How can I see what students will see when viewing my Blackboard course?

On June 3, 2022, we switched from Student View to the Student Preview tool.

The new Student Preview allows instructors to have greater control over the student view functionality and will also work with our Ultra Course pilot.

As an instructor, you can use Student Preview to review the course content and validate the course behaviors, such as those that control the availability of course content or require a particular interaction from the student to be triggered.

With Student Preview, you can experience your course exactly as your students do. While in student preview mode, you can do the following student activities:

  • Submit assignments

  • Take tests

  • Create blog and discussion posts

  • Create journal and wiki entries

  • View student tools, such as My Grades

Student Preview mode is not compatible with the new Turnitin tool.

Instructions

To enter student preview mode

  1. Click on the  Enter Student Preview function, which is located in the top-right corner of your course pages, immediately to the left of the Edit Mode button.

Student preview creates a student account, called the preview user account, logs you in as that student and enrolls you in the current course.

Understanding Student Preview

When you enter student preview mode, the student preview bar appears at the top of every page. The bar displays the text "Student Preview mode is ON" and has Settings and Exit Preview functions.

  • Student preview mode is active only in the courses where you enabled it. You are still an instructor in the rest of Blackboard Learn.

  • The same preview user account will be used when you enter student preview mode in more than one course.

  • Your preview user appears in the course roster and is visible to all students enrolled in the course.

  • If you are teaching a course with another instructor, you will each have your own preview user account.

Student Preview Name

Students and administrators can easily identify this as your preview user account by the way it is named:

  • Its last name is your last name appended with “_PreviewUser”

  • Its username is your username appended with “_previewuser”.

Exiting and Deleting Your Preview User Account

Click Exit Preview to exit the student preview. When you exit the student preview, you are prompted to keep or delete the preview user and all its associated data.

 

  • Delete the Preview User and Data

    • All activity conducted or created as the preview user is removed from the course permanently.

    • The preview user is unenrolled from the course. If the user is not enrolled in another course, the preview user account is deleted.

  • Keep the Preview User and Data

    • If you keep the data, the preview user account will appear in the course roster, Grade Center, and any place where you did something as that user.

    • When you save the preview user account, the dot in the middle of the Enter Student Preview function icon turns green, indicating the preview user account is available for use.