If you would like more help not covered on this page, please try the FAQ page. The FAQ page includes information about logging in to Blackboard.
Click on a link below to jump to the help section for a particular module of Blackboard:
- Content Areas (Document Downloading, E-reserves, etc)
- Assessment and Gradebook (Tests, Gradebook, Surveys, etc)
- Communication (Discussion Board, Chat, E-mail, etc)
- User Management (Adding Users, Changing Roles, etc)
- Course Management (Copying Content/Courses, Archiving, etc)
- Blackboard Site Personalization (Hiding courses, Customizing "My Blackboard," etc)
- Technical Issues (Plug-ins, Mac files)
E-reserves
To place material on Electronic Reserve (e-reserves):
Once your Blackboard account has been setup and your Course Title has been added onto Blackboard, you will need to fill out a Reserves Request Form and turn it in along with your materials to the Prescott Memorial Library Circulation Desk. For questions or further information, please contact Ms. Laura Ogden at ext. 2926.
Note: In order to facilitate placement of materials on e-reserves, documents must be single-sided and letter size (8.5" x 11"). The library has an account that gives access to Blackboard in order to place your materials into the assigned courses. This user-name is e-reserves. PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THIS USER FROM YOUR COURSE.
If you submitted your reserves and have not seen a link to your reserves in Blackboard within a week of your submission to the library, please contact the Library Reserves Staff to verify that your reserves have been processed. The Library Staff will resolve the problem or direct you to the appropriate unit for resolution.
In compliance with U.S. Copyright Guidelines, electronic documents become inaccessible to students at the end of the quarter.
Full-text Articles
To create a link to an article that is in one of Prescott Memorial Library's full-text databases:
- Follow the Library's link to Find Articles > Indexes & Databases.
- Retrieve the article's URL.
- Using the URL, link to the Webpage from your Blackboard course site.
Viewing Files
To view a file in a Blackboard course site, click on the link for the file. Depending on how your browser is configured, it may open automatically or you may be prompted to choose one of the following options:
- Open - Open the file in its native application.
- Save - Save the file to your computer, requiring you to then find the file and open it manually.
If you are not prompted to choose whether to open or save the file but do wish to save it, you can right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..." to save it to a desired location on your computer. If you are unable to view the file by either of these methods, your computer probably does not have the proper viewing application, e.g. Word for .doc files or PowerPoint for .ppt files. In that case, you can download free viewers for each application to your computer. If you are trying to view/listen to an audio, video, or animation clip, you may need a browser plug-in.
Formats for Text Input
Blackboard's new text box editor features vast improvements in creating content to use within Blackboard 7. Integrated into the text box editor are the following:
- WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get): This feature allows rich text formatting, insertion of graphics, cutting and pasting of content from other applications, and insertion of multimedia files.
- Spell Check: The editor contains a full English dictionary. During the spell check process, custom words can be added to the User Dictionary.
Options for text input without the WYSIWYG editor to Blackboard:
- Smart text: Recognizes HTML tags, such as <b>bold</b>, <i>italics</i>, and conversion of web addresses into hyperlinks.
- Plain text: Converts web addresses into hyperlinks but will not recognize other formatting, such as line breaks or bold text. HTML tags will not be interpreted.
- HTML: Interprets all HTML tags.
Adding Gradebook Items
To add grades into the Blackboard Gradebook, follow the instructions in the Add/Modify Gradebook Item section of the Blackboard Instructor Manual.
To import grades from a spreadsheet into the Blackboard Gradebook, follow the instructions in the Upload Gradebook section of the Blackboard Instructor Manual.
To export grades in the Blackboard Gradebook to Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program, follow the instructions in the Download Gradebook section of the Blackboard Instructor Manual.
Adding an Image to a Test or Survey Question
To add an image to a new test or survey question, follow the Test Creation Settings instructions in the Blackboard Instructor Manual for adding images, files, and URLs to questions. Note: Only .gif, .jpeg, and .jpg images may be used.
To add an image to an existing test or survey question, first choose "Test Manager" under Control Panel. Click "Modify" next to the test or survey with the question to which you would like to add an image. Then, follow the Test Creation Settings instructions in the Blackboard Instructor Manual for adding images, files, and URLs to questions. Note: Only .gif, .jpeg, and .jpg images may be used.
Creating a Survey
All surveys are created with the Survey Manager, located in the Assessment area of the Control Panel. It provides a "wizard" type interface to guide you through the step-by-step process of creating a survey in Blackboard. Surveys do not have correct answers or point values and all information is anonymous.
- Access the Control Panel of your course.
- Click on "Survey Manager" under the Assessment Section.
- Click on "Add Survey."
- Fill in the Name, Description, and Instructions for your survey.
- Click "Submit."
- On the Survey Canvas page, click on the down arrow next to "Add" to choose a question type.
- Click "Go."
- Create your question and answers and choose the appropriate options.
- Click "Submit."
- To add another question, click on the down arrow next to "Add" again and choose a question type.
- Click "Go."
- Create your question and answers and choose the appropriate options.
- Click "Submit."
- Repeat steps 6-9 until all questions have been added.
- When you have completed adding questions and are ready to submit your survey, click "OK."
- Follow the procedure below for making a survey available to students.
Making a survey available for students:
- In the Control Panel select and click on the name of the Content Area where you want your survey to be located. (i.e. Course Documents, Assignments, etc.)
- On the right end of the bar that allows you to add Items, Folders, External Links, etc., click on the arrow for the pull-down menu beside "Select."
- Select "Survey." and click "Go."
- Select the existing survey you wish to deploy and click "Submit."
- Click "OK."
- Select "Modify the Survey options."
- Scroll down to "Survey Availability."
- Click on the radio button next to "Yes" to make the link visible to students.
- Choose the options for Survey Availability, Survey Feedback, and Survey Presentation.
- Click "Submit."
Viewing your survey results
Instructors can view survey results on the Assessment Attempt Details page. This page is accessed from the Gradebook in the Control Panel.
- Access the Gradebook from the Control Panel.
- Select the appropriate survey title (in the heading of one of the columns).
- Select "Assessment Attempt Details" from the menu.
Deleting a Test or Survey
Tests and surveys in Blackboard are created in the Test Manager and the Survey Manager, respectively. Once a test is created, it can be "deployed" (made available to students) in any Course Content area. When the assessment is deployed, a Gradebook column is created for that assessment. As students take the assessment, their scores are recorded in the Gradebook.
If you plan to remove a test or survey, the process differs depending on whether you are removing an assessment that has never been deployed (which only exists in the test or survey manager), one that was once deployed but is currently not deployed (but for which grades may exist), or one that is currently deployed in a content area.
To remove a never-deployed test or survey:
- In the Control Panel, click on "Test Manager" or "Survey Manager."
- Click on the "Remove" button next to the test or survey you wish to delete.
- A dialog box will pop up. Make sure you chose the test you want to delete, and click on the "OK" button.
To remove an assessment that had been deployed but now isn't:
- Follow steps 2 or 3 below, depending on whether Gradebook scores were retained when "un-deploying" the test.
To remove an assessment that is currently deployed:
- First, un-deploy the assessment by removing the content item that links to the assessment. To do this:
a. In the Control Panel, click on the link for the Content Area containing the link to the assessment.
b. Click "Remove" beside the item
c. Click "OK."
d. You will be prompted to determine whether you want to remove the item and the individual attempts (but keep the scores and the related Gradebook item/column), or remove everything (Gradebook column, all scores/attempts, and test link). Select the appropriate option.
e. Click "Submit." - If you chose to remove the test item (in the content area) but keep the Gradebook scores, you can remove the test itself at this point by following the steps above for a never-deployed test. This will retain the Gradebook scores for that test. You can later remove the Gradebook column, should you want to, by going to Control Panel > Gradebook > Manage Items. Click "Remove" by the relevant item, and then "Submit."
- If you chose to remove everything when removing the test item (in the content area), you can then remove the Test or Survey following the instructions above for a never-deployed test.
Posting Assignments
To give and receive assignments to students through Blackboard, follow the instructions in the Add Assignment section of the Blackboard Instructor Manual.
Assignments submitted by students will automatically be listed in the Blackboard Gradebook to be viewed and graded.
Importing/Exporting Grades
To import grades from a spreadsheet into the Blackboard Gradebook, follow the instructions in the Upload Gradebook section of the Blackboard Instructor Manual.
To export grades in the Blackboard Gradebook to Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program, follow the instructions in the Download Gradebook section of the Blackboard Instructor Manual.
Limiting Test Time
To limit the amount of time students have to complete a test:
- Before you can set a time limit on the test, the test must first be deployed. Make sure the test is finished and deployed in the correct location. You can check this by viewing the Test Manager and checking the location of deployment.
- Go to the Control Panel and navigate to the content area in which your test is located.
- Click on the "Modify" button next to the test.
- Click on the "Modify the Test options" link.
- Scroll down to "Section 2: Test Availability." Click in the box next to "Set timer" and use the pull-down menus to set how long students have to complete the test.
- Click on the "Submit" button. Click on the "OK" button on the next page.
Once a time limit has been set, students will see a timer in the corner of the browser as they take the test. Note that students who take longer than the time limit will still be able to submit their tests, but the instructor will be notified that the time limit was exceeded and can choose what penalty to apply in that case.
Modifying a Test or Survey
To modify a test or survey:
- In the Control Panel, click on "Test Manager" or "Survey Manager."
- Click on the "Modify" button next to the test or survey.
- If the test or survey you are attempting to modify is currently deployed (available for students to take), you will be warned to only make changes to existing fields. Click "Continue."
- You can now change any part of the test or survey that you wish. When finished, click "OK."
Test Versus Survey
Tests are for evaluating students, while surveys are for polls, such as end-of-class evaluations, where anonymity is important.
Definitions from the Blackboard Instructor Manual:
Tests are created to check the knowledge and skill level of users enrolled in the course. Tests permit the instructor to assign point values to each question on exams or quizzes. When a student completes a test, it is submitted for grading, and the results are recorded in the Gradebook.
Surveys are useful for polling purposes, evaluations, and random checks of knowledge. They function in the same way as tests and offer most of the same options. Questions on surveys are not assigned a point value, and surveys are not graded.
The Assessment section of the Blackboard Instructor Manual has more information on tests and surveys.
Discussion Board Versus Chat
Discussion Board is the preferred method for involved, detailed exchanges that last for days and weeks. Like email, it facilitates asynchronous (i.e. not real time) discussions.
Note: You may want to break a large class into small groups for discussion board exchanges to maintain a manageable number of posts per discussion.
Chat is the preferred method for Q&A sessions, class brainstorming, or online office hours that last for a few minutes to a few hours. Like an instant messenger, it facilitates synchronous (i.e. real time) discussions.
Using Blackboard E-mail
Here are some pointers for effectively using Blackboard's e-mail tool:
Ask students to verify their e-mail addresses in Blackboard's Personal Information section. Blackboard automatically imports students' e-mail addresses from the Student Information System when a student enrolls in the course, but these e-mail addresses may not be the ones regularly used by every student.
Give specific instructions on how to reply to each e-mail. Recipients of Blackboard e-mails are blind copied, so they do not know to whom else an e-mail is addressed and may mistakenly "reply all." Conversely, you may not know who else had been copied on an e-mail from a student and may duplicate the response of a teaching assistant or other instructor.
Include a course identifier (name and/or number) in the subject line of the e-mail and encourage students to do the same. Blackboard does not automatically indicate that its e-mails are course related.
Choose the "Send Copy of Message to self" option when selecting recipients for e-mails. This will give you your only record of your course correspondence, as Blackboard does not keep a log of sent e-mails.
User Management
Adding a User (Including a TA) to a Course
The User Management area of a course's Control Panel is where you can add users, remove users, view a list of users and modify their role in the course if necessary, and setup/modify student groups.
To add a user to a Blackboard course site:
To add a user to your course, click "Enroll User" in the Control Panel. This allows you to choose from and add any existing Blackboard user to your course site. If the user's role is other than "Student," be sure to modify their user account in your course after adding them by clicking "List/Modify Users."
Available user roles include:
- Student - User is able to access all available course content and will be graded on assessments.
- Instructor - User is able to control all aspects of the course through the Control Panel.
- Teaching Assistant - User has the same accessibility as an Instructor except the option to modify a user with the role of instructor. This role is best used for Graduate or Teaching Assistants who may assist you in creating and managing your course.
- Grader - User has access to the Gradebook section of the Control Panel. They can enter or delete grades but cannot create or modify assessments or pools. From the "front end" of the course, they can access all the content areas, including the Communications section (e-mail, discussion groups, etc.).
- Course Builder - User has access to all Control Panel functions except the Assessment section (Gradebook, Assessment Manager, etc.) and the course enrollment. From the "front end" of the course, they can access all the content areas, including the Communications section (e-mail, discussion groups, etc.).
- Guest - Guests are able to view areas of the course made available to guests by the instructor but cannot participate in any way.
Changing a User's Role
User roles can be adjusted in the "List/Modify Users" section of the Control Panel.
Available user roles include:
- Student - User is able to access all available course content and will be graded on assessments.
- Instructor - User is able to control all aspects of the course through the Control Panel.
- Teaching Assistant - User is able to control most aspects of the course through the Control Panel.
- Grader - User is able to access all areas under Assessment.
- Course Builder - User is able to add content to the course through the Control Panel.
- Guest - Guests are able to view areas of the course but cannot participate in any way.
Archiving a Course
The archive process in Blackboard will create a .zip file that contains all the documents uploaded to the course site, as well as all course interactions in a format that are for the most part not "readable." To use the individual files in the archive (e.g. PDFs, PPTs, docs, etc.) you can unzip the .zip file and locate a particular file. To use the entire archive as an intact Blackboard course, you can use the "Import Package" option under the Control Panel of a course.
To archive a course with online interactions, such as discussion board postings, grades, etc.:
- Go to Control Panel > Archive Course.
- Click on the "Submit" button.
- Click on the link "Click here to download the generated package file."
- Click on the "OK" button.
A Blackboard course "archive" that contains only the content items and not the student interactions (e.g. grades, submitted assignments, discussion board postings, etc.) is called a Course Export. Similar to archiving, exporting creates a .zip file that can be imported back into Blackboard using the "Import Package" option under the Control Panel of a course.
To archive a course without course interactions:
- Go to Control Panel > Export Course.
- Select the content you wish to save by clicking in the box next to the appropriate items.
- Click on the "Submit" button.
- Click on the link "Click here to download the generated package file."
- Click on the "OK" button.
Copying/Moving Content
- Go to the Control Panel and locate the Content Area where the item(s) you wish to move or copy is/are located.
- Click on the "Copy" button next to the item.
- If you want to copy or move the content to another area in the same course, click on the "Browse" button next to the "Destination Folder" text box.
If you want to copy or move the content to another course, click on the down arrow for the box beside the "Destination Course" and select the course to which you wish to move or copy content. You may only move materials to courses where you are listed as the instructor. - A new window will appear. Navigate to the content location you will copy the content to and click on that location. Click on the "Submit" button in this window. The location will appear in the text box.
- If you wish to delete the item from its original location after moving it, click on the "Yes" radio button next to "Remove item after copy." Note: We recommend that when moving items that would require significant time to reconstruct if lost, you leave this option set to "No." Once the copy is complete and verified, you can return to the original location and delete the item that was moved.
- Click on the "Submit" button. In the next window, click on the "OK" button.
You have now successfully copied an item.
Copying a Course
Before attempting to copy a course, note the Blackboard Course ID of the course you wish to copy materials into.
To copy a course:
- Enter the Control Panel of the old course, which has the contents you wish to copy into a new course site.
- Click "Course Copy" in the Course Options box under the Control Panel.
- Click the "Copy Course Materials into an Existing Course" link.
- In the box beside "Destination Course ID," enter the Blackboard ID of the empty (new) course site into which you plan to copy content. The ID is case-sensitive and must be enetered correctly for it to work. If you are not sure of the ID, use the "Browse" button to search for and select the appropriate course.
- Click in the boxes by the Course Materials you wish to copy (i.e. Content, Announcements, etc.) so that a check mark appears.
- DO NOT copy enrollments, as the enrollments for your new course will be automatically entered and will be those students who have officially registered for the course.
- Click "Submit."
Your copy request will be queued, and you will recieve an e-mail at the e-mail address you have listed for your Blackboard account when it is complete.
When you recieve your e-mail, you can enter your previously empty course site and find the content copied from your older course.
Note that you may need to re-organize course menus. In most cases, the Copy Course feature creates a second Assignments link in the Course Menu. The Assignments folder that does not contain the copied materials can be deleted by first accessing the Manage Course Menu tool from the Control Panel. Once on the Manage Course Menu page, click on Remove next to the appropriate Assignments folder that should be removed. The order of the menu items can also be changed by clicking on the down-arrows next to items and changing the number.
Hiding courses and Customizing "My Blackboard"
To edit/hide previous courses from your "My Blackboard" page:
- Click on the pencil icon in the upper right corner of the My Courses module (box).
- Select "Show Course" for the courses you would like to view. Uncheck any courses you wish to hide from your "My Blackboard" view.
- Select "Submit" in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
You should now see only the courses you selected to view.
To customize your "My Blackboard" page:
- Click on the "Content" or "Layout" buttons in the upper right corner of the page.
- Select content to add or remove modules from your "My Blackboard" page, such as:
Blackboard Course Info
Bookmarks
Calculator
Courses: QuickView
Dictionary
My Announcements
My Calendar
My Courses
My Organizations
My Tasks
Notes
Search the Web
Textpad
Thesaurus - Select "Layout" to choose the display color, order, and grouping.
Plug-Ins
"Plug-in" software allows users to create and view online documents, audio, video, animation, and multimedia presentations.
To determine which plug-in is most appropriate for your needs and how to use it, browse the links below for common plug-ins or sign up for training or consulting.
Document sharing:
Adobe Acrobat Reader is available for Windows 95 or later, Mac OS 8.1 or later, Linux and Unix versions.
Download Acrobat Reader.
Multimedia presentations (audio, video, and/or animation):
Apple QuickTime is available for Windows 95 or later and Mac OS 8.1 or later.
Download QuickTime.
Adobe Flash Player is available for Windows 95 or later, Mac OS 8.1 or later, Linux or Unix verstions.
Download Flash Player.
Adobe Shockwave Player is available for Windows 95 or later, Mac OS 8.1 or later.
Download Shockwave Player.
RealNetworks RealPlayer is available for Windows 95 or later, Mac OS 8.1 or later, Linux and Unix versions.
Download RealPlayer.
Microsoft Media Player is available for Windows 95 or later, Mac OS 8.1 or later, and Solaris.
Download Media Player.
Mac Files not Displaying Properly
Opening files on a Mac:
Mac users must use proper file extensions when uploading files to Blackboard courses. File extensions are the letters that appear after the period near the end of a document name that indicates the file's format. e.g. a Microsoft Word document called "History Lesson" will have a file name of "History Lesson.doc" where ".doc" indicates it is a Word document. Failing to provide a file extension can cause a file to appear as gibberish when downloaded from Blackboard.
Note: Some operating systems do not show file extensions unless you select the show extensions option.
A partial list of file extensions:
| File Type | Extension |
| Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) | |
| Adobe Scalable Vector Graphic File | .svg |
| Apple QuickTime Movie | .mov |
| Graphics Interchange Format File (GIF Graphic) | .gif |
| Joint Photographic Expert Group File (JPEG Graphich) | .jpg or .jpeg |
| Macromedia Flash Movie | .swg |
| Macromedia Streamable Shockwave Audio File | .swa |
| Microsoft Access Database | .mdb |
| Microsoft Excel Workbook | .xls |
| Microsoft Excel Template | .xlt |
| Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation | .ppt |
| Microsoft PowerPoint Template | .pot |
| Microsoft Word Document | .doc |
| Microsoft Word Template | .dot |
| Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG Movie) | .mpg or .mpeg |
| Moving Pictures Expert Group 3 File (MP3) | .mp3 |
| Plain Text Document | .txt |
| PostScript File | .ps |
| Real Audio Media File | .ram |
| Rich Text Format Document (RTF Document) | .rtf |
| Tagged Image File Format (TIFF Graphic) | .tif |
| Wave Sound File | .wav |
| Web Page (HTML) | .html |
| Windows Media File | .wma |
| Zip-Compressed Archive | .zip |
