Blackboard Updates, Fall Courses, and Training

• Fall Course Shells: Fall course shells have been created and instructors enrolled. If you are planning to course copy content from a previous semester into your fall course area, you need to review these updated instructions on the course copy process. DO NOT assume that you can figure this out. Review this handout first. https://docs.google.com/a/email.vccs.edu/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZW1haWwudmNjcy5lZHV8c291dGhzaWRlLWluZm9ybWF0aW9uLXRlY2hub2xvZ3ktc2l0ZXxneDoyODNiNGUxNDc1Zjg1MGQ2
  
  
• Student Enrollments in Fall Courses: Students will not be enrolled until the day before the Fall session begins, and they will be enrolled for all cyber, hybrid, and seated courses. You should not be enrolling any students manually. Remember that Blackboard and Student Information are now linked.
  
  
• Fall Course Availability: When your course areas were set-up, they were set as "unavailable" to students. You will have to make it available when your session is ready to begin. Here is the handout on modifying course availability. https://docs.google.com/a/email.vccs.edu/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZW1haWwudmNjcy5lZHV8c291dGhzaWRlLWluZm9ybWF0aW9uLXRlY2hub2xvZ3ktc2l0ZXxneDo0MDdhMzQ4ZjQ5YjIxZjNl
  
  
• Spring 2010 Course Availability: Did you make your Spring 10 course areas unavailable in Blackboard at the end of the last semester? If not, please do so ASAP. If you have students with incompletes, I can help with this. Put in an Issuetrak ticket with the course information (ex. HIS 102 K6) and identify the students who need to retain access. (See handout linked above on how to modify course availability if needed.)
  
  
• Blackboard 9 Tips and Workarounds: I have been developing a list of Blackboard 9 tips and workarounds for problems, and I will continue to add to this list as new issues arise. Please review the information carefully at this link!! Bookmark this link and check back to it periodically and if you encounter a problem. http://svtechtime.blogspot.com/2010/06/blackboard-9-issues-tips-and-work.html
  
  
• Blackboard 9 Training Materials: Don't forget that there are many handouts and tutorials that have already been created on using Blackboard. Ashley Leslie and I will continue to add to this. (Recently Added: Collecting and Viewing Discussion Board Threads and Replies, Enabling and Utilizing Grade Forum in the Discussion Board, Listing User in Blackboard, Enrolling your Student User Account in your Course) https://sites.google.com/a/email.vccs.edu/southside-information-technology-site/blackboard-1/blackboard-training/blackboard-9-training-materials
  
  
• Student Online Learning Workshop: We have scheduled new online learning workshops for students on both campuses, and the information has been posted on the college website and emailed to students. Please promote these with your students. We have not had a great turnout for these in the past. Here is the link to information on these workshops with dates and times, locations, and an online registration form. http://southside.edu/academics/disted/studenttraining.asp
  
  
• Grade Center Training: Instructor training workshops have been scheduled that will focus on the Grade Center in Blackboard. A two-hour "Back to the Basics" session has been scheduled on each campus. This will be geared towards those who have not used the Grade Center before or feel they need a refresher of the basics. A one-hour session has also been scheduled on each campus that will look at what's new with the Grade Center in Blackboard 9 and will look at clean-up from one semester to the next. This is geared for those of you who have been using the Grade Center, but would like some assistance with looking at the changes from version 8 to 9. This would also be good for those instructors who would like some pointers on what needs to be done to their Grade Center at the start of a session. Go to the website linked here to see the dates, times, and locations for each session and to sign-up to attend. If you register, make sure that you know your user name and password to login to your MySVCC page prior to attending the training session. If you have not logged in to your MySVCC page or to Blackboard in a while, try to do so at at least a few days before the workshop. There will be a hands-on component to each workshop, and logging in issues should be resolved before the workshops. https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=p5OCzAypDL_96xU_szEzWSA

Attachments Not Opening in Internet Explorer 8

ATTACHMENTS NOT OPENING WITH IE8 – There is a known issue between Blackboard 9, Internet Explorer 8 and Microsoft Office files (.doc, .docx, etc.) that results in users not being able to click to open attachments in Blackboard. This impacts file attachments to content areas, files attached to the grade center, files attached to the discussion board, etc for both students and instructors.

The problem is described below along with four possible resolutions. Remember that this only affects Internet Explorer. Instructors and students may attempt to open a file by clicking on the link.

• (Solution 1) When clicking on an attached file in Blackboard 9 when using Internet Explorer, you should see the Information Bar appear at the top of the page To access the attached file, the user will need to click on “Allow” and then “Download File…” or simply “Download File” depending on the browser settings on the Information Bar. This will result in the File Download window appearing at which point the user can proceed to Open or Save.
  
  
• (Solution 2) Try right clicking on the file and selecting 'Open in New Window'. From this window, you would then have the option to 'Save' or 'Open'.
  
  
• (Solution 3) If you have administrator rights to your computer you can adjust the browser settings on the computer from which Blackboard is being accessed, the problem can be resolved through changing the following browser settings. Follow the steps below.
  
  
  • Open Internet Explorer.
  • Click on ‘Tools’.
  • Click on ‘Internet Options’.
  • Click on the ‘Security tab’.
  • Click on ‘Custom Level’.
  • Scroll down and locate ‘Downloads’ and select Enable for ‘Automatic prompting for file downloads’.
  • Click ‘Ok’.
  • Select ‘Yes’ on the Warning window that appears.
  • Click ‘Apply’ and then ‘Ok’.
    
    
• (Solution 4) If the first two solutions do not work for you, or if you are not able to change your browser settings, use Firefox!

Blackboard 9 Issues: Tips and Work Arounds

As we run into issues with Blackboard that might cause problems for instructor or students, those items will be noted here. If at all possible a work around or tip will be provided as well. This posting will be updated continually with issues being removed, expanded upon, or added. (Click on the images below to see a larger, clearer image. Use your web browser's back button to go back to this posting after you are finished viewing it.)

• Internet Explorer 8, 9 and Blackboard – Internet Explorer 8 and 9, when used with Blackboard, have some compatibility issues which are listed below. As a workaround, “Compatibility View” in IE8 or 9 can be used, which is under the Tools menu (Compatibility Mode). The website linked here has instructions on how to add a website to always be viewed in Compatibility Mode. If you go to that link, you must click on "Compatibility View" on the left vertical menu. The recommended workaround is to download and use Mozilla Firefox as your web browser for working in Blackboard.
  
  • A security warning may appear when logging into Blackboard. This warning will say “Do you want to display only the webpage content that was delivered securely?” This error may also occur when accessing the Grade Center for Instructors.
  • Students may experience an elongated timer that may cover the Save and Submit buttons. This will only be evident with certain exams in which the timer feature has been enabled.
  • Students may receive an error saying “Please enter a valid file” while trying to upload a file using the assignment submission tool.
  • Instructors attempting to upload a Grade Center file may receive “Please enter a valid file.”
  • If using IE9, students will be unable to attach multiple files to an assignment upload area.
    
    
• ATTACHMENTS NOT OPENING WITH IE – There is a known issue between Blackboard 9, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office files (.doc, .docx, etc.) that results in users not being able to click to open attachments in Blackboard. This impacts file attachments to content areas, files attached to the grade center, files attached to the discussion board, etc for both students and instructors. Click the link above for work around options.
  
  
• Blank White Screen After Closing Documents and/or External Websites - After opening and closing a document or external website linked in Blackboard, if there is a blank white screen and/or the course menu is gone, you must use the breadcrumb trail at the top of your course area. If you click on the course title, it will bring you back to the course entry page for your course, which is generally set to the announcements page, and the course menu is back.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Course Duration Dates - Within course properties, you have the option to set the course duration in section 3. For now, this SHOULD NOT be utilized. Do not set start and end dates. Leave this option set to 'Continuous' and set course availability to 'Yes' at the start of the semester and 'No' at the end.
  
  
• Due Dates and Notifications -Students have the capablility to set blackboard to receive email notifications for a variety of things...past due notices are one thing. Instructors can also utilize module pages in their course(s) and add modules with past due notifications for students. If you create a grade column in the Grade Center, when you apply the due date to that column it doesn't let you apply a time. Blackboard automatically identifies the time as 12:00 AM, and Blackboard also identifies an assignment as late until you input the grade. If a student enables this notification or if you are using a module page with a due date module, students will have that assignment identified as past due at 12:00 AM of the day it is due.
  
  
• Grade Center Scroll Bar Missing in IE – When using Internet Explorer the Grade Center may not display correctly. The solution is to turn on Compatibility Mode in IE8. Under the Tools menu enable Compatibility Mode. The website linked here has instructions on how to add a website to always be viewed in Compatibility Mode. If you go to that link, you must click on "Compatibility View" on the left vertical menu.
  
  
• Setting Display or Due Dates and/or Times for Items - When setting these dates or times, use the calendar or clock icons to select the date and time. Don't type the date or time into the text boxes. If you type it in directly, it may not apply the date and time restrictions correctly.

• Course Menu Problems - If your course menu completely disappears, you may have simply hidden the menu. Look for a right arrow on the left of your Blackboard window. Click it to display the course menu and click it again to hide it. If you or your students find that course menu items seem to disappear and reappear, you can try refreshing the menu or switching to folder view. Click on "Course Menu Problems" link above for assistance.
  
  
• DO NOT Copy and Paste from Word Files into Blackboard - This has always been a problem, even with previous versions of Blackboard. The issue is more prevalent when copying and pasting from Office 2007 and 2010 programs like Word. There is a lot of background "code" that is copied from a Word 2007 file that when pasted into any web-based application, like Blackboard, it can cause many, many problems. It can cause issues that you never would have thought would be related to that. Follow the instructions below to copy and paste your text without copying over the code. (This is even better than saving your Word file as a text file. Even when you save it as a text file you still bring some coding over with it, and this will also give you a second file on your computer which could get confusing. The method below is better.)
  1. Copy the text in Word that you want in Blackboard.
  2. Open Notepad. (Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad)
  3. Paste into Notepad. (Don't worry about what it looks like.)
  4. Click on Edit and then Select All (In Notepad).
  5. Click on Edit and then Copy (In Notepad).
  6. Go to your course in Blackboard where you want the text and paste.
  7. Format the text as needed within Blackboard.
  
  
• Invalid HTML Warning in Course or Problems Formatting Text - There is an html validation button that when clicked will remove that warning and will sometimes help if you are having trouble formatting text when creating items in your course. The link above will take you to a handout concerning this.
  
  
• Entering Feedback on Assignments for Students - There is more than one location in which you can enter feedback for a student on a particular assignment, and it doesn't always display for students the way one would think. When entering feedback in the Grade Center for assignments set-up using the Assignment tool or for tests set-up in Blackboard, the best way to input feedback is through Overide in the Grade Details window. If you use feedback in the Edit area or through 'Open Attempt', students will have to click on their grade for a particular assignment in the student grades area to see the feedback.
  
  
  
  
  *If you hover over a cell within the grade center, a double down arrow will display. When you click on that double down arrow this menu displays with the 'View Grade Details' option. (See figure above.)
  
  

  If you enter feedback for a column you created in the grade center or in a column created when you enabled 'Grade Forum' for a discussion board forum grade, you can use either Edit or Override within the 'View Grade Details' window. The comments display correctly.