Blackboard@Upstate End-of-Course Cleanup Instructions

If you have an existing Blackboard course that you plan to reuse, these instructions will help you get ready. Blackboard@Upstate recommends that you perform the following tasks at the end of your course.

1. EXPORT YOUR GRADEBOOK
2. ARCHIVE YOUR COURSE
3. RECYCLE YOUR COURSE

STEP 1: EXPORT YOUR GRADEBOOK
(if you are not using the gradebook – skip this step)

Instructors using the Gradebook can export and save a copy of it for use in Excel or in another spreadsheet program. Keeping a copy of your Gradebook is a good idea for backup and archival purposes because once students are removed or “un-enrolled” from a Blackboard course, their grades are also removed from the Gradebook.

To export a copy of your existing Gradebook, follow the steps described below:

• Enter the course that contains the Gradebook you wish to export.
• Click on the CONTROL PANEL button.
• From the Control Panel screen, under the ASSESSMENTS category, click on ONLINE GRADEBOOK.
• To export the spreadsheet to an Excel spreadsheet, click on DOWNLOAD GRADES. Read and follow all instructions listed on this page. Click on OK. The file is named “gb_export.csv” by default.
• To open the Gradebook in Excel, locate the file and double-click on the “gb_export.csv ” file or within Excel, choose File, Open (gb_export.csv)

STEP 2: ARCHIVE YOUR COURSE

Archive Course creates a permanent record of a course including all the content and user interactions. Unlike the Export Course feature, Archive Course is not useful when trying to create a package of content to be used at a later time or with another course. Archived courses are saved as .zip files with the following file naming structure: ArchiveFile_Course_ID.ZIP. These .zip files are stored and Instructors can access them for use in the future. Archiving a course does not remove it from the system.

Archiving your course is the same as making a backup of your course and storing the backup file(s) on your own local hard drive, floppy disk, Zip disk, or CD. It is always a good idea to keep a backup of important data and information. Archived course files can be restored by the Blackboard Administrator.

To archive your course, follow the steps described below:

• Enter the course you want to archive
• To open the Archive Course page, open the Course Control Panel
• Click Archive Course in Course Options.
• Select Submit to export the course contents and save it for future use.
• On the following page, select Click here to download the exported course site to
  save it to the computer you are working on.
• Select Click here to view the detailed log file to view the status and log from the Course Archive operation.
  

IF YOU RECEIVE ANY ERRORS WHILE ARCHIVING, CONTACT THE BLACKBOARD ADMINISTRATOR (touheym@.upstate.edu) REGARDING THESE ERRORS BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH RECYCLE YOUR COURSE.

STEP 3: RECYCLE YOUR COURSE

The Recycle Course page is a useful tool for Instructors to use at the end of a course. It allows Instructors to select information to be deleted from a course and keeps the rest of the course areas for use in the future. Recycling your Blackboard course enables you to reuse your course by selectively removing areas of the course, (such as students who were previously enrolled in the course and their grades), while preserving other areas of your course, such as the course content and question pools.

Before recycling any portion of your course, be sure to archive your entire course (see Step 1). Although Blackboard@Upstate performs backups of the entire Blackboard system, this backup is only used in the event of a total system failure. It cannot be used to restore an individual course once it has been recycled.

To recycle your course, follow the steps described below:

• Enter the course you want to recycle.
• Click on the CONTROL PANEL button.
• From the Control Panel screen under the COURSE OPTIONS category, click on RECYCLE COURSE.
• From the Recycle Course screen, select only the areas you wish to clear or remove by clicking in the box next to the area. At a minimum, you should recycle “Users.” If you do not recycle the “Users”, you will have students enrolled in your course and listed in your Gradebook who have already completed the course..

Select…If you wish to remove…

• Users: All users, except the instructor, currently enrolled in the course. If you plan to reuse your course, this is one of the most important items to recycle. Caution: Recycling the “Users” also removes the users’ grades from the Gradebook
• Course Information: All information, such as the course syllabus, entered into the “Course Information”
• Staff Information: All information about the staff entered into the “Staff Information” area.
• External links: All external links created in the “External Links” area
• Announcements: All announcements entered for the course.
• Groups: Groups formed along with any information contained in the Groups’ forums and digital drop boxes.
• Discussion Board: Forums and posting made to the course’s Discussion Board.
• Assessment: Assessments (quizzes and surveys), question pools, and grades associated with the assessments.
• Gradebook: Gradebook items entered, such as, student names and grades. Removing the Gradebook does not affect assessments or pools.
• Statistics: Statistical information collected by Blackboard, such as, how many students accessed the course.

• In Part 3-Submit, type the word “Remove” with a capital “R” in the text box and click the Submit button.