FAQ

Faculty Blackboard FAQ's

How can I hide classes on the My Courses list?
Where can I find Blackboard tutorials?
How can I add an image to a test question?
How do I save a copy of my Grade Center to my computer?
How do I print discussions from the Discussion Board?
Why does the instructor receive an error when opening some student files?
How do I resolve text display and html error messages?
Why are some students getting kicked out of tests (access denied errors)?
How do I weight grades?
How do I view assignments or quizzes that have been submitted?
How do I use a quiz/test from one course in another?
How do I copy a course to another section?
How can I conduct office hours online?

How can I hide classes on the My Courses list?

If you do not wish to view all of the courses listed for you in Blackboard, you can hide these and you can hide their corresponding announcements.

Click the wheel icon in the appropriate module (My Announcements, My Courses, etc.).
Uncheck the Course Name box next the course to hide the course ID.
Uncheck the Announcements box next to the course ID.
Click the Submit button to apply the changes.

Where can I find Blackboard Tutorials?

Blackboard On Demand Learning Center (short movie tutorials, some pdf)

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How can I add an Image to a Test Question?

Instructors can add images (and files and external links) to Blackboard test, survey, and pool questions. However, a setting must be changed to allow this. For instructions, see the Add Graphics, Links and Files to Test, Survey and Pool Questions tutorial.

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How do I save a copy of my Grade Center to my computer?

You can save a copy of your entire Grade Center as a spreadsheet by clicking the Work Offline button at the top right of the Grade Center. Select Download and you will be prompted to select the format in which you would like to save your Grade Center information.

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How do I print discussions from the Discussion Board?

You can use the "collect" feature to display all posts and print from here (select the Print Preview button first). Please view Printing Discussion Forums for complete instructions.

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Why does the instructor receive an error when opening some student files?

If students submit assignments when submitting assignments, attaching to the discussion board, etc. and the instructor receives an error when trying to view them, it is usually a problem with either the file type or how the student named the file.

If the student submits a file with an extension that the instructor's computer does not understand, the file cannot be opened. More often, the student has improperly named a file. The student tutorial in Blackboard reviews proper ways to name files. Please refer to the Filenaming and File Types page for information on how to name a file and on file type issues.

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How do I resolve text display and html error messages?

These items are generally related to bad code carried over from a migration, etc. While pesky, these problems can generally be resolved.

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Why are some students getting kicked out of tests (access denied errors)?

There have been reports of this happening to some students due to 1) unknown problems with the quiz or Blackboard or 2) issues with the way students are navigating the quiz or other programs running while taking test.

Here are a few things that you can do to help students:

Avoid copying and pasting from Word since this tends to carry a lot of underlying code that can cause problems.
At this time, Online Learning and Services recommends that students use the latest version of Firefox Browser (free) rather than Internet Explorer, Safari, or other browsers since there seem to be fewer issues with Firefox.
Refer students to the following document, which is included in the Blackboard student tutorial: Best Practices for taking Quizzes and Tests in Blackboard 9.1

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How do I weight grades?

You can set up weighted grades in two ways, individual columns or by assigning categories (most common).

See the text tutorial on Weighting Grades by Category

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How do I view assignments or quizzes that have been submitted?

You will go to the Grade Center in the Control Panel. Select “Full Grade Center”, where you will see rows with students’ names and columns with items and graded activities. The Blackboard On Demand Learning Center has tutorials for viewing and grading submissions.

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How do I use a quiz/test from one course in another?

The easiest way to reuse tests and quizzes is when an entire course is copied. This will retain the course structure and any assessments.

Move just one or some tests, surveys, or pools

This is a three step process:

Export the test from the old course.
Go to Control Panel > Course Tools > Test Manager >Tests > Click chevron arrows next to quiz > Select Export. This will download a zip file to your computer. Make note of where the file downloaded.
Import the test to the new course.
Go to Control Panel > Course Tools > Test Manager > Tests > Select the Import Test button > Browse for the file you downloaded and select it.
Deploy the test in the new course.

The Blackboard On Demand Learning Center provides tutorials for exporting, importing, and deploying quizzes/tests.

Refer to the tutorial for doing the same with Pools if you are using test pools.

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How do I copy a course to another section?

Please refer to the PDF document Copying Content in Blackboard Learn.

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How can I conduct office hours online?

There are a few tools built into Blackboard that you might consider for conducting office hours or study sessions, including Chat, and Virtual Classroom. Refer to the Office Hours Page for a description of available tools.

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