College of DuPage uses Blackboard to help you manage your courses. You can access your assignments, tests, course discussions and course syllabus in Blackboard.
The following resources can help you get comfortable with the online learning management tool. The videos are examples; your course will appear similar to the videos, but may not look exactly the same.
College of DuPage is currently upgrading to the latest version of Blackboard. During the transition, your courses will be offered in Original or Ultra course view. To determine which view you are experiencing, access the Student Quick Start Guide.
Navigating Your Courses
Submitting assignments in Blackboard is a common practice in online courses. Blackboard assignments allow students to easily:
- Access Assignment Details: Each assignment includes detailed instructions, due dates, and any necessary attachments or resources provided by your instructor.
- Submit Work: Upload your assignments directly to Blackboard in various formats, such as Word documents, PDFs, or multimedia files.
- Track Deadlines: Use the calendar and notifications to stay on top of due dates and manage your time effectively.
- Receive Feedback: After submission, you can view your grades, read instructor feedback, and check for any comments or annotations on your work.
For more information about Assignments in Blackboard, see these Blackboard Help articles:
Original Course View
Ultra Course View
Tests and quizzes may be required to be completed through Blackboard. Whether you are using Blackboard Original or Ultra, tests and quizzes can be found in your course.
For more information on taking exams in Blackboard, see the following Blackboard Help articles:
Original Course View
- Tips for Test Taking
- Take a Test or Survey Page
- Test Presentation Options
- Retake a Test or Survey
- Test Grades and Feedback
Ultra Course View
Original Course View
In Blackboard Original course view, the Discussion Board is an important part of many online courses, since it is often the main way that you will connect with your classmates and discuss what you are learning.
This video will help you learn how the Discussion Boards in Blackboard Original view work, so you can get started posting information in your course.
You can also come back and watch this video in the future.
For more information, see the following articles on Blackboard Help:
Ultra Course View
In Blackboard Ultra course view, Discussions are an important part of many online courses, since it is often the main way that you will connect with your classmates and discuss what you are learning.
This video will help you learn how Discussions in Blackboard Ultra view work, so you can get started posting information in your course.
You can also come back and watch the video in the future.
For more information, see the following articles on Blackboard Help:
As you complete and submit assignments, exams, and other gradable work, your instructor will issue grades to you.
For more on how to view your grades, see the following Blackboard Help articles:
Blackboard is equipped with Alternative Formats, a tool to help you download course documents in file formats that adapt to your devices and learning context.
Available Alternative Formats
- eBook (EPUB): Change font, font size, and theme for more comfortable reading on tablets and e-book readers.
- Electronic Braille: BRF for electronic Braille display devices.
- Audio (MP3): Audio version for listening.
- Immersive Reader: Guided “Read Aloud” and other features aid in reading comprehension. Requires an active internet connection.
- Semantic HTML: Responsive webpage for your Internet browser.
- BeeLine Reader (HTML): Responsive webpage with a color gradient applied to text to assist with focus and for increased reading speed.
- Tagged PDF: A structured PDF that benefits screen reader users.
- OCRed PDF: Performs Optical Character Recognition on PDFs of images to create a PDF with readable text. OCRed PDF conversion is only as good as the quality of the original content.
- Translated Version: Machine translation of PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and HTML documents into multiple languages.
Alt Format Resources
- Identify the “Download Alternative Formats” Icon in Your Course
- Which Alternative Formats Are Right for Me? Scroll to the “Which Format Should I Use?” heading.
- Navigate Alternative Formats with a Screen Reader
The Blackboard app is designed for viewing course content and staying connected to your courses with push notifications. The app's current version is available for iOS and Android mobile devices and tablets. When taking tests, working on assignments, or viewing assignment feedback, Google Chrome’s mobile browser offers a higher quality experience than the Blackboard app.
Blackboard will notify you when:
- Announcements and assignments are available
- Assignments are due or past due
- Content or a course is available
- When a course message is received
- When an items, surveys and tests are available, due, past due or graded
- You have unread blogs, journals, and discussions
You can choose which notifications you receive about activity in all your Original and Ultra courses under the Notification Settings panel. You can adjust settings for:
- Activity Stream: Choose which activities appear on your Activity Stream and whether you see all or just certain kinds of notifications.
- Email: If you want to receive email notifications, you can add an email address to your Profile Page. Then, choose how often and which activities you want to receive notifications for in the Email notifications settings.
- Push notifications: Messages pop up on your mobile device if you have the Blackboard app for students installed. You can select which notifications are sent to your device.
Support for editing your notification settings. (Note: notifications are the same in Original and Ultra)