a model as a starting point, be sure to review these guidelines for structure, appearance, usability, and other concerns of the online environment.
    • Organization Models for Online Course Sites (96 Kb)
      For courses delivered via campus.fsu.edu. Provides structure and outline of typical online course materials.
    • Syllabi and Study Guides
      Learn how these items can work with online components.
      • Effective Syllabi
    • Powerpoint Slide Templates (64 Kb)
      Contains guidelines for using Powerpoint on the web, and links to two FSU-themed templates.
      
  • 12+ Simple Things to Do with a Course Site (64 Kb)
  • Using Course Websites as Instructional Tools (5 Mb)
    Using the web to teach, planning for web-based learning, introducing students to online learning and more from Chapter 10 of the handbook Instruction at FSU: A Guide to Teaching & Learning Practices.
  • Don’t forget to make your course site accessible to students with disabilities. FSU’s Web Accessibility Guidelines can show you how.
  
  
• Workshops featuring development of course websites
  Our Faculty Teaching Enhancement Workshops feature hands-on experience in the development of course websites in Blackboard, including an introduction, guidance on integration of multimedia, and advanced content options.
  Register online.


• How can my students and I get help with Blackboard?
  • Workshops are scheduled on related topics throughout the year. Visit the workshops registration page to see what’s currently being offered.
  • Browse frequently answered questions and/or submit a support ticket at the FSU Support Center Knowledgebase
  • Resource page “Using Blackboard to Teach and Learn” is just a click away from most locations inside Blackboard.
  
  
• Am I ready to teach a fully online class now?
  There’s more to online courses than a course site – just as there’s more to a face-to-face class than a room, a syllabus, and a couple of lectures. See our online development section for information about readiness criteria, administrative approvals, financial considerations, and more.

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