How cluttered is your digital classroom? In online learning spaces like Blackboard Learn, maintaining good course hygiene is critical for a seamless experience for both you and your students. Just as a cluttered desk can hinder productivity, a disorganized online course can impede learning outcomes and student engagement.

Why Should I Care About Course Hygiene Right Now?

Having a clean course is always a great organizational strategy. But as our campus transitions to Blackboard Learn Ultra, cleaning up your course can provide a more seamless transition experience. If it has been a while since you’ve cleaned things up, now is a great time to delete empty folders and unused content.

Steps Towards Course Hygiene

  1. Assessment and Inventory: Begin by conducting a thorough assessment of your course content. Identify blank folders, unused materials, and outdated resources that are no longer relevant to your curriculum. Delete these items from all areas, including the recycle bin. If you’re already in Blackboard Learn Ultra, review the Unused Files list.
  2. Bring Only What You Need: If you are copying a course from Original to Ultra, you can do a more granular course copy, ensuring that you don’t select material you don’t plan to use to copy over to your new Ultra course.
  3. Content Review and Refresh: Review existing materials and assess their currency and relevance. Update or remove outdated content to ensure that your course reflects the latest developments in your field.
  4. Organizational Strategies: Implement organizational strategies such as logical grouping, naming conventions, and clear labeling to enhance the accessibility of your course content.
  5. Manage Course Availability: Once your course is wrapped up, consider using the new feature in Blackboard Learn Ultra called Complete Course. Also think through long-term strategies for archiving your course to preserve data.

In any online course environment, content organization and relevancy is key to a successful learning experience. By organizing your online course content, removing unused items, and managing the course availability, you create a streamlined, efficient, and engaging learning environment for your students.