1. LEARN
MicroTraining
Post an Announcement
Create an Item with an Attachment
Post a URL
Create a Discussion Forum
Send an Email
Create a Column in the Grade Center
COAS

2. Say Good-Bye to Vista and Classic!
Say Hello to LEARN!
 The entire University community will be switching to
a single learning management system (LMS).
 Courses beginning June 25, 2012 will use LEARN.
After that, ALL courses will have access to LEARN.
 This includes on-campus classes, hybrid classes, and
online classes.

3. LEARN MicroTraining
 This brief training session will cover six very basic
functions: create an announcement, create an item with
an attachment, post a URL, create a discussion forum,
send email, and create a column in the grade book.
 This training will demonstrate the most simple steps in
performing these functions. This training also utilizes a
template that will be available to all COAS faculty.
 This micro-training session will not provide a
comprehensive review of each of the functions. For more
information about the tools, features, and functions of
LEARN, please check out the additional training options
on the last slide.

4. To access LEARN, go to
https://learn.dcollege.net and log in

5. In the “My Courses” section, click on the
course you want to work on.

6. The opening page of your course will
appear.

7. „Instructor Side‟ vs. „Student Side‟ of the Course
 In both Vista and Classic, there is an „instructor side‟
of the course from which the instructor can control
the content and a „student side‟ of the course. This is
also the case in LEARN, but the way to access the
„instructor side‟ of the course is a little different.

8. Course Management: The Control Panel
 Classic users are accustomed to a
Control Panel from which the
course features can be managed.
Vista users will need to learn about
the Control Panel and the options
that are available for course
management.
 To access the Control Panel, scroll
down. There will be a section
called Control Panel with fixed
features.
 Each feature has pull-down arrows.
There are several hidden options
within each control panel feature
that can be accessed by using these
pull-down arrows.
 All faculty will need to explore these
hidden features and become
acclimated to accessing them as
needed.

9. To work on items from the „Instructor side‟
of the course…
 There is an „Edit Mode‟
button in the right
corner just under the
blue header. To access
the „Instructor side‟ of
the course, click the edit
mode button to ON.
 When the Edit Mode
button is on OFF, you
will see the „Student
side‟ of the course and
you can view what your
students see.

10. To Post an Announcement
 On the Announcements
page, click on Create
Announcement.
 The page will change
and there will be four
steps to posting an
announcement….

11. Posting an Announcement
Step 1: Announcement Information
 Type the subject of the
announcement in the
Subject box.
 Then, type in the
content of the
announcement in the
text box.

12. Posting an Announcement
Step 2: Web Announcement Options
 Do you want the
announcement to display
forever? Then, click Not
Date Restricted.
 If you want the duration of
the announcement to be
limited, then set the Date
Restrictions.
 Click on the box next to
„Display After‟ and click on
the box next to „Display
Until.‟ Then, set the date
and time for making the
announcement available.

13. Posting an Announcement
Step 3: Course Link
 Do you want the
announcement to link to
a particular part of the
course? Then, click on
the Browse button. If
not, then skip this and
go to Step 4.

14. Posting an Announcement
Step 4: Submit
 Scroll down and click
Submit.
 If the announcement
posted correctly, a
green bar will appear
that says “Success:
Announcement created”
and the announcement
will appear on the page.

15. Let‟s see what that announcement looks like
from the Student side of the course…
 Go back to the Edit
Mode button in the top
right and click it to the
OFF position. You will
then see what the
student sees.

16. Want to modify or remove the
announcement?
 Click the Edit Mode button to
ON.
 Use the pull-down right next to
the announcement.
 If you select Edit, it will take you
back to the page used to create
the announcement and you can
make modifications.
 If you select Delete, you will get
a pop-up box that tells you that
the action is final and cannot be
undone. It will ask you „Delete
this item?‟ Click OK. The green
bar with “Success:
Announcement Deleted will
appear.

17. CREATE AN ITEM WITH AN ATTACHMENT
 Start with the Edit Mode
ON.
 In this sample template,
click on Unit 1.
 Click on the Build
Content button.
 Under Create, click Item.
The page will change and
there be four steps....

18. Create an Item with an Attachment
Step 1: Content Information
 Type the name of the
item in the Name box.
 Type information and/or
instructions about the
item in the text box.

19. Create an Item with an Attachment
Step 2: Attachments
 Scroll down to Step 2-
Attachments.
 For this example, let‟s
attach a syllabus from my
computer. So, click on
Browse My Computer.
The items on my
computer desktop will
appear. Click on the item
to be uploaded from the
computer desktop.
 The name of the
attachment will appear.

20. Creating an Item with an Attachment
Step 3: Options
 Set the dates for
student access by using
the buttons in the
Options section.

21. Creating an Item with an Attachment
Step 4: Submit
 Scroll down to step 4
and click Submit.
 A green bar with a
“Success” message will
appear.
 The item with the
attachment will
appear…AT THE
BOTTOM OF THE LIST
OF ITEMS!

22. Want to change the order of appearance of
the items?
 Use the up/down Drag-
and-Drop arrows next to
the item you want to
move.
 Click on the up/down
arrows and left-click on
your computer.
 Drag the item to its new
position.
 When it is in the position
you want, click it in its new
position.

23. Want to modify or delete the item or the
attachment?
 Click on the pull-down
arrows next to the item.
 If you want to delete the
entire item, click Delete.
 If you want to modify the
item or the attachment,
click Edit.
 This will take you to the
four-step page you used to
create the item with the
attachment. You may
modify any part of the item
or attachment there.

24. Post a URL
 Start with the Edit Mode
ON.
 In this sample template,
click on Unit 1.
 Click on the Build
Content button.
 Under Create, click URL.
The page will change and
there be five steps....

25. Post a URL
Step 1: URL Information
 Type in the name of the
item in the Name box.
 Type in the URL.

26. Posting a URL
Step 2: Description
 Type in any information
in the text box.

27. Post a URL
Step 3: Attachments,
Step 4: Options, Step 5: Submit
 Step 3 – add any
attachments by using the
Browse buttons
 Step 4 – Set the open and
close dates using the
buttons in the Date and
Time Restrictions area
 Step 5 – Click Submit
 The item will go to the
BOTTOM OF THE LIST.
Use the drag and drop
feature to move the item
into any other position.

28. Want to change a posted URL?
 To edit or delete the
URL item, click on the
pull-down arrows next
to the item.
 To delete the item, click
delete.
 To edit the item, click
Edit. This will take you
back to the page used to
create the item. You can
make any changes there.

29. CREATING A DISCUSSION FORUM
 Using this template as
an example, click on the
Discussion Board
navigation button.

30. CREATING A DISCUSSION FORUM
 Click on the Create
Forum button near the
top of the page.
 The page will change
and there will be four
steps….

31. Creating a Discussion Forum
Step 1: Forum Information
 Type the name of the
Discussion Forum in the
Name box.
 Type information about
the forum in the text
box.

32. Creating a Discussion Forum
Step 2: Forum Availability
 Scroll down to Step 2 –
Forum Availability.
 Using the calendar and
time pull-downs, set the
Display After and
Display Until dates and
times.
 If you want the
discussion forum to stay
open indefinitely, don‟t
set any date or time
restrictions.

33. Creating a Discussion Forum
Step 3: Forum Settings
 Scroll down to step 3 – Forum
Settings.
 Some items will be pre-clicked.
Until you know if you want to
make modifications to these,
leave them as is.
 Extra option to consider: If you
want to give students scores for
the discussion forum, you can
click on the Grade Discussion
Forum box near the bottom.
You can enter the number of
points for that discussion forum.
Clicking this will automatically
create a column in the Grade
Center for this discussion
forum.

34. Creating a Discussion Forum
Step 4: Submit
 Scroll down to step 4 –
Submit.
 Click Submit.
 The page will change to the
full Discussion Board page.
 The new discussion forum
will be AT THE BOTTOM
OF THE LIST.
 To change the order of
appearance of the
discussion forum, use the
drag-and-drop to put the
discussion forum in a
different place in the list of
items.

35. Creating a Discussion Forum
To Modify or Delete a Discussion Forum
 To modify or delete a
discussion forum, click
the pull-down arrows
next to the forum.
 To modify the forum, click
Edit. This will take you
back to the page you
used to create the forum
 To delete the forum, click
delete.

36. Starting a conversation within a discussion
forum….
 To start a conversation
within a discussion
forum:
 Click on the discussion
forum. This will take you
inside the forum.
 Click Create Thread. This
will take you to a new
page with three steps…

37. Starting a conversation within a discussion
forum
Step 1 - Message
 Type the subject for the
conversation in the
Subject box.
 Write a comment in the
text box.

38. Starting a conversation in the Discussion
Forum
Step 2 – Attachments
 Step 2 – Adding an
attachment:
 If you want to add an
attachment, use the
Browse My Computer or
Browse Content
Collection buttons

39. Starting a conversation in the Discussion
Forum
Step 3 - Submit
 Click Submit.
 The page will change
and you will see the
name of your new thread
posted.
 To see the content of
the thread, click on the
name of the thread.
This will change the
page…

40. Starting a conversation using the
Discussion Forum
 You will see the actual
message that was posted
along with the option of
responding to the
message by using the
Reply button.
 When done viewing, click
OK in the lower right corner.
Clicking OK will take you
back to the list of threads in
that particular discussion
forum.
 Conversations are
conducted by people
replying to each other‟s
posts.

41. To Send an Email
 Scroll down to the
Control Panel.
 There is a feature called
Course Tools.
 On the left side of Course
Tools is a pull-down
arrow. Click the pull-
down arrow for your
options to appear.
 Click Send Email.

42. To Send an Email
 The page will give you
many options for sending
email. You should decide
if you want to send the
email to the whole class,
individuals, or groups
within the class.
 For this demonstration,
let‟s say we want to send
an email to one person.
 Scroll down and click on
Single/Select Users.
 The page will change and
there will be two steps…

43. To send an email
Step 1 – Email Information, Step 2 - Submit
 From the „Available to Select‟
box, click on the person to
whom you want to send the
email.
 Click on the arrow pointing to
the right to move that name to
the „Selected‟ box on the right.
 Move down to the actual email
content area.
 Type in the email subject in the
Subject box.
 Type in your message.
 If you want, you can add an
attachment.
When done, click Submit in the
lower right corner. The email will
be sent to the recipient‟s Drexel
email account.

44. Creating a Column in the Grade Center
 Scroll down to the Control
Panel.
 The Grade Center will be in the
list of course features.
 There are arrows to the left of
the Grade Center that point
down.
 If you click on these arrows, you
have a choice of options of what
you want to grade.
 To add a column in the Grade
Center, click on Full Grade
Center.
 There are arrows to the right of
the Grade Center.
 If you click on these arrows, you
will be taken to the Full Grade
Center

45. Creating a Column in the Grade Center
 Click on the Create
Column button.
 This will take you to a
page with four steps…

46. To Create a Column in the Grade Center
Step 1 – Column Information
 Type in the Column
Name
 If you want, type in a
Description.
 Primary Display – use
the pull-down to choose
whether the grades for
that item should be
recorded as a score,
letter, percentage,
complete/incomplete.
 Type in the Points
Possible.

47. Create a Column in the Grade Center
Step 2–Dates,Step 3–Options,Step 4-Submit
 Step 2 – Dates
 You can choose whether to
enter due dates.
 If you don‟t want to enter due
dates, leave this blank.
 Step 3 – Options
 You can choose whether to
let students see this column
or not.
 You can choose whether you
want LEARN to use the
column for doing course
grade calculations
 Step 4 – Submit
 A column will appear in the
Grade Center.

48. Want to learn more about LEARN?
 Online Learning Team
 Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm
 215-895-1224
 olt@drexel.edu
 Blackboard On Demand Learning Center
 http://ondemand.blackboard.com/
 Check http://www.drexel.edu/irt/help/workshops/ for
information about upcoming LEARN training
sessions.

49. Blackboard‟s On Demand Learning Site
 http://ondemand.blackboard.com
 Resources broken into 4 categories:
 Understanding & Building Your Course
 Communicating & Collaborating
 Assessing Learners
 For Students
 New items added regularly

50. Blackboard‟s On Demand Learning Site

51. On Demand Resources From Today
 Post an Announcement
 Create an Item with an Attachment
 Post a URL
 Create a Discussion Forum
 Send an Email
 Create a Column in the Grade Center