This article explains how Blackboard is used at Sheffield Hallam, and contains useful information about who can access the system, how it can be used, and what support is available.

Appropriate Use

Blackboard is intended to support teaching, learning and assessment for Sheffield Hallam University staff and students. Staff may use Blackboard for:

• supporting the teaching and learning of Sheffield Hallam students
• supporting academic administration processes
• management of academic content
• supporting research activities.

Some of the tools within Blackboard are also accessible to external users. Functionality which requires users to have an account is restricted as described in the Access to Blackboard section.

Access to Blackboard

Blackboard is normally available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some periods of downtime are necessary to allow essential maintenance and system upgrades. Wherever possible these will be scheduled outside normal working hours, and publicised at least one week in advance.

All staff and enrolled students of Sheffield Hallam University have access to the Blackboard system using their normal Sheffield Hallam username and password. Staff and student accounts are created automatically as part of the process to create their IT accounts.

Most users will access Blackboard via MyHallam, the student portal for Sheffield students. MyHallam has information on services related to study, IT and libraries, university life, wellbeing and career development.

Staff who are not employed by Sheffield Hallam but who are employed by other organisations associated with the university and are directly involved in teaching students enrolled at Sheffield Hallam can be given access where necessary for their teaching activities. External examiners have accounts created for them after their complete induction which they can use to access Blackboard if you decide to enrol them on your Blackboard site. It is not possible to give access to other users, for example workplace mentors, employers. Requests for access for external users should be made via Assyst. This will give access to Blackboard only; it is not possible to give access to other resources, for example electronic information resources such as journals.

All users are expected to adhere to the IT Usage Regulations and the university’s information governance policy. For non-Hallam staff the person requesting access must ensure that the user is aware of all relevant Sheffield Hallam policies and guidelines.

Site Management

There are two types of sites available for use on Blackboard: module sites and organisation sites.

Module sites are used to support teaching and learning activities for a specific instance of a validated module. Each instance of a module should have its own Blackboard site. Module sites on Blackboard are linked to the student management system, and map directly to a specific occurrence of a single module. Where there are multiple occurrences or versions of a module on the student management system, but students are taught together, modules can be linked to allow a single Blackboard site to support multiple instances of a module. It is not possible to do this in other circumstances, for example where two modules contain similar content, but are taught at different times, or to link a single instance of a module to multiple Blackboard sites.

Organisation Sites

Organisation sites are available to support other teaching and learning related activities, for example study skills, placements, general course support and guidance. Organisations should not be used for assessment.

To request a new organisation site, go to the Institution page of Blackboard and select request a blackboard site. You have three options to choose from:

• Student Course Organisation (a site for students on a specific course or programme)
• Student Other Organisation (a site for students not associated with a specific course or programme)
• Staff Organisation (a site that is only available to staff)

Select the site type you require, give it a name, select the academic year, and end date, then click create site. The new site should appear in your list of organisation sites straight away though you may need to refresh your browser.

Enrolment on Blackboard Sites

Student enrolment onto Blackboard sites is handled by an automatic data transfer from the student management system for module sites, and by course administration teams for organisation sites. Students can only be enrolled on module sites for modules they are currently studying. In exceptional cases, access to additional modules can be allowed to facilitate research into teaching and learning. Students can only be enrolled as student or participant roles, other than research students who are supporting the teaching of a module.

See instructions on enrolling staff and students on Blackboard sites.

Content of Blackboard Sites

The content of Blackboard sites is the responsibility of the staff enrolled on the Blackboard site. Any material used in a Blackboard site which is subject to copyright must have appropriate authorisation - see the Library guide on copyright information for staff and students on using texts, images and video in Blackboard sites.

Gradebook can be used to provide feedback and provisional marks to students, but is not the official record of student grades, and should not be used as such.

Archiving of Blackboard sites

New versions of Blackboard sites are normally required for each new cohort of students. Where sites are not created automatically, staff must request them.

Module sites are available throughout a student's time on their course. Past module sites can be accessed via the module or organisation page on Blackboard by searching or filtering for the correct site. 30 days after the last student who was enrolled on the module completes that course (graduates, withdraws, etc.), the module site is removed from the live system and archived. Module sites are retained for 5 years after archive.

Organisation sites for the past year are archived from the system in mid-September each year and retained for 3 months before being deleted.

What is Blackboard Ultra? 

Blackboard Ultra is the latest version of Blackboard, with a new more accessible interface designed to speed up tasks for staff and students while providing a more modern experience with improved engagement tools. From the start of the 2024/25 academic year all module sites will be hosted on Blackboard Ultra and automatically populated with the generic SHU template. Information about Blackboard Ultra and training is being provided via schools and institutes as well as a University-wide development programme.