Blackboard: Course Roles

Blackboard Learn Sev Raychev

What is a course role?

Each user is assigned a role for each course they participate in. For example, a user with a role of ‘Teaching Assistant’ in one course can have a role of ‘Instructor’ in another course.

The role a person is given will affect what tools they can access and actions they can carry out in a course. It is important to allocate the most suitable role for a member of staff, based on what they need to be able to see and do in a course.

Roles are course specific. A person can only have one role per course but they can have a different role in each course they are enrolled on.

The course role is set when a user is enrolled. After enrolment, you can change a user’s role from Control Panel > Users and Groups > Users.

Choosing the right role

The following tables describe what each role can do, what access they have to the tools within a course and who would typically be given a particular role.

They are designed to help you select the appropriate level of access you require or want to give to a person on a course.

Role	Who should have this role?	What can you do?
Instructor	Module Convenor or Lead Tutor/s teaching on the module	Course availability Turn on/off course availability Control Panel Access to all of the available options Content Post announcements Send email Add, edit and delete all content, tools and assessments Enrolments and Groups Create groups and add members to a group Enrol others on the course Change the role of other users in the course Assessment Set up and edit assignments Mark online Manage and edit Grade Centre Reconcile grades when delegated marking is used (this is the only role that can do this) Monitoring Produce usage & access reports on student activity Note: Members of staff with the role of Instructor will be listed with the information shown about a course within Blackboard (e.g. on the ‘Courses’ tab on the ‘Enrolment’ page, and in the results of a ‘Course Search’) Stream Will be the Owner of the Stream Group associated with the course.
Teaching Assistant	Staff involved in teaching aspects of the module or providing administrative support. Note: This role has almost the same permissions as the Instructor role but is used to distinguish between lead staff and those supporting the course.	Course availability Turn on/off course availability Control Panel Access all of the available options Content Post announcements Send email Add, edit and delete all content, tools and assessments Enrolments and Groups Create groups and add members to a group Enrol others on the course Change the role of other users in the course (except Instructors) Assessment Set up and edit assignments Mark online Manage and edit Grade Centre Monitoring Produce usage & access reports on student activity Stream Will be a Member of the Stream Group associated with the course.
Teaching Assistant with Stream	Exactly the same as Teaching Assistant, but gives Stream Owner status.	As above, except Stream Will be the Owner of the Stream Group associated with the course.
Course Builder	Staff who need access to upload content to a module but are not involved in marking or teaching the module	Course availability Turn on/off course availability Control Panel Access to: Files Course Tools (except Turnitin Assignments) Users & Groups Customisation No access to Grade Centre and Evaluation Content Add, edit and delete all content, tools and assessments (including Turnitin) Send email Post announcements Enrolments and Groups Create groups and add members to a group Enrol students on the course Assessment Set up and edit assignment settings in a content area only Stream Will be a Member of the Stream Group associated with the course.
Course Builder with Stream	Exactly the same as Course Builder, but gives Stream Owner status.	As above, except Stream Will be the Owner of the Stream Group associated with the course.
Marker	Staff marking assessments that do not teach the module	Course availability Cannot change course availability Cannot enter a course if it has been set as unavailable Control Panel Access to Grade Centre View only access to Course Tools (but can access Turnitin Assignments and Tests, Surveys and Pools from this section for marking purposes) Content Can view but not edit content (including access to unavailable content) Can use tools as a student would (e.g. email, blogs, discussion boards, wikis) Enrolments and Groups No access to Users & Groups in the Control Panel Cannot set up groups or add members No access to enrol others on the course No access to change role of users in a course Assessment Mark online Manage and edit Grade Centre Monitoring Produce usage & access reports on student activity
External Examiner	External Examiners	Course availability Cannot change course availability Can enter a course if it has been set as unavailable Control Panel Access to Grade Centre and Evaluation View only access to Course Tools (but can access Turnitin Assignments) Content Can view but not edit content (including access to unavailable content) Enrolments and Groups No access Assessment View marks and feedback Manage and edit Grade Centre Monitoring Produce usage & access reports on student activity Stream Will be a Member of the Stream Group associated with the course.
Periodic Reviewer	Internal and external staff involved in Periodic Review	Course availability Cannot change course availability Can enter a course if it has been set as unavailable Control Panel Access to Grade Centre and Evaluation View only access to Course Tools (but can access Turnitin Assignments) Content Can view but not edit content (including access to unavailable content) Enrolments and Groups No access Assessment View marks and feedback Manage and edit Grade Centre Monitoring Produce usage & access reports on student activity Stream Will be a Member of the Stream Group associated with the course.
Mentor	Staff acting as a mentor – principally designed for use with the Academic Practice Programme	Course availability Cannot access an unavailable course Control Panel No access to Control Panel Content Cannot view unavailable content areas Cannot view unavailable content items Cannot edit content No access to Discussion forums Limited access to tools such as Blogs and Wikis Enrolments and Groups No access Assessment Sees only student view of assessments No access to Grade Centre Stream Will be a Member of the Stream Group associated with the course.
Non-UoR Staff	Staff affiliated with the University at a partner institution (e.g. NUIST) who need limited access to course content	Control Panel No access Cannot enter a course if it has been set as unavailable Content Can view but not edit content (including access to unavailable content) Use tools as a student would (e.g. email, blogs, discussion boards, wikis) Stream Will be a Member of the Stream Group associated with the course. Note: No personal user information or grades are accessible to this role
Student	Students (automatically assigned and enrolled)	Control Panel No access Cannot enter a course if it has been set as unavailable Content Can view but not edit content – only if content has been made available Use tools (e.g. email, blogs, discussion boards, wikis) Submit assignments View released marks and feedback via ‘My Grades’ tool Stream Will be a Member of the Stream Group associated with the course. Note: Do not give University staff this role to enable them to see a course area Users given the role of student will be listed to take any assessments, and this can affect the statistics for the course.
Guest	Limited use Staff or students (not enrolled on the module) who need limited access to view specific content areas (e.g. lecture notes)	Note: Enrolling someone as a Guest on your course will not provide them with sufficient access to course materials. By default, content in a course area will not be available to guests. You also need to give the role access to specific content areas. Control Panel No access Cannot enter a course if it has been set as unavailable Content View content that has been made available to guests on the course menu No access to tools (e.g. assignments, tests, rubrics, My Grades, groups, email, blogs, discussion boards, wikis) Stream Will be a Member of the Stream Group associated with the course.

Role	What sections can the role access and use?
Role	Files	Course Tools	Evaluation	Grade Centre	Users & Groups	Customisation	Packages & Utilities
Instructor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Teaching Assistant	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Marker	Yes	View Only*	Yes	Yes	No Access	Not Visible	No Access
Course Builder	Yes	Yes**	No Access	Not Visible	Yes	Yes	Yes
External Examiner	No access	View Only***	Yes	Yes	No access	Not Visible	Not Visible
Periodic Reviewer	No access	View Only***	Yes	Yes	No access	Not Visible	Not Visible
Non-UoR Staff	No access	No access****	No access	No access	No access	No access	No access
Student	No access	No access****	No access	No access	No access	No access	No access
Guest	No access	No access	No access	No access	No access	No access	No access

* Can assess Turnitin Assignments section to mark and build a test/survey (but not deploy it for students to take)

** No access to Turnitin Assignments

*** Can access Turnitin Assignments from this section

**** Can participate and comment on blog, journal, discussion board and wiki deployed in content areas

What is a course role?

Choosing the right role

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