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BB Tips:  Learning Units to Organize Course Content

Documents and assignments in Blackboard can be organized and presented in a number of ways.  One method I've used is to create Learning Units for my students.  A learning unit is a shell into which I add the assignment, handouts, PowerPoint presentations, surveys, assessments, and other type of content.  Content within a Learning Unit is added and managed just like content in a folder.   Learning Units can be modified like any other item within a Content Area.

Learning Units enable Instructors to set a structured path for progressing through content within a course. This allows Students to view content in an intuitive, self-paced style. All types of content, such as items, Assignment, and Assessments may be included in a Learning Unit. The Instructor may allow Students to access content in a Learning Unit nonlinearly (through a Table of Contents) or force them to view it sequentially. For example, a Learning Unit on Shakespeare might be created, including files, Assignments and an Assessment. The Instructor may require Students to proceed through the Learning Unit in a specific order or they may allow Students to view the contents in any order.

Add a Learning Unit

Follow the steps below to add a Learning Unit to a course Content area.

  1. Select a Content Area, such as Course Documents, on the Control Panel.
  2. Select Learning Unit in the drop-down list on the Action Bar and click Go.
  3. Complete the Add Learning Unit page and click Submit.

Create a Learning Unit slide show

After a Learning Unit is added to a Content Area, a slide show within it may be created. The slide show will allow users to view the content of the Learning Unit, sequentially.

  1. Open the Content Area that contains the Learning Unit.
  2. Click the name of the Learning Unit to open it.
  3. Select Add File in the Action Bar. The Add File page is used to add files to a Learning Unit and create a slideshow. This includes Course Links, links to local files and links to files in the Blackboard Content System to the Learning Unit. This option may be used multiple times to add multiple files to a Learning Unit.
  4. Use the numbers to the left of each item to order the content. If the Learning Unit is viewed sequentially, this is the order in which the content appears.

Sequential and non-sequential Learning Units

Learning Units may be viewed sequentially or non-sequentially. If sequential viewing is enforced, Students will view the Learning Unit in the order items within it are listed. Students will not be able to advance to a page within the unit without having viewed the previous page. If sequential viewing is not enforced, items in the Learning Unit may be viewed in any order from the Contents page.

To create a learning unit, go to the Control Panel, then to the course area where the unit will be. Add the learning unit just as you add an item or a folder.

 

Getting Started with Blackboard

Blackboard is not just for online or hybrid classes.  It's a tool that can be used in traditional classes, as well as those taught traditionally in the computer classrooms.  Let's get started in Blackboard!

  1. To create your Blackboard account, email Bb@gcmail.maricopa.edu and request a Blackboard account and a Blackboard shell course for you to practice. 
  2. Once you can access Blackboard, email Karen Schwalm or Marla DeSoto for access to the English Sandbox in Blackboard, a practice area for instructors.

 

Page maintained by Marla DeSoto
Last edited: 4/3/2008
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