Using the Control Panel

The Control Panel provides access to the various features and tools available within Blackboard relating to course customization, administration, and maintenance. The Control Panel is viewable only by faculty and staff who have been assigned the Blackboard Role of Instructor, Course Builder, Teaching Assistant, or Grader.

Overview of Control Panel

All menu areas are accessible by Action Links indicated by the arrows.

• Content Collection –Faculty can store, share, and publish content within personal folders, course folders, and institution folders.
• Course Tools – Contains all the available tools that are added to a course. Once added, these tools are administered from the Course Menu.
• Evaluation – Provides links to Course Reports, the Performance Dashboard, and the Retention Center, which are used to view information about student activity and content usage, and to be notified about students' performance, based on criteria created by the faculty member.
• Grade Center – Provides links to the Needs Grading page, the Full Grade Center, Assignments, and Tests. (Any Smart Views created by the faculty member appear in an indented list under Full Grade Center.)
• Users and Groups – List, enroll, edit, and remove users from the course. Create and administer formal groups of students to collaborate on work.
• Customization – Provides a link to Guest and Observer Access; change the properties of the course (such as its availability); and change the appearance of the course, and Tool availability.
• Packages and Utilities – Recycle courses via Bulk Delete option. Import, Export, and Archive the course; check course links; copy all or part of the course; and move selected files to Course Files or the Content Collection, when available.
• Help - Offers support contacts and online documentation.