Navigating Blackboard and Teams

Learn more about navigating Blackboard and using Microsoft Teams for your classes in the following video.

Technical Tips & Requirements

Please read through the following technical tips and requirements for more information and support:

Best Practices in your Classes

Here are some best practices to make your time in Blackboard and at Humber smooth and easy:

  • Review the Course Outline and your Critical Path: Find the most up-to-date Course Outline and share it with your students through Blackboard. Review the Critical Path periodically to ensure that you aren’t missing content and that you’re staying on track.
  • Copy your Courses: You might have the opportunity to copy from a previous course that you or a different instructor taught previously, and if you do, please follow the instructions at this copy a course resource. If you copy a course, make sure to review and test that the content all works.
  • Merge your Courses: You can request to merge multiple sections of a course in Blackboard. Merging sections into one course site, provides an efficient way to communicate the same content, assessments and announcements in one spot, making the student experience the same for every student. A request to merge sections can be made through the Innovative Learning Support Centre but requires the approval of your Associate Dean.
  • Upload your course content: Upload your lecture files and Microsoft Teams class links, or create assignments, tests, and documents in Blackboard to provide students with easy access to course materials; you can learn how to do these things through the Faculty Blackboard page. You may also want to use the AI Design Assistant to help you with this!
  • Get to know your students and keep them informed: Create a discussion post for an Introduction/About You so you can get to know your students; share something about yourself, too. Post announcements at the beginning of every week to outline your expectations for the week ahead, to review key topics from the previous week, or for important course reminders like Student Feedback Questionnaire’s (SFQs). To prevent losing track of student emails, encourage them to contact you via Messages within your Blackboard course.
  • Mark assignments and provide feedback: Manage grades through your Gradebook regularly, and build a habit of marking promptly to avoid being swamped at the end of the course. Students are eager to know how they are doing, so try to provide timely, constructive, and informative feedback on assignments to keep your students engaged and on track.
  • Get familiar with Microsoft Teams: MS Teams is Humber’s official video conferencing platform and can be used for online classes or office hours. To get started with MS Teams:
    1. Download the Microsoft Teams app to your Windows device or macOS. You can also download Teams on your Apple or Android mobile device.
    2. Log In to Teams with your Humber ID credentials (n0123456@humber.ca) and password. For support on installing/accessing Teams, please contact the Humber IT Support Centre.
    3. Learn how to create and share Teams meeting links, how to edit meeting settings and how to record Teams meetings, as well as how to share your screen during a Teams meeting before your first Teams meeting.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Share a link to the Blackboard Resources and Help Guide for Students in an announcement or as a link in your Blackboard course.

Retro-style pixel art for a game titled "Blackboard Quest" featuring a medieval castle, treasure chest, key, and shield with a fantasy theme.

You can also help your students learn how to use Humber Polytechnic’s Learning Management System, Blackboard Ultra, by encouraging them to play BB Quest! This interactive game created by Innovative Learning will teach students how to log into Blackboard, navigate the different areas within Blackboard, and how to complete tests, assignments and discussion posts. Join Kai and Zephyr as they journey through the mysterious place of Blackboard in search for the hidden treasure! Blackboard Quest is ready whenever you are!
PLAY THE GAME >>

For the best experience, students should launch the game on a desktop or laptop device with a strong internet connection. This game takes approximately 30-45 minutes to complete. We recommend playing the game in one, uninterrupted session to avoid any performance issues. In case students experience any audio issues, navigate away by clicking on a slide from the menu that you’ve already completed, then revisit the next slide to progress in the game.

  1. Create a folder on the content page called: GETTING STARTED and add or build the following items within this folder:
    1. Faculty are encouraged to share a link in the Blackboard courses to the Course Outline from the Transfer Options website.
    2. Upload your Critical Path: Download a Sample Critical Path Template to use for your class.
  2. Upload a Welcome Message. This can be an announcement, document or video, or a combination of the two.
  3. Create a folder on the content page called: ASSIGNMENTS & ASSESSMENTS. Within this folder, build all gradable content based on your critical path. This folder may include:
    1. Discussion
    2. Assignments
    3. Test and Quizzes
    4. Journal

Create a folder called LEARNING MATERIALS. This is where your course content will be built.

  1. If your course has been imported into Blackboard, review the course content to ensure that all components are functional (e.g. quizzes, links, discussions, groups, assignments, etc).
    Contact the Innovative Learning Support Centre. If you require troubleshooting or additional support when creating your course content.

Visit the I.T. Services website for more information on MFA. Need Additional Help, like with resetting your password? Contact the I.T. Support Centre 416-675-6622 x8888 or review the ITS website for more support.

LinkedIn Learning is a website dedicated to online learning by providing access to thousands of online video tutorials created by industry experts. The library of videos cover a range of topics including business, design, photography, and education to help you achieve your learning goals. Humber Polytechnic has acquired a campus-wide license to LinkedIn Learning to allow all of it’s faculty, students and staff access to this learning environment.
Login to LinkedIn Learning
Legal / Disclaimer
Please note that LinkedIn Learning services are a third party service not managed by Humber Polytechnic. When using this service you are no longer within the Humber Polytechnic system and as such are subject to the LinkedIn Learning privacy policy and user agreement. By accessing LinkedIn Learning, you consent to the collection and use of your information as set out by LinkedIn Learning. You also acknowledge that LinkedInLearning will store your information on servers located within the United States, either in California or Virginia.

Panopto

Panopto is Humber’s video platform designed for creating, managing, and sharing video content for educational purposes. It allows instructors to record lectures, create instructional videos, and share visual content with students. This tool enhances learning by providing students with access to recorded materials, facilitating a more flexible and engaging educational experience. Panopto support resources showcase the ways that the platform can help you record, edit, discover and share academic content with your students and colleagues.

Want to share Panopto instructions for students? This curated list of resources will provide students with instructions and troubleshooting tips for using Panopto.

Please find helpful links to Humber’s Accessibility services and policies below:

There are a variety of other student services available to students if they ever need support. Find them below:

Humber Polytechnic is required to comply with Canadian copyright law and institutional licensing agreements. This means that the copying and distribution of copyright-protected materials, regardless of format, is subject to certain limits and restrictions.It is the responsibility of Humber faculty to be aware of these restrictions and to use materials in accordance with institutional directives. Watch CiCAN legal counsel’s explanation of the Fair Dealing guidelines.

Please ensure that all materials added to your courses are copyright-compliant, and to provide citations for all sourced content, including images.

What Faculty Can Distribute in Blackboard:

  • Short excerpts: a short excerpt is 10% from any print source OR one book or textbook chapter OR one journal/magazine/newspaper article or page.
  • Scanning tips to create readable content: photocopy the short excerpt including the title and reverse pages (the source citation), scan the copied pages then save the document as a pdf file.
  • Library eReadings: copyright staff can create pages designed for Blackboard that include Humber Libraries’ article and eBook links organized by week or topic.
  • Content from Internet sources: faculty can share Internet content as long as the content has been posted by the copyright holder, it is not password-protected (i.e. members-only) and the source is cited.
  • Videos and music: the copyright rules for the use of videos and music can be found on the Humber Library Copyright website.
    Go to Humber Copyright for additional information or contact copyright@humber.ca with your questions.

Any documents that you upload to the course must follow accessibility guidelines.Please ensure all images have either alternative text or a long description, and that all videos used in the course are close captioned. Please visit Accessible Learning Services: Information for Faculty for more information.