Bb - Starting the Semester

When you send me email regarding questions, issues and problems with Blackboard please mention "Blackboard.." as part of your subject line and then in the body of the message include your login (employee id), the specific course number and the location of the problem (folder and item). This helps me get right to your class instead of hunting it down.

For a sampling of the online and web-enhanced classes at SCC, use the Bb catalog to view the currently available courses, from the Courses tab > Course Search box > Advanced Search > ... in the search field type "sccspring2004" and click the Search button. You will not see all current courses listed because some are not yet available to students. This is a good way to check if your course is visible to students. Previous semester courses should be made UNavailable to students.

Employee Identification numbers and Student Identification numbers will be used for user logins from now on. Your emplid is on your pay stub or can be found at http://psreports.losrios.edu/EmployeeID.asp

Welcome and Courses Tab view

After logging in to Blackboard, try looking at the list of courses under the Courses tab instead of the Welcome tab. This view will show the course title, the course id and instructors. Both the Welcome and Courses tabs indicate if your course is UNavailable to students.

Student Online Help Desk tab

Direct students to the online help desk, remind them to be as specific about the problem and their computer and software as possible in their email request for help or in their phone messages. This tab is available before you log in to the system! (http://ic.arc.losrios.edu/~itc/Blackboard/helpdesk.htm)

First time login information is at http://ic.arc.losrios.edu/~itc/Blackboard/pages/firstthings.htm

Editing email address information is at http://ic.arc.losrios.edu/~itc/Blackboard/pages/bbtipsemail.htm

Forgot your password? information is at http://ic.arc.losrios.edu/~itc/Blackboard/pages/bbtipsforgot.htm

How to navigate a class at http://ic.arc.losrios.edu/~itc/Blackboard/pages/navigation.htm

Make your course available to students

For students to see your course link and contribute to the discussion boards... you must make it available:

Instructors can make the course available via Control Panel > Course Options: Settings > Course Availability ... Yes and Submit. For past semesters, repeat this process but mark No for availability. This hides the link for students only -- you will still see all your courses.

Guest Access Options

If you allow guest access to your course, remember that you can control how much access you give to guests through the Control Panel > Manage Course Menu> click the Modify button for areas. Chick the checkbox - Allow guest access, and submit. (Notice some areas are always blocked from Guest access, especially the communication areas.) Observer access is a feature for K-12 Blackboard users, not in use for SCC.

Orientation Tips

When you give your class orientation - if you use a computer lab, be sure to have students edit their personal info right then. From the Welcome tab > Tools box > Personal Information > Edit Personal Information > Edit the email address field and scroll to the bottom of the page and click Submit. (I recommend that students DO NOT fill out other information on this page.) Any time they change email addresses, they should return to this page and update their email address. Some instructors are giving points for three introduction related activities: getting an email account, logging into Bb and setting their email address, and sending an email to the instructor from within Bb.

Confirm Student Email Addresses are Up-to-Date

Follow-up and check if users have entered email address via Control Panel > List/Modify Users > Search Button (without any search criteria in the box), you will see email addresses or the default addresses.

NOTE - HOTMAIL accounts have been reported at problematic in the past. Encourage your students to get a free SCC GoMail account. (Somewhere I read that for Hotmail to work, all users need to be using Hotmail. That won't happen before the next ice age.)

Adding Students to Class

You cannot add students new to Los Rios until they PAY the registration fee so their names/student ids appear in the big Bb user database. Add students or colleagues to your class Control Panel > Enroll User > type their student/employee id number and click the Search Button. Mark the checkbox next to the name and click the Submit button. The new name is automatically assigned the role of Student.

For a colleague, IA or guest speaker you could change their role to Teaching Assistant, Grader, or Instructor. Each role has views and access to some of the Control Panel areas. Control Panel > List/Modify Users > Search Button and then click the Properties button associated with the user. Under Role and Availability mark the radio button associated with the new role and click Submit.

Double Drop - Drop Students Using the Intranet and from Blackboard

We do NOT allow Peoplesoft to delete students from Bb courses. As instructor, you have control over deleting students from your course via the Control Panel > Remove Users > search for names ... mark checkbox and type "Yes" (no quotes but capitalization is required).

Updates happen nightly if students have PAID for the course. Just giving students a permission number does not initiate the process... $$$ do. Sometimes faculty allow Guest access to their course for the first week or so to allow time for the Adds to pay and auto enrollment process to process them into the course.

Online Manual

There is an online manual available from the Control Panel > Assistance > Online Manual for all users. For instructors, the manual includes the features you use to develop and present course material. For students, instructors must make the manual available under the Tools course menu. The student manual includes the features they use to access the your course content and Blackboard communication tools.

Also the link to Online Support takes you to "Mother Blackboard" where you will find information supporting instructors ... You can access the site and create a user account (free, just need create an account... use your email address and a password you will remember). Follow the string of links until you get to ... Instructor > Training Center > Tips and Tutorials > Tips and Tutorials - Blackboard 6. Here is the direct link to the Bb Instructor Manual.

Changing Roles

Instructors can change user roles in your own classes, maybe you want a colleague to view your course and have access to the Control Panel. First add them to your course. Next, change their role, use the Control Panel > List/Modify Users > click the Search button ...  click the Properties button next to their name ...  scroll to the bottom of the page and click the radio button in front of Instructor and click the Submit button. After your colleague has completed the review of your course... you might want to delete them. An "instructor" cannot delete another "instructor." So change the role of the visiting instructor back to "student" and then the delete user option will work. If not, send me an email with the course filename, your login and the name of the "instructor" to be deleted.

Discussion Board Tips

To view and print discussion posts the easy way, enter a forum and look for a small red triangle or the words "Show Options" (When options are visible, this button toggles to "Hide Options.") The Options include several buttons... Select All - Read - Collect are options for students and faculty. To select individual posts, click the checkbox then click Collect to read on one page. Select all and Collect will create one page of all messages. Select all and Remove are the options you want to use to clear out messages. Sometimes is it easier to copy the text description of a forum and create a new forum. Then Remove the forum with all the messages. Remember to Sort by Author or Thread. Try the Search capability. To select individual posts, click the checkbox then click Collect.

In Discussions, remind students to click on the subject line of a post not the name of the author. This is especially true in computer labs where an email client (software) has not be established for the workstation. Clicking on the author's name will attempt to bring up the email client so the student can write a private email. Clicking the author's name will work from their home computer or possibly a work computer configured for them.

Discussions can be sorted by author or date. The search function works only within one forum at a time.

Quiz Generator

Wytheville Community College Blackboard Quiz Generator
Wytheville to the Rescue (http://www.wcc.vccs.edu/services/blackboard/)

Last Semester's Courses

Make your last semester's courses unavailable to current students. You will still see the link on your Welcome/Courses tabs, and can copy material to a course for this semester.

Listserv Options

A traditional Listserv is available if you have a web site on campus, the Listserv info is at
http://www.losrios.edu/services/technology/lrc_faq.htm

Student Email - Free!

iMail is a preferred email system because ...
1) appropriate for schoolwork - progress reports are "private" to student
2) student.name@imail.losrios.edu is the email address and you will know who (aka goodlooking@hotmail)
3) free & available to registered students. Request an email account through the Peoplesoft Class Registration system.

Sacramento City College
3835 Freeport Boulevard · Sacramento, California 95822
This page was last updated: Saturday, June 9, 2007 at 9:19:46 PM