Adding a Teams Meeting to the Module Menu in Blackboard Original

This helpsheet refers to ‘Approach A’ described in the Scheduling Microsoft Teams in Blackboard Original and Ultra guidance on the Digital Education Resources Hub. Note: this guidance is for Blackboard Original Courses only.

Overview

Approach A involves creating what we used to understand as the ‘Course Room’ in Collaborate Ultra which is an always-open online meeting space that students and staff can join from the left-hand menu of Blackboard as required.

Adding a Meeting to the Module Menu – Step by Step

Step 1 – Schedule a Microsoft Teams Meeting

1. Firstly, in either Microsoft Teams or Microsoft Outlook schedule a Microsoft Teams Meeting.
2. The date and time of this meeting is not important, though you may choose to initially schedule it at the same time as your first online teaching session for the module.
3. Provide a useful title to the meeting, we would recommend [Module Code] – Microsoft Teams Course Room.
4. Save the meeting to complete the scheduling process.

Top Tip: we recommend adjusting the meeting option to only allow those with the link in the University of Lincoln to join the meeting, as shown in the image below.

If you wish to customise the Meeting Options to adjust the experience for staff and students, for example to make use of a waiting room/lobby or to restrict the use of certain features, please see the following guide: Amending the Meeting Options in Microsoft Teams (Resources Hub)

Step 2 – Copy the Join Meeting Link

1. Secondly, simply copy the join meeting link, you can do this by right-clicking on the text ‘Click here to join the meeting’ and then choosing copy.

Step 3 – Add the Link to your Module Menu

1. Finally, navigate to your Blackboard Original Course and click on the plus icon in the top left hand corner of the page.
2. Select Web Link from the options presented. Populate the name as ‘Microsoft Teams Course Room’ (or something similar).
3. Next paste the Join Meeting URL into the box and tick ‘available to users’.

Once you click submit you will now have a link on the left-hand menu of your Blackboard Original Course that students and staff can click whenever required to join an online teaching and learning session that has been timetable for the module.