Open Your Course in Blackboard

All courses are automatically opened (made available to students) on their start date. If you'd like to allow students to access your course before the start date, you can open it from the Courses page. Many faculty members will open their courses early to help their students prepare for the term.

Note that the screenshots for this article reflect the list of courses displayed in Grid View. The steps are the same but will look different if the list of courses is displayed in List View.

To open your course, follow these steps:

1. Log in to Blackboard and navigate to the Courses page from the main left menu.
   
   
   
   
2. Note whether your course is Private (not available to students). If your course is Private, you'll see the word Private and a locked padlock icon on your listed course. If your course is not marked Private, it is already open (available) to students and there is nothing more you need to to.
   
   
   
   
3. If your course is set to Private, to Open your course and make it available to students, click the More Options menu (ellipsis) on the right side of your listed course. Note: Your cursor needs to be on the course for the ellipsis to show.
   
   
   
   
4. From More Options, select Open Course.
   
   
   
   
5. You'll then receive a message asking you if you want to allow student access to the course. Click Open to Students if you want to open the course and make it available to your students. If you do not want to open the course at this time, click Cancel.
   
   
   
   
6. Once you open your course, you'll no longer see the word Private or the locked padlocked icon displayed on your course listing.