Copying a Course

In order to copy materials between courses, the faculty member must be an Instructor in both courses, the source (where the original materials resides) and the destination (the course into which the materials will be copied). Learn more about Course Copy.

Original Course View

Blackboard offers two ways to copy materials from course to course, both through the Control Panel. Entire sections of a course can be copied using the Course Copy feature, while individual documents or folders can be copied from the Action Link menu next to the item in the Course Content area.

Ultra Course View

In the Ultra Course View, you copy content by pulling it into the course that you are building. You can copy an entire course, portions of a course, or a single item. You can copy between two Ultra Courses, from an Original Course, and from within the same course.

To start copying content, either click the three dots (...) in the upper right above the course content or click the plus icon (+) wherever you would like the content to be added. Choose Copy Content from the menu and use the side panel to find and select the content to be copied.

Yes, you can do this in both the Original and Ultra Course View.

Original Course View

To copy individual folders or files:

1. Click the round drop-down arrow next to the folder or file to be copied, and choose either Copy or Move from the menu
   Note: Copy makes a duplicate of the item; Move removes the item from the original location
2. Select the Destination Course from the drop-down menu
3. Click the Browse button and select the folder for the copied item
4. Click the Submit button

You cannot copy individual Tests or Assignments between two Original Courses.

Ultra Course View

You can copy individual content items or assessments from courses in either the Original or Ultra Course View. To start copying content, either click the three dots (...) in the upper right above the course content or click the plus icon (+) wherever you would like the content to be added. Choose Copy Content from the menu and use the side panel to find and select the content to be copied.

Yes, but you must be listed as an Instructor in both the Source and Destination courses.

Yes, but with significant differences between the Original and Ultra Course View

Original Course View

You can copy tests between courses if you use Course Copy, and you copy Tests, Surveys and Pools, the Content Area the test is deployed in, and the Grade Center Columns and Settings.  

Note:  It is important that all three of the options be selected during the Course Copy process.

Another option is to export the test from the course you created it in and then import the test into the second course. The test must then be redeployed in the second course. 

To export a test, go to the Control Panel > Course Tools > Tests, Surveys, and Pools > Tests. Then click the action link (the round down arrow) next to the test you created. From the menu, select Export to Local Computer. Save the exported file to your computer.  It will be a .zip file. Do not make any changes to the zip file.

In the second course, follow the same path to navigate to the Test manager. Click the Import Test button and find the file on your computer. Once the test has been Imported, you can deploy the test and set the options.

IMPORTANT - If you want the quizzes to also be deployed automatically (ie: available to students) in your new course, when performing the copy, you also need to copy whatever Content Areas that the deployed quizzes reside in as well as the Grade Center Columns and Settings to ensure that the quizzes are deployed in the desired Content Areas in your new course. Otherwise, if you just copy the "Tests, Surveys, and Pools" you'll simply need to re-deploy each quiz to the desired Content Area after you make whatever modifications you need.

Ultra Course View

You can copy individual tests into an Ultra Course from both Original and Ultra Courses by using the Course Copy feature. Blackboard will copy the test and the Gradebook column.

To start copying content, either click the three dots (...) in the upper right above the course content or click the plus icon (+) wherever you would like the content to be added. Choose Copy Content from the menu and use the side panel to find and select the content to be copied.

Original Course View

Yes. Adaptive release criteria general to the course content can be copied to another course. Criteria that are specific to the enrollment of a particular section will not be captured if the enrollments are not copied with the content. User-specific adaptive release rules must be re-established in the destination course after being copied.

Because Assignments are tied to the Grade Center, in order for Assignments to successfully copy it is necessary to select both the Content Area the assignment is in and Grade Center Columns and Settings when performing a Course Copy.

Note that this does not happen in the Ultra Course View. Copying an Assignment or Test between courses will automatically copy the Gradebook column associated with that item.

Blackboard Collaborate sessions/recordings do not get copied over during a Course Copy. Instead, we recommend downloading the recordings and uploading them to Kaltura. Collaborate recordings are only retained for 6 months prior to being deleted from the system, so reusing Collaborate recordings is not a long-term approach to sharing content. 

To download a recording:

1. Access Blackboard Collaborate in a course
2. Click to open the menu (three parallel lines in the upper left, above the course room)
3. Click Recordings
4. Find the appropriate recording by using the Filter by options on the right to view recent recordings (from the last 30 days) or recordings in a date range
5. Click the Recording Menu at the far right (three dots in a circle) and select Download

The recording will automatically download to your computer in an .mp4 format. You can then upload the video file to Kaltura (if you will be reusing it for subsequent courses) or to Microsoft OneDrive (if you are retaining it for archival purposes but will not be playing it frequently).