What can I do with Blackboard?
Blackboard has myriad features for managing your course, from sharing materials to communicating with students to hosting assignments. This page focuses on getting started with Blackboard and using some of its most frequently used features; other pages in this section walk you through other commonly used but more complex features, like Grade Center.
How do I access Blackboard?
You will need to know your Maine.edu account username and password. If you don’t have this information, contact the IT help desk at 1-800-696-4357. Once you have your account info, we recommend logging in to the USM MyCampus Portal; you’ll find a button for Blackboard in the Launchpad area on the left side of the screen. For future reference, you can find a link to the MyUSM portal at the bottom of every page of the USM website.
Using the MyCampus Portal is recommended because it will also automatically sign you in to most of the other online tools offered by the university. However, if you wish to go directly to Blackboard, you can do so by visiting bb.courses.maine.edu.
How do I start using Blackboard?
Read through this tutorial to explore the basics of managing a Blackboard course.
Most frequent (and important) tasks
Try to make your course available at least one week before the start of the semester to allow enough time for the system to add your students to your course and to accommodate anxious/ambitious students who like to check in early.
- Go to the course you want to make available.
- Click the Customization link in the “Course Management” section of the left-hand menu to display its options. (If you don’t see the Customization link, click the Control Panel link to make sure all of its menu options are visible.)
- Click the Properties link. A page with your course’s properties options will be displayed; scroll down to find the “Set Availability” section.
- Select Yes for the option next to “Make Course Available.”
- Click the Submit button at the bottom-right corner of the page. Your course is now available, and students will be automatically enrolled in it from MaineStreet within 24 hours.
- Go to the older course, i.e., the one that has material you want to copy into a new course.
- Click the Packages and Utilities link in the Course Management section of the left-hand menu to display its options. (If you don’t see the Packages and Utilities link, click the Control Panel link to make sure all of its menu options are visible.)
- Click the Course Copy link. The Copy Course page will open.
- Click the Browse button next to the “Destination Course ID” textbox to select the course you’ll be copying content into. A pop-up window that displays a list of your courses will open.
- Click the course to select it.
- Click the Submit button at the bottom-right side of the window. The pop-up window will close, and the code for the course into which you’re copying content will now appear in the “Destination Course ID” textbox.
- Select checkboxes for the specific types of content that you want to copy. We recommend that you click the Select All button, then deselect checkboxes for content that might be outdated, like announcements. IMPORTANT: Before continuing, see the note below if you’re copying discussions, assignments, and/or test and surveys.
- Select the Copy links and copies of content (include entire course home folder) option in the File Attachments section. This will ensure that you retain copies of the course’s files long term; if you only link to them, they’ll be deleted after two years.
- Click the Submit button on the bottom-right side of the page. You’ll see a confirmation message that your course copy has started.
The copy process might take several minutes; you’ll receive an email once it’s fully complete. New content that you’ve copied will be listed at the bottom of your course’s menu.



- Discussions: To remove threads and replies and include only the original forum when you copy discussions from one course to another, select the Include only the forums, with no starter posts option. Otherwise, students in your new course will see posts made by students in your old one.
- Assignments: Be sure to select both Grade Center Columns & Settings and the Content Area an assignment is in. Otherwise, it won’t copy properly.
- Tests or Surveys: Be sure to select 3 items: Grade Center Columns & Settings, Tests, Surveys, and Pools, and the Content Area the test or survey is in. Otherwise, it won’t copy properly.
Editing essentials
- Click the Edit Mode button at the top-right corner of any page in your course. Options for adding content will now appear.
- Click the Edit Mode button again when you’re done making changes. This will allow you to see a less cluttered interface and focus on other tasks like grading, participating in discussions, etc.

- Go to the course you want to preview as a student.
- Click the Student Preview icon on the top-right corner of the page. (It’s a circle with two arrows around it.) Student Preview mode will turn on, and you can view your course exactly as a student sees it.
- Click the Exit Preview button on the top-right corner of the page when you’re ready to close Student Preview mode.
“Content areas” and “content folders” are effectively the same thing in Blackboard. The main difference is that content areas appear as links in your course menu and are created in the course menu’s options, but content folders do not appear in the course menu are created within a content area. Yes, it’s silly. Blame Blackboard.
- Navigate to the content area or content folder in which you want to add your file.
- Hover over the (a) Build Content menu button so that its dropdown menu opens, then select (b) Item.
- Enter a name for the file you’re adding in the “Name” textbox, e.g., “Course Schedule.”
- Enter information about the file in the “Text” textbox. If your file doesn’t have more than a page of text, copy and paste it into this textbox. Although this might seem redundant since you’re also attaching the file itself, it allows students to simply read your file’s text directly in Blackboard without having to download the file.
- Click the Browse My Computer button in the “Attachments” section.
- Select the file on your computer.
- Click the Submit button.
By default, Blackboard shows the home page as the first page students see when they enter your course, but you can change this by setting a new Entry Point for your course.
- Go to the Customization section in your course menu. If it isn’t visible,
- Click the Control Panel link to expand its menu (if it isn’t already visible), then
- Click the Customization link to view its menu.
- Click the Teaching Style link. A page with your course’s style settings options will be displayed.
- Scroll down until you see the Select Course Entry Point section.
- Click the Entry Point dropdown menu, then select a new entry point for your course, i.e., Announcements or another page.
- Click the blue Submit button in the lower-right of the page.
Interaction & Assignments
Announcements are an ideal tool for communicating time-sensitive material to students, such as reminders about upcoming due dates or changes to your syllabus. They appear in the Announcements section of your course menu and can be optionally emailed to all of your students.
- Click Announcements in the course menu (if it isn’t already set to be the first page that opens in your course).
- Click the Create Announcement button. A page with settings for your new announcement will open.
- Type a title for your announcement in the Subject textbox.
- Type the body of your announcement in the Message textbox.
- Select whether the announcement is date restricted, i.e., it’s only viewable after and/or until a specific date. If it is, click Date Restricted, then enter dates in the textboxes that appear.
- Select the Send a copy of this announcement immediately next to the Email Announcement option if you want students to receive a copy of your announcement via email.
- Click the Browse button if you want to create a link to an area in your course.
- Click the Submit button on the bottom-right corner of the page.
- Go to a content folder in your course.
- Click the Tools button to open its dropdown menu.
- Select the Discussion Board option. The “Create Link: Discussion Board” page will open.
- Click the Create New Forum button. The “Create Forum” page will open.
- Enter a name for your forum in the “Name” text field.
- Enter instructions for your forum in the”Description” textbox. You may want to highlight and copy this text to the clipboard for use in Step 12 (Ctrl+C on Windows; Cmd+C on Mac).
- Click Grade Discussion Forum in the “Forum Settings” section if you intend to grade participation in this forum, then enter a number in the “Points Possible” textbox.
- Change any of the other default settings in the “Forum Settings” section if you’d like.
- Click the Submit button at the bottom-right side of the page. You’ll return to the “Create Link: Discussion Board” page, which will display your new discussion forum in the “Select a Discussion Board Forum” list box.
- Click the name of the new forum you created.
- Click the Next button at the bottom-right side of the page. The “Create Link: Discussion Board” page will change.
- Type a description in the text box labeled the same. You might want to now paste the same text you used for the forum’s description in Step 6.
- Click the Submit button.
Blackboard’s assignments tool allows you to create a digital folder in your course into which students can submit their work. When you create an assignment, a column is automatically added to Grade Center for it for you.
Creating a Basic Assignment
- Go to a content folder within your course.
- Click the Assessments button to open its dropdown menu.
- Select the Assignment option. The “Create Assignment” page will open.
- Enter a name for your assignment in the “Name and Color” textbox.
- Enter information for the assignment in the “Instructions” textbox.
- Enter a number in the “Points Possible” field in the “Grading” section. This is required. If you’re unsure about what number to enter, use “100.”
- Set any advanced assignment options, which are below the “Grading” section. These options are outlined in the set of instructions below.
- Click the Submit button.
Selecting Advanced Options for Assignments
- Attach any external files your students will need to complete the assignment under “Assignment Files.”
- Set a due date in the “Due Dates” section.
- Click Submission Details to set the following options:
- If you are using groups, you can make this a group assignment under “Assignment Type.”
- If you want to allow students to submit an assignment more than once, enter a number in the “Number of Attempts” textbox. (Great for allowing students to practice difficult concepts with minimal penalty for being wrong!)
- If you want to turn on plagiarism detection, select SafeAssign under “Plagiarism Tools.” (Read more about SafeAssign.)
- Click Grading Options to set the following options:
- Anonymous Grading hides the names of your students while you grade to avoid implicit bias.
- Delegated Grading can be used if you are co-teaching or have a teaching assistant to give them responsibility over grading this assignment.

Course menu setup
“Content area” is Blackboard’s term for a link in your course’s left-hand menu under which you can organize all sorts of course content, including files, text, links, etc. They are also sometimes referred to as “content folders.”
- Click the + icon on the top-left side of your Blackboard course site. A dropdown menu will open.
- Select the Content Area option. The “Add Content Area” pop-up window will open.
- Enter a name for your new content area.
- Select the “Available to Users” checkbox if you want students to be able to see the content area right away; if you’d rather set up the content area before it’s visible to students, leave this box unchecked.
- Click the Submit button.
You’re all set! A link to your new content area will show up as the last item in your course menu. If you want to reorder it, follow the directions below.
Want to see this as a video? Check out University College’s version on YouTube.
You can add a link to an external website or Google Suite file (like a Google Doc or Sheet) to your course menu, but be sure to follow steps 7 and 8 so that the link opens in a new window. Otherwise, some web browsers may prevent your link from working.
- Click the plus sign (+) at the top of your course menu on the left side of the screen. A dropdown menu will open.
- Click the Web Link option. The “Add Web Link” pop-up window will open.
- Type a name for the link as you’d like it to appear in your course menu (e.g., “Syllabus” or “USM Library”).
- Type or paste the webpage’s address in the “URL” textbox (e.g., “https://usm.maine.edu”).
- Select the Available to Users checkbox. (Otherwise, the link will not be visible to students.)
- Click Submit. The pop-up window will close, and the new link will appear as the last item in your course menu.
- Hover over your new link until a gray dropdown-arrow icon appears, then click this icon to open its menu.
- Click Set Link to Open in a New Window. The menu will close, and your link will now open in a new tab or window in your browser.
You can add links to various Blackboard tools, such as Zoom or My Grades, to your course menu . To learn how, follow these steps or watch Blackboard’s “How to Add a Tool Link to your Course” video.
Add a Tool Link to your course menu
In this tutorial, we demonstrate adding a link to the My Grades to tool so students can check their progress in your course. The process is the same for adding a different tool; you’ll simply need to add a different name in step 2 and select the corresponding tool in step 3.
- Hover over the + icon at the top-left side of your course menu until its dropdown menu opens, then click the Tool Link option.
- Enter a name for the link, such as “My Grades.”
- Click the Type dropdown menu, then select My Grades. It’s the very last option on a very long list.
- Select the Available to Users box.
- Click the Submit button. The link to My Grades will now appear as the last link in your course menu.
- Hover over the item you want to remove until a gray down dropdown arrow appears to the right of its name.
- Click the dropdown arrow, then select the Delete option on its menu. An “Are you Sure?” pop-up window will open.
- Click the Delete content link. A warning message will appear.
- Click the Delete button. The pop-up window will close, and the item will be removed from your course menu.

- Up/down arrows: Most lists have an up/down-arrow button at their top. Clicking this button opens a pop-up window with a list of your items and up-arrow and down-arrow buttons. Simply click an item to select it, then move it up or down the list by clicking the arrow buttons.
- Drag & drop: List items can often be reorganized by dragging them. Simply hover over the item you want to move until a yellow vertical bar appears to the left of its name and your pointer changes to a directional arrow. You can then drag and drop the item to a new place in the list.
Want to go beyond the basics?
Where can I learn more about Blackboard?
Blackboard provides a wealth of online information that you can consult if you want to learn more about its features. You can also meet with one of CTEL’s learning designers if you’d like more personalized assistance.
Video Tutorials
Check out the Blackboard Learn: For Instructors YouTube playlist for short videos on its features.
Text Tutorials
If you prefer reading text tutorials, visit the Blackboard Learn Help for Instructors site.