{"id":8369,"date":"2021-03-22T15:19:16","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T15:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/?page_id=8369"},"modified":"2022-06-16T08:16:36","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T08:16:36","slug":"writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing instructions for Blackboard activities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Students usually access Blackboard instructions outside of the classroom, and may have forgotten the context or prerequisite sequence of other activities and resources. To mitigate this, and because students cannot seek immediate clarification in asynchronous learning scenarios, it is important to design effective instructions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Use language from the Module Roadmap and\/or Weekly Plan<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Use terms with consistency, in line with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/curriculum-framework\/module-road-maps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Module Roadmaps and\/or Weekly Plans<span style=\"color: #000000\">.<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li>If using module roadmap icons,<a href=\"https:\/\/help.blackboard.com\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/2018-05\/Ally-QuickStart-2018_12-ML-AltDescriptionsImages.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Blackboard Ally<\/a> will prompt you to enter alt-text. Mark the image as &#8216;decorative&#8217; and ensure your content item title or text header contains a key word to encapsulate the activity (this ensures screen reader users can quickly gather the &#8216;essence&#8217; of content).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt\" data-contrast=\"auto\">Separate description from instruction<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">One of the challenges when writing instructions is making them easily understood and actionable by students. H<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">ere are some golden rules to stick to:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Provide a contextual introduction and overview first, separated from the step-by-step requirements.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel-support-for-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blackboard Help for Students<\/a>\u00a0contains instructions and accompanying screenshots for a variety of Blackboard activities; consider providing a direct link to a TEL step-by-step article.<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Instruction points should not contain conditional information. Require one action per point.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Step-by-step guides should be in a numerical list and for clarity, to encourage action, should start with a verb.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Supplementary information should use non-numeric bullet points,\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">i.e.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0they do not need to be read or used in sequence.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition to the practical tips above, download the CQSD\u00a0<a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2020\/12\/Adapted-eTivities.docx\">adapted eTivities checklist<\/a>\u00a0and use it to inform design of asynchronous activity instructions.\u00a0The checklist draws on principles from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gillysalmon.com\/e-tivities.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">eTivities framework<span style=\"color: #000000\">;<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">\u00a0<\/span>encouraging participation through\u00a0creation of \u2018invitations\u2019 through instructions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Examples of Blackboard activity instructions<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\"><strong>Poorly written Blackboard instructions:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">&#8220;Once you have completed your work, submit it to the drop box below with your name and the title of your work in the filename. You should only submit in .docx format. If you need to convert it from another\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">format<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0we have some helpful guides available. You will get feedback on your work via the drop box.&#8221;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\"><strong>Effective Blackboard instructions:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The example below is a screenshot taken from a Blackboard module. It makes effective use of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Text formatting, to separate context from instruction.<\/li>\n<li>Descriptive hyperlinks (as opposed to pasting full URL).<\/li>\n<li>An icon from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/curriculum-framework\/module-road-maps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Module Roadmap and\/or Weekly Plan<\/a>, \u00a0marked decorative using <a href=\"https:\/\/help.blackboard.com\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/2018-05\/Ally-QuickStart-2018_12-ML-AltDescriptionsImages.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blackboard Ally.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Keywords pertaining to the icon (in the content item title).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A text-only version of these instructions is provided under the image; please copy and adapt as needed.<\/p>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-8508\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-19-at-19.28.59-1024x472.png\" alt=\"screenshot depicting activity instructions - text version below image\" width=\"730\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-19-at-19.28.59-1024x472.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-19-at-19.28.59-300x138.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-19-at-19.28.59-768x354.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-19-at-19.28.59.png 1125w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 730px) 100vw, 730px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><strong>(text only version)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1.17em;letter-spacing: 0px\">&#8220;Instructions for submitting &#8216;Insert Assessment Title&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"_5465569_1\" class=\"item clearfix reorderMouseOver\"><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0px\">You will need to complete your work by\u00a0<\/span><strong style=\"letter-spacing: 0px\">DD\/MM\/YY<\/strong><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0px\">\u00a0and submit it in a Word (.docx) format to the submission link below.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"details\">\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated\">\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\">The filename should include:<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Your name<\/li>\n<li>Title of your work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\">You will receive feedback within four weeks. An announcement will be posted and you will be able to view your feedback by clicking the original submission link. For technical queries, please contact the university\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/digital-technology-services\/it-help-and-support\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">service desk<\/a>\u00a0or see <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel-support-for-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blackboard Help for Students<\/a>. For all other queries, please email your programme administrator.<\/div>\n<h5 id=\"anonymous_element_53\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">How to submit:\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\">1. Click the\u00a0<strong>Submission link: \u201cFirst assignment title\u201d filed\u00a0under the Assessment menu item.<\/strong><\/div>\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\">2. Upload your work using the\u00a0<strong>Browse<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0button.<\/div>\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\">3. Click\u00a0<strong>Submit<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0at the bottom of the page.\u00a0\u00a0<strong>*please note, \u2018save draft\u2019 will not submit your work.<\/strong><\/div>\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"vtbegenerated_div\">For more detailed instructions, see the specific Support for Students guide:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel-support-for-students\/2018\/09\/03\/turnitin-a-students-guide-to-submitting-a-turnitin-assignment\/\">How to submit a Turnitin Assignment<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students usually access Blackboard instructions outside of the classroom, and may have forgotten the context or prerequisite sequence of other activities and resources. To mitigate this, and because students cannot seek immediate clarification in asynchronous learning scenarios, it is important to design effective instructions. Use language from the Module Roadmap and\/or Weekly Plan Use terms [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Writing instructions for Blackboard activities - Technology Enhanced Learning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writing instructions for Blackboard activities - Technology Enhanced Learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Students usually access Blackboard instructions outside of the classroom, and may have forgotten the context or prerequisite sequence of other activities and resources. To mitigate this, and because students cannot seek immediate clarification in asynchronous learning scenarios, it is important to design effective instructions. Use language from the Module Roadmap and\/or Weekly Plan Use terms [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology Enhanced Learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-16T08:16:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/\",\"name\":\"Writing instructions for Blackboard activities - Technology Enhanced Learning\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-22T15:19:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-16T08:16:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Writing instructions for Blackboard activities\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/\",\"name\":\"Technology Enhanced Learning\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Writing instructions for Blackboard activities - Technology Enhanced Learning","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Writing instructions for Blackboard activities - Technology Enhanced Learning","og_description":"Students usually access Blackboard instructions outside of the classroom, and may have forgotten the context or prerequisite sequence of other activities and resources. To mitigate this, and because students cannot seek immediate clarification in asynchronous learning scenarios, it is important to design effective instructions. Use language from the Module Roadmap and\/or Weekly Plan Use terms [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/","og_site_name":"Technology Enhanced Learning","article_modified_time":"2022-06-16T08:16:36+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/","name":"Writing instructions for Blackboard activities - Technology Enhanced Learning","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-03-22T15:19:16+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-16T08:16:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/writing-instructions-for-blackboard-activities\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Writing instructions for Blackboard activities"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/","name":"Technology Enhanced Learning","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9UENj-2aZ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8369"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10804,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8369\/revisions\/10804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}