My Content – Help | EKU Blackboard

What is My Content?

My Content is a Blackboard tool that allows instructors and students to manage & share files and documents in a secure environment.
My Content is completely contained within EKU Blackboard and all of your course and organization sites.
My Content resides on a secure server here at EKU. Backups are done regularly each day so you can rest assured that every precaution is being taken to safeguard your content.
One advantage of using My Content within Blackboard is the fact that you can store a file once into your content folder and easily link it from multiple courses. This can alleviate the need to copy material from course to course each semester since your content will always be there ready to link. Moreover, when you update a file within My Content, it automatically updates in all courses to which it is linked. This should make it easier to keep documents for multiple section courses up to date! Specifically, that little button you have probably wondered about called “Browse for Content Collection Item” now allows you to attach files from the My Content if you don’t want to have to worry about finding the file on your computer or thumb drive!

Why Should I Use My Content?

Store files only once and use them in any number of your Blackboard courses and organizations.
No need to try to email large files back and forth between you and your students.
You can make all of your documents searchable and shareable.
Ensure backup of all of your work.
Update your files easily and/or track changes or versions of them.
Archive your documents and work with your own folder structure that makes sense to you.

Are Policies in Place for My Content?

My Content will be made available to students and the entire EKU community in the near future.
Initial storage quota for instructors will be 75 megabytes. More space can be requested should the need arise by contacting the Helpdesk (859-622-3000).

What Do I Need to Use My Content?

Since EKU Blackboard’s My Content lives completely inside of Blackboard, just log into Blackboard as you normally would. To access My Content, simply click on the ‘My Content’ tab along the top of your Blackboard page.
You are automatically logged into My Content once you’ve logged into Blackboard so there is no need for additional usernames or passwords!
Since My Content lives in Blackboard, it works on both Windows and Macintosh computers!
My Content has the same system requirements (Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3, latest Java client, etc.) as Blackboard, so if you are successfully using Blackboard, you can definitely use My Content!
File names and file types requirements are the same for My Content as they are for Blackboard.

How do I use My Content?

Click on the My Content tab which is located along the top of your window when you log into Blackboard.
Click the double-down arrow next to ‘My Content’ on the left:
You will then want to click on the plus sign next to users where you should see your name appear.
As usual, the user that appears should match your username for Blackboard.
You can now upload files, create folders, or create links!
To Upload a file into My Content, click the Upload File button and you will see:

Simply browse to the file you wish to upload using the Browse button. Under the Options area, you have the choice to enable comments on the file, versioning (creating a new file whenever it is edited can be nice if you want to keep an ‘original’), and tracking to see who edits the file. Once you have selected your options, click the submit button.
The file will then appear in your Content Collection.
If you wish to categorize your files (this helps organize things for certain classes), you can create folders to put those files into…
Clicking the Create Folder button will show you the following:

Just provide a name for the folder (e.g. Chapter 1 Notes) and choose your options. You can designate how much of your quota you want to allow the folder, as well as locking the folder, comments, versioning, tracking, etc. Once you click Submit, your new folder will appear in your Content Collection and you can begin uploading files into it!
To create external links in My Content (if you have particular websites you wish to link for your students), click the Link button and you will see…

The ‘Link Name’ is whatever you want to be displayed when a student sees the link in his/her course. It could be something as simple as Click this link. You then enter the URL (web address) for the link (e.g. http://www.eku.edu). Then you choose your options and click Submit.
So, now you have created content, but what do you do with it?
From the available buttons in your Content Collection, you can bookmark, email, download, copy, move, or delete any of the content you’ve created. All of these buttons are located above and below the listing of all of your content…

You also have some additional options via the double-down arrow next to each individual item:
That’s nice, but what can you do with the content in terms of your courses? USE IT!!
For instance, you want to make one of the documents you’ve placed into My Content available to your students inside of the Course Documents area in your course. Just go to your course, click on the Course Documents button, then click the Create Item Button…choose a name for your document as you normally would, but instead of attaching a file, you can now link this course document to your content document. Click the Browse button next to ‘Link to Content Collection Item” and you will see the following…

This window should look familiar to you…it’s your My Content listing! Just choose the file you want to link and click Submit. Now, you can provide a name for the link and your students will then be able to access that file!
By doing this using My Content, you can use the same file in any number of your courses and only have to browse to one place for them! Best of all, this can be done from completely within Blackboard!

Where Can I Get Help for My Content?

Call our Helpdesk at 859-622-3000 for live support or to request an appointment with one of our Blackboard support staff.
Drop by during one of our drop-in sessions.