Blackboard Usage at NNU

What is Blackboard?

How do I get to my course(s)?

How do I get into Blackboard if I've just added a course?

How can I clear up my course list on the Welcome page (MyNNU tab)?

How can I get my e-mail address to show in Blackboard?

 

Hardware and Software

What are the hardware/software requirements for using Blackboard?

Should I block pop-ups in Blackboard?

I use Microsoft Office. Is there anything I should know?

I use Windows Vista. Is there anything I should know?

I use Internet Explorer 7. Is there anything I should know?

I use AOL. Is there anything I should know?

 

Troubleshooting

What should I do if I am having trouble logging in?

Why can't I view or download a file uploaded into Blackboard through the Assignment feature or on a Discussion Board?

Why is the font size of my Discussion Board post so tiny?

Blackboard is a web-based course management system that provides 24/7 access to materials and other course content. Features your instructor might do include:

• Posting online announcements and course content (e.g., the syllabus, handouts, PowerPoint presentations)
• Facilitating online discussions about content or course-related topics
• Collecting and grading student assignments and assessments
• Managing grades and making them available for students to view online

Not every professor uses Blackboard, but all are welcome to do so.

 

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Once you have logged in to Blackboard, your courses will be listed on the right hand side of the My NNU tab, within the My Courses box. To navigate to your course, click on the course title link.

Remember that not all instructors use Blackboard; if you do not see one of your courses on your Blackboard list, please check with your instructor first. If you still need help after that, please contact the Technical Response Center (help(at)nnu.edu or 208-467-8111).

 

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E-Learning Services creates new accounts and enrollments into Blackboard daily. If you do not see a newly added course with 48 hours, please contact the Technical Response Center (help(at)nnu.edu or 208-467-8111).

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To erase from view older Courses in your My Courses area of the Welcome page, click on the small pencil icon in the border of your My Courses area > Uncheck the box next to any undesired course > Submit.

You can use this same method to hide or unhide Course IDs, Announcements, etc. for any course in your list, depending on your wishes.

To change the way your Welcome page looks, click on the Modify Contents or Modify Layout buttons in the right corner. Note that some areas are required and cannot be deleted. You can also use the small round icons to customize the modules on the Welcome page.
 

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To make your e-mail address visible to fellow students and your instructor, edit your privacy options.

On the Welcome page (My NNU tab), click Personal Information on the left side of the screen > Click Set Privacy Options > Place a checkmark next to E-mail Address > Click Submit.

Platform
PC - Windows 2000 or above
Mac - Mac 10.2 or above

Hardware
64 MB of RAM, 1 G of free disk space

Connection
56 K or faster (cable modem or DSL highly recommended)

Note: To determine your modem speed on a PC running Windows XP, click the Start button > Click Control Panel > In the box at top left, make sure you are in the Classic View > Double-click on System > Click Hardware > Click Device Manager > Double-click Network Adapters.

The name of the adapter should have a number such as 56, 10, 100, or 1000. This is not the final determining factor for how fast your connection will be, since you can have a 1000mb network card and only be paying for 400mb service. That would be determined by your Internet Service Provider.

Browser
Firefox 3 highly recommended, others per table below

• Yes = OK to use with Blackboard
• No = Not recommended for Blackboard

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) should be at least Version 6. Note: Version 6 Update 13 clashes with Blackboard and should be avoided.

Java Scripting, Active X, and Cookies must be enabled.

BROWSERS ON WINDOWS	2000	XP	VISTA
Firefox 3.0	Yes	Yes	Yes
Firefox 2.0	No	Yes	Yes
Firefox 1.0	Yes	Yes	No
Internet Explorer 8 (beta)	No	No	No
Internet Explorer 7	No	Yes	Yes
Internet Explorer 6	Yes	Yes	No
Google Chrome (beta)	No	No	No
Netscape 8.0	Yes	Yes	Yes
Netscape 7.1	Yes	Yes	Yes
BROWSERS ON MACINTOSH	10.2	10.3	10.4
Firefox 3.0	Yes	Yes	Yes
Firefox 2.0	No	No	Yes
Firefox 1.0	Yes	Yes	Yes
Safari 2	No	No	Yes
Safari 1.2	No	Yes	No
Safari 1.1	No	Yes	No
Safari 1	Yes	No	No
Google Chrome (beta)	No	No	No
Netscape 7.1	Yes	Yes	No

 

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You can still have pop-ups blocked on your computer, but make Blackboard a Trusted Site so that any of its pop-ups will display. The Collaboration tool, for instance, places a virtual chatroom into a pop-up window.

To add Blackboard as a Trusted Site in Firefox:

• Click Tools in the Firefox browser.
• Click Options.
• Click Content.
• Where you see Block pop-up windows, click Exceptions.
• Enter the address online.nnu.edu.
• Click Allow.
• Click Close, then OK.

 

To add Blackboard as a Trusted Site in Internet Explorer version 6 or below:

• Click Tools.
• Hover on Pop-up Blocker.
• In the dropdown, click Pop-up Blocker Settings.
• Enter the address online.nnu.edu.
• Click Add.
• Click Close.

 

To add Blackboard as a Trusted Site in Internet Explorer version 7:

• Double-click the Status Bar where the Restricted Sites or the Internet icon appears. The Internet Security Properties box will open.
• Click on the Trusted Sites icon under the Select a zone to view or change security settings heading.
• Click Sites to open the Trusted Sites box.
• The URL for Blackboard, online.nnu.edu, should appear in the Add this website to the zone field. If not, enter the URL.
• Uncheck the Require Server Verification (https:) for all sites in this zone option. 
• Click Add.
• Click Close.
• Click OK on the Internet Security Properties box.
• Refresh the page.
• A message will appear in the Internet Explorer Information Bar: "This website wants to run the following add-on: 'Microsoft (R) Dynamic HTML Editing Control' from 'Microsoft Corporation'. If you trust the website and the add-on and want to allow it to run, click here..."
• Click the message and select Run ActiveX Control from the context menu.
• Click Run in the Security Warning box.

 

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Microsoft's suite of Office applications, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel, are different from past versions. If you create files in 2007, other users will either need to have the 2007 suite as well, or a file converter. For details, please visit the software Bbulletin.

Users of the Windows Vista operating system may have difficulty with the textbox editor, used for posting to the Discussion Board, but there is a workaround. Please refer to the software Bbulletin for details.

 

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Users of the Internet Explorer 7 browser must add the NNU Blackboard server to their list of Trusted Sites. This will allow the Visual Text Box Editor, which is used in the Discussion Board and a few other areas, to function correctly. Without Blackboard being named as a Trusted Site, the formatting and content controls will appear, but the text box itself will appear broken.

To add Blackboard as a Trusted Site:

See the directions above about popup blockers.

 

If you have been using IE 7 for a while, you will need to clear the browser's cache to enable a fix applied on Sept. 4. You will only need to do this once, but we strongly recommend that you do so before taking any tests.

To clear the cache in Internet Explorer 7:

• Open Explorer. (Do not log in to Blackboard.)
• Click Tools. (The Tools button is usually on the right side of the toolbar in Explorer 7.)
• Click Internet Options.
• Under the Browsing History section, click Delete. A new window will open.
• Next to Temporary Internet Files, click Delete, then click Yes.
• Click Close.
• Click OK.

If you need assistance with this or have any questions, please contact the Technical Response Center (208-467-8111).

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Some individuals have reported being unable to access Blackboard when using America Online. AOL employs its own browser to view web pages, and this browser can cause sporadic problems with Blackboard.

If you use AOL, we recommend that you download and use another browser such as Mozilla Firefox (version 1 or 2) or Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 6 or 7). You will still use AOL to access the Internet but will keep it in the background while you use the second browser to view your course material in Blackboard.

For best results with AOL:

• Connect to the Internet using AOL version 4.0 or higher
• Open a private chat within AOL (this allows AOL to remain open without asking if you wish to disconnect while minimized)
• Minimize AOL
• Launch the second browser (such as Firefox or IE) 

Note: NNU recommends Firefox, as many users have found that it is faster and more reliable than other browsers, especially when taking tests in Blackboard. Firefox 3 is now available but has not yet been certified for use with Blackboard. Firefox 2 is available to download for either Windows or Mac on the Mozilla website.

 

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Refer to the Logging In tip sheet for assistance. If you still have trouble, ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you using the correct username and password?

Username - Your program administrator or the Technical Response Center (help(at)nnu.edu or 208-467-8111) can help you remember your username.

Password - Recovering from a forgotten password depends on what type of course you are taking.

• If you are taking a course in a degree-seeking program, use the Novell Password Management tool.
• If you are taking a Course of Study module or Professional Development course, simply contact the Technical Response Center (help(at)nnu.edu or 208-467-8111).

2. Can you get to other websites (such as Google, Yahoo, etc.)?

If you cannot get to other websites, then the campus Internet connection may be down or your home Internet Service Provider may not be functioning properly. Contact the Technical Response Center (208-467-8111) or your provider for assistance.

3. Are you actually typing in online.nnu.edu?

Be sure that you are accurately typing in the URL, or link path, by hand. Sometimes a bookmarked screen may not access the Blackboard server directly.

4. Can you get to the login screen?

If you can get to the initial page but not the login screen and are receiving a “Page cannot be displayed” error message, then likely Blackboard is offline. Please contact the Technical Response Center (208-467-8111).

5. If you still cannot log in, contact the Technical Response Center (208-467-8111).

 

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Blackboard has difficulties with filenames that contain special characters (e.g., # ? ! @ $ % & * , etc.).  If a file is uploaded into Blackboard with one of these special characters in the filename, the file should be renamed and reuploaded. Your instructor  may  have to clear your first attempt.

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Some instructors encourage students to write their thoughts in Microsoft Word, then highlight, copy and paste the text into the Blackboard Discussion Board. This is especially true of courses where lengthy replies are commonly expected.

If you are seeing tiny font sizes in your posts, try writing your posts in a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad instead of MS Word. A text editor will not copy over all the underlying coding that Word does, and you can still save a .txt file just as you would a .doc file.

You can usually find a text editor by clicking the Start menu > All Programs > Accessories. Use the Word Wrap feature in Notepad for easier reading.

 

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