Before you begin using Blackboard to create your web course, you should plan how you are going to present information to your students in Blackboard.

When you write your syllabus, you plan which concepts you are going to cover, which readings and assignments you will use and the order in which you will present the material. Putting all of the that information online introduces a new twist to the planning process. When you build a website, you also need to develop a site map. A site map is a guide to how your site is structured. Like a traditional map, it shows where each page is located and how to get from place to place.

In Blackboard, you have some control over how your students discover material. As a result, you need to plan how students will move through the website. Which page will link to which? Will they have to go through one page to get to another? You may find it helpful to create a flowchart or storyboard to help to visualize how the web course will flow and appear.

A flowchart is a diagram that shows the step-by-step progression of your web page or site.

A storyboard provides a pictorial representation of every page in a web site, oftentimes showing in detail all of the design elements included on the page.

Your Turn: Make a Site Map

Sit down with pen and paper and sketch out a plan for your site. You can use either the flowchart or storyboard method. The goal is to develop a plan for how you will structure your site.