This article is part of a series of articles explaining the new features and changes that will be introduced as part of the Blackboard upgrade scheduled for 26-28 July 2013.

Blackboard has had a Calendar tool for many years but it has been of poor quality and we have not recommended its use.  In the latest version it has been overhauled and is now greatly improved so staff may wish to begin using it for some purposes.

Example calendar

The Calendar tool now includes a day, week and month view, as well as the ability to add recurring appointments. Multiple calendars can be overlaid together, meaning a user can see a combined view of their personal calendar and all the modules they teach/study on. Dragging and dropping an appointment will change the dates in the calendar, so be sure you wish to change the dates if you do this.

Due dates that exist in Blackboard sites (such as those for tests, assignments and Grade Centre columns) are added automatically into the calendar.  Similarly, the dates of any Blackboard Collaborate sessions set up on the Blackboard site will appear automatically.

There is an RSS feed at the bottom of the calendar.  This allows you to synchronise this calendar with Outlook or students can do this with their email’s Google Calendar. Currently the calendar tool does not integrate with timetable or assessment scheduler (for in-person assessment submission).  However students can integrate their Google Calendar with their timetable so they may want to integrate the Blackboard calendar with that as well.