Course Messages let you communicate with individuals, groups, or the whole class from inside Blackboard, keeping conversation in one place rather than scattered across personal email. You can send an email copy of a message so students see it in their inbox. Note that students cannot reply by email: a reply has to be made by logging back into the course, so tell students where to respond.

Due dates you set on assessments appear on the course Calendar, which helps students see what is coming. You can also add calendar events for things that are not graded, such as a review session.