Using the Blackboard Ultra Calendar

Juggling competing responsibilities isn't easy. Use the calendar to keep track of upcoming assignments, events, and other due dates.

• Watch a video about the calendar
• Find and navigate the calendar
• Choose your view
• Create and edit an event
• Share your calendar
  • Add calendar to iCal
  • Add calendar to Google Calendar
  • Add calendar to Outlook / Microsoft Office 365
• Add an external calendar

Watch a video about the calendar

Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Original" calendar video.

Video: Use the calendar explains how to use the calendar to keep track of your events and due dates.

Find and navigate the calendar

Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Original" help for finding the calendar.

From the global calendar in the list where your name appears, you can see all your upcoming due dates and meetings across your courses—all in one place.

In your calendar, find this event information:

• Office hours. These appointments appear automatically on the calendar when an instructor adds them to a course.
• Due dates. Assignment due dates appear automatically on your calendar.

Check your course calendar

When you access the calendar from inside a course, it shows events for that course only. Select the Calendar icon from the course's navigation bar.

The course view of the calendar displays due dates, the course schedule, office hours, and course-specific meetings and events. When your instructor creates content with a due date, it appears automatically in the calendar.

All events within a specific course roll up into the global calendar. You can switch over to the big picture on your global calendar from the list where your name appears.

Choose your view

Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Original" help about choosing your calendar view.

• Select Day or Month to zoom in on one day's tasks or plan for the weeks ahead.
• Select Due Dates to focus only on your upcoming deadlines.
• Select the Calendar Settings icon in the upper-right corner to select the calendars you want to see.

Create and edit an event

Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Original" help for creating a calendar event.

Add events to your personal calendar by selecting Calendar from the list where your name appears. Select the plus sign and add an event title, date, time, and location.

Select the title of an event you added to change its details.

You can move and delete events in your calendar. Drag and drop personal events to change times or delete personal events that aren't needed. You can't delete or move events added by your instructor.

Share your calendar

Your schedule is a mix of academic and personal commitments. To help keep up with everything you've got going on, it helps to put everything on one calendar.

You can share your Blackboard Learn calendar with external services so course events appear with other events.

You can't share calendars for individual courses. When you share your calendar, events for all of your courses appear.

1. Select Calendar in the menu where your name appears first.
2. Select Calendar Settings icon.
3. Open the menu next to the Calendar Settings heading and select Share Calendar.
4. In the window, copy the calendar link. Share the URL only with trusted sources.

When you connect your Blackboard Learn calendar to an external calendar, all course events appear one year in the past and into the future.

Add a calendar to iCal

To share your Blackboard Learn calendar with iCal, you'll add it as a calendar subscription.

1. Open iCal on your Mac.
2. Go to File > New Calendar Subscription.
3. Paste the Blackboard Learn calendar link and select Subscribe.
4. Add the calendar's name and adjust other settings. In the Location field, select iCloud if you want the calendar to appear on your other authenticated Apple devices such as iPhone or iPad.
5. Select OK to finish the set up.

More on subscribing to calendars on a Mac

Add calendar to Google calendar

Share your Blackboard Learn calendar with Google calendar to view all events in one place.

1. Open your Google calendar on a computer.
2. Next to Add calendar, point to Add other calendars and select From URL in the menu.
3. Paste the Blackboard Learn calendar link and select Add calendar to finish set up.
4. Open the calendar's settings to rename it and adjust sharing and notification settings.

More on adding external calendars to Google calendar

Add calendar to Microsoft Outlook / Office 365

Share your Blackboard Learn calendar with Microsoft Outlook / Office 365 to view all events in one place.

1. Login to Office 365 at o365.niu.edu with your NIU Account ID and password.
2. Go to Outlook and click Calendar to view your calendar.
3. Select Add Calendar and then Subscribe from web
4. Paste the Blackboard Learn calendar link (it should end in .ics) and enter a calendar name.
5. In the Add to dropdown, select the calendar group to add your calendar to, such as My calendars.
6. Click Import

More on adding external calendars to Microsoft Office 365

Add an external calendar

If you prefer to use Blackboard Learn's calendar, you can also add an external calendar file to your Blackboard Learn calendar so that course events appear with other events.

1. Select Calendar in the menu where your name appears first.
2. Select the Calendar Settings icon.
3. Open the menu next to the Calendar Settings heading.
4. Select Add Calendar.
5. In the window, drag and drop your calendar file. You can also click to upload the file. Only ICS files are supported.
6. The file name appears in the window. If you selected the wrong file or want to change your selection, select the Delete icon.
7. Select Add Calendar to finish and import events.

When you add your external calendar to Blackboard Learn, events appear one year in the past and into the future. The events are grouped under My Personal Calendar to show that you added them yourself. The events don't reference the calendar or the name of the file you uploaded.

You can edit or delete events you upload just like any other event you add.