ITS has always encouraged faculty and students to use the Blackboard content collection (My Content tab) as a central repository for all course-related materials. That recommendation will continue in Blackboard 9.1.
NOTE: ITS will not be moving content collection files from Blackboard 8 to Blackboard 9.1. Users will be responsible for migrating their own files from Bb 8 into Bb 9.1. To prepare for this move, all users are strongly encouraged to take the following steps:
Follow these instructions to successfully move your content.
For those who have not used the Content Collection in Blackboard 8, opting instead to use "Attach local file," the Copy Files to Collection tool can be used to place a copy of all course files into the Content Collection in Blackboard 8 in order to expedite moving them all at once into Blackboard 9.1. Once the files are in the Blackboard 8 Content Collection, follow the instructions in the paragraph immediately above to move them to Blackboard 9.1. In Blackboard 9.1, users will find that each file added to the course using the "Attach local file" option is automatically uploaded into the course sub-folder of the Content Collection.
NOTE: Mac Users using Safari will find their downloaded zip files will automatically be unpackaged, making them unusable to upload into Blackboard 9.1 which only accepts zipped files. Select one of the following options as a workaround:
Unlike Bb 8, the content collection in Bb 9.1 is separated into two areas: My Content and Course Content. The My Content folder can be used to store personal academic files including your vitae, departmental files, conference presentations, and research materials. The Course Content folder contains a sub-folder for each of your courses. All course related files should be uploaded to and linked from the appropriate Course Content sub-folder for the course, not from the My Content folder, in order to facilitate accurate copying of existing courses for future semesters. Note that this is a major change from the best practices advocated in Blackboard 8.
As soon as you open a Blackboard 9.1 course for the first time (from the My Blackboard or My Courses tab), a folder for that course is added to the "Course Content" folder in the content collection. Any files added to your course will be contained in this area. Having separate Course Content and My Content areas allows you to easily track and manage the files used for your Bb 9.1 courses within Course Content while, at the same time, keeping them separate from other files in your personal content collection in My Content.
When adding a file to a content area in a Bb 9.1 shell, clicking the "Browse My Computer" button will allow you to add a file directly from your computer. Now in Blackboard 9.1, that file will automatically be added to the appropriate course folder in the "Course Content" folder in the content collection. In Bb 8, when you added a content collection item to a course, you were automatically prompted to select a file from the My Content area. In Bb 9.1, however, when you click on the "Browse Content Collection" button, the Content Collection window will open to the "Course Content" folder. This allows for a more controlled management of the files for that particular course and simplifies the process of copying those files into another course shell at a later date.
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Blackboard 9.1 also introduces Bb Drive, a desktop application that provides an easier, more intuitive way to access items in either the My Content or Course Content areas. With Bb Drive, users will have the same ability they have had using the Web Folder option in Blackboard 8 to map a drive on their computer to allow them to drag and drop files into either the My Content or Course Content folder. Bb Drive also has this functionality but improves on it by providing the ability to edit those files directly on the server instead of having to download files, edit them locally, and then upload the amended copies to Bb.
Versions of Bb Drive are available for both Windows and Mac operating systems. The documents below contain instructions on downloading, configuring, and using the application:
Consult the links below for additional information about Bb Drive:
