Blackboard Early Warning System

The Blackboard Early Warning System helps professors identify students with performance deficiencies and send customized messages about the problem to those students.

To access the Early Warning System, go to your course in Blackboard, click on Control Panel, and then click on Early Warning System in the Assessment box. There are three types of conditions, or rules, that you can set up to identify students with performance problems. Any of these rules, even multiple instances of the rules, can be employed in the same course.

• Grade: identifies students who fall below a specified grade on an assignment.
• Due date: identifies students who have not turned in an assignment or assessment by the due date.
• Last access: identifies students who have not accessed the course for a specified number of days.

In addition to the rules, the Early Warning System includes these features:

• Sending Messages (notifications). When students meet a condition, you can send a customized message (notification) to students directly — and to additional individuals that you determine should receive the information.
• Notification History. A log is kept of all messages sent to students from within the system. The log is searchable by date, rule type, and user name.
• Performance Dashboard. The Performance Dashboard provides a high-level view of your students’ performance. It is located in the Control Panel’s Assessment box. Here, you can see Early Warning System reports plus up-to-date information on the number of days since last course access, discussion board participation, grades, and other information about each student. If you have run Early Warning System reports, clicking on a value in the Early Warning System column will automatically take you to the Early Warning System and out of the Performance Dashboard.

It is critical to remember that the early warning system does not automatically scan for students failing the specified conditions. It is a manual reporting system. You must go to the Early Warning System, choose the rules you want to view, and click “refresh” to generate the report.

How Professors Can Use the Early Warning System

This system is especially beneficial for large classes. It can streamline the process of identifying students that are having difficulties. Also, the Early Warning System is an efficient way to manage communications with all of the students who meet a rule and with whom you would like to send a customized message.

Watch this video to see how to set up rules for the early warning system.