Using Blackboard Announcements
Overview
By default, the Announcements area is your site's entry point, and this prominence makes the Announcements area a useful communication tool. If you want to remind students of important information or alert them to updates you have made to the Blackboard site, you can place that information here. You can add a link to a specific area, tool, folder, or piece of content in an Announcement, directing students to the current task at hand. Encouraging your students to check Announcements for the latest course-related information is a good alternative to using email for these sorts of updates.
However, announcements do not "behave" like content items. Their display order cannot be controlled and files cannot be attached to them. If you find these limitations to be a problem, we suggest removing Announcements from the Course Menu and replacing it with a new Content Area, naming this new area "Announcements" and even set it to be the site's default entry point.
Creating an Announcement
1. In the Course Tools section of the Control Panel, click Announcements. The Announcements window opens.
2. Click Add Announcement button.
3. Enter the subject of the announcement in the Subject field.
4. Enter the text of the announcement in the Message field.
5. Scroll down to Section 2, Options.
6. By default, only those announcements posted within the last seven days display in the Announcements area. After seven days have passed since an announcement was posted, students need to click on either View Last 30 Days or View All to read it. If you want an announcement to always appear in the default display, select the Yes radio button for Permanent Announcement. You can also adjust the timing of announcements by displaying after a certain date or displaying until a certain date.
- To make an announcement visible after a certain date, check the Display After box and select the desired date and time.
- To make an announcement visible until a certain date, check the Display Until box and select the desired date and time.
- Instead of specifying a date using the drop-down lists, you can also use the calendar window. Click the Calendar icon, use the arrows at the top to navigate to the appropriate month, and then simply click on a date.
7. If you would like to provide a Course Link to a particular area, folder, tool, or piece of content, click Browse to open the Course Map window. Note that you cannot link directly to a test, survey, or staff profile.
8. Click the plus next to a folder icon to display a list of that area's current contents. Click the radio button next to the item to which you want to provide a link.
9. If you would like to Email Announcement, select Email this announcement to all course users. Note the Course Links will not be included in the email
10. Click Submit.
11. Click OK to return to the Announcements window.
12. Click OK to return to the Control Panel.
Modifying or Removing an Announcement
1. In the Course Tools section of the Control Panel, click Announcements. The Announcements window opens.
2. Look to the right of the window, and you should see Modify and Remove buttons. (If you do not see these buttons, use either the right arrow button on your keyboard or the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the browser window to move farther to the right.)
- Click Modify, make changes, and click Submit to modify the announcement's title, message, visibility or course link. You may receive an alert that the Announcement's visibility has been set to a date in the past. Click OK to continue submitting the modifications that you made.
- Click Remove to remove the announcement, and when asked, confirm that you would like it removed.
Document Overview
Tags: BlackboardSubjects: Blackboard
Audience: Everyone
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