You are here:
Allowing Guest Access to Blackboard Courses
The default in creating Blackboard courses is to not allow guests to view your Blackboard courses. This means that only registered people can look at your page; others, such as other members of the E.C. community, or people from outside the college, will not be able to access you page.
However, in many instances, it is advantageous to allow guest access to your page. For example, your colleagues may benefit from seeing what you have done with your Blackboard page (as you might from seeing the work of others). You may get new ideas for how to arrange your documents, or how to use the assessment tools to your best advantage. Students might also enjoy seeing your page, and may wish to enroll in your course at a later date, upon seeing your Blackboard course page. Thus, it is suggested that, once your page is in working order, that you make it available to guests, at least on a temporary basis.
However, keep in mind that if your course is open to guest access, AND you have student-initiated enrollment enabled, anyone, from anywhere in the world, can enroll in your Blackboard course,
1. Log onto Blackboard at http://bb.elmhurst.edu
2. Under “Courses you are teaching,” click the link of the desired course.
3. Click the “Control Panel” button (the bottom-most button located to the left of the screen).
4. Click Course Settings.
5. Click Guest Access.
6. Click the radio button labeled "Yes" to allow guests to access your course.
7. Click the “Submit” button.
8. You should then receive a Success receipt.
9. Click the “OK” button.
If you are concerned about what guests will be viewing, rest assured that Blackboard has some preset parameters for what it will allow guests to view. Guests will not be allowed access to the following areas:
-
Communication
-
Virtual Classroom
-
Discussion
-
Groups
-
Tools
Of the remaining areas -- Course Information, Faculty Information, Course Documents, Assignments, Books, and External Links -- you can control guest access to these areas. To do this:
1. Log onto Blackboard at http://bb.elmhurst.edu
2. Under “Courses you are teaching,” click the link of the desired course.
3. Click the “Control Panel” button (the bottom-most button located to the left of the screen).
4. Click Course Settings.
5. Click Area Availability.
6. To make an area secure (that is, accessible only to enrolled members of your course), click the box on the right-and side under the column labelled "Secure."
-
The only guest-accessible area that cannot be made secure is the Annoucements area. This area is always viewable, regardless of level of accessibility.
-
Those areas that cannot be viewed by guests cannot be made secure
7. Click the “Submit” button.
8. You should then receive a Success receipt.
9. Click the “OK” button.
This page was last modified 10 September, 2003 by Ayanna Gaines.