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Blackboard – Copying Courses

Instructors can copy Blackboard courses to new semesters. Please note, that you must be the instructor of record in both course sites to copy one course to another.

Before Course Copy Heading link

In your old course:

  1. Check your Course Menu for duplicated items and delete any unnecessary items (in the course menu, click the chevron to open the contextualization menu and click Delete).
  2. Delete any old files from previous semesters (syllabi, PowerPoints, Word documents, images, unused files) to maximize the amount of storage you will have in your new course. You can find those in the Course Content Collection
  3. Organize your Course Content. Move all menus and folders to desired locations. See Move and Copy Content.

How to Copy a Course Heading link

  1. Access the Blackboard course you want to copy.
  2. In the Control Panel, click Packages and Utilities > Course Copy.
  3. Select the option: Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course
  4. Click the Browse button to view a list of your courses.
  5. In the popup window that appears, select the appropriate course ID from your list of courses and click Submit. The course ID will populate in the Destination Course ID Box.
  6. Select the course materials that you want to copy over to the existing course. We recommend Select All n(Unless exceptions are specified).
  7. In the File Attachments section, select Copy links and copies of the content
  8. Note: if there is .swf select Copy links and copies of the content (include entire course home folder)
  9. Click Submit.

Please note, you must be the instructor of record in both course sites to copy one course to another.

After Course Copy Heading link

In your new course:

  1. Update course documents – check syllabus and lecture notes; delete any items that you may have missed before the course copy.
  2. Update due dates in course assignments.
  3. Delete old Tests, Pools, and Surveys that are no longer used in the course (Click on Control Panel > Course Tools > Tests, Surveys, and Pools > Click the chevron next to the test name -> Click ‘Delete’).
  4. Select the option “Include only the forums, with no starter posts” when copying Discussion Boards; student entries will not be copied over, only the forums you created will be copied.

Best sure to set Course Entry Point so students open the course right where you want!

Request a Course Copy with LTS Heading link

You can request course content to be copied from a previous semester Blackboard course to a new one by submitting a Blackboard Course Site Copy Request form to the LTS support team. Your course copy will be ready within a week of the request receipt. Please plan ahead if you are using this method.

If you have questions about copying 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.