Find out what your community thinks.

You can create surveys to gather information from members of your district and school community. You can send the survey by phone or by email.

From the Blackboard Communications HQ interface menu, select Messages > Survey.

Check out how you can add surveys to your mobile app!

Create a survey

You can create a survey that can be sent via phone, email, social media, or through your school mobile app. Question types you can include are numeric value, yes/no, true/false, agreement scale (1-5), multiple choice, multiple choice - all that apply, and freeform (text/audio) responses.

To create a header for the survey explaining the purpose of the questions, set the first question as a yes/no response asking if the person would like to participate in a survey. In a phone survey for example, you can create an audio recording saying, "If you would like to participate in this lunch menu survey, press 1. If not, press 2 and hang up." Your audience will know what they are taking a survey on before deciding whether or not to participate.

  1. From the Blackboard Communications HQ interface menu, select Messages > Survey. A list of previously created surveys will be listed.
  2. To create a new survey, select Add.

    You can create a new survey by copying an existing one. Select the survey and select Copy. Select the copied survey and select Clear Results. Open the survey and make any changes.

    • Select the School for survey or the district for all schools.
    • Type the Survey name to provide a title for the survey.
    • To have the survey completed by a specific calendar event, select This survey will be tied to a calendar.
  3. Select Add Question to begin creating the survey content.
    • Type the question in the text box.
    • Select the appropriate response. Options include: Numeric Value, Yes/No, True/False, Agreement Scale (1-5), Multiple Choice, Multiple Choice - All that Apply, and Freeform (text/audio).
    • For multiple choice answers, type one answer per line for up to ten lines.
    • Select Save when finished with the question.
  4. Add your recording needs for the question:
    • Select the survey question.
    • Select Record Audio/Audio Options to record audio for the survey.
    • Select a method for recording audio.
      • Upload a pre-recorded WAV or AIFF file.
      • Call ParentLink to record your question. Instructions will be displayed.
      • Don't record audio. Just use text-to-speech.
    • Select OK when finished.
    • You will receive a verification of audio. Select Save.
  5. Select Add Question to create more questions.
    • Use the Move Up, Move Down, and Remove buttons to rearrange the survey questions.
    • To preview the survey, select Preview.
  6. Select Save when finished.

When you are finished creating your survey - you can send it to members of your community.

Send a survey

Surveys can be sent by phone, email, your mobile app, or social media (Facebook or Twitter). A link to the survey is sent in the email, mobile app, and social media apps.

  1. From the Blackboard Communications HQ interface menu, select Messages > Send.
  2. From Saved Messages, open the Survey folder.
  3. Select the survey to send.
  4. Complete the message as any other message you send:
    • Select message Recipients.
    • Adjust delivery options as needed and the message in each option.
  5. Select Send when ready.

View survey results

Recipients may respond to surveys through their telephones, or through their user account by responding to an email survey. Results are immediately available for viewing, and are updated as each recipient responds.

  1. From the Blackboard Communications HQ interface menu, select Messages > Survey.
  2. Select the survey to be viewed.
  3. Select View Results to see the results on the screen, or select Export Results to view and save them as an Excel spreadsheet.