What kind of Blackboard Requests are available?
The following can be requested by a faculty member upon approval of Associate Dean.
- Merge Courses (Previously referred as cross-listing. More about this below.)
- Grant/Revoke/Extend Access to a Course (Once processed, the extension request will extend the access date of the Blackboard to all students in the roster.)
- Adding users as an instructor to the current semester live course needs to be completed by your department’s scheduler, and cannot be processed by Innovative Learning.
- Requesting Courses, like a Development Course (DEV), Sandbox Site (SBX), Primary Course (PMR), Academic Division Course (ADR), and Faculty Staff Training Course (FAC)
What do I need to make these Blackboard requests?
- Have the email address of your Associate Dean who approved your request ready.
- Locate your CRN, course code, and section of the course if you want grant, revoke or extend access or for merges.
- Complete the LMS Blackboard Ultra Admin Request form on the Innovative Learning Support Centre website to request.
What is a merge?
When an instructor is assigned to multiple sections of the same course, it may be convenient for the instructor to merge the sections. The graphic below illustrates the idea of merging. In this example, an instructor has three sections of the same course. By requesting to merge three courses (Child course 1, Child course 2 and Child course 3), the courses will be as shown in the illustration. As a result, an empty parent course is created. The name of the parent course starts with XL, and we also call it an XL site.
Once a merge is complete, the instructor will see the XL site in Blackboard. The instructor will no longer access the individual course sections (child courses). Students will continue to see the original name of the registered course section but will have access to the content of the XL site.
Note: XL site will be created with no content. It is the instructor’s responsibility to add content to the newly-created XL site.
Pros and Cons of merging courses:
- PROS: No need to upload content in each section, and able to manage multiple sections of students in one Parent course (XL site).
- CONS: Course enrollment from all sections/child courses are merged together into one; there is no indication in Blackboard as to which students belong to which section. (You can find this information in My Humber/Banner.)
How do I request a merge?
1. Have the email address of your Associate Dean who approved your request ready.
2. Locate CRN, course code, and section of the courses you want to merge.
3. Complete the LMS Blackboard Ultra Admin Request form on the IL Support Centre website to request a merge.
What else should I know about merging courses?
- It is strongly recommended a merge request be completed before start-up.
- It is highly advised to refrain from adding new content until a merge is complete.
- You can request to add a new section to the existing XL site.
- Upon approval of Associate Dean, you may merge sections taught by different instructors as well.
Need support? Contact the Innovative Learning Support Centre. We are here to help!