Course Structure: Activity

In activity-based courses, students are actively engaged in hands-on activities, experiments, and problem-solving.
Students are encouraged to search for answers and solutions independently, putting principles into action. You
can also include opportunities to do research, public service, volunteer work, field study, and internships.

Promote online interaction with the Conversations discussion forums to help students reflect upon their
experiences and connect with classmates. If students are engaged in independent activities, you can use Live
Chat for meetings.

This course structure works well for subjects that connect theory and practice, such as anthropology, Earth
sciences, language immersion, government, and social sciences.

What does the course menu look like?

Using your course menu

The following table describes the content areas and course tools included in the Activity course structure.

Content Type Description

Activities Activities is your central instructor-designed content area. To provide your
students with an easy-to-navigate and familiar environment, you can add folders
for each activity. Include similar content, such as links to articles on relevant
research or practices, activity permission slips and forms, class work and
homework instructions, and activity assignments.
Conversations Use the Conversations discussion forums for formal assignments, such as
posing weekly questions related to the activities, and for informal interactions,
where students ask and respond to each other's questions. You can create
gradable discussion forums and threads to assess students' participation and
knowledge. After each activity, ask reflective questions to invoke conversation.
What is the critical message of this activity? What would you do in this particular
situation? How would you approach solving this problem?

Learn: Course Structure: Activity

© Copyright 2016 Blackboard Inc. 1
 Content Type Description
Live Chat Use the text-based Live Chat for additional class meetings, question-and-answer
sessions, real-time interaction in asynchronous courses, and virtual office hours.
As thought-provoking questions arise in the discussion forums, schedule chat
sessions so students can continue the conversations live.
Stay on Track The customizable module page provides students with a single place to go for an
overview of current course information such as Announcements, My Calendar,
To Do, What's New, and My Tasks.
Tips and Resources In the Tips and Resources content area, you can share additional material so
interested students can learn more. Help students expand on the information
presented in the activities by directing them to recommended reading, such as
books or articles on research and theory, and links to websites of companies or
organizations using those techniques. Students can also use these resources to
find topics for projects or papers.
Tools Give students access to all available course tools on a single page. Add commonly
used course tools to the course menu for easy access.
Game Plan In the Game Plan content area, provide materials that students can access
throughout the semester. Include a syllabus or other basics, such as grading
policies, a list of scheduled activities, textbook information, options for volunteer
or practicum placements, and important dates. If chat sessions are mandatory, be
sure to list dates so students can adjust their schedules.
Instructor Info Create profiles for yourself, other instructors, teaching assistants, and guest
lecturers participating in your course in Instructor Info. Include contact
information such as email addresses, phone numbers, office hours, and location.
My Grades Students can see the status of gradable items such as assignments, tests, and
discussion posts on their My Grades pages.
Help Blackboard Help contains searchable how-to information. Students in need of
additional assistance should contact the institution's computing help desk.

Customize the course structure by renaming, removing, hiding, or adding content areas and links to tools.

Learn: Course Structure: Activity

© Copyright 2016 Blackboard Inc. 2