eCampus 101 is an introductory guide designed to help you become familiar with how to begin setting up your first course from scratch. This guide walks through the steps to add and manage content, customize your layout, create tests or assessments, interact with the grade book, and use various course tools including the Collaborate online meeting tool. Click through the content sections below to learn more about the topics that interest you, or join us for a live training session during scheduled events.
Online Training
Getting Started with eCampus Training Sessions: the ITS Training group holds virtual training sessions for eCampus at the beginning of each semester. Visit the WVU Events Calendar page to see when classes are available, or keep an eye on your email for eCampus training sessions.
You may also contact ITS Training to request one-on-one training, customized group trainings, or in-person training. We will design our content to meet your needs.
ITS Help Center: You will find a list of all eCampus for Faculty articles in our help center.
Blackboard Help: View Blackboard's video tutorials, or review the Blackboard Help guides.
eCampus 101 Topics
About eCampus
What is eCampus?
eCampus is WVU’s learning management system. It is a comprehensive online teaching interface that allows for synchronous or asynchronous delivery for fully online courses, and easy communication and content delivery for face-to-face courses.
Synchronous Classroom: students and instructors are in the online class at the same time
Asynchronous Classroom: students view and complete course material on their own schedule
eCampus runs on Blackboard Learn, and is integrated with the STAR (Banner) system, making it easy to transfer mid-term and final grades each semester. All WVU students, staff, and faculty can access eCampus from a web browser any time, from anywhere!
Why Use eCampus?
You can use eCampus to deliver learning content for online classes - from lecture notes and presentations to extra readings and video content. eCampus provides platforms for discussions and live or recorded lectures.
As a supplement to face-to-face classrooms, eCampus is an easy way to communicate with students and allows for outside-of-class discussion groups or posting additional content. You can provide a calendar for assignment or exam dates, administer quizzes or homework assignments online, and use the electronic grade book to track students, share their grades with them, and export grades to the STAR system.
Roles & Responsibilities
There are several access roles that are available, depending on your responsibilities in the course.
Student - This is the default course user role. Students can see the content of the course made available to them by the instructor. They do not have access to the course control panel.
Instructor - Instructors have full access to all parts of the course, including the ability to edit all content and manage the course via the course control panel. This role is generally assigned to the person developing, teaching, or facilitating the class.
Teaching Assistant - Users with the TA role are granted access to most of the control panel tools, including the Grade Center, but cannot edit student enrollment.
Course Builder - This role is for other staff who might help with building or organizing course content. The Course Builder role has access to most areas of the course and control panel, but not to student grades.
Auditor - There is no official auditor role in the system, however, if you need to enroll a student to audit a course for incomplete grades or other reasons, please place a request through the eRS (eCampus Request System) to have them enrolled.
Browser Check
On the eCampus log-in page, you will find a link to a tool that will check your current web browser for compatibility with eCampus and the necessary plug-ins. Use the Browser Check tool regularly to verify whether your browser can run eCampus.
Login to eCampus
All WVU faculty, staff, and students have access to log into eCampus (http://ecampus.wvu.edu ) using their WVU Login account username and password.
Layout and Navigation
On the main WVU eCampus page, you will find a menu to help you navigate to useful tools and locate your courses. Learn more about the eCampus Ultra navigation menus.
📺 See a video demonstration of eCampus Ultra Navigation.
Setting Up an eCampus Course Shell
Navigate to the Courses page and click on the title of a course to open it. A brand new course in eCampus will be empty - you will need to add and organize content.
Course Menu
Blackboard Help: Navigate Inside a Course
The Course Menu is where you will place menu links to content that you want students to see. Click the plus sign to add a content area or menu link. The arrows button lets you reorder the menu items using your keyboard (you can click and drag menu items in the menu with your mouse), while the circular arrows button refreshes the menu content. Click the folder icon to open the menu by itself in a separate browser window.
From the plus sign, choose to add:
Content Area - a page that will allow you to build content or assessments, or to provide links to eCampus tools or partner content.
Module Page - a page that will allow you to provide eCampus modules (like widgets) such as personalized To Do lists, a searchable Dictionary or Thesaurus, the eCampus Report Card tool, the My Messages or Announcements communication tools, a calculator, or WVU Support links, and more.
Blank Page - creates a blank page with an editable content box where you can place text, links, mathematical equations, images, tables, or your own HTML code.
Tool Link - link to any of the existing eCampus tools, like Announcements, Calendar, Class Collaborate Ultra or Zoom, Journal or Discussion Board, Email or Course Messages, and a host of other tools.
Web Link - create a link in the course menu to any URL on the web.
Course Link - create a link in the course menu to a certain page within this course (like a content area or folder).
Subheader or Divider - use these to help make your course menu easier to understand by grouping menu links into categories or sections.
Course Management/ Control Panel
The Course Management section gives the instructor access to the Control Panel, where you will find things like the Content Collection, many course tools, evaluation and reporting options, and the Grade Center. In the control panel area you can also create and modify student groups; customize the presentation of your course; copy, archive, or import the entire course package; and find more help links.
Edit and Student Preview Modes
Blackboard Help: Student Preview
In the upper right corner of the screen, you will see the Edit Mode option. As the instructor, edit mode will automatically be on when you enter the course. With edit mode on, you will see small chevrons and X's and arrows at the corners of content items. This enables you to add content, drag-and-drop to rearrange items, and make any changes to the course. When edit mode is off, you will not see the editing indicators. Click the button to toggle edit mode on or off. While building the course, it is recommended that you work with edit mode turned on.
They eye-shaped icon next to edit mode is the Student Preview Mode button. This option allows you to see only what is currently made available to students and is helpful to make sure you are sharing new content, assignments or tests exactly when you mean to share them. Another great use of the Student Preview Mode is to actually take a test or complete an assignment as a ‘preview user’ student. Enter Student Preview Mode to see what any assessment looks like to the student, and even submit a completed test or assignment that you can even grade (as the instructor) and view the results from the student perspective.
Add Course Content
To begin adding content to an empty course, create a Content Area to which you can add content items, files, and learning modules. Content Areas are containers for course material, such as lecture notes, tests, links to media, and assignments. They are ideally used for breaking up course content into modules or segments of the course. Click the plus in the course menu to add one.
You will need to enter a Name for the content area (which will become the menu link) and choose whether this menu item will be available to users by clicking a checkbox. Students will not see the menu item unless the box is checked. Click Submit to create the new content area and add it to the course menu.
Click on the content area you just created in the menu to add things to it. The blank content area will appear, and the system will inform you that there is no content here yet, and you should add some.
Build Content
Click the Build Content button at the top to select a content type to place in the content area. Select from many types including items, files, pages, images, links, and other media. When you create any type of item (such as an text-item, file, test, or link) in eCampus, you will be given a screen where you can give it a name, description, and define some parameters for how it will behave. Some fields are are required and will display an asterisk.
Example: Add a welcome message to the content area
An Item is a flexible content type that lets you insert text, images, links, and attached files.
Click Build Content > Item.
On the Create Item page, give the item a Name (required).
Optionally, click the color-selector drop down to choose the Color of Name that the text will display on the page. Choose any color swatch, or enter a hexadecimal color value in the field at the top. Click Apply to change the title color.
In the Text area below, enter a welcome statement, description of the class, how to interact with the material in this course, how to contact the instructor, or similar information.
Text editing boxes in eCampus provide many tools for formatting or inserting data or images from your eCampus Content Collection, or other sources. You can even insert your own HTML or CSS code.
In the Attachments section, you can attach a file to go with this item - such as your syllabus. Click a button in the Attach Files area to select from your computer’s local files, a file in your Content Collection, or from a cloud-hosted file service. You can also simply drag-and-drop files into the dotted line to attach them.
Attached files will be copied to your eCampus Content Collection for this course.In the Standard Options section, you can choose whether you want to:
Permit Users to View this Content - select Yes if you want them to see it.
Track Number of Views to see how many times students have clicked on it.
Select Date and Time Restrictions to make this item display only between certain times that you set. The item will not be visible to students outside of the selected date range. If you leave the date and time restrictions blank, the system will display the item immediately, and will not remove it unless you take it down/make it unavailable.
Click Submit to place the item in the Content Area.
Example: Add a file to the content area
The File content type displays only a clickable file link. Many file types can open directly in the eCampus environment: Supported File Types.
Click Build Content > File.
On the Create File page, enter a Name for the file you are sharing (required).
Optionally, choose a color for the Name of this file.
In the Find File area, click to either Browse Local Files from your computer, or Browse Course Files from your eCampus Content Collection.
Select the file and click Open or Submit to insert the file. It will then appear as the Selected File.
If you change your mind, click Select a Different File to pick something else.
In the File Options area, you can choose whether the file will open in a new window, or if you wish to add alignment to the content. Neither is required.
Select the Standard Options as above. Do you want students to see this? Do you want to track how many times it is viewed? Do you want to restrict access to a certain date range?
Click Submit at the bottom to place the file on the page.
Course Organization
Organizing Content
As you create your course in eCampus, keep in mind that topics should be accessed by students in the order they are presented in the syllabus and the order in which you plan to teach them. Just like when you teach an in-person class, you should break down the content into modules, topics, or chapters. It’s also helpful for students if you provide links to the tools that you will use in class, such as discussion boards, calendars, Collaborate meetings/recordings, and the MyGrades tool.
Course Entry Point
Changing the Course Entry Point
You can set a start page that students will see when they enter the course, such as a welcome page or module page with announcements and to-do list. By default, the first page you create will be the course entry point, but you can select any course page as the entry point later. This is also where students will land if they click on the course title above the course menu.
To set the course entry point, navigate to Customization in the course management control panel, and click on Teaching Style. The top section of the Teaching Style page is where you can select from a number of course page layouts. Below, you can choose any existing course page from a drop-down menu to designate it as the course entry point.
Learning Modules
Blackboard Help: Create Learning Modules
A Learning Module is an organized container for course materials that automatically adds a table of contents for the material included. Learning modules allow you to organize your course content as you would in your syllabus...each Learning Module might correspond to a chapter or module in your course. They also permit special options such as forcing the items in the module to be completed in the correct order. Learning Modules are recommended as the highest-level organization for course material - using content folders for each section within a module.
Example: Create a Learning Module
Click Build Content > Learning Module
On the Create Learning Module page, enter a Name for this module (required).
In the Text area, enter a description of this module - what it contains or its purpose. You can include any formatting or images, links, etc. desired.
Choose the Default Content View for this module. Do you want students to see an icon for each content type, only the text name/label, or both?
In the Learning Module Options section, you can specify whether students must view the content in order (the 3rd section will not be available until the student has read the 2nd section). Select Yes if you want to Enforce Sequential Viewing.
Select the Standard Options for the module: do you want users to see this module (yes/no), do you want to track views, and do you want to restrict access to a certain date range?
Finally, in the Table of Contents section, choose whether to Show Table of Contents to Users. The default selection is yes. When students click on the learning module from the main content page, they will see the table of contents for each item/section of the module on the left side of the module screen.
Select the Hierarchy Display for each item in this module - meaning choose whether the topics in this module will be listed and ordered with letters, numbers, Roman numerals, or mixed symbols.
Click Submit to place the new Learning Module on the content page.
Click on the new learning module to begin placing topics and content inside the learning module, using the Build Content, Assessments, Tools, or Partner Content menus to choose things to add.
Add Menu Links
The instructor or course builder can add links to the course menu to help users navigate the course more easily. Tool links can be added to help students find useful items like the journal, send email options, discussion boards, the course calendar, or the My Grades tool.
Example: Add a Tool Link to the Course Menu
Click the Plus sign.
From the drop-down, choose Tool Link.
All new menu items are required to have a Name - give the menu link a name that matches the tool you will select.
Select the tool you are linking to from the Type drop-down menu.
Make sure to check the box to make this link Available to Users.
And click Submit to add the tool link. Click the link to view the tool as it will appear in your course.
Example: Link to MyGrades
Providing a link to the My Grades tool lets students see grades for each assignment and total course grades - which they would otherwise only be able to see from the Report Card feature on the home page.
Click the Plus sign in the course menu area.
Choose to add a Tool Link.
As always, a Name is required - label it My Grades or similar.
Then choose the My Grades tool from the Type drop-down list.
Remember to check the box to make it Available to Users - so the students will be able to see it.
Finally, click Submit to save the new menu item.
Group Management
e-Campus allows you to set up group assignments - like you might in a classroom setting. You can create pre-assigned groups, or allow students to self-enroll in groups they choose. Use groups to have students work together on assigned projects, papers, fun quiz games, discussion groups, or other activities. You will find the Users and Groups tools in the Course Management Control Panel.
Content Collection
Blackboard Help: Content Collection
The Content Collection is a file storage area accessible from all of your eCampus courses. You can use the collection to store content that you want to share for course materials such as assignments, readings, and images. If you have HTML or CSS files that help to structure your course layout, those should also be placed in your Content Collection.
There are some restrictions on file size and total storage space. If you need to share especially large files or media, you can link to content kept in your Google Drive.
Individual files can be no more than 20 megabytes
The collection can hold a maximum of 500 megabytes total per course
The Content Collection is in the Control Panel menu. Your Content Collection is segregated into folders for each course you teach, so you will see a link to a content collection for this course as well as a link to your entire content collection that contains files for All Courses Content. On the Course Content page, You will see a listing of all files and folders already in your content collection. Upload a file to import content or media. You can also upload course packages in ZIP format.
Example: Upload a File to the Content Collection
On the Content Collection>This Course page, click Upload at the top of the page.
Select Upload Files.
Click Choose File to browse to the file’s location. A file is required for this step.
Select the desired file and click Open. The chosen file will display on the upload page.
Review the Options for file uploads. You can lock the file, allow comments, enable versioning, or enable tracking of who accesses the file.
Submit the file to be uploaded.
The imported file will now appear in the Content Collection and will be available to be placed in the course and accessed by all users.
Creating Assessments
Creating a Test | Creating an Assignment
Assessments are indicators of how well students are absorbing the material, but are also helpful feedback and practice for students to retrieve the new information they have learned and put it to use in new contexts. A variety of assessments will help them practice applying the new knowledge to different contexts and situations. You can create many different kinds of assessments in eCampus.
Assignments
You can create several different types of assignments in eCampus that will help determine your students’ level of mastery. These may include self or peer-assessments and multiple third-party tools assignments (Turnitin, Voice Thread, or publisher-created). Each assessment you create in the eCampus course will be added to the Grade Center as a new column and calculated into total grade values for the course.
Example: Create an Assignment
Begin by clicking the Assessments menu in a course content page or learning module.
Choose Assignment.
Provide a Name (title) for the assignment. You can also choose a Color for the title by clicking the drop-down.
In the Instructions text box, give the students instructions on the details of this assignment. You can type directly into the box, or copy/paste from an existing document. Use the many editing tool buttons to format the text, add links, images, formulas, or video content.
Assignment Files: If you wish to attach a file to go with this assignment, either drag and drop the file into the dotted line, or use the buttons to browse for a file from your computer or eCampus content collection.
You will see the attached file appear below the files area.
Click the calendar to set a Due Date for the assignment. eCampus automatically chooses a time of 11:59 pm (the end of the calendar day). You may set a different time if desired.
The due date will be visible to students on the course calendar, and in their To Do list on the eCampus institution page. Assignments turned in after the selected due date will be marked as late in the Grade Center.
In the Grading section, assign the number of Points Possible for this assignment. This will be the total points available for the assignment in the Grade Center column.
Choose other grading options:
Under Submission Details, choose whether the assignment will be submitted as an individual or group project, and the Number of Attempts a student is permitted for this assignment.
Under Grading Options, choose whether student names will be visible to the grader, and whether grading of this assignment will be delegated to another grader (for instance a graduate teaching assistant). If you enable delegation, you will be able to choose a grader and assign them a set of submissions to grade. The course instructor will still need to reconcile the scores for this assignment after an assistant has graded them.
Expand Display of Grades to choose how the grade for this assignment will display in the grade center and My Grades student view.
For the Primary display (in My Grades and the Grade Center), and the Secondary display (which will appear in the Grade Center only), For each view, you can choose whether the grade will appear as a numerical score, a letter grade, a text value, a percentage, or simply complete or incomplete.
You may then select whether this assignment will be Included in Grade Center calculations (totals columns, or other calculated columns). Un-check the box if you do not want this assignment included.
Do you want to this grade to Show to students in My Grades? By default, students will be able to see this assignment in their My Grades view - you can un-check the box to hide the grade from the student view.
Do you want to Show Statistics (average and median grades) for this assignment to students in My Grades? Check the box to allow them to compare their grade to the rest of the class.
In the Availability section, make sure the Make the Assignment Available box is checked to allow students to see the assignment. It will be visible by default, but you can also Limit Availability to a range of dates, if you wish. You can also check the box to select to Track the Number of Views to see how many students have clicked on the assignment.
Click Submit to create the assignment and place it in the content area or learning module. If you have set date/time restrictions, or un-checked the available box, students will not see the new item yet.
Try it out! Turn on Student Preview mode to complete this assignment as a student to make sure it appears as you expected.
Tests, Surveys, and Pools
The Tests Surveys and Pools course tool allows you to generate many kinds of tests, quizzes, and interactive assignments. There are three categories in this tool.
Tests are graded sets of questions in almost any question format that will be scored and added to the Grade Center. Tests must be deployed in a content area before students can access them. Tests in eCampus can also be used as a quiz or graded worksheet - you can set the number of points for any item/question in the test category.
Surveys are not graded. They are useful for gathering information or responses from students about themselves, the course, or anything else. Use a survey as a pre-test to discover students' existing knowledge about a topic or help introduce them to the eCampus format.
Pools are sets of questions that can be pulled into any test you create. Question pools can be reused in multiple tests.
When creating tests or surveys, you can write the questions by creating them directly in eCampus on the test canvas, or you can import questions from a file. eCampus allows you to create many question formats, ranging from multiple choice and multiple answer to essays, calculated formulas, matching, short answer, and more. Find the Tests, Surveys, and Pools functions in your Control Panel > Course Tools menu. You will see a link to separate areas for creating and managing each function.
Tests
Example: Create a Test
In the Tests, Surveys, and Pools course management area, click Tests.
ℹ You can also create a test from a content page in your course, just choose Test from the Assessments menu.On the Tests page, you will see any tests already created for this course, and buttons to build or import a test. Click Build Test to create a test canvas on which you can place questions.
When you create a test, you will need to give the test a Name, identifying what content is covered by this exam (required).
A Description is not required by the system, but can help identify the course content covered by this test.
In the Instructions field, you can provide directions for students about taking the exam, such as specifics about the question format or the length of time permitted.
After entering the basic details, click the Submit button to create the test canvas.
After creating the test canvas, you can now add questions. Click Create Question to select a question type.
ℹ You can also Reuse existing questions in a question pool, or Upload questions that you have saved in a file.Click on the question type (ex: Multiple Choice) from the menu.
Depending on the type of question you selected, you will have different options and fields to complete. All questions can be given a title (for identification purposes).
In the Question Text field, enter the actual test question. You can use the formatting tools to alter the text appearance or include images, formulas, or other content.
In the Options section, choose the type of numbering students will see next to each answer. You can also select a vertical or horizontal layout for the multiple choice answers, allow partial credit, or have the system display the answers in a random order.
In the Answers section, you can set the number of answers students can choose from on this question, and enter text for each answer you will provide.
In each numbered answer text box, enter an answer.
Then, indicate which answer is Correct by clicking the radio button next to that answer.
The Tests tool can provide feedback to the student after they take their exam to tell them why the answer was correct or incorrect. Enter Correct Response Feedback and Incorrect Response Feedback in the fields provided. Students will be able to see the appropriate feedback (depending on their answer) after their exam is complete.
When you have completed the question, with answers, responses, and any notes, you can Submit the question to be added to this test. You will see a Success message indicating the question has been created.
Click in the Points field at the upper right corner of the question to edit the scoring for this question, if desired. Questions default to 10 points.
Continue adding questions to the test canvas. Click the plus icon above or below a question to select a question type and place it in that location on the test, or click Create Question at the top of the page to choose a question type (and place it at the bottom of the page).
Click Create Question > Essay to add an essay question.
In the Question Text field, enter the essay question.
In the Answer field, enter the grading guidelines or criteria for a correct answer. Essay questions cannot be graded by the system, and will require manual grading.
Add a Rubric for grading the answer to this essay question by creating one here, or selecting an existing rubric.
You can choose categories and keywords, and provide instructor notes for anyone who will be grading this question.
When you’re happy with the question, click Submit. Question 2 will now appear on the test.
Review the question and adjust the Points field if needed.
Continue adding questions until complete, and click OK at the bottom of the test canvas page to return to the Tests area.
ℹ The test you’ve created will now sit in the Tests, Surveys, and Pools area of the course until you deploy it to a content area where students can see it.
Deploy a Test
After creating a test in eCampus, it lives in the Tests, Surveys, and Pools area of your course. To make it available to students, you must deploy the test to a content area where they can see it. During this step, you will also set some parameters for how and when it will display, what access restrictions will be applied, how the grade will display, and what feedback students will see (and when).
Example: Deploy a Test
Navigate to the content area in your course where students will take the test.
Under the Assessments menu, click Test.
From the Create Test page, you can either create a new test, or Add an Existing Test. The list will display any tests in the Tests, Surveys, and Pools area of your course that are not already deployed.
Click on the test name from the Select Test Below list.
Click Submit to edit the Test Options that will determine how students see this test.
On the Test Options page, make sure that the test Name and Content Link Description are correct.
Select the checkboxes to choose whether you want to show test description to students before they begin or show instructions to students before they begin.
In the Test Availability section, choose:
Whether to Make available to students. You must select Yes here for students to see and access the test. You might want to leave it not available if you are still setting things up, but you must come back and change this option.
Whether to Add a new announcement for this test. Selecting Yes will send an announcement to students with a link to the test via the eCampus Announcements tool.
Whether students will get Multiple Attempts at completing this test. If selected, you can allow unlimited attempts, or only a certain number…and if selected, which score should be counted by the Grade Center.
Whether to Force Completion. When selected, students must complete the test in one sitting; they cannot stop the test and resume later.
Whether to Set a Timer for this test. You can designate a limited amount of time in which to complete the test, and if so, will the test auto-submit when time expires.
Dates and times when the test will Display (after/until) on the page where students can see it. The default will be to make it available now (when you submit) and to remain available. You can set a date and time for the test to become available to students and disappear from their view.
Whether to set a Password for access to the test.
Whether to Restrict Location by IP address. This option is used primarily for tests that must be taken in a WVU computer lab.
Circumstances or individual educational needs may require that some students receive exemption or exceptions to the availability requirements above. In the Test Availability Exceptions section, you can add individual users or groups you’ve created in this course who will receive different availability limits.
Select a Due Date for the test. If the test is still available after this date, any submissions will be marked Late, unless you check the box to not allow students to start the test if the due date has passed.
Under Self-Assessment Options, the default selection is to Include this test in Grade Center score calculations. You can also choose to Hide results from the instructor and Grade Center, but this option cannot be reversed without deleting prior attempts.
In the Show Test Results and Feedback to Students section, you’ll select when and how much feedback will be shown to students. A tiered approach allows for students to see some details about how they did on the test as soon as they submit, and other details later (after the due date, or after grading is complete).
Finally, select the style of Test Presentation. Should questions appear all at once (scroll down the page to see all questions), or one at a time (one question on the page, click next to proceed) - and whether to prohibit backtracking to already-submitted questions. You can also select a checkbox to Randomize Questions on this test.
When all test options are set, click Submit to deploy the test to the content area. It will be visible on the page to the instructor, and will be visible to students depending on the availability options you chose. If
you selected to send an announcement, it will go out at this time.
Adaptive Release
Blackboard Help: Release Content
eCampus allows the instructor to restrict or permit access to tests or assignments selectively. You can find the adaptive release options by clicking on the deployed test or assignment. Click the drop-down next to a deployed test or assignment in your course to find the Adaptive Release options. Adaptive Release provides options similar to those on the Item creation and Test Options forms, you can set a range of Dates when this item will be available.
Adaptive Release also provides other kinds of permissions, such as group Membership. If students are assigned to group projects, you can provide separate assignment permissions for each group by selecting that here. There are two ways to add students to membership for an assignment. You can select individual students by their Username, or if you have already set up groups for your course, you will see a list of those group names.
An assignment or test can also be restricted based on grades or review status of an eCampus item. If a student must complete a prior assignment with a satisfactory grade before moving on to the next one, or if you want to grant extra credit only to students who received a low score on a quiz, you can set those options in the Grade section. Choose a Grade Center column to use as the determining factor, then set the conditions which permit access. In the Review Status section, you can require that the student has reviewed a particular document or reading before they are permitted access to this assignment or test. Click Browse to choose an item from this course.
Respondus 4.0
An alternative to creating each question in eCampus, is to import an existing test file. The recommended method for uploading an existing exam into e-Campus is to use Respondus 4.0 - a separate application that allows you to get tests both into and out of e-Campus. You can learn more about Respondus and download the application from the IT Help Center: Respondus 4.0 For Instructors page.
Exploring Course Tools
You will find all of the eCampus course tools in the Course Management area of the instructor Control Panel. There are many tools available from Blackboard’s built in tools, WVU’s internally developed tools, and those provided by third-party publishers.
Announcements
The eCampus system allows you to send an announcement to all users who are enrolled in your course at one time - to share important information about upcoming events, schedule changes, or other details. Announcements will show up in the Activity Stream area on the WVU eCampus home page.
Example: Create an Announcement
Click Announcements under Course Tools in your Course Management panel to create an announcement.
On the Announcements page, click Create Announcement.
Enter a Subject (title) for this announcement and select a text color from the selector at the end of the Subject field.
In the Message text box, type or paste in any information you wish to share with students - a new content module is available, a study session is scheduled, class is cancelled. Use the formatting options to edit the presentation of the text.
In the Web Announcement Options section, choose the Duration of this announcement. Choose whether to leave it viewable indefinitely (Not Date Restricted), or make it viewable only between selected dates (Date Restricted).
Also in the Web Announcement Options section, check the Email Announcement box if you would like to send an email to students' WVU Mix email.
You can also link to a page or content area in this course by selecting it in the Course Link Location field. Click the Browse button to choose a page or item in the course.
Click Submit to create the announcement. If not date restricted, it will appear in the Activity Stream of all members of this course on the main WVU eCampus home page, and in the Announcements area inside this course (as well as in email if you chose that option).
Calendar
Blackboard Help: Calendar Tool
The course calendar will display any assignments, exams, or other scheduled events for this course, and for your other courses. Find the calendar under Course Tools > Course Calendar. You can add a Tool Link to the course menu to make it easy for students to find the calendar inside the course. You can view the calendar by day, week, or month by selecting a view icon under the Calendar header. Include calendar items for other courses to which you have access on this view by checking the boxes on the left in the list of calendars.
Click on any calendar event to view more details. Exams or assignments with due dates will appear on the calendar for this course, but you can create an event by just clicking on the date. Enter an event title, start and end date/times, and an event description, then click save to place a new event where all users in this course can see it. Click on the event again to edit the dates or content, or delete the event.
Class Collaborate Ultra
ITS Class Collaborate Ultra for Instructors
Class Collaborate Ultra is a complete classroom video conferencing tool that provides the ability to hold real-time synchronous classes, office hours, meetings, or to record lectures and class meetings for future viewing. It is available in all WVU eCampus courses. Use Class Collaborate Ultra to share many types of notes and presentation materials such as Power Point or other lecture notes, a white board for drawing or typing notes, audio and text chat options, and sharing your computer screen or files.
Discussion Boards
Another eCampus tool you may wish to use in your course is the Discussion Board. This tool allows you to pose a question or discussion topic for students to comment on or respond to. You can even track individual responses and make the discussion a graded assignment.
Example: Create a Discussion Board
Click the Discussion Board link under Control Panel > Course Tools.
Click the course name where you want to add the discussion board. You will see a list of any forums already created for this course.
Click Create Forum to set up the new discussion.
On the Create Forum page, you will first give the forum a Name (required).
In the Description field, enter something about the purpose or topic of this forum.
In the Forum Availability section, choose whether students can see it now (Available: Yes/No), and set any Date and Time Restrictions that you would like to apply.
In the Forum Settings section There are some more specific options you can set for forum behavior such as whether students are required to post before they can view other threads, whether participation will be graded (and how many points are possible), whether students can subscribe to the forum, and what editing privileges are permitted.
Click Submit to create and place the new forum on the course discussion board.
Now that the forum has been created, start a thread to post a question. Click the forum title on the Discussion Board page.
Inside the forum, click Create Thread.
Once again you’ll see a creation page. Enter a Subject for the thread (required).
In the Message field enter a question, writing prompt, or discussion topic for students to respond to.
You also have the option to include a file Attachment with the new thread post.
Click Submit to create the thread.
You will see your thread posted to the forum. Click the thread title to view and respond to the question. Students should see the newly posted forum thread too. You (or your students) can reply to the thread. Any posted replies will appear below the original forum thread post.
ℹ Add a Tool Link to the course menu or to a content page to allow students to access the discussion board or directly to the specific forum.
Course Messages
Sending Course Messages and Email in eCampus
The Course Messages tool in eCampus allows you to send messages to students inside of the eCampus application. You can send messages to an individual or to groups (or the whole class). They will appear in the Messages section of the eCampus home page. The Course Messages page displays your Inbox, and your Sent box - just like an email program.
Example: Send a Course Message
Click Create Message to start a new one.
On the Compose Message screen, you can choose which members of your course will receive the message by selecting them. Click the To button to pick recipients.
A box will open displaying a list of possible recipients. You can select individuals one at a time and move each name into the Recipients box, or choose to Select All to send to your whole class.
After choosing the desired recipients, click the arrow to move them to the Recipients field.
In the Compose Message area, a Subject line is required. Enter a subject.
In the Body field, enter the text of the message you want to send.
Then click Submit when you are satisfied that the message is ready to send.
You will see a success message at the top of the screen. The message will now be visible to the selected recipients on the WVU eCampus home page in their Messages area.
Send Email
Sending Course Messages and Email in eCampus
The Send Email tool can be useful if you need to send messages outside of the eCampus system. This tool sends to each person’s MIX email address, but does not keep a copy - so it’s helpful to send one to yourself, too.
Example: Send an Email to MIX
In the Course Tools menu, select the Send Email tool.
On the Send Email page, you can choose a variety of different groups as recipients. Choose a user group, such as All Users or All Student Users.
The To and From fields in the email will be filled in. Enter a Subject for the email.
In the Message field, enter the text of the message you want to send. You can format the content or copy/paste from a document.
The e-Campus system does not save a record of email messages. Make sure to check the Return Receipt box if you would like a copy of this email sent to you.
Note that you also have an option to include a file Attachment with the email.
When you are ready to send the email message, click the Submit button. A notification will tell you that the email was sent to your selected recipients.
Grading and Evaluation Tools
Grade Center
The Grade Center is the built-in grade book for eCampus, which automatically collects grading information for any assessments that you have created in this course based on the grading detail you provide. The Grade Center tool lets you add or remove assignment columns, or edit the grades as needed. You can even download a copy of the grade center to work with off-line. The Grade Sync feature transfers Grade Center information to the STAR (Banner) system upon request for mid-term and final grading periods.
You will find the Grade Center in the Course Management Control Panel. To view all grades and assignments, choose Full Grade Center. The Full Grade Center displays a list of all students enrolled in the class, their eCampus username, and ID, and the last date on which they accessed the course, as well as the student’s current availability and grade totals. The remaining columns show the student’s score on each assignment or test.
Example: Create a Grade Center Column
Click Create Column at the top of the page.
On the Create Grade Column page, enter a Column Name (required). A separate display name for the Grade Center is optional.
Choose the type of Primay Display and Secondary Display that will be used for this graded item. Select from Score, Letter, Text, Percentage, or Complete/Incomplete.
Enter the number of Points Possible for this column (required).
If you are using a grading rubric for this assignment, you can click Add Rubric to attach one here.
In the Dates section, select a Due Date from the calendar and choose the Time of day when the assignment must be submitted.
In the Options section, make sure you have selected whether to include this column in Grade Center calculations (such as the total grade) and whether to allow students to see this column or statistics about the assignment.
When you’ve entered all the options, click Submit to create the new column. A success message appears at the top of the page, and the new grade column will appear at the end of the existing assignment columns.
You may enter grades for this assignment directly into the Grade Center column if desired. Click in a cell and type a score or grade. The new entry will be saved when you press the Enter key.
Download the Grade Center
The Grade Center tool also allows you to download a copy of the grade information to edit in Excel (or your favorite spreadsheet tool) and then upload your changes.
Example: Download the Grade Center
Click Work Offline in the upper right of the Full Grade Center to download grades.
Click Download.
On the Download Grades page, you will see some options for how you want to download the data. It is advised to leave the default settings for downloading the Full Grade Center and using Tab-delimited column format.
Choose to download the file to your computer or your eCampus content collection.
Then click Submit to compile a downloadable file.
The system will generate a file for download. Click the Download button to save a copy to your selected location.
Depending on your browser, you will see the download appear in a list or pop up, or in your designated folder. Open the downloaded file.
Grade Center data is downloaded in Excel spreadsheet format, using Tab-spacing to determine where each new column begins. Click Yes to allow Excel to open the file.
Make any changes or corrections to the data that are needed. It is advised to make minimal changes using this method.
ℹ You should NOT change the column headings, or add, remove, or change the order of the columns to allow the Grade Center to be able to import the file again.
âš If you use formulas in your spreadsheet to calculate grades, do so in another document, then copy and Paste Values into the grade center spreadsheet. eCampus cannot read the formula - the data must be values only.Save the file with the same name before you upload it to the course again.
Excel will ask you if you want to keep the same format. Click Yes.
Example: Re-Upload Grade Center Changes
In your browser window, go back to the Full Grade Center page, and import the file you edited by clicking Work Offline > Upload.
Click a button to browse for the file on your computer or in your content collection.
Select the file from your computer, then click Open.
The name of the selected file will appear. Leave the Delimiter Type set to Auto, and click Submit to import the data file.
The system will display a confirmation screen, with details about which data has been changed in each column. Review the changes, then click Submit.
You should now see a notification at the top of the page, and the changes you made will appear in the Grade Center view.
Needs Grading
Needs Grading Page in eCampus | Blackboard Help: Needs Grading Page
The Needs Grading page displays a list of any ungraded assignments or tests that require a human grader (cannot be graded by the eCampus system). Any essay questions, written assignments, etc. that do not have discrete answers must be manually graded before the grade for the assessment can be recorded in the Grade Center.
Each item will show the:
Category - is this a test, survey, or assignment?
Item Name - what was the name of this test/assignment?
User Attempt - a link to the gradable item showing the student name
Date Submitted - when the student submitted this attempt
Due Date - the due date set for this item in the options
Instructors can click the User Attempt student name link to view the submission and enter a grade.
📺 View a video tutorial about how to grade items in the Needs Grading page.
GradeSync
📺 View an instructional video about using GradeSync
When you are ready to transfer grades from E-Campus to the STAR system, access Grade Sync in the Course Tools menu. If your course is a for-credit catalog course, you will have options on the GradeSync page to transmit grades to the STAR system. You will first need to prepare your grade center data by creating a final grade column, then transfer the mid-term or final grades with a few clicks.
My Grades Tool
Adding a My Grades Tool Link in eCampus
Students will be able to access the My Grades tool from the main WVU eCampus home page by clicking Grades from the menu. You can also give them access inside your course by creating a link in the course menu or in a content area.
Evaluation and Reporting Tools
The e-Campus system has evaluation tools that let you keep an eye on how students are doing in your course; they can be found under Evaluation in the Control Panel. There are four groups of reports: Course Reports, Performance Dashboard, Retention Center, and SCORM Reports.
Run course reports to view information about course usage and activity. You can view summaries of course usage such as which course areas are used most frequently and course access patterns for specific students.
Performance Dashboard in eCampus
The Performance Dashboard shows all types of user activity in your course and will display all information about each individual's progress and activity.
The Retention Center is a ready to use tool that helps track which students in your courses are at risk. From the Retention Center you are able to communicate with struggling students and help them take immediate action for improvement
SCORM Reports can provide data on student activity in any SCORM packages you have installed in your course, from textbook publishers or elsewhere. SCORM Reports can gather selected users' total time spent, status, and result of a SCORM package.
Packages and Utilities
Exporting and Importing Course Packages
e-Campus allows instructors to keep a complete copy of all course content using the Export/Archive tool to back up your course. The Import tool permits you to upload an entire course worth of content at one go - if you have an archived course you wish to use. You can also import a default set of content areas provided by the eCampus team to help you get started with a new course.
On the Export/Archive Course page, you will see a list of any previous package files created, and options to either Export the content, settings, and tools... or to Archive the course content plus all user records.
Export = content, settings, and tools only
Archive = content plus user records
Default Content
If this is your first course in e-Campus, or you would prefer to start with a ‘baseline’ course structure already in place, you can download and import a default content package from ITS eCampus Support. The default content package includes built-in menu items and content areas for the course Home page, basic information areas you can fill in about the instructor and course, and links to various help and information resources.
Download the template as a zipped file and save to your computer. Once you have downloaded the default content, you can follow the steps to import a package to add the default content to your e-Campus course.
Copy Content
If you would like to reuse content from another course, you can copy the content from one eCampus course to another. Follow the steps on the Copy Course Content instruction page above to copy content from one course to another yourself by exporting the course as a zipped package, or by requesting a course copy from eCampus Support.
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