Working from your syllabus during the course creation process will help ensure that your course is fully set up and organized effectively.

Course Organization

Blackboard Ultra courses have a single course content page where all course materials are organized using modules, folders, and multimedia documents that users click to expand. Please visit Ultra Course - Navigation for more details. 

Modules and Folders are the two main ways instructors can group course material.  It's helpful to determine your course structure and create the folders or modules you need for the content before you begin creating/copying course materials.  Our course structure gallery has examples of approaches you can take. If you are using modules, you can take advantage of the AI module generator to help create them quickly.

Expand
title Click here to see comparison of features and how to add folders/modules to your course.
Section Column Modules and Folders Comparison Modules Folder Exists only as a "Top Level" item Exist as a "Top Level" item or can exist within another folder or module. Ability to force the sequence of items within the module. (Not required. Modules can exist without forced sequence, as well.) N/A Ability to add a banner image. N/A Progress tracking ability: Students are alerted to which items are still in need of viewing/completing; Instructors can view students' progress with course items. Progress tracking ability: Students are alerted to which items are still in need of viewing/completing; Instructors can view students' progress with course items. Advanced module navigation will be available (coming soon.) N/A Column Steps: Make a decision about your top-level organization. See the table for a comparison of modules and folders. Click on the plus sign   Click module or folder from the slide out menu Title the module or folder and adjust additional settings if necessary.

Create Content

Once your course organization is in place, click to expand the folder/module and display the plus sign within to create content inside it. The  allows you to create new content, like a Document or Assignment, or copy content from a prior course into the module or folder.

For more ideas and information about course content, visit our  creating content and /wiki/spaces/blackboard01/pages/154384915 pages.

Gradebook Setup

While gradebook setup can be performed at any point in your course, setting up your gradebook at the outset minimizes additional work when calculating final grades at a semester's end.

The following settings can be adjusted by clicking the gear icon within the Gradebook section of your course:

Use progress tracking to monitor student progress in your course. For more information please visit, Progress Tracking.  For additional information about the gradebook including additional settings , please visit Ultra Gradebook and  Ultra Gradebook Settings.  For information about how to apply accommodations for students, exceptions, and exceptions, please visit our answers page  Accommodations, Exceptions, and Exemptions .   

Course Communication 

Blackboard Ultra has multiple ways to communicate with your students including announcements and messages . Due dates post automatically to the course calendar and you can add additional events, like office hours.

Item visibility  

Opening Your Course

Once your course is configured, it is ready for students to view.

To open your course from inside it:

• Navigate to the Content tab and locate the  “Details and Actions” menu.

• Locate "Course is private to students."

• Click "Students can't access this course." 

• Select "Open course to students."

You can also open your course from the tile on the Courses page:

• Go to the Courses page on the main Blackboard navigation and locate the course you want to open.

• Select the ellipse icon on your course.

• Select "Open course."