Blackboard Basic Guide

Explore the basics of Blackboard with this beginner’s guide. Blackboard offers a unified platform, acting as a centralized hub for your courses, resources, assignments, discussions, and more. Effectively, access all learning materials, engage with instructors and classmates, and stay organized throughout your educational journey. Let’s begin! 

You can access Blackboard by entering your Pacific College credentials on the login page.  

Navigation Menu  

From the moment you log in, you have access to the navigation menu located on the left side of the screen.  

Personal Profile  

Click on your name to access basic information and the system settings. From there, you can customize your profile picture, adjust privacy settings, and manage global notifications.  

Activity Stream 

Upon logging in, the activity stream is displayed as the initial view in Blackboard. It contains what’s new in all your courses and categorizes that information as important, upcoming, due today, and recently added.  

You have the option to filter the items shown based on categories, choosing between Assignments and Tests and Grades and Feedback. 

Courses  

On the Courses page, you have access to all of your courses. Each course card lists the course ID, course title, and instructor. 

It also provides you with the option to perform additional actions such as:   

1. Change the Courses page view between a list or a grid. 
2. Search for a course by typing its name or part of it.  
3. Filter the courses shown in 3 categories: Courses I am taking, Open Courses, and Completed courses.  
4. Move between past, current, and upcoming courses. 
5. Determine how many courses are shown per page.  

Calendar  

From the global calendar, you can see all your upcoming due dates and meetings (if your course requires meetings) across your courses.  

Customize your view by choosing between reviewing one day’s tasks or planning for the month. In the Due Dates view, you’ll focus only on your upcoming deadlines. 

At the top-right corner, click on the plus icon to create a new personal event or utilize the admin gear to adjust the calendar settings. 

Messages  

You can send messages to your instructors, other classmates, and group members. For every course, you can explore sent and received messages and initiate new conversations by clicking on the course name or using the new message button, respectively. 

Grades  

Your grades are organized by course name and term in alphabetical order. Click on any of the courses to navigate to its Gradebook page and view specific information.  

Course Environment 

Navigation Bar  

It allows you to open frequently used tools in one step. Choose from options like Course Content, Calendar, Announcements, Discussions, Gradebook, Messages, and Groups. For instance, clicking on the Gradebook tab grants you easy access to review your course grades and any feedback provided by the instructor. 

Course Faculty  

The course instructor (s) will be displayed in this section. You have the option to send a direct message to your instructor by clicking on the letter icon.  

Details and Actions  

You can review all course members in the Roster and see if the Progress Tracking indicator is enabled for your course. 

Course Content 

All of your course content appears in the main part of the page. When you select a folder or learning module, it will expand to display the content nested in that folder or learning module. You can access any of the resources or activities by clicking on them.  

You can also search for course content by title by using the magnifying glass icon located on the right side of the course content page. 

For further assistance, you can refer to articles available on Blackboard Ultra.