Getting Students to Use Blackboard (or other LMS systems)

I have found that instructors who require their students to take quizzes online through Blackboard have a greater success rate in terms of having students acclimate to using Blackboard in general. Since there is no way to score points on a Blackboard quiz unless they enter Blackboard to take it, they are more likely to learn the skills needed and develop the comfort required to log into Blackboard regularly. If they can take a quiz, they can learn to download a file, view a file or upload an assignment in Blackboard. However, if you only use Blackboard to provide course readings or copies of PowerPoint presentations, your students may not make the effort to learn how to retrieve these pieces of information, and my either rely on a classmate or will try to make do without them. The same is true for submitting assignments. If you only use Blackboard for assignment submission, you may find a number of students will simply email you their work. However, the more value they find in Blackboard (that they cannot access otherwise) the more likely your students will take the time to acclimate to the technology. And once they start to use it, they do get comfortable, and in may cases begin to rely upon and value it.

I know that Blackboard can seem intimidating. Where do you start? I would go to Blackboard On-Demand, where you can watch quick how-to videos and even engage in self-assessment practice activities. Find the skill you want to learn and follow the link to a brief but effective tutorial (e.g. uploading course content, which is under "Understanding and Building Your Course" or creating a rubric, which is under "Assessing Learners").