Student Preview Mode in Blackboard

Student preview allows instructors to review their course from a student's perspective.  This is helpful if you want to be confident the course is well-designed and fuctioning as expected.  You can also validate course behaviors, such as the conditional release of content and how grades appear.

While in student preview mode, you can do these student activities:

• Submit assignments
• Take tests
• Create blog and discussion posts
• Create journal and wiki entries
• View student tools, such as My Grades

Student preview is different from Edit Mode. While Edit Mode hides your edit controls (the switch for this is next to the Student Preview button on the controls). While Edit Mode hides your edit controls and content under certain conditions, student preview allows you to experience your course as your students will.  (Video from Blackboard)

While in Student Preview mode, an orange bar across the top of the page informs you that "Student Preview mode is ON," with a button at the right end to "Exit Preview." You can perform all course operations as a student, and any restrictions you have placed will be in effect.

This operation creates a student account among the "Users." It is intended primarily for temporary use, so that when you click to "Exit Preview," the default choice is to delete this extra account and all of its data. The next time you enter Student Preview mode, the account will be created again, and so on. If you choose the option to KEEP the Student Preview account, it stays among your Users as an ordinary student, and appears in the Grade Center with your surname and the word Preview.