Blackboard Instructor Help

Supplements and support

Topics

    AOL users cannot post the discussion board

    In some cases, certain AOL users cannot post messages in Blackboard's discussion board. AOL users are instructed to follow the steps below in order to successfully use the discussion board feature:
    1. Connect to the internet with AOL
    2. Once AOL is fully connected, minimize the AOL window
    3. Open up Internet Explorer, usually found through the Start Menu
    4. Browse to your course through Internet Explorer

    Batch quiz creation tool

    David Carter-Tod has developed a webpage to help you quickly and easily create quizzes for Blackboard. His tool can be found at:

    http://www.csi.edu/blackboard/bbquiz/Default.aspx

    Browsers supported by Blackboard

    Most Internet Explorer and Firefox versions should work fine with Blackboard. The table below lists the known fully supported browsers that MCCC recommends.
    OS Microsoft
    Internet Explorer    		 Firefox
    Windows 6, 7 2.0
    Apple Macintosh 6, 7 1.0, 2.0

    Cookies Security

    A "cookie" is a small amount of information that a web site copies to your hard disk. A cookie can help a web site identify you the next time you visit. For instance, if you shop for books online, the bookstore's web site might use a cookie to store information about your favorite subjects, and later use that information to recommend particular books.

    Sometimes Blackboard requires that your cookies are enabled before it will allow you access. Follow these directions to enable cookies in either Internet Explorer or Netscape.

    Internet Explorer

    1. Open Internet Explorer.
    2. Click on "Tools" >> "Internet Options.."
    3. Click on the "Security" tab.
    4. Click on the "Customize Levels" button.
    5. Make sure your cookies settings are set to "enabled."

    Netscape Navigator

    1. From the "Edit" menu, choose "Preferences."
    2.Click the "Advanced" category.
    3.Click one of the radio buttons:
    In most cases, "Accept all cookies" is the best choice. The second button means that your computer will not send a cookie to a server that did not originate it.If you want to be notified when Communicator accepts a cookie, check "Warn me before accepting a cookie."

    Groupwise - Creating new folders

    To create new folders in Groupwise:

    1. In Groupwise, select "Folder..." in the pop-up menu which appears next to "New" in the File menu (this can also be accomplished by right-clicking in the left portion of the Groupwise window, where folders appear, and selecting "New Folder").
    2. In the dialogue that appears, select the type of folder you would like to create: Personal, Shared, or "Find Results"
    3. Click the "Next" button and proceed through the dialogue .

    Groupwise - Groups

    To create a group/e-mailing list in Groupwise, follow the steps below:
    1. Go into the GroupWise Address book.
    2. Double-click on the entries you would like to add so that they appear in the "To" box.
    3. Once all os the names are added, click the "Save Group" button at the bottom right of the Address Book window.
    4. Enter a name for the group.
    5. Select which tab you want the group to appear under (usually the tab with your name on it).
    6. Click "OK."

    To add and remove usernames from a personal group:
    1. Go into the GroupWise Address book.
    2. Click the tab of the address section the group is located in.
    3. Right-click on the group
    4. Select Edit Group from the pop-up menu - this will display all the members of the group in the "To" box.
    6. Modify the group by adding or removing entries from the "To" box.
    7. Click "Save Group" button at the bottom right of the Address Book window once you have made all the desired changes.
    8. Click the "OK" button in the "Save as Group" window.

    To use a group:
    1. Click on the Create New Mail icon in the GroupWise main window.
    2. Type the exact name of your group in the "To" field or click on the "Address" button and select the group from your address book.
    3. Finish filling in the message and click "Send."

    Groupwise - Setting up an auto reply

    This function can be handy for students submitting assignments in Blackboard

    1. Select Rules from the Tools pull-down menu.
    2. Click the New button in the Rules window.
    3. Type a name for the rule (e.g. out-of-office) in the Rule name box.
    4. Be sure that the Received box is checked (immediately after "And items are:")
    5. Click the Add Action button.
    6. Choose Reply from the pop-up menu.
    7. In the small box that appears, make sure the Reply to Sender option is selected and click the OK button.
    8. In the Reply window, type the message you want sent in the message box and click the OK button.
    9. Click the Save button in the New Rule window.
    10. You should now see the new rule in the Rules window.
    11. If you want the rule to be active, be sure the checkbox next to it is checked. If you want to turn off the rule, uncheck the checkbox.
    12. Click the Close button in the Rules window.

    Handling Word Perfect Files

    Occasionally, students submit their work in Word Perfect format (.wps), instead of MS Word that we use on campus. If the Word Perfect file is version 6.0 or lower, MS Word should have no difficulty opening the file. However, if it was created in Word Perfect 7.0 or higher, the student will need to save it specially for MS Word. Follow the link below for more detail.

    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q211692&

    Keeping AOL users connected during quizzes

    Most Dial-Up ISPs kick users off their network if they do not detect any interaction from the user after a certain amount of time, especially AOL. Interaction usually consists of pages being loaded, or pages being refreshed. This trick will open a second browser window and refresh itself automatically, while the student is filling out the quiz.

    1. In the first question of your quiz, click on the "Advanced" Button at the top right of the page.
    2. In the Question box, in front of your question add this text:

    <script language=javascript src=http://www.mc3.edu/asps/Bb/quiz.js></script>

    3. Underneath the Question box, click on the "HTML" radio button.
    * The HTML code will not appear with the question, it will be hidden.
    4. Click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page.

    Written by David Tod-Carter

    Opening Zipped files

    Under the main MCCC Applications Menu, there is a folder called "Utilities"

    1. The WinZip application is here. Double-click on it to install the program. The program files will download to your computer.
    2. Next, Right-click on the WinZip file in your email, and choose "Save As..." , it will prompt you to save the file somewhere, choose "Desktop", it is at the very top of the pull down menu.
    3. After the zip file has been saved down locally to your pc, you can double-click on it and it should open the file. WinZip must be properly installed in order for this to work.
    4. All future zipped files will appear with an icon of a folder with a vise around it, and will have the .zip extension.

    "Outside" links

    It can be useful to force links to "outside" sites to open in a new window, outside of the frameset. This is easier for students to navigate and won't "trick them" into leaving Blackboard without an easy way back in. To do this, simply add a "blank" target attribute to the link:

    target="_blank"

    for example:
    <a href="http://www.yahoo.com" target="_blank">Yahoo</a>
    Will create the following link:
    Yahoo

    Powerpoint - Posting to Blackboard

    Step 1: Save as Web Page
    1. First we have to save your presentation in an html internet format. In Powerpoint, when you are finished composing your presentation, select "save as web page" from the "File" menu.
    2. Give the new "Web" version of your presentation a title (consider "title_web" or "webpresentation," to distinguish it from the original presentation).
    3. Choose a location for it on your H: drive (don't forget where!). Click "save."
    Step2: "Zip it up"
    1. In order to post to Blackboard we have to "zip" the newly created files (to make them smaller for uploading).
    2. In your network applications window, under "Utilities," you will find a program called "WinZip." Double click on it.
    3. When WinZip opens, it may be in either "classic" mode or "Wizard" mode. We want "Wizard." If it says "Welcome to Winzip Wizard," then we're good to go. If there are, instead, some icon/buttons at the top, you must click the one that says "Wizard" to open the Wizard. Click "next."
    4. On the screen labeled "What do you want to do?" there are three options. Select "Create a new Zip file." Click next.
    5. Now you must title and place your zip file. Click "Browse" and find a suitable home for it (again, don't forget where!), title it, and click "OK." Click "Next."
    6. Now we have to tell WinZip which files we want to Zip. This is the part where you need to remember where you saved your "web" presentation.
      When you clicked "Save as Web Page" in Powerpoint, it made two things:

      1. an HTML file that's the "entry point" of your presentation (and it has the name you chose for it, say "webpresentation").
      2. a folder that contains all the other pages, all the images, sound files and other bits and pieces associated with your presentation. The folder has a name of the form "webpresentation_files."

      We want to include both the file and the folder in our new zip.

    7. So click "add files," find the "webpresentation" file, and click okay.
    8. Now click "add folders," find the "webpresentation_files" folder, and click okay. When you're done, click "Zip Now." When it's done working, click "Close" to quit the WinZip program.
    Step 3: Post it on Blackboard
    1. Now we have to upload the zip file to Blackboard. Log in to Blackboard. Find your course. Click "Control Panel," then "Course Documents (under "Content Areas").
    2. On the Course Documents screen, click "add Item."
    3. Select a name (the default "Course Documents" will do). Under "Content Attachments," click "Browse" and find the Zip file we just created.
    4. Give it a title (if you leave it blank, it will default to the file name of the zip). Under "Special Action," choose "Unpackage this file" (this converts the Zip back into the presentation). Select your viewability options and click "Submit."
    5. Now we have to choose an entry point for the presentation, a "first page." You will see a list of all the files in the zip. It's probably the first one on the list, the one with the least complicated name (it's that solo file we included in the zip, the only thing not in the "webpresentation_files" folder). Select it, click "Submit," click "Okay" when it's done uploading, and your presentation will now appear in "Course Documents" with convenient navigational tools built in.

    Powerpoint viewer

    The page below will allow you to download the viewer. It's free and you can distribute it to your students.
    Save all your Powerpoints as Powerpoints Shows by selecting "Save as" under the "File" menu. Then post them to Blackboard.

    http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdate/CD010798701033.aspx

    Translating Mac files

    To convert Windows/PC Word files to Macintosh format and vice/versa, the application Maclink Plus can be effective.

    It is available for purchase at www.dataviz.com for $100.

    Video inside Blackboard

    Note: Video files can be huge, and we do not recommend posting them to Blackboard. Please contact someone in IT before attempting this!

    1. Go to the Control Panel >>>Course Documents >> Add Folder (create a folder give it a descriptive name) then click "Submit."
    2. Then click on the Folder name and choose >> Add Item.
    3. On the upload page, instead of putting a web page in the attachment field, upload the *.avi file.
    4. Select display media within page from the pull down menu.
    5. If you have any corresponding text you want to go with the video, place it in the empty text area above the Attachment section.
    6. Click "Submit."
    7. A secondary page will come up, asking you to set the parameters of the video. Choose whatever you want.
    8. Click "Submit."

    Note: It is important to create a new folder for every video.

    Also: Before you can view any videos make sure that you have a video player that will show media embedded in web pages, i.e. Windows Media Player or Real Player 8.

    Word - Using the HTML filter

    To create HTML files from Word files, you first need to install the utility.
    1. In the MCCC Applications window, double-click on the Microsoft Office folder.
    2. Double-click on the HTML Filter icon (should be visible with the icons for Word, Excel, etc.).

    To filter a page, just save the word document as "compact HTML."
    1. Open the document in Word.
    2. Click the File pull-down menu.
    3. Click on "Export To."
    4. Choose Compact HTML.

    Word - Inserting Comments for Review/Grading

    This documentation is great for cutting down on printing papers, and having to send them through land mail.  As long as you and your students are using MS Word, they will be able to see all your comments, right on their screen.  Also it puts the task of printing papers on them.  These examples work best with email attachments received from students.

    Word documentation for Inserting Comments

    Students who do not have access to Microsoft Word, but need to view Word documents, can download and install the Word viewer available from the Microsoft Office Download Center. The viewer is free and will allow students to open, view, and print Word documents. Word documents cannot be edited using the Viewer.

    The Works Converter can convert Works word processor documents into Word documents. The Converter is available from the Microsoft Office Download Center.