Google's Chrome Browser and Blackboard

Google has just released its own browser, known as Chrome.

Initial tests of the Blackboard site using the Chrome browser have been encouraging, with many functions on the site working perceivably faster than is typical with Internet Explorer and even Firefox.

However, as Chrome has just been released, we have not had time to fully test and vet the Blackboard application. Please let us know if you find additional issues beyond the ones described here.


Known issues with Blackboard on Chrome:

1. When adding an item to a Content Area in Blackboard, The WYSIWYG editor that appears in Internet Explorer and Firefox appears in Chrome as a simple text box instead. Instructors can still add items, but the rich text formatting options are not available in Chrome for Items or Announcements. Note that in contrast, the rich text editor within the Wiki and Blog tools is still available in Chrome, and the direct HTML option is still available for all items, so instructors who are familiar with HTML can still achieve formatting by entering the HTML directly.



We will be testing Blackboard using the Chrome browser in the coming weeks and will be able to make more specific recommendations on this page when we have compiled more data.

Please send any comments or issues you discover to blackboard@neu.edu

Thank you for using Blackboard at Northeastern University!

How to add Blackboard to Facebook

Information Services at Northeastern University has partnered with ClassTop (developer of the CourseFeed application) to offer a new secure Blackboard / Facebook integration. You can now add your Blackboard courses to your Facebook account in a way that will not compromise your myNEU account credentials.

Some of the benefits of Blackboard on Facebook:

• Automatic notifications for new items added to your Blackboard courses
• A Facebook "Wall" for your course where you can post messages to your classmates
• Announcements from Blackboard delivered directly to Facebook

How to add Northeastern University Blackboard to Facebook (3 steps)

If you have received an invitation to the CourseFeed Facebook application from one of your classmates, you may follow the steps in the invitation to add the CourseFeed application to Facebook. If you have not received an invitation, here is how to add Blackboard to Facebook:

1. Log into Northeastern University's Blackboard site on myNEU or at blackboard.neu.edu

2. In Blackboard, under the Home tab, click the "Facebook" link on the left (this link will be available starting July 8th, 2008):

3. Follow the steps on the screen to add the CourseFeed application to Facebook

To add your courses, you must be a member of the Northeastern network in Facebook

For more information on the CourseFeed application in Facebook, see: http://www.coursefeed.com/faq.html

How to Empty your Browser Cache

To fix a problem with Blackboard, you may need to empty your browser cache.

Here are instructions for various browsers:

Firefox 2 and 3 for Windows

1. From the Tools menu, select Clear Private Data, and then choose Cache.

Internet Explorer 7

1. From the Tools menu, select Internet Options...
   
2. Choose the General tab.
   
3. Under Browsing history, click Delete...
   
4. Next to "Temporary Internet Files", click Delete files...
   
5. Click Close, and then click OK to exit.

Internet Explorer 6

1. From the Tools menu (for version 4.x, the View menu), select Internet Options...
   
2. Choose the General tab.
   
3. In the "Temporary Internet Files" section, click Delete Files...
   
4. To confirm the deletion, click OK.
   
5. In the Internet Options dialog box, click OK.

Firefox 1, 2, 3 for Macintosh

1. From the Firefox menu, select Preferences...
   
2. From the sheet that drops down, select Privacy. In 2.0, click Clear Now. In 1.5, click Clear Cache Now. In 1.0, next to Cache, click the Clear button, and then OK.

Safari for Macintosh (not recommended for use with Blackboard)

1. From the Safari menu, select Empty Cache...
   
2. When prompted, click Empty to confirm that you want to empty the cache.

Instructor Manual for Blackboard 7

We apologize, the manual link from the Control Panel in Blackboard is not currently working.

The Instructor Manual for Blackboard version 7 is available here.

How to Download your Blackboard Gradebook

We recommend downloading your Blackboard gradebook occasionally so that you will have a local copy that you can refer to even if you do not have access to the Internet or Blackboard web site.

Here's how to download your Gradebook in 5 steps:

1. In your course, click Control Panel > Gradebook

2. Click the "Download Grades" link

3. Make sure that the "Delimeter Type" is set to comma and click Submit

4. Right-click the Download button (click with the right mouse button. On a Macintosh, hold the single mouse button down long enough to get a menu). Then click "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..."

5. Name your file keeping the .csv file extension at the end. Note where you are saving the file on your computer, and click the Save button.

You can open the gradebook file for viewing on your computer using Excel or a similar spreadsheet program, or the text editor of your choice.

How to Upload a Document to the Discussion Board

Step 1 - Open the Discussion Board

Access the Discussion Board by clicking on the Discussion Board link located in the navigation pane on the left side of screen in your Blackboard course.



Step 2 - Upload your Document

Click on the title of the Discussion to open it




Click on Add New Thread



Enter a Subject and a Message (description) for your post.




Scroll down and click on the Browse button.





Browse to your file by selecting the Destination.



Next, select your document by clicking on it



Click Open.



Click Submit



If you have successfully uploaded a document to the Discussion Board, you will see a paper clip icon next to the subject of your post.

Version of Java for Chat and Virtual Classroom in Blackboard

If you're using the Chat or Virtual Classroom options in the Collaboration section of Blackboard, we recommend version 5.0 of the Java plugin for your browser for both students and instructors. Newer versions (such as version 6.x) have been known to cause problems with collaboration sessions.

You can download the version 5.0 of the Java plugin for Windows here:

http://www.ats.neu.edu/blackboard/java/jre-1_5_0_12-windows-i586-p.exe

(for Macintosh, please use the built-in java capability of your browser)

How to add a Wiki to your Blackboard course

Wikis are collaborative shared web spaces that students can post material to and edit together.

As the instructor, you can decide who in your class is allowed to edit and add content to a wiki, and when others in the class are allowed to view the wiki. You can use a Wiki to have students collaborate on a document, do a team project, produce a group report, or any other exercise in working together.

Here is how to add a Wiki to your course site in Blackboard:


Step 1 - Choose or create a content area

In Control Panel, choose a content area in which you would like the Wiki to appear (you could choose "Course Material" for example). If you want to create a brand-new section to hold your wiki, use Control Panel > Manage Course Menu > Add +Content Area



We recommend using the name "Wiki" or "Collaboration", but you can call the section anything you want.


Step 2 - Add the Wiki

In Control Panel, click into the content area of your choosing. To add the Wiki, choose "Wiki" from the drop-down menu at the upper right, then click Go.





Step 3 - Choose your options

Give the Wiki a name at the top, such as "Team Project", "Team Website", or "Wiki". Use the arrow to select who has access to edit the Wiki:



Use the date section to choose when editors are allowed to edit the Wiki, and when the others in the course are allowed to view the wiki (if ever).

Make the Wiki available for viewing and choose whether or not the Wiki will have a separate comments section (editors can contribute to the Wiki whether or not it has a comments section).



If you wish to grade students on their Wiki, add a column to the gradebook here:



Click OK at the bottom, then OK again to finish.


Step 4 - How students can edit the Wiki

The Wiki will appear in your course under the section you chose in step 1. View or edit the Wiki, students click the View link:



Students can edit the current page of the Wiki by clicking "edit" on the right side of the page. They can add a new page to the Wiki by clicking "new":





That's all there is to it. Your Wiki is now ready to use.

How to add a Blog to your Blackboard course

Blogs are journal-like web spaces that students can post material to. As the instructor, you can decide who in your class is allowed to post content to a blog, and who is allowed to read the blog. You can use a Blog to have students post a journal, upload files, upload homework, text, pictures, or even sound files.

Here is how to add a Blog to your course site in Blackboard:


Step 1 - Choose or create a content area

In Control Panel, choose a content area in which you would like the Blog to appear (you could choose "Course Material" for example). If you want to create a brand-new section to hold your blog, use Control Panel > Manage Course Menu > Add +Content Area



We recommend using the name "Blog" or "Journal", but you can call the section anything you want.


Step 2 - Add the Blog

In Control Panel, click into the content area of your choosing. To add the Blog, choose "Blog" from the drop-down menu at the upper right, then click Go.





Step 3 - Choose your options

Give the Blog a name at the top, such as "Journal" or "Blog". Use the arrow to select who has access to post to the Blog:



Choose who has the right to read the Blog and who has the right to post comments on Blog entries. If you want students to be able to read each other's Blog posts, set the option here:



If you wish to grade students on their Blog, add a column to the gradebook here:



Click OK at the bottom, then OK again to finish.


Step 4 - How students can post to the Blog

The blog will appear in your course under the section you chose in step 1. To post to the Blog, you or your students can click the View link:



then click "new entry" on the right to post.




That's all there is to it. Your Blog is now ready to use.

How to Clean Up/Edit Your Course List in Blackboard

If you've taught many courses in the past, you may have a large list of courses in the My Courses module on the front page of Blackboard.

Here is a quick way to reduce the clutter and make it easier for you to find current courses more quickly:

1. Log in to Blackboard.

2. On the My Institution tab, you will find the My Courses module on top of the right hand column. Click on the pencil icon in the upper right corner of the module.



3. The Customize My Courses screen appears. You will notice a list of your courses with a series of check boxes to the right of each.

4. Uncheck the box in the Display Course column for each course that you do not want shown in the My Courses module. Make sure to also uncheck the box in the Display Announcements column in order to prevent announcements from showing up from hidden courses.

5. Click Submit when you are done.

If you prefer to have all your courses listed in the My Courses module, but need an easy way to distinguish between courses by term, check the box in Display Course ID column. When you go back to the My Courses module you will see the Course ID listed next to the name. The Course ID includes a four (4) character suffix that designates its semester and year (e.g. fl07 = Fall 2007, sp08 = Spring 2008).

If you ever need to see a list of all your courses (e.g., you need the Course ID when requesting a new course), you can always see this by clicking on the Courses tab at the top of the screen. Here you will see a complete list of your courses.


How to completely remove your course from Blackboard

If you want to remove (archive) your course from the site completely, fill out the following form:

-> http://www.ats.neu.edu/blackboard/requests/delete

Your course will be deleted (archived). If you wish to have it restored at a later time, send a request to blackboard@neu.edu

How to download many files at once from Blackboard

If you are using the Firefox browser, there is a solution which will allow you or your students to download all the files in a Blackboard folder at once (without requiring access to the Blackboard Control Panel)

Instructors often post many files in folders in their Blackboard courses. For students, the usual way of downloading these files is by clicking the links one at a time. To speed up this process, there is a plug-in for the Firefox browser called "DownThemAll!" that will go through all the links on a page, let you check the ones you want, and download all of them at once.

This plugin works well with Blackboard.

Using your Firefox browser, get the plug-in here:

-> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/201


Here is a picture of "DownThemAll!" in use:





Note: For the Blackboard site, we recommend setting DownThemAll to download each file sequentially. Do to so, in Firefox, go to Tools > DownThemAll > Preferences and set "Max contemporary downloads" to 1. (Thanks to Colin for this tip)

For more instructions on how to use "DownThemAll!" see the developer's website here:

http://www.downthemall.net/howto/features

Blackboard Asks You to Log In Again

If you log into Blackboard and then leave the browser window idle for a while, Blackboard may ask you to log in again. This is normal.

If, however, Blackboard asks you to log in again during active work, it is most likely due to your browser's configuration. Here are some fixes to try:


A. Empty your browser's cache as follows:

Internet Explorer 6:

1. Select Tools menu / Internet Options
2. Click Delete Cookies / OK
3. Click Delete Files / OK
4. Click OK

Internet Explorer 7:

1. If the menu bar is not displayed, press and release the ALT key on keyboard
2. Click Tools menu / Internet Options
3. Click Delete / Delete All / Yes
4. Click OK

Firefox:

1. Click Tools menu / Options...
2. Click Clear Now...
3. Click Clear Private Data Now
4. Click OK


B. Configure your browser to accept cookies

Internet Explorer:

1. Click Tools menu / Internet Options / Privacy tab
2. Configure as follows:

Click Advanced
Check Override Automatic cookie handling
Accept First party cookies
Accept Third party cookies
Always allow session cookies
OK

Edit button
neu.edu Allow
OK

3. Click OK

Firefox:

1. Click Tools menu / Options...
2. Check "Accept cookies from sites"


C. Upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer or Firefox

Internet Explorer:

1. Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
2. Click Express
3. Install all updates

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Go to http://www.getfirefox.com to download and install Firefox


We hope this information is helpful. Thanks for using Blackboard.

How to configure Blackboard and Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Vista

Blackboard recommends these steps to enable Blackboard to run under Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista:

Set blackboard.neu.edu as a "trusted site" in Internet Explorer as follows:

1. Open Internet Explorer 7
2. If the menus do not appear at the top, press and release the ALT key on the keyboard to display them
3. Select Tools menu / Internet Options
4. Under the Security tab, click Trusted Sites and then the Sites button
5. Uncheck the "Require server verification" checkbox if it is checked
6. Type "http://blackboard.neu.edu" in the "add this website" box and click the Add button
7. Click Close and OK

Set the Visual Text Box Editor to Unavailable in Blackboard as follows:

1. Log into Blackboard at http://blackboard.neu.edu
2. Click the "Personal Information" link directly below the Home tab in Blackboard
3. Click the "Set Visual Text Box Editor Options" link
4. Click Unavailable
5. Click the Submit button on the lower right

The plaintext text box should now function under Vista.

How to Create a Turnitin Assignment

Creating a Turnitin Assignment is as easy as creating a regular Assignment in Blackboard. Here are the steps:

1. In your Control Panel, click the content area in which you wish to create the Turnitin Assignment. This is usually the "Assignments" area:




2. Select "Turnitin Assignment" from the dropdown on the right, and click the "Go" button:



3. Set the assignment title, point value, and start/due dates options for your assignment. The "post date" is irrelevant but should be set for a date later than the due date. Click the Submit button at the top to post the assignment:





Students

Students can access your assignment by going to the content area in which you posted the assignment and clicking the "View /Complete" link:




Instructors

You can collect the students submitted work and view their papers and plagiarism reports by going to the "Turnitin Assignments" link in your Control Panel. You can also access the papers via the entries in Control Panel > Gradebook.

For complete step-by-step visual instructions on how to post a Turnitin Assignment, please watch this flash video:

http://www.turnitin.com/static/videos/bb_vid.html

What's New in Blackboard version 7

Blackboard version 7 is available at blackboard.neu.edu


Version 7 contains everything you are familiar with from previous versions of Blackboard, with select new enhancements. Please see links below for tutorials and demonstrations of the new features!

Key new and improved features include:

• Multi-Language Support
• Completely new Discussion Board
• Adaptive Release improvements
• Review Status improvements
• Built-in Syllabus Builder
• Performance Dashboard improvements
• New Advanced Assessment Questions
• Download Assessment Attempts that Include All Questions
• Randomized Multiple Choice Answers
• Advanced Course Menu and New Course Map
• Changes to Import, Export, Archive and Restore Functionality
• Course Copy changes for Course Cartridges
• Additional Course Content Types - Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts
• Additional Tutorials

Multi-Language Support by Institution, Course and User

Institutions can run multiple languages (or locales) on the same system. Institutions can offer the Blackboard Academic Suite in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, and Portuguese. The entire system can be set in a specific language, or a language may be offered as a preference for users. To support cross-border education, as well as foreign language courses, Instructors can set the language of the course independently from the language setting of the overall system.

Click for tutorial

New Discussion Board

The Blackboard Discussion Board has been completely re-written. The new Discussion Board enables threaded, asynchronous discussions, which can be subscribed to (you can choose to receive an email when someone posts a new message). Instructors can set up multiple forums around different topics and embed those forums in appropriate content areas or lessons. Instructors can determine whether students can moderate, modify, delete, post anonymously, include attachments, and other options. Forums can be sorted/viewed by thread, author, date, or subject and are completely searchable. Discussions can be graded for a participation grade and also peer rating may be enable as well. Lastly, there are specific statistics that report on each user’s participation level.

Click for tutorial

Adaptive Release

Course content does not always apply to all users in the course. Using Adaptive Release, Instructors can display content to certain users for a limited period of time, or only after users meet (or fail to meet) predetermined requirements. Some content might be applicable to all users in the course, while other content should be audience-specific.

Adaptive Release allows an Instructor to create custom learning paths through course content and activities. Content items, discussions, assessments, assignments, or other activities can be released to Students based on a set of criteria including: date and time, specific users, group membership, grades or attempts on a particular test or assignment, or Review Status of another item in the course. Instructors create and modifiy Adaptive Release rules from the new Manage page available on all content items.

Click for tutorial

Review Status

Outcomes-based tracking is an important feature to most Blackboard clients. Today, Instructors can track item hits on a user-by-user basis, but Students have no automated way of explicitly notifying Instructors when they review an item. If Review is enabled for a content item, users see a Mark Reviewed icon from the course view. When users have completed their review of the item, they click the Mark Reviewed button. The item then displays a Reviewed icon. The Instructor can view progress from the Performance Dashboard or the User Progress page in the Control Panel. Instructors enable and disable review from the new Manage page available on all content items.

Click for tutorial

Syllabus Builder

The Syllabus Builder is an easy-to-use content item that makes Syllabus creation—the most basic element of any course—simple for Instructors of all levels, with a feature that allows them to easily apply designs to their work. Syllabi can contain general class information such as dates and times as well as an overview of each lesson.

Instructors create a syllabus by selecting Syllabus from the action bar dropdown menu on a Content Area page.

Click for tutorial

Performance Dashboard

The Performance Dashboard is a course tool that allows Instructors to see key information and outcomes for all course users. It displays the last time users logged in, their course role, content availability by user based on Adaptive Release criteria, Review Status for content items, and a direct link to the Gradebook: User Grade List page for individual users.

Click for tutorial

Advanced Assessment Questions

When creating Assessments in the Blackboard Learning System, Instructors may choose from ten additional question types, including: Calculated Questions, Numeric Response Questions, File Response Questions, Hot Spot Questions, Multiple Fill-in-the-Blank Questions, Jumbled Sentence Questions, Opinion Scale Questions, Short Response Questions, Either / Or Questions, and Quiz Bowl Questions.

Click for tutorial

Download Assessment Attempts that Include All Questions

Instructors can download Survey or Test attempts as a .CSV file. Most often, this feature is used to perform statistical analysis in a spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel. Downloaded Assessment attempts now include all questions in the Assessment. In earlier versions, only certain question types, such as Multiple Choice, were included in the downloaded attempt.

Randomize Multiple Choice Answers

Instructors have the option to randomize the answers in multiple choice questions. The answers are randomized for each assessment attempt, which helps prevent Student cheating.

Click for tutorial

Advanced Course Menu and New Course Map

Two views of the Course Menu are now available to users: the Quick View (the original menu design) and the Detail View. The Detail View is the full Course Map, letting users expand and collapse the Course Menu, and displays a clickable link to each item in the course. If allowed by the Instructor, users may toggle between these two views.

In addition, commonly used tools are separated from the Course Menu to make them easier to find and use. To support the advanced Course Menu, the Course Map has been redesigned. It displays new icons based on the item or tool, shows only the content available to the current user (based on Adaptive Release critieria), and loads very quickly even in large, content-rich courses. The map is cached for even faster rendering in subsequent views and has a 20 minute automatic refresh.

Click for tutorial

Changes to Import, Export, Archive and Restore

In Blackboard Academic Suite (Release 7) the import, export, archive and restore processes are asynchronous. This means that users do not have to wait in the browser

window while the operation takes place. This is more efficient for users because the operations are queued and managed in the background. When one of these tasks is executed, the system completes it in the background and sends the user an email upon completion. The new process for Export and Archive matches the process for Course Copy. The new Export / Archive Manager, available on the Control Panel for individual courses and organizations, makes it easier for users to manage these operations. This page lists all of the packages that have been created for the course, including detailed logs

for the package processes. The user can export and archive the course multiple times and keep multiple backups of the course. The user may also remove packages that are no longer needed.

Course Copy changes for Course Cartridges

The Copy Course Materials into a New Course and Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course features now include an option to include protected Course Cartridge content. Instructors and Administrators can choose whether or not they would like to include cartridge content in the copy operation. If this option is selected, the content may be accessed in the copied course by users with a valid Student Access Key. When copying course materials into an existing course, the system will check to confirm that both courses contain the same Course Cartridge. If they do, the selected course

sections will be copied including any protected Course Cartridge content. If the courses contain different Course Cartridges, only non-Cartridge materials will be copied and the user will be given a message stating there was a Course Cartridge conflict.

Additional Course Content Types (Wikis, Blog, Podcasts)

Instructors may add a number of different kinds of content to course Content Areas; these are referred to as Content Types. Additional Content Types (i.e. Discussion Board, Groups, Tools) have been added to the drop-down list of a Content Area page in Bb 7. Wikis, Blogs, and Podcasts can be added to courses.

How to add a Wiki to your course
How to add a Blog to your course
How to add a Podcast to your course

Additional Tutorials

This is the blackboard website that provides links to these tutorials as well as additional ones.

Blackboard Tutorials

How to Podcast using Blackboard

How to Podcast from Blackboard in three easy steps


1 Add a Podcast Episode to any section in Blackboard

In Blackboard, as an instructor, to add Podcast content, go to Control Panel -> Course Documents (or any other content area or folder you want) and use the dropdown box at the upper-right to add a "Podcast Episode". (Click the GO button to the right of the drop-down).



You may upload a local media file (such as an .mp3 file) that you have prepared by using the browse button, or a you can specify a URL that points to a media file located somewhere else. Remember to select the appropriate radio button:




2 Turn on RSS Feed

By default, the podcast will only be available in Blackboard (not iTunes). In order to allow students to access your podcast from within iTunes and their ipods, you will need to turn on the course RSS feed. To do so, go to Control Panel -> Manage Podcast. Turn it on by setting Visibility to "Everyone":



Since the link to the podcast is only available from your course and not publicly searchable/discoverable, the podcast is not "public" per se, but it needs to be set that way so iTunes can access it.


3 Access your Podcast

In Blackboard, your students may access all of your podcast content in one place in the Course Tools section on the left side of your blackboard course.



The files are also accessible from the original section in Blackboard where you upload them (e.g. "Course Documents").

Because you turned on the RSS feed in step 2, the Course Tools -> Podcast section should contain both an RSS icon as well as an iTunes icon that students can use to subscribe to your course's podcast.

Once the students subscribe by clicking the button of their choice, your course podcasts will subsequently be downloaded into iTunes automatically, which makes it very easy for students to take the podcasts with them on their iPods.

Whenever you want to add an episode to your podcast, simply repeat Step 1 above, and the rest is taken care of automatically for you.

How to use the Assignments feature to collect student work

Note: The Digital Dropbox function in Blackboard was retired the evening of May 4th, 2007. Please use the Assignments function to collect student work.

Blackboard "Assignments" are a way to collect student documents and files in Blackboard.

The Assignments feature combines the file exchange capabilities of the old Digital Drop Box with the organization and management functionality of the Gradebook.

Adding an Assignment item to a course allows an instructor to post instructions or a document, retrieve the completed assignment as another document or file from a student, and grade that assignment via the Gradebook. Blackboard also provides enhanced file management options, including bulk downloading and cleanup of these submitted items.


How to create an Assignment:

1. Within your Blackboard course, click on the Control Panel.

2. Click on the name of the Content Area where you wish to add the Assignment, for example, "Assignments"



3. From the drop-down list on the right side of the page, select Assignment, then click GO.



From here, instructors have the same options that they have for most other content types, including time-release options.

Assignments can contain file attachments (such as lists of questions for students to answer, articles to read, presentations to review, maps or spreadsheets to analyze), as well as text pasted directly into Blackboard.

Set the desired options, type the instructions, attach files, and click the "Submit" button to post the Assignment.


What the students see:

Students can view the assignment in the selected content area on the left side of the course.

They can click the View/Complete button to look at the assignment and download any necessary documents the instructor has posted. After doing the work necessary to complete the assignment, students should click the "View/Complete" link again to upload and submit their work. They will be prompted to browse their computers to find the files they want to submit, and they can also post comments about the Assignment. These comments will appear in your Gradebook. A student can submit multiple files for one assignment if desired.


How to view submitted Assignments (Gradebook):

Instructors retrieve and grade Assignments through the Gradebook, much like any other kind of assessment. However, Assignments have additional tools that make managing multiple student files much easier.

Reviewing a Single Assignment Submission

To retrieve an individual student's Assignment submission, select the individual entry from the Gradebook. You can enter a grade from this screen, or click View to see the student's work.
After clicking on View, you will be able to download the file(s) that the student has submitted, add feedback that that student will see, and add private instructor notes that will not be seen by the student.

Reviewing Multiple Assignment Submissions

To download multiple files at one time, click on the name of the Assignment at the top of the Gradebook column, and then click Item Download.

Note: Other choices on the Item Options page will allow you to enter all students' grades at once, modify instructions, descriptions, and point values, and to see statistics for an assignment.

You can select one, some or all of the students' assignments. After you select the Assignments that you wish to download, Blackboard will create a .zip file containing those files, so you can save them to your computer desktop or hard drive.


Returning Assignments

To return a graded assignment to the student, click the individual entry from the Gradebook and then click View. In the Feedback to Student section, enter a grade, comments, and attach the graded assignment. Click Submit.

The Assignments feature is a must for anyone who has found the Digital Dropbox to be difficult to manage. We hope you find it to be an improvement and thanks for using Blackboard.

Tips for Deploying a Test in Blackboard

After you've created on online assessment in Control Panel > Test Manager, you can deploy it into the content area of your course (e.g. "Assignments") by going to that area in your Control Panel and clicking the "+ Test" button at the top.

Click here for a tutorial on how deploy online assessments and surveys in Blackboard.

Here are some recommended settings to help eliminate potential problems when deploying a test in your Blackboard course. These settings can be found in the content area where you deploy a test (e.g. Control Panel > Assignments). Use the "Modify" button to the right of the test to open the "Modify the Test options" section.


Options:

Open test in new window - Make sure to keep this option set to No. If your student has their browser set to block pop-up windows, setting this to Yes could prevent the test from launching in their browser because the new window will be blocked by the pop-up blocker.


Allow multiple attempts - checking this option will allow the student to take the test multiple times. This is the best option when the test is a self-assessment. If it is a graded test, you will probably want to keep this option off so that they can't restart the test if they don't like their grade. Also note, whenever a multiple attempt is started, the previous attempt is deleted from the Gradebook. Only the most recent attempt is saved.


Force Completion - This setting probably causes the most headaches. When this is checked on, it forces the student to complete the test as soon as it is initially launched. If they close their browser, their computer crashes, their Internet Provider boots them off, etc., then they cannot get back into the test. The Instructor then has to make the decision on whether or not to let them take it again by resetting their attempt. Resetting their attempt clears out all their previous answers and will force the student to start over.

Timed Tests - To eliminate the Forced Completion problem, you can keep this setting turned off, but then turn on the "Set timer" option. This setting records completion time for this Test. By setting the timer on and setting how long they have to take the test, you can see how long it took the student to complete the test, no matter how many times they may have accidentally closed their browser or been booted off. Since Force Completion is off, they can still get back into the test if they are booted off and the Instructor can see how long they took to complete the test to make sure that they didn't open it on a Friday and then finally submit it on a Sunday.

Note: if a student goes over the time allotted, they do not get an automatic score. Instead, they will get an exclamation point in the Gradebook instead and the Instructor will need to go into the Gradebook and hand grade their test, in case the instructor needs to deduct points for going over the time allotted. Blackboard will not force a submission at the end of a timed test, but will warn the student when they have 1 minute left to submit the test themselves.


Test Feedback - Sometimes an Instructor would like to only show the student their score during the time period the test is available, but then give them more detailed results once everybody has completed the test. This can be done by returning to the test options and changing the Test Feedback from the old setting to the new setting. When the student next goes to view their grades via Tools > My Grades, they will see the test results in whatever the current Test Feedback setting is.


Presentation Mode - There are many differing opinions on what option is better, All at Once or One at a Time. The "One at a time" settings may be slightly more prone to problems, since it involve more browser interaction between questions. Do not use the "Prohibit Backtracking" option--when this is turned on a student may try and get around it by using the Back button in their browser and it is very important that the Back button is never used during a test. It can cause problems with the test and the database storing the answers, possibly booting the student from the test.

If you are presenting your test in All at Once mode, please recommend to your students that they click the Save button next to each question as they proceed through the test. This will immediately save their answer to that question in the Gradebook. Otherwise, if a student is completing a long test and gets booted from the test before completing it, all their answers are lost. If they were clicking the Save button for each question as they proceeded through the test, the questions they already answered would still be saved.

Content Types that Can Be Added to your Course in Blackboard

Here are some of the special types of files that can be added to a content area in Blackboard. You add these by using the +Select drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the edit view of a content area:



Learning Units - Learning Units enable the instructor to set a structured path for progressing through the content within a course. The instructor may either allow students to access content nonlinearly within a Learning Unit or enforce a sequential path. More information on Learning Units is here.

iLrn - iLrn is a format for learning objects and book materials developed by Thomson Learning (www.ilrn.com). The iLrn types in blackboard allow instructors to post links back to Thomson book materials.

Merlot Content - Merlot is a learning object format. If an instructor has downloaded a learning object in Merlot format (from www.merlot.org), she can add the content to Blackboard using the Merlot Content type.

Offline Content - This lets instructors post a link to an item on a CDROM which the student must insert into her computer before clicking the link.

SCORM Content - SCORM is a learning object format. If an instructor has downloaded or created learning object in SCORM format, she can add the content to Blackboard using this type. Here is information on the SCORM format.

Rich URL - This is used in the case that an instructor wants to post an external link on Blackboard, but the URL of the link must be slightly different for each student based on something about the student (such as the student's email address or gender or name). The Rich URL will let you build a link in Blackboard whose URL contains an element of data about the student.

IMS Content Packaging - IMS is a learning object format. If an instructor has downloaded or created learning object in IMS format, she can add the content to Blackboard using this type. Here is information on the IMS format.

NLN Content Packaging - NLN is a learning object format. If an instructor has downloaded or created learning object in NLN format (from www.nln.ac.uk), she can add the content to Blackboard using this type. Here is information on the NLN format.

Turnitin Assignment - Turnitin allows an instructor to add an assignment for which the students' submissions will be automatically checked for plagiarism using the Turnitin system. More information about Turnitin here.

Document Package - A Document Package is a .zip file containing a hierarchical structure of folders and files. When you add a Document Package to a content area in your course, the folder structure of the zip file will be preserved (reproduced) in Blackboard. More information on Document Packages here.

How to prevent students from copying or printing tests in Blackboard

Important note: There is no 100% reliable way to prevent the copying or printing of any web page being displayed in a browser, on the Blackboard site or any other site, as it is always possible on any computer to print a copy of the screen, capture the window to the clipboard, or even take a digital photograph of the screen and print it. The script offered here may prevent the casual printer/copier from copying the text of a test, but it will not stop anyone who is purposefully determined to copy or print the content from doing so.


If you would like to disable the ability of students to select/copy their online tests or to print their tests, follow these directions.

1. In an existing test, click Modify to modify the first question of the test

2. Click the expand arrow in the upper left hand corner of the text box

3. Click the html button

4. Copy the following javascript code and paste it at the bottom, after the text of the first question.

<script language="Javascript"
src="http://www.ats.neu.edu/blackboard/scripts/noprintcopy.js"></script>
<style type="text/css">@media print {BODY {display:none}}</style>

5. Click Submit

6. Click Submit


Do not include this script in a question that is in a Pool, as it will cause problems. Only include this script in a created test.

What it Does
The script disables the ability of a user to select text, making it impossible to copy the question text. It also makes it so the body of the test can not be printed. If a student tries to print the test, they will only receive pages with Blackboard's top menu bar printed on them. This new script has been tested in Internet Explorer Version 6, Netscape 7.1, and Mozilla 1.6.

Notes / Recommendations
We recommend that you test this script each time you use it in a test. Preview the assessment, and try all of the functionality of the script. You should not be able to click and drag your mouse to select text, nor should the "select all" function work. If you try printing, you should not receive the body of the test itself on the printed page.

This script is not 100% foolproof and may not stop the more computer savvy from copying/printing your test.

KNOWN ISSUE: The script will not allow students to cancel a test submission and return to the test questions. If a student clicks the Submit button on a test and then clicks Cancel to cancel the submission, the test is submitted anyway.

___________

Thanks to the folks at Boise State University for this tip.

How to Drop the Lowest Grades in the Gradebook

You can drop students' grades from the Blackboard gradebook by first directing Blackboard not to count ungraded items against the students, and then "ungrading" the marks you want not to count.

In this way you can effectively drop student's lowest grades on a series of quizzes, for example.

NOTE: Before carrying out these instructions, download a copy of your gradebook so you will have it is a reference later if you make unwanted changes. Click here for instructions.

Here's how to use the option to drop the lowest grades:

1. In the gradebook, click the "Total" column header
2. Click "Item Information"
3. Click the YES option next to "Exempt items that have not been graded"
4. Click Submit
5. Do the same steps (1-4) for the "Weighted Total" column in the gradebook as well.

Enabling those options for the Total and Weighted Total columns has the effect of dropping all "ungraded" entries in the Gradebook--the ones marked with hyphens (-).

6. Now, to drop the lowest grades, clear the contents of the lowest grade for each student by clicking on the grade itself (in any particular cell of the gradebook table) and selecting View / Clear attempt.

Any cleared grade (-) will no longer be counted against the student in the totals.

Important Note: If you do want an ungraded item (-) to count against a student, you must explicitly enter a zero (0) for the grade. Leaving it ungraded (-) will cause it not to be counted against the student.

Turn Off Pop-Up Blockers to use the Chat & Virtual Classroom

Pop-up blockers can cause the Virtual Classroom and Chat functions in Blackboard to fail. Pop-up blockers are built into Internet Explorer and the Google Toolbar, as well as other browser add-ons (Yahoo Toolbar, AOL Toolbar, etc).

In order to make the chat in Blackboard work, you need to disable pop-up blocking for the site blackboard.neu.edu. Here's how:

1. Go into your Blackboard course and select Communication / Collaboration / Chat / Join



2. Watch for the message bar at the top of the page in Internet Explorer and click it:



3. Click to allow popups from blackboard.neu.edu:



4. If you have it installed, the the Google toolbar will also have to be told to allow popups from blackboard.neu.edu. Click on this option:



5. If you have any other toolbar add-ons to your browser (such as the Yahoo Toolbar or the AOL Toolbar which get installed automatically during the installation of Yahoo Chat or AIM), you may need to tell them to stop blocking pop-ups on blackboard.neu.edu as well.

Once all pop-up blocking services have been turned off for the Blackboard site, the chat tool should work normally. Pop-ups will continue to be blocked on other sites.

Improvements in Blackboard 6.3

Improvements in Blackboard version 6.3

Multi-Language Support by Institution, Course and User
Institutions can run multiple languages on the same system. To support cross-border education as well as foreign language courses, Instructors can set the language of the course independently from the language setting of the overall system. Institutions can offer the Blackboard Academic Suite in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, and Portuguese. The entire system can be set in a specific language, or a language may be offered as a preference for users.(more details)

Adaptive Release
Course content does not always apply to all users in the course. Using Adaptive Release of content, Instructors can display content to certain users for a limited period of time, or only after users meet (or fail to meet) predetermined requirements. Some content might be applicable to all users in the course, while other content should be audience-specific. Adaptive Release allows an Instructor to create custom learning paths through course content and activities. Content items, discussions, assessments, assignments, or other activities can be released to Students based on a set of criteria including: date and time, specific users, group membership, institution role, grades or attempts on a particular test or assignment, or Review Status of another item in the course.(more details)

Review Status
Outcomes based tracking is an important feature to most Blackboard clients. Today, Instructors can track item hits on a user-by-user basis, but Students have no automated way of explicitly notifying Instructors when they review an item. If Review is enabled for a content item, users see a Mark Reviewed icon from the course view. When users have completed their review of the item, they click the Mark Reviewed button. The item then displays a Reviewed icon. The Instructor can view progress from the Performance Dashboard or the User Progress page in the Control Panel.(more details)

Syllabus Builder
The Syllabus Builder is a new content item in courses and organizations. It guides the Instructor through a very simple process for building a syllabus without knowledge of HTML. The tool automatically generates lesson shells and the Instructor either chooses a pre-formatted style or creates a new one.(more details)

SCORM 2004
A number of changes to the Content Player have been implemented in response to key developments in the marketplace and client requests. These changes include:

· Support for SCORM 2004, the newest specification for SCORM packages
· Name Change: The Blackboard Content Player is now the Open Standards Content Player
· Updated Gradebook Item functionality to allow Instructors to view user attempt data (such as response to questions and time spent) from the Modify Grade page
· Users may select a package stored in the Content Collection if Copy file from Content Collection (also new in Application Pack 3) is available
· Updated look and feel to the Content Player
· Faster load times for the content

Application Pack 3 also includes a new feature called simple sequencing that branches to content based on user interaction. In addition, Application Pack 3 includes improvements on Gradebook interaction and user Tracking Data related to SCORM. Instructors can view tracked user information such as completion status and length of time an item was viewed.(more details)

Performance Dashboard
The Performance Dashboard is a course tool that allows Instructors to see key information and outcomes for all course users. It displays the last time users logged in, their course role, Adaptive Release criteria, Review Status for content items, and grades.(more details)

Advanced Assessment Questions
When creating Assessments in the Blackboard Learning System, Instructors may choose from ten additional question types, including: Calculated Questions, Numeric Response Questions, File Response Questions, Hot Spot Questions, Multiple Fill-in-the-Blank Questions, Jumbled Sentence Questions, Opinion Scale Questions, Short Response Questions, Either / Or Questions, and Quiz Bowl Questions. (Calculated Formula Questions, Calculated Numeric Response Questions, File Response Questions, Hot Spot Questions, Fill in Multiple Blank Questions, Jumbled Sentence Questions, Opinion Scale/Likert Questions, Short Answer Questions, Either/Or Questions, Quiz Bowl Questions)

Gradebook Null Option
Current Gradebook calculations for Total and Weighted Total include items that have not been taken or graded. A new option to exclude untaken or ungraded items when calculating the Total and Weighted Total appears in Application Pack 3. The Running Total and Running Weighted Total columns display Student performance only on completed items.Calculating Total and Weighted Total in the Gradebook ) Assessment Question Completion Status Students may skip questions that they may wish to come back to in a question-by-question assessment. This feature allows Students to clearly identify which questions they have actually completed from the ones that they have skipped as they progress through the assessment.(more details)

Randomize Multiple Choice Answers