Introduction To Blackboard Training

WELCOME TO DISTANCE
LEARNING

Supported by Blackboard

INTRODUCTION TO
BLACKBOARD
Florida National College Online Courses Platform

Opens Doors to the Future
Author Sandra Lomena
Created July, 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Blackboard System • Acceptable Document Types
Requirements • Discussion Board Forums
• Internet Explorer Compatibility • Sending E-Mails
•Accessing Blackboard • Digital Drop Box
• Logging Into Blackboard • Assignments
• Changing Your Password • Taking a Test in Blackboard
• Accessing Your Courses • Common Issues
• Viewing Your Grades • Getting Help with
• View Posted Documents Blackboard

Online Classes • Distance Learning

System Requirements

 MS Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS 10.3 or better
 Internet Explorer 5.5 or better, Netscape 7.1

 Needs adjustments for compatibility with IE 8 upgrade (*)

 Mozilla Firefox 1.5 or better, Apple Safari 1.1 or better

 Java 6 installed & enabled

 High speed Internet strongly recommended for efficient use of
all the applications

(*) See the following for more information


IE 8 Compatibility
Compatibility View
Internet Explorer 8 is a new release and some websites
may not yet be ready for the new browser. Blackboard is
one of this websites. To correct this problem :
-Click the Compatibility View toolbar button to display
the website as viewed in Internet Explorer 7, which will
correct display problems like misaligned text, images, or
text boxes. This option is on a per site basis and all
other sites will continue to display with Internet Explorer
8 functionality.
The "Compatibility View" toolbar button is located next to
the Refresh button on the Address Bar:

For more information click on the following link: Compatibility
View Video

Accessing Blackboard
•You can access Blackboard in the following ways:
- Using FNC Website: http://www.fnc. edu
Click on the “Distance Learning”


• After you click Distance Learning link:
Click the “Blackboard Login “


- Click the “Login “ button


• Or you can also access Blackboard using:
http://fnc.blackboard.com
- Click on the “User Login” button:


Logging into Blackboard
• Typical Blackboard login and password:
– User Name: your student ID number (no spaces)
– Password: your last four digits of your SS#
In case that your last four digits of your social Security Number starts with a zero use
the number 1 instead


Changing Your Password
• To change your Blackboard password:
(recommended after you have logged in the first time)
- Under “Tools”, click “Personal Information”
- Click on “Change Password”
- Change your password and click “Submit”


Accessing Your Courses
• When you log into Blackboard, you are taken to the
“My Institution” tab
• Courses in which you are enrolled are shown on the right side
under “My Courses”


Accessing Your Courses
• You can also click on the “Courses” tab for a list of your
courses
• Click on a course name to view the selected course


Viewing Your Grades
• Blackboard’s Gradebook stores your grades for each course in
which you are enrolled
• To access the Gradebook for any of your courses, click on the
“Tools” button in the course menu, then click on “My Grades”


Viewing Your Grades
• You can also access your Gradebook when you login into
blackboard and then click on “View Grades” under Tools in “My
Institution” tab


Viewing Your Grades
• Blackboard’s Gradebook lists detailed information in
spreadsheet format for every test or assignment in your course
Gradebook Icons


View Posted Documents
• To view a posted document, click on a content section (Course
Documents, Course Information, Assignments…) then click on the
desired link. Content in Blackboard can be a Word Processor
document, PDF document, a PowerPoint presentation, a video or
an image
• After you clicked on the desired link you will prompt to Open or
SAVE the document in your computer

Click on the
link


Documents Types
• Several document types can be uploaded to your course in
Blackboard including:
- Images: .jpg, .gif, .png
- Microsoft Office Documents: .doc, .docx
.rtf, .txt, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx
- Adobe® Acrobat Documents: .pdf
- Flash Player files: .swf
- Streaming video: .wmv, .rm (users must have the appropriate
media player installed on their computer to view these types of videos)
- Web pages: .htm, html (complete web sites must be packaged into a
.zip file for use in Blackboard)

Note: File size is restricted to 3.5 Mb. This applies to instructors and students whether it is a
document or an attachment in an e-mail or Discussion Board posting. Files larger than 3.5 Mb will
either need to be split into parts or optimized to reduce file size

Discussion Board
• Blackboard’s Discussion forums are the best way for
instructors and students to communicate
• To access the Discussion Board, click the “Discussion Board”
button, at your left side of your course menu, then choose a
forum (your instructor creates forums in the Discussion Board)

Forums


Discussion Board
•Topics in a forum are called a “Thread”. Click on a thread to
view posts by other students and instructors in your course

Click on
here
Threads


Discussion Board
• Ways to view the Discussion Board in Blackboard:
- List View
- Tree View
•You can toggle between these two types of views as often as you
like

List Tree
View View


Discussion Board
• Creating a new thread and replying to an existing thread are very
similar.
• To create a new thread: click the “Add New Thread” button


Discussion Board
• Type a subject, then your message and click the “Submit”
button
• You can even attach files to your posting just like you can with
e-mail
(Note: your attached file must be less than 3.5 Mb in size or it will not be
attached to your posting)

Subject

Message

Attachment Submit


Sending E-mails
• You can send e-mails to anyone in your course through
Blackboard
• E-mails can only be sent to those enrolled in your course. You
cannot e-mail someone in a different course or send e-mails to an
address outside of Blackboard (ex. A friend in Vancouver who
uses an Yahoo e-mail address)


Sending e-mail
• To send e-mail through Blackboard click on the
“Communication” button in the course menu, then click
“Messages ”


Sending e-mail
• Click on “New Message” button to start writing your email


Sending e-mail
• To choose the recipient (s): to whom you wish to send the e-
mail click on the “To” button


Sending e-mail
• Choose from the recipients’ list and then click the small right
arrow to
add recipients
• Click on the small left arrow to remove recipients

Add & remove users


Sending e-mail
•Type the subject of your message into the “Subject” field
•Type your message into the “Message Field”
• You will be able to use advanced text formatting tools like
spelling check, change font size, style, etc.
•To send your message, click “Submit”

Formatting Tools

Type your
message


Using Digital Drop Box
• Used to electronically submit documents to your instructor
•File names cannot contain any special characters such as #, $,
@, %, &, or *
• Use only the letters a – z, numbers 0 – 9 and hyphens or
underscores, otherwise your document will not be successfully
received by your instructor (ex: for file names, use “assignment-
01.doc” and not “assignment #1.doc”).
• Include you first and last name in the name of your document.
• File must be less than 3.5 Mb in size


• To use the Digital Drop Box click on “Tools”
• Click on “Digital Drop Box

Click Here


• There are two buttons: “Add File” and “Send File”
• “Add File” posts your file to your Digital Drop Box but will not
send it to your instructor. It can be sent at a later date using
the “Send File” button
• “Send File” will post your file to your Digital Drop Box and
send it to your instructor

Using “Add File “
Notice the “Received “
status

Using “Send File “
Notice the “Submitted”
status


• How to add a file to your Digital Drop Box:
- Click “Add File”
- Give your file a name in the “Name” field, then click
“Browse” and navigate through your computer until you find
the desired file and click “Submit”


• When you click “Submit”, an alert window will pop up
telling you that you are only adding the file, not sending it
to your instructor. You may still send your file at a later
date. Click “Ok” to return to the Digital Drop Box

Alert window informing the user that the file will only
Be posted…not sent to the instructor


• Your will receive a confirmation message on your document
“Posted” to the Digital Drop Box
• Note there is a “Remove” button next to your file
• Because it has not been submitted to your instructor, you can
remove the file, make revisions and add it to your Digital Drop Box
again

Confirmation
Message


• How to send a file to your instructor:
- Click “Send File” button
- Give your file a name in the “Name” field, then click
“Browse” and navigate to choose the desired file; or you
can choose from a drop-down list of files already posted to
your Digital Drop Box
- Click “Submit”


• After receiving the confirmation message then click “Ok”
• Your file appears as being “Submitted” in your Digital Drop
Box
Note: there is no “Remove” button next to your file when
you use “Send File”…the file has been submitted to your
instructor.
No “Remove”
• You may not make any more changes once you have button
submitted an assignment to your instructor!


Assignments
• In addition to documents, instructors can add an assignment as
an item into the Assignments section in Blackboard
• Each assignment item also appears as an entry in your
Gradebook
•To submit an assignment, click on the “Assignments” button
and then click on the link “View/Complete Assignment” that
appears below to your assignment
Click
here


Assignments
• The details of your assignment will be contained in a document
provided by your instructor in step 1 or will be display on
“Assignment Information” section.
• You can type any comments related to the document containing
your completed assignment in the “Comments” field (optional)

Add your
comment
s


Assignments
• Click the “Browse” button to locate the document containing
your completed assignment, then click “Open” to attach your
document


Assignments
• Click “Add Another File” if you have more than one file to
submit to your instructor for the assignment (Note: each of your files must
be less than 3.5 Mb in size)
• Click the “Submit” button if you wish to submit your completed
assignment to your instructor. No further changes can be made
once the assignment has been submitted


Assignments
• Click “OK” button after you receive the confirmation
message to return to your assignments content area
• Once an Assignment has been submitted, only the results
can be viewed. Your grade appears as a “!” until your
instructor has reviewed and graded your assignment


Assignments
• You can also view the results of your assignment in your
Gradebook
• Your grade appears as a until your instructor has reviewed
and graded your Assignment

Your
grade


Taking a Test
Before Taking a Blackboard Test:
• Check your computer setting like:
- Disable popup blockers
- Disable firewalls
- Make sure your computer is free of viruses and/or
spyware
- Check your internet connection
• Close all other programs running on your computer before you
start a Blackboard exam. Do not take a test with other applications
running in the background, such as movies, music, e-mail, or IM
(instant messaging).


Taking a Test
Before Taking a Blackboard Test: (Cont’d)
• Be certain that you are ready to take the test and set aside time
in which you will be free from interruptions BEFORE clicking on
the link to the test.
• Do not enter any test or exam until you are ready to take
it! Once you click “OK” to enter a test, Blackboard counts this as
an attempt at the test, even if you only look at the test and do not
answer any questions.
(Your instructor is the only one who can clear an incomplete attempt from your record)
• Find out the dates that the test will be available in the course and
take your test as soon as you are ready. DO NOT wait until the
last day to take a test in Blackboard.
• (If you have technical difficulties or lose your connection, there may not be
enough time for you to resolve the issue, and you may not be permitted to
complete or re-take your exam.)Classes • Distance Learning
Online

Taking a Test
Before Taking a Blackboard Test: (Cont’d)
• Read the instructions for the test carefully: each Blackboard test
may be set up differently by your instructors. The options for each
test will be listed at the top in the Instructions area. It is very
important that you read your instructor's directions carefully.
- Some tests may be taken more than once, while
others can only be taken once. Your instructor will inform you if the
test can be taken more than once.
- Some tests may be timed :The instructor has set a time
limit. The elapsed time appears at the top of the browser
window, and you will receive a 1-minute warning when time is up.
It is recommended to finish the test before the time elapsed to
prevent technical problems.

Taking a Test
While You Are Taking a Blackboard Test
• Once you begin taking the test, you are required to work until
you finish it. As soon as you leave the test, whether or not you
have actually clicked the “Submit” button, your attempt is
recorded in the Gradebook as complete.
• If you leave the quiz without completing it, you will not be able to
come back and finish it. If this happens, contact your Instructor via
the “Questions & Concerns” forum or send her/him an email.
• All of the questions appear on one web page. Each question has
a “Save” button next to it, you can save each question as you go.
Doing so should help protect you in case of technical difficulties.


Taking a Test
While You Are Taking a Blackboard Test: (Cont’d)

DO NOT!
Do not resize or refresh the window during a test
Do not click anywhere outside the test area during an
exam
Never click the “Back” button or the “Refresh” button on
your web browser while you’re taking a test
Do not click the “Submit”, button more than once
Do not close the window of the test for any reason


Taking a Test
While You Are Taking a Blackboard Test: (Cont’d)
• Stay active in the test window – The assessment feature in
Blackboard is set to time out after a certain number of minutes of
inactivity. You must do more than just type or click answers to
keep the test active. Save individual questions periodically to
reset the activity clock.

Click Here
periodicall
y


Taking a Test
Submitting the Test
• Review all of your answers before submitting the test.
• Make sure to click the “Submit” button ONLY ONCE when you
are done with the test. You will not get credit for your answers
unless you have clicked “Submit”.

Click
Do not click this
once
“Save “button


Taking a Test
Confirmation of Test Submission
• After you click the “Submit” button you should see a
confirmation and/or feedback for the test results.
• To check your test grade – Go to Course Tools > My Grades and
you should see one of the following:
- Your score for the exam (if enabled by your instructor) –
or-
- An exclamation point, which means the test is submitted
but not yet graded by the instructor
• If you cannot confirm that your test has been successfully
submitted, contact your instructor.
•If your instructor is not available contact the Distance Learning
Department for immediate assistance.


Common Issues
• Timer box covers save and submission buttons in a timed test:
Users of Internet Explorer 8 are unable to save or submit timed
tests due to the timer box covering the entire right side of the
window
Solution: click located next to the Refresh button
on the Address Bar.
• No access to an assignment or test:
Only applicable to Human Growth & Development and General Psychology
User are unable to access an assignment o test in their course
due to not completion of a corresponding course’s section.
Solution: First review the information within corresponding folder
, when finished click the “Mark Reviewed” button to the right of
the folder which will release the next activities folder. Continue
doing this for each lesson. Please see next slide

Common Issues
•No access to an assignment or test: (Cont’d)


Getting Help
• There are several ways to get help from Distance Learning’s
Blackboard Support:
• You can visit us :
Hialeah Campus: South Campus:
Room 143 Room 224
Monday to Thursday Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
8:30AM to 10:00PM 11:30 AM to 8:30PM
Friday: 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM


Getting Help
• Calling the Distance Learning Department in both campus during
business hours:

South Campus Hialeah Campus
(305) 226-9999 ext. 1345 (305) 821 – 3333 Ext. 1066 & 1047
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Monday to Thursday
Thursday Hours 8:30AM to 10:00PM
Hours 11:30AM to 8:30PM Friday: 8:00AM to 8:30PM


Getting Help

• Send an e-mail to:
 Juan Denoriega
DL Student Support
jnoriega@mm.fnc.edu
 Sandra Lomena
Blackboard Administrador
slomena@mm.fnc.edu
 Nestor Castellanos
Director of Distance
Learning
ncastellanos@mm.fnc.edu


Introduction To Blackboard Training

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