Blackboard (Faculty) - Merge Course Shells: Request to Merge Course Shells
This document provides an overview of how to request to merge course shells.
Request to Merge Course Shells
- Fill out the Request to Merge Course Shells form.
- The child shells are the source for the student enrollment.
- You will not see the child shells in Blackboard Ultra. If you have materials in the course shell, export that before you request the merged shell. If you have already merged the course shells, contact IDLT at bbhelp@siue.edu for assistance.
- All work must be added to the parent shell and not the child shells.
Merge Shell vs. One Shell for Each Section
When should you merge course shells and when should you leave each section in an individual course shell?
Merged Shell Benefits
- Merged shells allow you to upload content once, and all course sections will see it. This is beneficial when you make frequent changes or additions to your course.
- One location to access all students. You would send one email or announcement and all sections would receive it, rather than composing an email or an announcement for each section.
Merged Shell Drawbacks
- Large Grade Centers - students from all courses are listed alphabetically and not by course section. This can be resolved by creating a Smart View for each section. See the KnowledgeBase article for Smart Views for more information.
- Discussion boards can be complicated and overwhelming with a large amount of students participating. Setting up sections in Groups can help overcome the magnitude of the postings. See the knowledge base article for Groups for more information.
- Organizing tests or assignment due dates can get complicated if sections meet at different times.
- You will not see the child shells in Blackboard Ultra.
Individual Shell Benefits
- Smaller amounts of students for discussion boards and projects.
- Assigning specific due dates for assignments and tests based on individual course sections.
Individual Shell Drawbacks
- All work must be duplicated across the section's shells. Every change or update must be repeated within each course shell.
- Must access each section's shell to post announcements, emails, grades, etc.