End of Semester: Instructor Tasks

At the end of each semester, instructors can complete these three tasks to bring classes to a close.

Make each course unavailable Making a class unavailable removes student access to the course. This process also removes the course listing in the student view. 1. From the Control Panel, click Customization and select Properties. 2. Underneath Set Availability, select No. 3. Click Submit.

Backup each course grade center It is recommended that instructors backup the grade center after any grading activity. At the end of the semester, complete a final backup of the grade center for record keeping purposes. 1.   From the Control Panel, click on Grade Center and select Full Grade Center. 2.   Click Work Offline on the right side and select Download. 3.   On the Download Grades page under Data, select Full Grade Center. 4.   Under Options, select the Delimiter Type as Tab. NOTE: If users or columns have been hidden and you want the information backed up, you must select Yes by Include Hidden Information. 5.   Under Save Location, select Download Location as My Computer. 6.   Click Submit.  A file containing the Grade Center data will be created. 7.   Click the Download button and choose where to save the file. NOTE: The file will be downloaded with an *.xls extension which will open in Excel.

Archive each Blackboard course Instructors can archive each course so that materials can be copied into another course and valuable course materials can be maintained. 1. From the Control Panel, click Packages and Utilities and select Move Files to Course Files. 2.    On the resulting page, select Selecting this option will add all content in this course to Course Files 3.  Click Submit.  Once you receive the process completion email, continue to the next step.From the Control Panel, click Packages and Utilities and select Export/Archive Course. 5.  Click Archive. 6.  On the Archive Course page under Select Copy Options, select Include Grade Center History. 7.  Click Submit. 8.   An email will be sent when the archive has been completed. NOTE: Refresh the screen to view the zip file.  The course archive may take up to 15 minutes to generate. 9.  Click the Archive File of the course to save to computer. NOTE:  You should receive this email within 15 minutes. .

Top Tips for Instructors Testing

Make testing successful by adjusting specific settings.

·    Do not check Force Completion on test settings.

·    Set a time limit on the test instead of using Force Completion

·    Stagger proctored test times so smaller (25 or less) groups of students are testing rather than larger groups

·    If you are creating a test with a large number of questions, consider using the Test Generator to bulk import questions into a test

·    Post Top Tips for Students in your class prior to the test along with directions for contacting the IT Help Desk.