Hi Andy
Changing the course name is as far as we've got at the moment and is likely to be the solution for this year (we're thinking of prefixing 'z2011' to denote the year in which a course is 'archived' and ensure that it appears at the bottom of the course list). I am aware that an 'Enhanced My Courses' list has been developed by Ashraf Amrou, Old Dominion University, Virginia (see this link http://connections.blackboard.com/posts/7617f89910) that groups courses according to semesters and could no doubt be adapted according to academic years in the UK, but unfortunately I've been unable to obtain the code from him. I would have thought a module of this kind would be very welcome for UK institutions.
Helena
-----Original Message-----
From: Blackboard/Courseinfo userslist [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Andy Turner
Sent: 31 March 2011 15:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Read-only access to 'archived' courses
Helena
I guess you could create a new student role by copying one of the staff roles, then going through and removing all of the privileges.
That would remove the ability to send email and add tasks.
But I'm not sure you can globally remove participants' ability to post to discussion boards or blogs.
And in any case, if you're trying to preserve a snapshot of expired courses, my concern would be to prevent *staff* inadvertently changing content on those courses.
We're also grappling with this issue of what to do with old courses. Would like to be able to label expired courses somehow, so that it was obvious to anyone entering those courses that the course was not active, and purely for reference. Other than adding a prefix or suffix to the course name, we haven't so far come up with anything. So your suggestions welcome!
Andy Turner
Technology Enhanced Learning Manager
Institute for Teaching, Innovation & Learning Thames Valley University
[log in to unmask]
Tel. 0208 231 2697
-----Original Message-----
From: Blackboard/Courseinfo userslist [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Helena Bampton
Sent: 31 March 2011 11:59
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Read-only access to 'archived' courses
In previous years we have archived courses at the end of September by disabling them so that they are hidden from users' views. A decision has now been made to keep previous years' courses enabled so that students can access all the courses they have taken for the full term of their degree. However, it has been requested that these courses should be made 'read-only'.
We are upgrading to Blackboard Learn in July so I am intending to test the use of a customised course role for staff but there is no option to create a customised 'student' role. Have any other institutions come up against this problem and were you able to find any solutions for preventing further course activity?
I'd be very grateful for your comments.
Best regards
Helena Bampton
University of Reading
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