Introduction

When you enter your course area, you may find multiple course shells listed. If this is your first time in Blackboard, or if it’s been a while, this can be overwhelming at first. This article aims to explain the difference and purpose of the courses you see so, if you’re confused about why you have so many courses listed, you’ve come to the right place!

Let’s begin with understanding what course shells are and why we would use them.

What is a course shell?

A course shell, or shell, is the digital space created for the online organization and presentation of your course content. It’s helpful to think of your shell as a map for learning, not as a storage space. Even fully in-person courses can benefit from using a Blackboard course shell effectively. 

Understanding course names and IDs

While course names are generally straightforward, course IDs contain an lot of important information for faculty and Blackboard Administrators.

Each course IDs may contain up to four components:

TGIF1001-23S-12345-LSQUIRES
CourseCode-Term/Format-CRN-Owner/Version

CourseCode (TGIF1001): This is the four-letter and four number combination that identifies the course it is associated with.

Term/Format (23S or PREPU): Identifies when the course is delivered (for Live courses) or the intended purpose for non-delivery shells.

CRN (12345): A uniquely assigned five-digit number that identifies the specific section. No two courses share a CRN at the same time.

Owner/Version (LSQUIRES or 20230412): An appended identifier to distinguish between two versions of the same course. numerical versions typically reference the creation date, while named owner/versions are often created through an integration process by Banner when two instructors co-teach the same section.

Shell types

Live shells

Name example: S23 Working for the weekend -01, -02,…
Code example: TGIF1001-23S-12345

Live courses are where enrolled students will access and interact with your course content. This is student facing and represents the course section you are teaching.

PREP shells (formerly DEV)

Name example: Working for the weekend (PREP)
Code example: TGIF1001-PREPU-LSQUIRES-03152023

Prep shell (or ‘Preparatory shells') are like staging areas. This is where Faculty can design their courses in preparation for the next live course delivery. For faculty who may be familiar with the previous “Blackboard Original”, “(PREP)” replaces the previously used “(DEV)”. Because Prep shells do not disappear between semesters, best practice is to do all course development and preparations in the prep shell and copy content from here into live courses (for more on copying course, content, view this article).

Note: You may see a shell called Temp Prep (TEMP-PREP-LSQUIRES). These are created as part of Ultra Migration Training and are meant to be replaced with proper Prep course shells when you know what you will be teaching.

Sandbox shells

Name example: Sandbox
Code example: SDBXU-LSQUIRES

Your sandbox is unique among your courses, as there is not intended connection between it and the content you teach. Each instructor is provided with one Sandbox shell, intended to be a safe space to test ideas and try new designs without worrying about impacting their prep or live courses.

Did you know…?

There’s no limit to how many prep shells you have. If you would like to an additional PREP shell, please request one from Move2Ultra@georgiancollege.ca.