Student Preview

Student Preview in Original Course View

The Student Preview feature provides faculty a way to see the course exactly how a student would see it. It allows faculty to easily transition into and out of a system-managed preview account that is automatically enrolled in the course as a Student. This provides all the advantages of a "pseudo-student" account while eliminating the need to login twice. The Student Preview provides an efficient way for faculty to confirm the design of their course content from the perspective of a student. It is also useful for confirming course behaviors such as time or date availability, adaptive release criteria, grade weighting, and other course behaviors that control what a student sees in the course or require some particular interaction from the student to be triggered.

Student Preview

To enter Student Preview mode, click the button that is shaped like an eye, next to the Course Themes and Edit Mode buttons, in the upper right corner. While in Student Preview mode, the faculty member can interact with the course as a student, including taking quizzes or tests, submitting assignments, posting to forums, posting to blogs, etc.

Clicking the Student Preview button again exits the preview mode. Upon exit, the faculty member is prompted as to whether the preview student, and all of the data created as the preview student, should be deleted (the default) or kept. If data is kept, the faculty member can view the results of the preview activity, such as by viewing Assignment or Test submissions in the Grade Center. The preview student is clearly identified by the text "_previewuser" appended to the username and last name. Choosing to delete the data unenrolls the preview student from the course (and, if not in use in any other of the faculty member's courses, deletes it from the system). All activity conducted or created as the preview student is removed from the course permanently. This includes attempts, submissions, grades, posts, etc.

Student Preview in Ultra Course View

Status: Available

The Student Preview tool is available in the Details & Actions area in a course using the Ultra Course View. Learn more about Student Preview in the Ultra Course View »

You can access Student Preview using the link in the upper right of the course. Click Student Preview, and then click Start Preview in the pop-up window. This adds a new student to your course that is named Your Name_PreviewUser

access student preview using the link in the upper right of the course

Exit Student Preview mode by clicking the Exit button in the upper right corner. As you exit, you can choose to Save or Discard the student preview user. Saving the preview user allows you to view the results of your actions during your preview session, such as viewing and grading a test submission. Discarding the preview user removes the user and all activity.

exit student preview using the Exit button in the upper right corner

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Tutorials

Quick Guides


Frequently Asked Questions

Is there any way I can see what students will see in my Blackboard course site?

When Edit Mode is off for a course, the view is similar to that of your students. The only exception is that you will see the Control Panel (and they don't) as well as an Edit Mode toggle button in the upper right-hand corner (that they don't see either). Anytime you want to preview a certain portion of your course to see it as your students see it, just click on that link in the course navigation menu.

However, disabling Edit Mode will not allow faculty to interact with all course activities exactly as a student would (for instance, taking a Test); for that, you will want to enable Student Preview.


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Get Help

Technical Support and Student Help

Division of IT Service Desk

815-753-8100
servicedesk@niu.edu

Teaching Support and Faculty Help

Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

815-753-0595
citl@niu.edu

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