Blackboard Basics Guide

Browser Selection

We recommend using Firefox or Chrome when accessing Blackboard.  Issues may occur if using Internet Explorer, Edge, or Safari.  If you experience an issue when using a particular browser, try a different browser to see if this helps.  

  For more information, see Browser Support. 

Logging In / Logging Out

Blackboard is accessed through Central Penn College's single sign-on page, my.centralpenn.edu.  

Login to my.centralpenn.edu using your Central Penn credentials then click the Blackboard tile.  

When you are finished using Blackboard, it is more secure to log out than to just close the browser.  

Click the Logout button to end your Blackboard session. 

My Blackboard

When you login to Blackboard you will find yourself on the My Blackboard tab.  You will see other tabs across the top of the page that provide access to a variety of information.  These tabs make up what is known as Blackboard Community.  Be sure to take some time to check out the various tabs / subtabs as you will find helpful information for you and your students.  Note that different tabs display depending on your role in Blackboard.  For example, students do not see the CTE / IT Resources and Faculty Resources tabs. 

At the top right corner of the page you will find the user menu.  Access the menu by clicking your name.  The user menu provides access to content, tools, and settings through menus and icons.   

Menus

Icons

Bb Home	Displays an overview of Calendar entries and Posts.
Posts	Displays recent posts, comments, and replies from discussions, blogs, journals, and wikis in all your courses and organizations.
Updates	View a list of notifications that alert you to important events and information in all your courses and organizations.
Retention Center	Check the overall academic health of your courses in the main table and drill in to see who is struggling.
My Grades	View your recent grades for each assignment, test, and activity in all of your courses. Sort the grades by date or course, access your submissions, and view upcoming work.
Calendar	Keep track of upcoming assignments, events, and other due dates.

  For more information see Blackboard Help: My Blackboard. 

My Courses

The My Blackboard page contains modules such as My Announcements, My Courses, My Organizations, and On Demand Help.  The courses you teach are found in the My Courses module.  The Repository for your school (where you go to download the official syllabus for a course) is found in the My Organizations module. 

You will find that some of the modules on the My Blackboard page have a gear icon that appears when you move your mouse over the module.  The gear provides access to settings for the module.  Personalizing the My Courses module can be helpful, especially after you have been teaching for some time and your list of courses gets very long.  

To access personalization settings for My Courses, click the gear in the upper right corner.

The Personalize: My Courses page provides you with the ability to reorder courses, determine which courses display, and what information is displayed.  

The arrows on the image below indicate the two options you have for changing the order of courses.  Click the button at the top left of the course list to display the Reorder box.  Or move your mouse to the left of a course until you see the two-headed arrow shown below.  Hold down the left mouse button when this arrow appears to drag-and-drop the course into a new location in the list.  

Use the check boxes to determine how much information you see.  Click the checkbox to the left of a course to turn on all other check boxes.  Note that in the course column the Course ID is shown first followed by the Course Name.  For example, 2018SP_LGS170_Z1 is a Course ID.  The Course Name for the same course is Criminal Procedure Z1-2018SP.  

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button to have your changes take effect.