If you are new to using Blackboard Learn or Moodle, we encourage you to explore this website, the Student Orientation & Resource Area. It contains tips to help students prepare for their online classes, video tutorials about participating in discussions and more!

This free webinar provides new online students taking online courses an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Blackboard Learn and Moodle Learning Management Systems (LMS). The webinar is a 45-minute long overview of the LMS and answers frequently asked questions that students have about taking an online class at UMass Amherst. The webinars will only be offered on the dates shown on the calendar below, and will be limited to 20 participants per webinar.

Below you will find the topics that are covered in the Intro to Blackboard Learn webinar:

1. Preparing for your Online Course
2. Student Resources- Help Desk Info, Student Orientation & Resource Area, Library, etc. 
3. Corresponding with classmates and instructors

4. Overview of Basic Course Tools (Discussions, Assessments, Assignments)

5. Question and Answer (Q&A)  

    Click here for additional information

   Additional Information 
   

   • Registration closes 24 hours prior to each webinar, so make sure you register early!
   • Once you have completed the registration process, you will receive an email confirmation with a link to the webinar and instructions on how to log into the webinar.
   • Twenty-four hours prior to your webinar's start time, you will receive an additional reminder email.

    Access to the Orientation Webinar  

   • After you have registered for a webinar, you can attend the presentation by clicking on the webinar link that is included in both your confirmation and reminder emails. 
   • This link will direct you to a webinar session that is hosted using Blackboard Collaborate, a video conferencing tool used by students and instructors. 
   • We strongly encourage participants to login at least 5-10 minutes early.

   
   

This free, optional course was developed to introduce students to an online course environment that is structured similar to many other online classes at the university. The course was designed with an important purpose in mind—to ease students' minds about taking online classes through UMass Amherst! If you're a new online student who is interested in gaining familiarity with tools in online classes, connecting with other students new to online learning, and asking questions as the semester gets underway, you've come to the right place! 

This orientation is self-paced so that students have the ability to work on the class on their own schedules. Course facilitators will be answer students' questions and respond to any work that they submit.