When requesting your Blackboard courses on the Class Dashboard, you will be prompted to choose a template for each course. The template you choose determines the structure and default content of your new course.
The information below will help you decide which template is best for your courses.
Please Note: If the instructor does not request their Blackboard course from the Class Dashboard more than one week prior to the start of the semester, a Blackboard course will be automatically generated with a template created by Blackboard administrators (shown below as the
Auto-Push Template). Once a template is selected and the course is created on Blackboard, there is no way to change the template.
The Basic Template is essentially a blank slate for you to build your course, but it contains the Announcements home page and one content area. If you do not plan to perform a course copy from a previous Blackboard course, the Basic Template is the best option for you. There is no pre-loaded content in the Basic Template, and the only pages on the course menu are to the Announcements page and Syllabus area. It also includes a link to the University Policies webpage.
The Seated Course template is provided by the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning. For those building a seated course for the first time, this template is the best option. This template includes a curated course menu and guided content to help you build your course.
The Blank Template is a blank slate for you to copy a previous semester course or Master Course into. If you plan to perform a course copy from a previous Blackboard course or Master Course, the Blank Template is the best option for you. There is no pre-loaded content in this template and only the required Announcements and University Policies links.
The Online Course template is provided by the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning. For those building an online course for the first time, this template is the best option. This template includes a curated course menu and guided content to help you build your online course.
When requesting a Master Course shell, you can select either the Online Course template described above or the Master Shell template. The Master Shell template contains no content, but the course menu has curated tools and links to help you get started on building your Master Course.
The Auto-Push Template is not available on the Class Dashboard, but if you see the below template in your course it means that your course was not requested at least 7 days before the start of the semester. On the Monday before classes begin each semester, the course auto-push process is completed and all unrequested Blackboard courses are created using this template. Students will see the pictured message to let them know that the instructor did not request the Blackboard course, so it may not be in use. It is strongly recommended that instructors request their Blackboard courses more than a week in advance of the semester start date so that one of the above templates can be selected instead of relying on the auto-push process.
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