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<\/a><\/p>\nBb 9.1 April 2014<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Moving ahead\u00a0with<\/strong><\/span> the\u00a0Bb Rx\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>series of Bb Tips <\/em>for\u00a0faculty whose\u00a0Blackboard<\/em> courses may be\u00a0in need of a tune-up, this week’s\u00a0Tip\u00a0<\/em>focuses on\u00a0a problem that will invariably crop up in\u00a0Bb\u00a0<\/em>courses that have been running for a number of years. Simply put, the\u00a0Course Information\u00a0<\/strong>area of the course becomes outdated and, among other things, contains\u00a0broken links to web-based College resources, and provides information about\u00a0System Requirements, etc., that is no longer current.<\/p>\n Fortunately,<\/strong><\/span> there is a relatively quick fix for this ubiquitous problem, one which\u00a0you can readily put in place by following a handful of short steps!<\/p>\n Step 1:<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0Download the export file that the following link points to: ExportFile_Course_Information<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. This\u00a0Bb\u00a0<\/em>export file contains only a\u00a0Course Information\u00a0<\/strong>content area, which is identical to the content area contained in the template course shells that new online faculty work with when they go through the online instructor training course. Hint<\/span><\/strong>:<\/strong><\/span> for easy retrieval, save the export file to your computer desktop.<\/p>\n Step 2:<\/span> <\/strong>Navigate to\u00a0the course that you plan on importing this export file into, and look at the name of the course-information area in your course. Is it also called\u00a0Course Information<\/strong>? If so, you will have to rename it before you do the import, since\u00a0Bb\u00a0<\/em>will not allow you to have more than one content area with the same name (Rename a Content Area<\/strong><\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n Step 3:<\/strong> <\/span>\u00a0Import the export file into your course (Course Import<\/strong><\/em><\/a>). \u00a0On the\u00a0Import Course\u00a0<\/strong>checklist, select only\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span>Content Areas<\/strong>. \u00a0When the import is complete, a new content-area link called Course Information\u00a0<\/strong>will appear at the bottom of\u00a0your course menu.<\/p>\n Step 4:<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>Navigate to the new\u00a0Course Information\u00a0<\/strong>area. \u00a0You will see in the folders and sub-folders there a great deal of “place-holder” content (for example: \u00a0Course Outline, Course Schedule, Grading and Attendance policy, etc.) that is designed to be replaced with content that is specific to your course. \u00a0Go ahead and delete this “place-holder” content (Delete Content Item<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\/\u00a0Delete Content Folder<\/strong><\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n Step 5:<\/span> \u00a0<\/strong>Navigate\u00a0to your old “Course Information” area, and move all of your course-specific content (i.e., content folders and content items) into the new\u00a0Course Information\u00a0<\/strong>content area. \u00a0Here’s how you do that:<\/p>\n Step 6:<\/span> \u00a0<\/strong>Confirm that you have moved all of the content folders and content items that you need to move into your\u00a0new\u00a0Course Information\u00a0<\/strong>area, and–once you’ve done so–delete the old “Course Information” area. \u00a0If you want to play it safe, do not delete the latter, but simply make it invisible to students (Show\/Hide a Content Area<\/strong><\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n Step 7:<\/span> \u00a0<\/strong>Breath a sigh of relief! \u00a0The great news is that the links in your new\u00a0Course Information\u00a0<\/strong>area are actually links back to links contained in a permanent\u00a0Blackboard\u00a0<\/em>course repository. \u00a0Since these course-repository links will be updated as needed, you will\u00a0never\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span>need to update or replace the links in your\u00a0Course Information\u00a0<\/strong>area, which will always remain completely up-to-date!<\/p>\n Are you hesitant about following the above steps on your own?<\/span> \u00a0<\/strong>If so, do not hesitate to drop by our Office (BTC 1033-1043 \/ M-F, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.), so that someone here can work with you on updating the “Course Information” area of your course and making it “Bullet-proof”!<\/p>\n Use the following link<\/strong><\/span> to download a printable version of this Bb tip of the week:\u00a0Download the Tip<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Use the following link<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0to view previous\u00a0Bb\u00a0<\/em>tips of the week:\u00a0BBTOTW-Archive<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n