Announcements

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Contents

1. Overview

2. What are Announcements

3. Creating an Announcement

4. Adjusting Announcement Panel Settings

1. Overview

To create an announcement:

• Either:
  • Click on the Announcements link in the navigation menu
  • Or, in the control panel choose Module Tools > Announcements
• Turn on edit mode.
• Click on the Create Announcement button
• Fill in the values as required, and click on the Submit button.

Announcements are messages that lecturers can create for their students. They are linked to a specific module or programme, and are displayed in several highly visible places in Blackboard. You can also choose to have the messages emailed to students' Unimail accounts.

Announcements can be used to keep students up-to-date on such things as lecture room changes, assignment deadlines, newly added Blackboard content or recently published research.

The first location where staff and students will see the Announcements is in a panel on the Home page - the first page that you are taken to after logging in to Blackboard - as shown in the image below.

fig. 1 Home page with Announcements area highlighted

If your module includes an Updates page, then a panel very similar to this will also appear there by default.

These panels just offer a summary of the Announcements that have been created. The full messages can be read on the Announcements page, which can be reached either by clicking on one of the announcement links, or by clicking on the Announcements menu option within a module/programme.

fig. 2 Announcements page within a module

3 . Creating an Announcement

To create an Announcement you must have Edit Mode turned on, turning Edit Mode off will allow you to view the module as the students see it.

• Edit Mode can be toggled on or off using the button highlighted below:

fig. 3 Edit mode switch

The first step in creating an Announcement is to go to the Announcements page. You can do this by clicking on either the link in the navigation menu or the one in the control panel* (see image below):

fig. 4 Module area with the Announcements buttons highlighted

*Click on the Module Tools heading in the control panel to view this link

Click on the Create Announcement button

fig. 5 Announcements page with the Create Announcement button highlighted

In the new page that loads you have three sections to complete.

fig. 6 The Create Announcement Page

Section 1

The text for your announcement. The Subject will be used as the link text on the Home page, while the Subject will only be seen once students choose to actually read the announcement.

Section 2

Here you can set when and for how long the announcement will be available. The Permanent option means that the announcement is never deleted, and will always be visible on the Announcements page. However, it will still be removed from the Home page after a certain number of days - 7 unless changed.

The Date Restricted option allows you to set the dates for when the announcement appears and disappears. These dates are only used if you tick the boxes as well as setting a date.

Students can choose whether or not they want to receive an email when a new announcement is created. The Override User Notification Settings option allows you to send them an email even if they have chosen not to receive them. This should only be used if the information is vital and urgent.

Section 3

The Module Link option allows you to provide a link to any item of content or tool in your module. You can only include one link in this way.

Announcement panels, such as the one found on the Home page, or in the Updates area of modules, are typically set to only show announcements from the past 7 days. This can be adjusted but it will only affect your view, and not that of anyone else.

• In the announcement panel, click on the cog icon []

fig. 7 The My Announcements area

• You will be taken to a new page where you can choose how long announcements are shown for from a drop-down list. The four options are: Today, Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days, and All.

• Pick an option and click on the Submit button.