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Migrating Your Course to CE 6

Process Overview

  1. Submit a Course Request form for a blank course in CE 6.
  2. Prepare your CE 4.1 course for migration.
  3. Export your CE 4.1 course and download the the .zip to your computer.
  4. Import your course into CE 6.
  5. Get familiar with your CE 6 course.
  6. Get your CE 6 course ready for students.
  7. Delete the migration files.

Step 1:  Submit a Course Request Form

The course request form to request a blank CE 6 course is located at http://ce6migration.fiu.edu/ce6.asp  You may submit one or more of your CE 4.1 courses for migration.  Courses that will be taught in the Fall 2007 semester will receive priority for processing, followed by Spring 2008 courses and then Summer 2008 courses.

You will receive an e-mail confirmation when your CE 6 user account and course shell are created.  You will then be able to migrate your course from CE 4.1 to CE 6.

Step 2:  Prepare your CE 4.1 Course for Migration

Before you migrate your course to CE 6, we recommend that for each course, delete any files or content that you do not need to migrate to CE 6.  This will decrease the server space required for your course.

You do not need to reset your course before migration because no student data will be migrated to CE 6 - only course content.

Step 3:  Export your CE 4.1 course.

Use the procedure below to export the contents of your CE 4.1 course into a content package for importing in CE 6.

  • In your CE 4.1 course, click Control Panel. The Control Panel appears.
  • On the Control Panel, click Manage Course.  The Manage Course screen appears.
  • Click Export Content.  The Export Content screen appears

  • Under Select Content to Export, select Export Course. 
  • Click Continue.  The Export Content screen appears and the export process begins.  Depending upon the complexity and size of your course, this could take several minutes to complete.

NOTE: You may see some messages on the screen while your course is being processed for export.  If these messages include warnings, you should print the page, as the information may help you identify issues in your migrated course.

  • You will receive a confirmation message telling you the export was completed.  A .zip file for the course is created and exported to the My-Files folder in the Manage Files area of your course.  As shown in the illustration below, the file name of this content package is in the format <course_ID>COURSE_yyyymmddhhmmss.zip (yyyymmddhhmmss is the date and time the content package was created).

This .zip file can only be imported in a CE 6 course - it cannot be opened on your computer with WinZIP or the ZIP utility in Windows XP.

NOTE1:  If your CE 4.1 course uses an e-Pack, the file created may have the format .epk, not .zip.  Both formats will import successfully into CE 6.

NOTE2:  The course migration .zip file looks a little like a CE 4.1 course backup file, as the formats are similar.  However, the course migration file has the word COURSE in capital letters in the file name.

  • From the My-Files folder, download the .zip file and save it to your computer.
  • After you have downloaded the course migration file, DELETE the file from the My Files folder in your CE 4.1 course to save space.

Step 4:  Import your course into CE 6.

Once you have exported your CE 4.1 course to a .zip content package and the CE 6 administrator has notified you that your course shell has been created in CE 6, you can import the content package into your CE 6 course and begin preparing the course for students.

  • Go to the CE 6 server https://online6.fiu.edu/webct/logonDisplay.dowebct.  The Entry Page appears.
  • Click Log in.  The Log In screen appears.
  • Enter the user name and password given to you by the CE 6 administrator and click O.K.  The My Blackboard screen appears.  In the Course List channel, you should see the course into which you want to import the content package.
  • Click on the course title to go into the course.  The first time you enter your CE 6 course, the Assign Course Content screen appears.

NOTE:  If you have previously entered the course, the Course Entry screen appears instead of the Assign Course Content screen.  In that case, under Designer Tools, click Manage Course and then click Import.

  • On the Assign Course Content screen, select Import Content from File and click Continue.  The Content Browser pop-up window appears.

  • Click the My Computer icon, browse to locate the .zip file on your computer, and upload the file to the My Files folder.

  • Select the zip file and click OK.  The Content Import in Progress screen appears, listing the details of the import taking place.  Depending upon the complexity and size of your course, this could take several minutes to complete.

  •  After the import finishes, click View Import Log.  The Import Log pop-up window appears.

  • Click Close.
  • Click Return.

Step 5:  Get familiar with your CE 6 course.

Your first task following the migration of your course is to take a good look at what CE 6 did with your course!

  • Go to the Home Page of your course.  You will see a link to a Course Content Import Log that includes the date and time of import in the title.  Follow the instructions to view the log.  This log is a guide to what happened to the content and tools in your CE 4.1 course when it migrated to CE 6.  You may want to print this document.

 

  • See the Course Migration Guide for a preview of what will happen to your course in the migration.  Note that only course content is migrated -  not student-generated content or activity such as grades, discussions, course mail, completed quizzes and assignments.

Step 6:  Delete the migration files.

When you have successfully migrated your course, delete the migration .zip file from your CE 4 course, if you haven't already, from the new CE 6 course My Files area, and from wherever you saved the file on your computer.  This file is not a CE 4.1 back-up file and does not need to be retained after you migrate the course.  (Your CE 4.1 course was backed up in the CE 4.1 format the last semester you taught the course and is being archived offsite as required by the State of Florida.)

Step 7:  Get your CE 6 course ready for students.

After you migrate your course, you will need to get your CE 6 course ready for students.  Getting ready to teach your course will involve both cleaning up after the migration and enhancing your course with the new features available in CE 6.

Cleaning up After the Migration
Some courses migrate "cleaner" than others, depending on the specific tools and content in your course.  You will need to perform a number of steps to thoroughly check out your course:

  • Familiarize yourself with your CE 6 course layout and navigation.  View your course from the Build, Teach and Student View tabs.
  • Consult the Course Migration Guide as you review your migrated course.  The guide will familiarize you with CE 6 terminology and icons and help you understand how your course migrated.
  • View the Content Import Log created during migration to find out where specific course content from your CE 4.1 course appears in your CE 6 course.  You may need to clean up some anomalies resulting from the differences between CE 4.1 and CE 6.  NOTE:  We can help you with this in a Drop-In Lab Session.
  • From the Student Tab, check all links in your course to make sure they are functioning.

Enhancing Your Course
Reflect on the ways you used CE 4.1.  What worked?  What didn't work?  What do you wish you could improve in your course? To enhance your course with new functionality, consider these new CE 6 features:

  • Use the Announcements tool to deliver important information to students
  • Add four new question types to quizzes, surveys and self tests:  combination multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, jumbled sentence, and true-false.
  • Group Manager:  use sign-up sheets for students to self-select their group projects.
  • Add individual assessments, assignments, chat rooms, discussion topics, Media Library collections, and web links to learning modules.

These are just a few of the new tools for faculty and students in CE 6.  For a more complete description of the new and improved features of CE 6, see What's New in CE 6. 

You can learn to use the new features by attending an Migration Information Session or by taking online or face-to-face CE 6 workshops.  Visit our training registration site to to see the schedule of training opportunities.