The eLog

I often get questions from faculty about the various user roles available in Blackboard.  The differences among them are mainly in the Course Control Panel accessibility.  Privileges range from that of Instructor with full access, to that of Student with no Control Panel at all.  Instructors have the unique ability to make courses available to students, whereas students can only participate in courses that have been made available to them and that they are enrolled in.  Besides that of Instructor and Student, there are other useful roles such as Mock Student, Temporary Student, Teacher’s Assistant, Course Builder, and various organization roles.

A Mock Student is a fictitious user with a student role whose login credentials are assigned to an instructor.  This can be useful for an instructor who wants to see exactly what the student sees and experiences.  Once the Mock Student role is in place, it will remain throughout the course.

A Temporary or Generic Student is a temporary account I can set up for wait-listed students, by faculty request.  In this role, students must be instructed by faculty to observe only and not participate, much like a wait-listed student in a face-to-face class.  Several potential students may use this same account to access the course syllabus and view the assignments.  After the wait-listed students have been officially added to the course, with their own accounts and associated ID’s, their class participation may begin and I will then automatically remove these temporary accounts.

The Teacher’s Assistant role has access to many of the same areas as the Instructor role…  Both have full access to the Control Panel, however only the Instructor will be shown under the students’ Courses tab or through Course Search.  Teacher’s Assistants also cannot change the course settings, do a course copy, or modify a course name and description.  If the course is unavailable to students, they may still access the course, just as the Instructor role can.

The Course Builder role has access to most areas of the Course Control Panel, except for student grades and outcomes.  It is intended for those faculty who wish to share course content with each other or for providing cohesion within departments.  Course Builders can copy course content, modify settings, or change the course name and description.  If the course is unavailable to students, they may still access the course.

In Blackboard Organization shells there are corresponding roles available such as Leader (which has similar privileges to the Instructor role), Organization Builder (which is comparable to the Course Builder), and Participant (which is equivalent to the Student role).

Faculty may contact me directly to request specific roles; however, to enter a class taught by someone else, you must have permission from the Course Instructor before I can proceed.  The instructor can provide me with the specific information and permission by email or by phone.