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Course Entry Point

Why?

As an instructor, you are both a content expert and a course designer. You have the ability to control the first thing that students see when they open your course. This is known as the Course Entry Point. By default, Blackboard sets Announcements as the Course Entry Point. This is the setting you will use if you want to alter the entry point for your course.

Implications for Teaching and Learning.

Consistency is an important component of a strong course design and students benefit by knowing where to look or go for information without having to click and search at random. One advantage to using Announcements as the entry point to a course is that it can serve as a virtual "Lectern" for your course. From this point, faculty can, much as they would in a traditional classroom, give general directions for proceeding through the days or weeks lessons/assignments. Likewise, an instructor can give praise or specific directions or feedback to an entire class. Announcements can also be used to clarify directions, inject observations or even lighten a particular heavy part of the course with some encouraging bit of humor. In short, by choosing Announcements, you can use the entry point of your course to provide direction, information, and increase your presence in the course.

You may choose to use another area of your course as the entry point, however, as you decide, we encourage you to consider the course-long pros and cons of using a particular area from both your and the student's vantage points.

Setting it Up.

1. Enter your course's Control Panel.
2. From the Course Options area, click on Settings.
3. Click on Course Entry Point.
4. Using the dropdown menu, select the course menu item which you wish your Blackboard course to use as an entry point.
5. Click on Submit.
6. Click on OK.
7. If the entry point you selected does not display immediately. Click on the refresh button of you web browser. This will make your browser see the new entry point. Your students may also need to do this so be sure to include instructions within your course.

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