Welcome, Humber Faculty
This page contains practical tips and quick links to relevant resources to help guide your course setup process in Blackboard Ultra, the Learning Management System at Humber. Here you will also find Humber’s copyright policy and accessibility guidelines which are important to adhere to while you build your course content.
Introduction to Blackboard Ultra: Winter 2024 Faculty Orientation Training Session
Watch the video below to learn the basics of Blackboard Ultra.
Click here to view the slide deck.
Thursday, Jan 11, 2024
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Create a folder on the content page called: GETTING STARTED and add or build the following items within this folder:
- Faculty are encouraged to share the link to the Course Outline from the Transfer Options website.
- Upload your Critical Path. Download a Sample Critical Path Template.
- Upload a Welcome Message. This can be an announcement, document or video, or a combination of the two.
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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:
- Discussion
- Assignments
- Test and Quizzes
- Journal
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Create a folder called LEARNING MATERIALS. This is where your course content will be built.
- 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.
Microsoft Teams is Humber's official videoconferencing tool for hosting online classes. Designed with a multitude of features to enhance your students' learning, MS Teams transforms the virtual classroom to a more exciting, enjoyable, and inclusive learning space. Here is how to get started with MS Teams:
- Download the Microsoft Teams app to your Windows or macOS device. You can also download Teams on your Apple or Android mobile device.
- Log in to Teams with your Humber ID credentials (n0000000@humber.ca and password). For support on how to install or access Teams, please contact the Humber IT Support Centre.
- Create and organize your class team to start engaging with your students.
- Schedule online class sessions from within Blackboard or your Outlook calendar, and share the links with your students in Blackboard.
Visit the MS Teams webpage for video tutorials and downloadable guides, and the Blackboard Faculty Ultra Help Site for more MS Teams resources.
Here are some practical tips and guidelines on how to leverage various features of Blackboard to create a positive experience for you and your students:
- Get to know your students: Read their Introduction/About You posts and understand their motivations and goals while taking your course.
- Communicate regularly: Post an announcement at the beginning of every week to outline your expectations for the week ahead, and/or to review key topics from the previous week. Reminders can also be included in these announcements. Remember to coach, prompt, and engage in discussion boards as well.
- Mark assignments routinely: It can be difficult to keep up with marking student submissions especially when you are teaching in a hybrid environment. Log in a couple of evenings shortly after assignments are due, manage your Gradebook regularly, and build a habit of marking promptly to avoid being swamped at the end of the course.
- Provide quality feedback on assignments: Students are eager to know how they are doing. Provide timely, constructive, and informative feedback on assignments to keep your students engaged and on track.
- Use Messages within the course: To prevent losing track of student emails, encourage them to contact you via Messages within your Blackboard course. Blackboard will conveniently email you a notification of messages received and include the course code in the subject line.
- Share resources: Encourage students to search and share valuable resources with you and their peers. If you find resources, be sure to share them with students via Announcements.
- Use Open Educational Resources (OERs) when possible: This will reduce the financial burden to students and promote sharing of resources.
- Stay informed: Blackboard releases updates on a monthly basis to improve user experience. Remember to keep an eye on Humber Communique or visit the Blackboard Hub.
There are several resources you can access for help while building your online course:
- Visit the Faculty Blackboard Ultra Help knowledge base for guidance on how to navigate and use the features of Blackboard.
- Contact the Innovative Learning Support Centre if you need any help with Blackboard (i.e. setting up a course site or resetting an exam attempt).
- Visit the teaching resources section of the Innovative Learning website to find additional pedagogical support materials.
- Contact Information Technology Services (ITS) if you are having difficulty installing software, have password issues, or any other technical issues on or off-campus: ITS contact information
Here are some help resources that you can share with students:
- Innovative Learning Support Centre: If your student needs assistance with navigating Blackboard, please advise them to contact the support centre.
- Accessible Learning Services: Contact Accessible Learning Services if you are looking for a student accommodations memorandum or for information on the accommodation process.
Humber College 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.
The following resource contains instructions and resources that have been created for Humber faculty.
To get started with Panopto in your course, you may download the Panopto template, which includes:
- A link to the Panopto LTI for your course
- A link to Panopto instructions for Faculty
- A link to Panopto instructions for Students
- A question bank that includes a template for Panopto Video Assignment Instructions
Want to share Panopto instructions for students? This curated list of resources will provide students with instructions and troubleshooting tips for using Panopto.
