Copy Courses

Course copy options

Copy Course Materials into a New Course: Copying course materials into a new course creates a course in the system and populates it with content from a course already in the system. The course menu specified in the source course will replace the default menu in the new course.

Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course: Copying course materials into an existing course will add content to a course, but it won't remove existing content. You can only copy materials into a course if you have the role of instructor, teaching assistant (TA), or course builder.

Copy Course with Users (Exact Copy): Copy user records, such as grades and discussion posts, to the new course. Everything in the course is copied to the new course exactly as it appears in the existing course. For multiple sections, you can perform an exact copy, and then unenroll specific students to create two sections of the same course.

Attendance data

Attendance data isn't included when you copy a course into a new or existing course. The attendance option is removed from the copy options.

Attendance data is included in an exact course copy.

More on attendance and course copying

Copy a course

1. Access the course you want to copy.
2. On the Control Panel, expand the Packages and Utilities section and select Course Copy.
3. Select the appropriate option:
   • Copy Course Materials into a New Course
   • Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course
   • Copy Course with Users (Exact Copy)
4. In the Destination Course ID box, type a course ID for the new course that will be created and populated with content from the current course. Make sure that the new course ID matches the naming convention used at your institution. The course ID can't include spaces or characters other than numbers and letters (A-Z), dash (-), underscore (_), and period (.). The course ID must be unique and remain static. After you create the copied course, you can't edit the course ID.

5. If you chose Copy Course Materials into a New Course or Copy Materials into an Existing Course, select the course materials that you want to copy over.

   A course copy operation can't be completed if you don't select at least one of these areas: Content, Contacts, or Settings. If you don't select one, a warning appears and Blackboard Learn can't create a new course.

6. In the File Attachments section, select the option to copy links to:
   • Copy Links to Course Files: No copies of linked files are included in the copy. The copied course will have the same set of links. Those links will point back to the original location of the link defined in the origin course.
   • Copy links and copies of the content: Makes copies of the referenced links, not the actual files. This option excludes copying any files that are attached and not linked. 

   • Copy links and copies of the content (include entire course home folder): Make copies of all files in the course's home folder regardless of whether those files are linked to course content.

     You need manage permission on an item to include copies of those files. If you don't have this permission, you may be missing some files after the copy.

7. Select the Folder for Content Collection Files, if applicable.
8. Select Enrollments to copy the list of users in the course. User records, such as discussion activity and grades won't be copied. User records are only copied if you select the Copy Course with Users (Exact Copy) option.
9. Select Submit.

Behavior of copied materials

When you copy, the course availability of the source course is applied to the destination course. If the destination course's availability is set to unavailable, but the original course is available, the destination course's availability is changed.

When you copy course materials, these occur:

• Content: Course materials, including uploaded files, learning modules, and links are copied. Course information, course documents, assignments, and URLs are optional.

  Assignments created inside lesson plans won't copy properly. Be sure to add your assignments separately so that everything is correct.

• Announcements: All announcements are copied.
• Tests, Surveys, and Pools: All tests and surveys, including questions and options for deploying them are copied. All pools are copied.
• Calendar: All calendar items are copied to the new course.
• Dates: Course item and tool dates don't change. To learn how to quickly adjust dates, see Date Management.
• Discussion Board: Include starter posts for each thread in each forum (anonymously) or include only forums with no started posts in the course copy.
• Grade Center Items and Settings: Items in the Grade Center and their settings such as type, categories, and display options are copied.
• Group Settings: Settings include the names of the groups, the settings for tool availability, and the discussion forum names.
• Contacts: All contacts are copied.
• Course Settings: If selected, these settings are copied:
  • Course Name
  • Course Description
  • Course Entry Point
  • Course Design
  • Course Banner
  • Blackboard Tools
  • Building Block Tools
  • Content Tools
  • Course ID
  • Course Availability
  • Guest Access
  • Observer Access
  • Course Duration
  • Enrollment Options
• Links: Links to parts of a course that aren't included in the copy will break when the links appear in the destination course. For example, if a link to a test appears in a content area and you choose not to copy tests, the link to the test will break.
• Content Areas: Content from content areas appearing on the course menu that have the same name in each course will be added in the same content area. Nothing is removed from the destination course and replaced with content from the source course.
• Enrollments: If selected, the list of users in the course is copied. User records, such as discussion activity and grades aren't copied. User records are copied only if you select the Copy Course with Users (Exact Copy) option.

• Delegated grading: Graders and settings are carried over to the new course when you use these:

  • Copy Course with Users (Exact Copy).
  • Copy Course Materials into a New Course and select the check box for Include Enrollments in the Copy.
  • Archive/restore, as users and their settings are part of an archived course.

  Delegated Grading Setting Without Enrollments

  When you copy a course without enrollments into a new course, the delegated setting is brought over as enabled for all existing delegated grading assignments. The instructor who copies the course is set to grade all submissions and reconcile grades.

  When you copy or import a course without enrollments into an existing course, the delegated setting is brought over as enabled for all existing delegated grading assignments. All current users who can reconcile are also set to grade all submissions.

Resolving copied course items

When you content and tools from one course to an existing course, the course menu must resolve itself in the destination course.