University of Montevallo - Computer Services

Computer Services

Faculty FAQ's About Blackboard

What do I need to do to begin using Blackboard?
What type of files can I upload to Blackboard?
When I upload a document, it looks like garbage. What am I doing wrong?
Where is the instructor manual for Blackboard?
How do I enroll a Guest speaker in my Blackboard course?
What is the difference between the Discussion Board and Collaboration Tools?
What kind of Collaboration Tools are available to me with Blackboard?
How do I enter Student Grades in relation to Grade Display options?
How are students enrolled in my Blackboard course?
How do I delete a student from a course?
How can I collect the homework in Blackboard?
What kind of assessment options are available to me with Blackboard?
What are the differences between a Test, a Survey, and a Pool?
How do Surveys differ from Tests?
How do Survey Creation Settings work?
How do Test Creation Settings work?
How do I view the Survey Results?
How do I create and post Assignments in a course?
How do I access an assignment submitted by a student?
How different is the student view of the course from mine?
How do I move course content from one course to another?
What should I do when the course ends?
How do I archive my course?
Can I create a personal homepage in Blackboard?
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What do I need to do to begin using Blackboard?
Request a Blackboard course using the Request button on your Course page or send email to webmaster@montevallo.edu including the following information:

Course ID
Course Description
Semester
Cross listed information if desired

Your username is the same as your username for your Outlook email account. Contact the Computer Services Help Desk by calling (205) 665-6520 or via email at helpdesk@montevallo.edu if you need assistance.

What type of files can I upload to Blackboard?
Most type of files can be uploaded to Blackboard including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, html, PDF, audio and video. Always remember the file size can affect the download time.

When I upload a document, it looks like garbage. What am I doing wrong?
For Mac users be sure to include the corresponding extension for the specific file. For example, PDF files should include .pdf after the filename.

Rename the file making sure it doesn't contain spaces or special symbols and post it again.

Where is the instructor manual for Blackboard?
Go to the Control Panel for the course. Under Support click on or go to http://company.blackboard.com/docs/cp/learning_system/release6/instructor.

How do I enroll a Guest Speaker in my Blackboard course?
Send email to webmaster@montevallo.edu with the following information:

First and last name
Email address
Blackboard course to enroll the person
Portal role (i.e. student or instructor)

What is the difference between the Discussion Board and Collaboration Tools?
The Discussion Board is a collaboration tool that is designed for asynchronous use, meaning users are not present at the same time to converse online. Conversations on the Discussion Board are grouped into threads that contain main postings, or messages, and all related replies. All of the messages posted to the Discussion Board are logged and organized in this manner.

Collaboration Tools allow the instructor and students to participate in real time discussions and to view archives of previous collaboration sessions. The Collaboration Tools can be used to hold real-time, online classroom discussions, teacher assistant sessions, and office hour type question/answer forums.

What kind of Collaboration Tools are available to me with Blackboard?
There are two types of Collaboration Tools, the Virtual Classroom and Lightweight Chat.

Virtual Classroom - Allows users to enter a real-time discussion with Instructors, Students, and colleagues; access the Web; and engage in question and answer sessions.
Lightweight Chat - The Lightweight Chat is part of the Virtual Classroom but can also be accessed separately. It allows users to open just the Chat function of the Virtual Classroom.

How do I enter Student Grades in relation to Grade Display options?
Instructors have the option of entering or changing the grades students receive in the Gradebook. The type of grades the instructor enters must correspond with the Grade Display option selected on the Add/Modify Gradebook Item page.

Following is a description of what types of grades the instructor may enter, depending on the Display option selected on the Add/Modify Grade Item page:

Score - Instructors may only enter numbers. The system will not accept any other grade types.
Letter - Instructors may enter a letter grade or a number (letter grades may be defined on the Add/Modify Grade Display Options page).
Percentage - Instructors may enter a percentage (followed by the percent symbol '%') or a number. The percent symbol must be included for the grade to be calculated by the system as a percentage.
Text - The instructor may enter any set of characters or a number. If a number is entered, it will be calculated correctly by the system. If anything else is entered (for example "Pass" or "Fail") the system will calculate it as a zero.
Custom - Instructors may create new Display options on the Add/Modify Grade Display Options page. If this Display option is selected, the Instructor may enter any of the custom symbols included in this option or a number.

Note: Numbers may always be entered, regardless of which Display option is selected. The Spreadsheet View will always display the grade according to the Display option selected. For example, if the Display option is set to Letter and the Instructor enters a '98' for a student's grade on the View Item Grades page, an 'A+' will appear on the Spreadsheet View; however, a '98' will continue to appear on the View Item Grades page.

How are students enrolled in my Blackboard course?
Students who had enrolled in the course when you requested it will be in the Blackboard course roster. You will need to enroll those students who enroll after the course was created.

To add just a user to a course, follow these steps:

Click Enroll User in the User Management area of the System Control Panel.
Type the last name of the student to enroll in the Search box.
Select the student to enroll by clicking the Add box from the Search result list
Click Submit to add the user to the course with a course role of student.

Note: Make sure you compare your roster from the Records Office with the roster from Blackboard. It is your responsibility to add students missing in the Blackboard roster.

How do I delete a student from a course?

Open the Course Control Panel and select Remove Users.
Search for the Student.
Select the check box next to the Student’s name. Type Yes in the field and click Submit.

NOTE: This action is not reversible. The student and all of the information associated with the student will be removed from the course.

How can I collect the homework in Blackboard?
The Digital Drop Box is a tool that the instructor and students can use to exchange files. Instructors may send files to one or more students. The Digital Drop Box works by uploading a file from a disk or a computer to a depository. Files can be sent back and forth from the instructor’s Drop Box to the Drop Box of other users in the course.

Individual student access to the Drop Box is available from the Digital Drop Box area located in the Course menu on the course page. Instructors must access their Drop Box from the Course Control Panel.

What kind of assessment options are available to me with Blackboard?
Instructors use assessments to test student knowledge, measure student progress, and gather information from students. There are two types of Assessments:

Tests – 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 – 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 area allows instructors to:

follow a simple, step-by-step process to create tests and surveys
create several different types of questions
include multimedia or other attachments with assessment and survey questions
re-use questions from pools and previous tests
provide password-protected tests, timed tests, and instant feedback to students
create statistical reports of student answers.

NOTE: Create all assessments using the Pool feature. You can then reuse questions and migrate them to another Blackboard course.

What are the differences between a Test, a Survey, and a Pool?
Tests can be used to check the knowledge and skill level of the students enrolled in a course. Tests permit the instructor to assign point values to each question included on an exam or quiz. Student answers are submitted for grading and the results are recorded in the Gradebook.

Surveys provide instructors with an assessment tool that is useful for polling purposes, evaluations, and random checks of knowledge. Surveys may include the same types of questions that appear on tests, but the questions are not associated with a point value. Surveys cannot include random blocks of questions and questions cannot be categorized. Surveys cannot be graded and feedback may not be given, although the instructor can check to see if the student has completed a survey in the Gradebook. Surveys are submitted anonymously. Instructors may access a statistical analysis of student answers.

A Pool is a group of questions the instructor can create and store for repeated use. Instructors can create new questions to include in a pool and add questions that have been created in other tests or pools. Pool questions can be used in tests, but cannot be used in surveys.

How do Surveys differ from Tests?
Surveys provide instructors with an assessment tool that is useful for polling purposes, evaluations, and random checks of knowledge. The Survey Manager is used to create, add, preview, modify, and remove surveys.

The Survey Manager functions in the same way as the Test Manager and offers most of the same options for creating and managing surveys, survey questions and settings. Surveys are deployed from within a Content Area, similar to Tests.

Follow these steps to open the Survey Manager page.

Select a course from Courses You are Teaching in the Courses common area.
Click Control Panel on Course menu.
Select Survey Manager in Assessment.

Surveys differ from tests in the following ways:

Questions on surveys cannot be assigned points.
Surveys cannot include random blocks of questions.
Instructors cannot give students feedback.
Surveys cannot be graded.
Survey questions cannot be categorized.
Questions may be imported into a survey. Questions that are imported into a survey may not include correct and incorrect answers.

How do Survey Creation Settings work?
The Survey Creation Settings function in the same way as the Test Creation Settings. The only difference is there are not options to add categories to questions or to specify default point values for questions.

How do Test Creation Settings work?
The Test Creation Settings page allows Instructors to adjust settings and add options to a test. These settings control options, such as question feedback, categorization of questions, and default point value.

Follow these steps to open the Test Creation Settings page:

Select Test Manager in the Assessment area of the Course Control Panel.
Click Add Test.
Complete the Add Test page and select Submit.
Select Creation Settings.

How do I view the Survey Results?
Instructors may view the results of surveys on the Assessment Stats: Assessment Name page in the Gradebook. This page will show how students responded to questions on the survey by percentage. Results to individual student attempts on surveys are not available.

Follow these steps to open the Assessment Stats: Assessment Name page:

Select Gradebook on the Course Control Panel.
Select a Survey item. The Item Options page will appear.
Click Item Detailed Statistics.

How do I create and post Assignments in a course?

Open the Course Control Panel and select the Content Area where the Assignment will appear, such as Course Documents.
Select Assignment from the Other Content Type drop-down list. The Add Assignment page will appear.
Complete the Add Assignment page and click Submit. The Assignment will appear in this Content Area when it is selected from the Course Menu.

The completed assignment will automatically appear in the Gradebook once it is submitted by the student.

How do I access an Assignment submitted by a Student?
All assignments submitted by a student can be accessed from the Gradebook.

Click the Assignment point area on the View Spreadsheet page to view the View Grades page for a specific Assignment. The My Grades page enables the instructor to view the files submitted by a student, enter a grade for the assignment and send comments back to the student.

How different is the student view of the course from mine?
They are the same except for the Control Panel button that allows you to customize your course.

How do I move course content from one course to another?
Course areas may only be copied between courses the instructor is teaching. Follow these steps to copy course areas:

Open the course that has the content areas you would like to copy.
Select Course Copy in the Instructor Control Panel.
Select the Destination Course where the content will be copied and the areas to be copied.

What should I do when the course ends?
You should archive your courses on a weekly basis or when you have added a great amount of information. Courses are scheduled to be deleted 2 months after the end of the semester.

How do I archive my course?
You should archive your course to create a permanent record of it including all the content and user interactions.

To Archive your course:

Open the Course Control Panel and click Archive Course in Course Options.
Select Submit to export the course contents and save it for future use.
On the following page, select Click here to download the exported course site to save it to the computer you are working on. Instructors must select this option to save the archive file of the course. The file may only be saved on the computer you are working on; files are not saved to the Blackboard Learning System. Select Click here to view the detailed log file to view the status and log from the Course Archive operation.

NOTE: Archived courses are saved as .zip files with the following file naming structure: ArchiveFile_Course_ID.ZIP. These .zip files are stored and Instructors can access them for use in the future. Archiving a course does not remove it from the system.

Can I create a personal homepage in Blackboard?
Yes, just follow these steps:

First scan in a photo of yourself that has been edited in a graphic application (e.g. Adobe Photoshop), and save it as a JPEG file (no larger than 150 x 150 pixels) on your desktop.
Go into Staff Information under Course Tools in the Control Panel of the course.
Click on the Profile icon.
Input your profile Information.
Scroll down to section 2 Options.
Click on the button labeled Browse.
A window will appear. Go to your desktop via this window, locate your image file, and click on it once to highlight it, and then click on Open. The file will appear in the Browse field.
Type the internet address in the Personal Link box if you have one.
When you are finished, scroll down and click Submit.