Profile Picture in Blackboard

by Jeffrey M. Welch

Just this term, I noticed students started to utilize a recent feature of the Blackboard CMS that had barely registered with me previously.

Suddenly we can see some faces! That is, if you take the time to upload your picture.

At this point, most of us are very familiar with the profile pictures that seem to be everywhere on social media platforms. Some social media features are gradually being moved into Blackboard, and likely other course management systems. This is a great idea since it reminds us that we are dealing with real people here. I teach around 150 college students each year, I have only met a handful of them in person and only occasionally do I even see a picture of them!

It is easy to get disconnected when all our work is with a laptop and we never see the people. We must always combat this.

So if you are using Blackboard in your course, upload your profile picture and let your classmates know a bit more about you. Your course will be better for it.

Check out a screencast for instructions: http://youtu.be/txBw5aGXzpI