Best practices for managing files in Blackboard courses

Summer 2021 courses have been created in Blackboard, and it will soon be time for instructors to create new content or copy content from previous courses.  Before you start adding content to your new course shell, please take time to determine whether all files must be copied or not. It is best practice to keep courses free of old content, keeping only the files that students need.

Keep in mind that large files may be stored in a UIC-supported cloud storage tool such as Google Drive or Box, and can be linked to your course instead of uploaded to Blackboard directly. This way, you will not store copies of the same file every time you copy your Blackboard course, and you can modify files on your desktop computer by syncing them to the cloud storage tool of your choice. It is best practice to use the flexibility of cloud storage to host large files.

The video below shows you how to link large files using UIC Google Drive, but it is very similar with other cloud storage tools:

If you have questions about managing files in your Blackboard courses, please contact the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE)’s Support Team at LTS@uic.edu or request an appointment with one of CATE’s Instructional Designers at https://go.uic.edu/IDappointment.