Getting Started - Users

Accessing Your Online Courses

Now that you have your account activated, how do you get access to your courses online?

Some things to keep in mind...

• Blackboard courses are requested by instructors, to enhance course communication and collaboration, provide access to course materials, and deliver online assessments. Not all courses use Blackboard. Please check with your instructor to find out if your class will be using Blackboard, and to what extent.

• RAMSS and Blackboard are different systems. RAMSS is used for course enrollments and other registration/administration areas, while Blackboard is used for online components of some courses. Different teams on campus support these systems, and different features are available in each. This support website, for example, is for the use of Blackboard only. Please see the HELP section for info on how to contact the RAMSS Support team.

How do students get access to courses they are enrolled in?

Your instructor first requests a "course shell" (the term we use for the online course component in Blackboard), in which they will set up any features they would like your class to have access to. In order to load the correct students into the course shell, they will provide us with section numbers that identify each group of students. That way, only students registered in that instructor's sections will be added to the course shell - and any that subsequently drop the course will be dropped from the course shell.

*Important: It can take a (business) day or two after you register before you will have access to the associated course shell. If it has been a few days and you still don't see it listed, please contact technical support.

Once the instructor is ready for the students to access the course shell, they will make the course"Available".

You can see a list of online course shells that you currently have access to by logging into the my.ryerson portal, and looking in one of two places:

• In the my.ryerson tab page (the one that opens automatically when you log in), in the Online Courses module.
• In the online courses & organizations tab page, in the Online Courses module.

Where would I find online components for campus groups, or other non-course groups?

In Blackboard, you will also see a list of Organizations, which are very similar to cours shells except they are not course-specific. These can be used for communication and shared resources from your program/school or could even be used for a campus group (provided a staff or faculty member is willing to request one for your group, and maintain responsibility for it).

You can see a list of organization shells that you currently have access to by logging into the my.ryerson portal, and looking in one of two places:

• In the my.ryerson tab page (the one that opens automatically when you log in), in the My Organizations module.
• In the online courses & organizations tab page, in the My Organizations module.