How can I prepare the course to use it again next term or year?

If you are planning to use a course again in a future term, be sure and check that any dates you have set in the course are unset or updated. This can be a sources of confusion when you later copy a course that have old dates set in it.

Specifically check these settings:

1. Check File Date Restrictions
2. Also, for any files you have uploaded that you set date restrictions on, be sure and take them off now, otherwise when you copy the course, the files will have the old dates on them, and you and or your future students will not be able to see them. You should uncheck any such date restrictions.

How to Check for File Date Restrictions

1. To do this, in the Control Panel, choose the link for the Content Area the file is in, e.g. Course Information, Course Documents, etc.
2. To the right of the file, click the Modify button:



3. Then go down to Section 3, Options to reset or uncheck the dates altogether:

If I am leaving the University, what should I do with my courses?

• You should make an archive for yourself to take with you
• Contact Randy Thornton so he can remove your courses and user id

How long should I keep my course before removing it?

You can keep your course sitting in Blackboard as is (if you intend to use it again the next term or year) either by recycling or copying it.

If you are not going use it again, you should archive and then remove it.

When should I archive my course?

You can and should archive your course during the term, whenever you make major additions to the content, or other substantial changes.

Make the final archive of your course when the students are done using it, you have entered your grades (if you use the gradebook) and you have made the course unavailable to students.

See the Archiving section for how to archive.

How and why do I make my course Unavailable?

1. Do this via Control Panel > Settings > Course Availability > No
2. Courses should be available only when actually being taught. You should keep your courses unavailable while you are preparing them before a term, and when done with them after the term.
   You should do this for several reasons:

Ease of Searching

• All available courses show up when searching in the courses tab. Students can be confused when seeing old courses listed. Only courses being taught in the current term should be marked available and be searchable by students.

My Courses Clutter

• Old but available courses still show up on the the students My Courses tab. This is a constant source of complaints by students, who should only see their current courses on the list.

Copyright Compliance

• Materials used under the fair-use clause of copyright can ONLY be available to students during the term of the course while the material is being used. Making a course unavailable to students at the end of term keeps you in compliance with copyright. Materials for which you have permissions also often have this proviso as well. (Vid. the ALA guidelines.)