Bulletin Boards

Tip: For a visual overview of Bulletin boards, check out our feature video.

With Bulletin boards, faculty can post general class information for their students through a variety of media like videos, links, audio, and more. Bulletin boards can be found as part of a class under the Faculty persona.

Tip: For information on the differences between Bulletin boards and Topics, see Bulletin Boards versus Topics.

Before content can be added, faculty members need to create a layout page to hold the information. From the Bulletin board tab in the class, select Enter Edit Mode to create or edit the current Bulletin board layout. Keep in mind that restrictions can be added by admins limiting the roles that can edit these layouts. Consult an administrator at your school to determine which roles can customize these layouts.

Note: Until content or text is added to each section added to the layout, nothing appears on the page.

In order to truly customize your bulletin board, there are a selection of content types that can be added to the selected layout. Here's the selectable list:

  • Announcements: Similar to the Text field. Can be used to let students know about specific things and then expired when it's no longer needed. A timestamp appears on the bulletin board to help students keep track of the newest ones.

  • Audio: Used to hold audio files for students. There's also an option to allow students to download the audio file. Students who select the icon from the bulletin board can listen to the audio file and a counter keeps track of how many people have viewed it.

  • Downloads: Attach files that display as selectable links. These can also be shared with others. Keep in mind that these files can be saved to the computer of the person who's accessing it.

  • Embed: Embed media files from third party sites, such as videos from YouTube.

  • Events: Show a list of upcoming events students should be aware of.

  • Expectations: Add your classroom expectations for students to access and view.

  • Grading rubric: For schools using Rubrics, they can be added through this widget. You have the option of adding a rubric from a local file on your computer or from Google Drive.

  • Links: Add relevant URLs for students to check out. You can also organize links into sub-categories to help keep this widget organized and clean.

  • News: Add customizable news items with an option to send a notification when posted. Add a headline, the author's name, a brief description, and then a long description. You can control whether or not to allow comments, and you can add images or audio if needed. A great tool for also keeping parents and students up to date with what's going on in the class.

  • Photos: Add photo albums that students can look through.

  • RSS Reader: Create an RSS Feed from a specific external RSS source and the number of items to display. This is a great option for bringing in relevant news stories or blog posts regarding the topic you teach.

  • Syllabus: Add a syllabus for students to access and view.

  • Text: Your basic text field. Can hold a title, description, and 2 photos. This is pretty flexible but it works well as a welcome message to the class or bulletin board.

  • Videos: Lets you add videos from your computer. This does not allow videos to be added from internet sources, you need to have the actual video file. Use the Links widget to for internet videos. Like the audio widget, you can enable an option that allows students to download the video file.

    Note: Maximum Audio, Download, and Video file sizes are 1GB.

    Note: You can categorize and sort content items if the content type includes the categorize icon.Categorize icon displays one item with three subcategory items below.

These can be used to stylize your layout for increased readability and ease of use. Entirely optional, you have access to spacers and horizontal lines to help break up sections and distinguish each widget from one another.

  • A horizontal line is good for breaking up longer sections as it adds a black line across the page.

  • A spacer is similar but it leaves a blank space instead of adding any sort of markings or lines.

Each widget is different in terms of the type of information it can hold. When you're inside of edit mode, look for +Add to customize the content that displays on the Bulletin board.

For widgets that already contain content, it can be edited or deleted as needed. In addition, most widgets can be set Active, Expired, or set to be published at a future date.

Content on the bulletin board can be reused from year to year! Select Import Material when editing the bulletin board to reuse most content from past school years.

Warning: You can only reuse content from classes you taught in previous years.

When you're happy with your updates, edits, and changes to the layout, select Publish layout changes. You can also select Publish layout & go to page to go directly to the bulletin board page, or select Cancel to undo everything you've done since your last save.