Genius CE & Enterprise and Blackboard Learn

How the Integration Works

When a Genius CE or Enterprise instance is utilized in conjunction with a Blackboard Learn instance, Genius CE and Enterprise essentially assume control over the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS). This operational dynamic positions Genius CE and Enterprise as the primary 'system of authority.' Consequently, the majority of data and information is transmitted from Genius CE and Enterprise to Blackboard, whereby Blackboard Learn adheres to the directives issued by Genius CE and Enterprise over time.

These directives encompass a variety of commands, such as "create a new learner," "create a new course," "enroll this learner into this course," and "drop this learner from this course." Generally speaking, entities such as learners, instructors, sections, and enrollments are transferred from Genius CE and Enterprise to Blackboard. As you create these entities within our system, it will automatically handle the necessary 'housekeeping' tasks by generating these objects in the LMS without requiring you to duplicate your efforts by creating them in Blackboard.

• The only information that flows from the Blackboard LMS back to Genius CE and Enterprise consists of:
  • Activity, grades, and completion data. This means that if you create learners, sections, and enrollments directly within Blackboard, Genius CE and Enterprise will not recognize these objects, and you will not be able to manage them within Genius CE or Enterprise.

Best Practices for the Integration

To ensure a seamless experience when using your Genius CE or Enterprise instance integrated with a Blackboard instance, we encourage you to adhere to the following recommendations:

Do:

• Create all of your learners exclusively within Genius CE or Enterprise. This can be accomplished using the self-service tools available in Genius CE and Enterprise, or through the bulk creation tools provided for your convenience.
• Create all of your instructors exclusively within Genius CE or Enterprise. Both platforms offer a variety of tools that assist you in creating instructors, whether individually or in bulk, ensuring that the process is efficient and effective.
• Establish the associations between instructors and sections solely within Genius CE or Enterprise. While you can assign instructors to courses in Blackboard, this information will remain invisible to Genius CE or Enterprise. It will not appear in the Genius CE or Enterprise Course Catalog, or the Reports and Dashboards available on our platform.
• You may create course templates in Blackboard and subsequently utilize the Template LMS ID fields at the course level to link Genius CE or Enterprise back to that specific object when you are creating Sections.
• To minimize confusion, we recommend creating your sections within Genius CE or Enterprise. If you have designated a Template LMS ID for the courses that serve as the foundation for your sections, Genius CE or Enterprise will manage Blackboard and generate copies of those templates that your learners can enroll in.
• Finally, you must create and modify all of your enrollments exclusively within Genius CE or Enterprise. This is arguably the most important recommendation. Enrollments created in Blackboard cannot be easily replicated in Genius CE, which could result in significant rework for you and your team.

Don't:

• Create enrollments directly in Blackboard. Any enrollments established in Blackboard that are not in Genius CE or Enterprise are invisible to Genius CE or Enterprise. The only way to resolve this issue is to delete those enrollments in Blackboard and recreate them in Genius CE or Enterprise. Given that enrollments tend to be numerous (as one learner typically has multiple enrollments across various courses), it is essential to avoid this situation.
• Modify enrollments directly in Blackboard. This includes actions such as dropping learners from courses or marking them as Unavailable in a particular course within Blackboard. Any changes made to an enrollment in Blackboard will be invisible to Genius CE or Enterprise, which can quickly lead to discrepancies and frustrations as the two systems become 'out of sync.'

While instructors, learners, and sections created directly in Blackboard can be 'synced' with their corresponding objects in Genius CE or Enterprise by following the troubleshooting instructions outlined below, it is advisable to adhere to the recommendations provided above to prevent such scenarios from occurring.

Troubleshooting

There are several actions you can take to restore synchronization between the two systems.

Learners and Instructors Out of Sync

If you create learners in Blackboard, Genius CE, or Enterprise, they will not recognize these learners. Consequently, they will not appear in the lists and rosters generated by Genius CE or Enterprise, and you will be unable to enroll those learners in courses through Genius CE or Enterprise.

Nevertheless, you can restore synchronization between the two systems by creating those learners in Genius CE or Enterprise using the same username that they have in Blackboard. Once this is accomplished, any actions you take involving those learners in Genius CE or Enterprise will be directed to the original object in Blackboard.

The same principle applies to instructors; you can recreate any instructors that have gone out of sync in Genius CE or Enterprise, and then utilize the tools in Genius CE or Enterprise to assign those users to sections as necessary.

Sections Out of Sync

If you wish to link Genius CE or Enterprise to an existing Course object in Blackboard, you can use the LMS ID field at the Section level to direct Genius CE or Enterprise to the existing course in Blackboard. This action should restore synchronization between both systems and enable you to manage that Section in Blackboard using the course and section management tools available in Genius CE or Enterprise.

Enrollments Out of Sync

A common indication that your enrollments have become unsynchronized is the absence of enrollments created in Genius CE or Enterprise appearing in Blackboard. You can confirm this by logging in as one of the learners you recently enrolled in a course and attempting to access the course in which you just enrolled them.