Basic build strategy for new “blank” course sites
A new HuskyCT site has some standard links in the left hand navigation menu. Announcements, Discussion Board and My Grades are all links to “Tools”. The "Course Content" area uses the Content Area type of page, which is the most versatile "all-purpose" type of page to build with in Blackboard. This is the only area immediately available in a new site where you can add files your students can access. The gray square indicates that page is currently empty.
All types of files can be added – Word, PowerPoint, and PDF. The most user friendly for your students, however, will be PDF files set to open in a new window. Content Areas are also used to add online Assignments and Tests. Many more Content Areas as well as other Tool links can be added to the navigation menu. It is also possible to link directly to a web site from the menu.
Checklist for preparing HuskyCT sites with restored content
- Remove any files, web links, tests, assignments, or forums that you do not plan to use
- Remove the old syllabus file and add the new one
- Hide links to content and activities that you do not want the students to see as soon as they get access to the site.
- Add new availability dates and due dates to Assignments, Tests, and Graded Discussion Forums
- Check web links to see if they are still active. Delete or edit as needed.
- Check the Grade Center for columns you will no longer be using and delete them.
- Go to “Manage”, then “Column Organization” to view columns currently hidden from you in the Grade Center. Unhide columns that are no longer relevant and then delete them.
- Disable the “Total” External Grade Column
- Be sure Grade Center columns are “Hidden to Users” if you do not want students to see them in “My Grades”
- Use “Edit Mode OFF” to determine what content and links are visible to the students. The true student view is not functional until the site becomes active for the real students.
Basic build strategy migrated course sites
Some instructors request to have the content of old HuskyCT sites copied into new HuskyCT sites for the upcoming semester. If the content copied over is coming from the older version of HuskyCT (Vista), there will be many links in the left-hand navigation area.
Often these links are to tools that were never used in the old system and should be deleted. Some of the links have the names of tools in the old system, such as Assignments or Assessments, but in the new system, these links are for Content Areas that have the assignments or assessments posted on them.
Watch this video for an overview of basic building options and strategies in HuskyCT:
Customizing Course Settings
Under the Control Panel inside a HuskyCT course site, there is a "Customization” link. In this menu are “Properties” and “Teaching Style“. 
The availability dates for the course site can be changed under Properties. Since the default start date for student access to HuskyCT sites is the first day of classes, some instructors choose to open up the site earlier by changing the start date under Properties.
The Teaching Style option is most often used to adjust the entry page for the HuskyCT site. In new “blank” course sites, the entry page is the Announcements page. In sites migrated from the old HuskyCT system, the entry page is often the old “Course Content” page. A nice feature of our new system is the ability to choose which link in the left-hand navigation menu will be the first thing that students see when they access the site.
About the Grade Center
Each HuskyCT site that is created has a Grade Center. Only those enrolled on the site in the role of “Student” will be listed in the Grade Center.
The Grade Center is accessed from the Control Panel under “Course Management”. Click on “Grade Center” and then “Full Grade Center”.
Default columns
The columns created by default include Last Name, First Name, Username (NetID), Student ID (PeopleSoft ID), Last Access, Availability, Weighted Total and Total. Instructors often choose to hide the Student ID and the Availability columns.
If it is not going to be used, the Weighted Total column can be deleted. The Total column, however, is an “External Grade” column as indicated by the green check mark. This cannot be deleted but it can be “disabled”. This is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as this column is set up to start adding all values in the Grade Center and display that to the students. This has resulted in many problems for instructors. Please see the help file at the right for disabling the default Total column.
Creating additional columns for manual data entry
Instructors can create additional columns in the Grade Center and use these to record grades from in class exams or quizzes, for papers handed in, homework grades, participation grades, etc.
Creating columns which perform calculations
Calculated columns can be created which compute the sum or average of the scores in group of columns, apply weightings to grades and add them together, or to identify a maximum or minimum value. It is also possible to drop 1 or more of the lowest grades from a set before the calculation is made. This is accomplished by selecting a “Category” of columns when choosing columns to include in the calculation.
Columns created automatically by graded activities in HuskyCT
When an instructor creates an online Test, Assignment, or SafeAssignment in HuskyCT, a column is created automatically for the grades generated by those activities. The same is true for graded Discussion Forums, Blogs, Journals, and Wikis. Therefore, columns should not be created manually for inputting the grades for these activities. This will result in duplicate columns and considerable confusion for both instructor and students.
Allowing students to view their grades from the Grade Center
Instructors can release grade column information to students which they view using the “My Grades” tool. Each student will only see their grade from a column that has been set to “Show to users”.
Sending grades from HuskyCT to Student Admin (PeopleSoft)
While the HuskyCT Grade Center is often used as a working "gradebook" for academic courses, it is not the system of record for official grades at UConn. Only grades in a course's grade roster in Student Admin are considered official and will appear on students' transcripts. As such, grades from HuskyCT will not automatically appear in Grade Rosters in Student Admin. If an instructor is using their course's Grade Center and would like to send a grade column from HuskyCT to their grade roster in Student Admin, the Grade Center has a built-in feature for that called "Grade Column Approval and Transfer." Detailed instructions on this process can be found here.
Typically instructors will choose to use this feature to report midterm and final grades, and the process is basically the same for both. (The only difference is that the name of the columns sent need to begin with "Mid" for midterm grades or "Fin" for final grades.) Other than that, the column just needs to show a letter grade value as the column's "Primary Display" and be set as the External Grade. All instructions and details are covered on the "Sending Grade from HuskyCT to Student Admin" page.
While many instructors set up their Grade Centers to record and calculate grades using one or more "Calculated Columns" in the Grade Center, all that is really needed to send a grade from the HuskyCT Grade Center to Student Admin is to have one column that represents the grade that should be sent, name it so that it begins with "Mid" or "Fin" as appropriate, set the Primary Display to a letter grade, and set the column as the "External Grade." In other words, the column does not necessarily need to be a calculated column; an instructor could just create a single column and enter letter grades into it without the column itself doing any calculations.
Watch this video on sending your grades from your HuskyCT Grade Center to your Student Admin Grade Roster:
Common Issues
- Not knowing the difference between “Hide” column and “Hide from users”
- Not disabling the default “External Grade” Total column
- Needing to change browsers to manually enter grades
- Not knowing that Upload and Download options are under “Work Offline”
- No scroll bar appearing for Mac users
- Not knowing how to upload grades into existing columns
Users
The list of Users includes all members enrolled on the HuskyCT site, regardless of their role. In all HuskyCT sites you should see those in the Instructor role listed here as well as those in the Student role. In some sites, there may also be those in the Teaching Assistant role, Grader role, or Builder role. Each role has specific “privileges” assigned to it.
Instructors are able to build their site, manage the Grade Center, and manage members. Teaching Assistants can do almost everything that those in the Instructor role can do except for adding or removing members. Graders can access the Grade Center and grade submitted Tests, Assignments, and Discussions, but they cannot add or remove content from the site or build Tests or Assignments. Builders cannot access any student data, but have the ability to modify the content and organization of the site.
Instructors and students listed in PeopleSoft for a certain class will automatically be enrolled on the HuskyCT site created for that class. If needed, however, those in the Instructor role can
enroll additional users. This option is used most often to enroll TAs, but anyone with a UConn NetID can be enrolled manually on any HuskyCT site in any role (Instructor, Teaching Assistant, Grader, Builder, Student). Please note, however, that Instructors in a HuskyCT site do not have the ability to un-enroll other Instructors on the site. For this, the Instructional Resource Center should be contacted.
Groups
Groups can be formed within a HuskyCT site in a few different ways. Multiple groups can be created at once using the “Create Group Set” option. The instructor can choose to enroll group members manually, have students randomly assigned to the groups, or have students “Self-enroll” into the groups which is accomplished using sign-up sheets. Groups can also be created one at a time with the option to manually enroll students or to have students Self-enroll.
When creating groups, instructors must name the group(s) as well as choose which tools should be made available for the students to use within their group. By default, all the Tool options are selected, so instructors will want to un-check all those they wish to remove. The tools most often left active are Discussion Board, Email, and File Exchange.
Once Groups have been created, instructors can create Assignments that are designated “Group Assignments”. This means that one submission only will be accepted from the group and the grade given to that assignment will go into the Grade Center for each student in the group.
Groups can also be used for “Adaptive Release”. This makes it possible for the instructor to post content or an activity that can only be seen by members of a certain group. Sometimes this function is used in HuskyCT sites where the honors section for a course has been combined with the regular section.
Students will gain access to their group area and the tools that are active using a new link that will appear in the left-hand navigation menu called My Groups.
Instructors need not add themselves as group members as they will be able to access all the group’s work from the Groups Tool under the Control Panel.