What is Blackboard?
Welcome to Blackboard, Wichita State University's Learning Management System (LMS). An LMS is an online learning environment that supports face-to-face, hybrid, flipped, and online instruction. Unlike an unprotected website environment, an LMS like Blackboard provides a FERPA compliant space for student learning. If you are teaching a course with component(s) that you would like to have be available through the Internet, please set up that material in Blackboard.
In order to be successful in Blackboard, here are the basic things you need to know:
- To log in to Wichita State's Blackboard area, go to blackboard.wichita.edu. You can also log in from the Bb tab found on most Wichita.edu webpages. Please do not log in to Blackboard through the MyWSU interface as this will cause you login problems in Blackboard. Use your WSUID and password as your Blackboard credentials. If you have problems logging in, please submit a case through the OneStop.
- Blackboard has two types of spaces, "courses" and "organizations." Courses are automatically
generated from Banner records about one month before each term begins. Students are
put in and taken out automatically depending on their enrollment status. Organizations
look very much like courses but they are set up by WSU staff to support university
organizations as needed.
- If you need to set up a course before one is automatically generated, you may request a blank course area by emailing OIR. We call these blank course areas ".dev shells." The information you load into your .dev shell can be "rolled into" your live course once it is available.
- If you need an organization set up for a university student group, please contact Instructional Design and Access at OIR@Wichita.edu.
- If you would like training in any aspect of Blackboard, visit the OIR Blackboard Learn homepage which includes very short, targeted faculty training videos. Additionally, OIR has a Blackboard Training page dedicated to The OIR team also created student training videos, and you are encouraged to direct students to them. You can find student training videos here.
- Prefer print based tutorials? IDA has created a Blackboard Guide for Instructors, which is a handy guide to many of the things you will want to do in a Blackboard class.
- If you have never used Blackboard before, you should watch this thirteen-minute video, "Introduction to Blackboard" to learn the basics of our Blackboard classroom environment:
- Where to Take Problems: If all of this is new to you, you are likely to face challenges. Here is where
you should take questions and problems:
- Computer Problems: If you cannot get your Wichita State supported computer to do what you need to do, please contact the Wichita State Technology Help Desk.
- Blackboard Questions: If you have questions about how to do something in Blackboard or Panopto, please email the Office of Instructional Resources at OIR@wichita.edu.
- Blackboard Problems: If Blackboard is acting up for you and you need technical help, or if you need technical help with Panopto, please submit a OneStop case.