Introduction to Blackboard for Students

Blackboard is an important tool used for the majority of your classes. This is where your professor will post assignments, announcements, content, and much more. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the basics of Blackboard so that you can better navigate the interface.

First go to blackboard.usc.edu and log into using your USC credentials.

On your homepage you will see all the courses you are registered in for that semester.

Sometimes you will have classes from previous semesters where you haven’t been taken off of the class Blackboard yet. In this case, your My Course section will get a bit cluttered, so we suggest organizing your courses by semester. We discuss this in this tutorial.

Once you click on a course you’re registered for, it will take you to the course page. The Announcement section will automatically be the first thing to show up. This is where your professor or TA will post relevant announcements for your class.

On the left you will see your menu bar. Depending on how your professor sets up their Blackboard page, different menu items will show up. In this example, only Announcements, SyllabusContent, and Assignments are visible.

The Syllabus section will have a link to the syllabus file. The Content section will contain any materials your professor needs you to access throughout the course. Assignments is the section where you turn in any deliverable items.

Turning in an Assignment

Click on the Assignments section in your side menu. This will take you to a page that lists any assignments that are due in the class. Click on the assignment you want to turn in.

You will then be taken to the submission page where you will see the amount of points this assignment is worth and where you can attach any files that need turning in. Make sure to hit Submit when finished.

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Tools

The Tools section will lead you to a page that lists many links to other parts of Blackboard. There will be a lot of options you can ignore, but the main ones you’ll want to know the location of are Discussion Board, USC Zoom Pro Meeting, and My Grades.

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Discussion Boards

Some professors will add the Discussion Board section to the lefthand menu, however, if they don’t, you can access it through Tools. This is if your professor requires you to respond to a forum. You will see any discussions your professor has created. To add to the discussion, select the name of the forum on the left:

This is where you will see different threads people have posted. If you would like to create your own thread, select Create Thread.

You will then need to input your title, the content of your post, and attach any files as needed. Click Submit when finished.

If you only need to reply to an already existing thread, click on the thread title.

 

Then select Reply.

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Zoom Meetings

Your professor may also set up class meetings through Zoom on Blackboard. To access the scheduled Zoom meetings (and if your professor hasn’t added it to your lefthand menu bar), go to Tools and click on USC Zoom Pro Meeting. This will take you to your class Zoom page through Blackboard where you will see any future meetings. To join a meeting, click on the title and the Zoom link will be provided. However, most professors will just email you the Zoom link or post it in Announcements for easy access.

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My Grades

Depending on your professor, you may be able to access your current grades through the My Grades section of Blackboard. Go to Tools, which is found in the lefthand side menu, scroll down and select My Grades.

*Note: Not all professors use this section but if they do, this is a nice way to keep track of where you stand in the class.

 

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