Instructional Technology - Faculty Documentation
Blackboard Vista - Course Development and Student Enrollment

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Course Development

In order for faculty to facilitate preparations for the upcoming semesters, Information Services can create a Faculty Development area for each faculty member as requested.  In this development area faculty can have as many development (DEV) course sections as needed to prepare their course content for the upcoming semesters.  Then, once the official production course sections for the upcoming semester have been created in Blackboard Vista, faculty will be able to easily copy the content from their DEV course section into their “official" course section. Blackboard production course sections will be created automatically for all courses.

Faculty Development areas are a place for faculty to work on their course content without students having access, and each semester faculty can copy the content from their DEV course into their new semester’s course and then customize it for that particular semester.

Request a Development Course

1. Contact the IS Help Desk at ext. 5511 or via email at helpdesk@pnc.edu.
2. Provide the specific course number for which you would like a development section created for you.

Copy Content from Development to Production Courses

1. Log in to Blackboard Vista.
2. Enter your production course section. The Assign Course Content screen will appear.
3. Select Copy content from another course.
4. Select Continue. The Copy content from another course screen will appear.
5. Select the course title – section title that corresponds with the DEV course that you want to apply. Note: Only ten course title – section titles will be listed on the page at once. If you do not see the course listed, follow these steps to show all course title - section titles:
   
   
   • Click on the down-arrow next to Page.
   • Scroll down to select All.
   • Click the Go button. 
     
     
6. Click the radio button next to your desired course.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Continue.

Hiding Course Sections from Student View

Instructors of sections who do not want to utilize Blackboard Vista will have the ability to completely hide their course section from their students by following these instructions: 

1. Log in to Blackboard Vista.
2. Enter the desired course section.
3. Select Manage Course located under Designer Tools.
4. Select Settings.
5. Under Administration, select Learning Context.
6. Click the drop-down arrow for the Value of Course availability for Students.
7. Change the Value to Never available.
8. Click Save Values.
   

Student Enrollment

Students will automatically have access to Blackboard Vista course sites on the first day of classes for the semester. Instructors can give their students access to their course sections prior to the first day of classes if they so desire.

Giving Students Early Access to Course Sections

1. Verify that you are on the Build tab.
2. Log in to Blackboard Vista.
3. Enter the desired course section.
4. Select Manage Course located under Designer Tools.
5. Select Settings.
6. Under Administration, select Learning Context.
7. Click the drop-down arrow for the Value of Course availability for Students.
8. Change the Value to Always available.
9. Click Save Values.