TWU Blogs

Course Design

Why?

Accepting the defaults provided by Blackboard may not give you a course design that you like or want. It is one option but it is not the only option. Blackboard offers some design and graphical customization options that you can use to make the course appear as you want (within limits).

Implications for Teaching and Learning.

Knowing that you can control the look and feel of certain elements in your course is the first step to creating a customized course. We focus primarily on the items found on the left side of the screen with Course Design options. This is important screen space in your course and you want to intentionally control the look and feel of this section. The way your menu and tools appear to the students is very important. If it is difficult to read the titles or if extra tools that are never used are included, usability suffers. We encourage contrast between the color of the background and the color of the text. Remember, too much or too little contrast will cause issues. Patterns tend to make the text difficult to read as well. Just because you like a background is not a sufficient reason to use the background. Always analyze your menu for readability.

Navigating to the Options.

Control Panel/ Course Options/ Course Design

Course Menu Design Options.

This feature allows you to choose buttons or text display options for your menu. First, you need to realize that buttons have fewer font choices and that there is a character limit on the amount of text you can use on the button. On the plus side, you do have different buttons shapes at your disposal. If you have some lengthy titles on the menu, consider using the text option. This feature is also where you choose colors for the menu and the text on the menu. In general, dark text on a lighter background provides greater readability.

Menu Display Options.

This feature allows you to select the default view of the Course Menu. Your options - Detail View, Quick View, and Allow use of both views. The detail view allows students to expand and collapse the content under each menu item by using the plus (+) and minus (-) symbols. Maybe you don't like having the little symbols next to your menu items, then consider the Quick View. This will give you only the menu items. You can select either option mentioned above and also enable the Allow use of both views option.