myUSF Blackboard News

My Backpack provides users with a way to showcase personal achievements and information to other users within myUSF. Users can easily create a personal site and an online journal. Backpacks can be private (available only to the individual) or public (accessible to anyone on the system) and allow others the ability to comment on the exhibits they are viewing. Using the built in browser editor, users can create sites that include rich media web pages and journals.

• Course and Group Journals are web based diaries or blogs in which students and/or Instructors can add content at regular intervals. Users can add links to other websites, upload documents and images as well as comment on the journal entries of others. Two types of Journals can be created and made available within a course:
  • A “Course/Organization Journal” — a collaborative blog tool that is associated with a course or organization and is accessed through the Course Tools list in Blackboard.
  • Multiple “Group Journals” — may appear in the course documents (or other content area) section of your course. Group Journals are created and used as part of regular course work.
• Teams Sites provide Instructors with a tool for creating group projects and assignments as well as an editable knowledge base (a digital collection of knowledge and information) to support the course materials. It can be used for a variety of purposes within an online course. Teams Sites can be configured by the Instructor and any Teams-based assignments can be evaluated and included in the course Gradebook. Two types of Team Sites can be created and made available within a course:
  • A “Course/Organization Team Site” — a collaborative website that is associated with a course or organization and is accessed through the Course Tools list in Blackboard.
  • Multiple “Group Team Sites” — special Course/Organization documents or assignments that the instructor has set up in a course. These Teams Sites appear along side other course documents.