When My Blackboard Courses Are Not in Alpha Order

Here’s a problem you may encounter using Blackboard CE 6.1.1 and the explanation. First, JCCC’s installation of Blackboard operates in an integrated environment with SunGard Banner and Luminus.

When we initially import all courses into Blackboard from an XML export from SunGard Banner (as occurrs for each new semester), the courses are initially listed in alphabetical order on the My Blackboard screen. However, as new courses are added in Banner and those transactions are sent to Blackboard; new course shells are added to the appropriate instructor’s My Blackboard screen. Those new additions are then appended to the end of the list...not in the alpha sequence. We reported this problem to Blackboard and their response was:

“[The courses] are not in alphabetical order because you are allowing students to order the courses how they want to. I tested switching this [setting] to false and the courses go back [in]to alphabetical order.”

In essence, if you enable the ability to Hide courses on the My Blackboard screen (this is a server wide setting), that feature is coupled with the ability to enable the user to reorder courses on the My Blackboard screen. In Blackboard’s “eyes” the two are linked.

We’ve submitted a feature enhancement request that students and faculty be enabled to hide courses but still automatically order the courses on the My Blackboard screen in alpha order.

In the meantime, here is a work-around: Once you select the pencil icon in the upper right corner of the My Blackboard screen (which displays the screen where you can hide and re-order courses in your list), you can scroll to the bottom of the page and locate a "Restore Default" button. If you select that button, Blackboard will automatically re-sort the entire list into alphabetical order. The new additions added at the bottom will show up in proper alphabetical order again.

However, using the “Restore Default” button also causes any hidden courses to become unhidden. If the user wishes to hide them again, they must repeat the "hide" process, but at least all courses are again in alpha order.