BLACKBOARD. Getting Started with. Announcements. Calendar. Courses. Discussion Board. . Group. Tasks. Tools. More...

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1 Getting Started with BLACKBOARD Announcements Calendar Courses Blackboard is the Virtual Learning Environment used at SHU. This document provides an introduction to using Blackboard on the computer networks at SHU, or on your own computer. Some familiarity with Microsoft Windows and using a web browser is assumed. Discussion Board Group Tasks Tools More... Getting Started with Blackboard CIS7 Version 3 August 2002 Communication & IT Services, Sheffield Hallam University

2 What is Blackboard? Accessing Blackboard Blackboard is web-based software which allows lecturers and students to share learning materials, communicate and collaborate on-line. Blackboard also allows lecturers to administer assessments and monitor student progress. You may hear it described as a "virtual learning environment" or "VLE". At the moment, Blackboard is not used with all modules. Your lecturer will tell you if you have to use Blackboard for any of the modules you are taking. All students should be able to login to Blackboard using the same username (login code) and password you use when you log in to SHU's computers. However, you will not be able to do anything unless you have been enrolled onto a Blackboard Course or Organisation. You can access Blackboard from anywhere you can get access to the World Wide Web. You may need certain software installed to be able to access files posted by your lecturer. Any you are sent via Blackboard will go to your SHU address. Logging in to Blackboard 1. Launch your web browser, and access the SHU Student Intranet ( 2. Click the link for Blackboard. (You can also go directly to this page from 3. You will see a login box, as illustrated. 4. With the cursor in the Username field, type your username, e.g. vwoolf 5. Click in the Password field, and type your password 6. Click Login. 2 Using Blackboard at SHU

3 The Welcome Page This is the screen you will see when you have successfully logged in to Blackboard. You may hear this screen referred to as the "My Blackboard" page. It has a number of tabs along the top to help you navigate around Blackboard and a number of boxes containing information on the parts of Blackboard that are relevant to you. Personalised Homepage List of your Courses List of your Organisations Link to Learning Centre Catalogue Student Homepage Logout of Blackboard Announcements relating to any of s may be posted here Warning! When you are using Blackboard, it's best to avoid using the "Back" button on your browser. If you do use it, you'll sometimes find that pages don't update properly. Use Blackboard's own navigation facilities; the navigation tabs at the top of the screen, the "breadcrumb trail" or the course navigation buttons on the left hand side of the screen instead. You should also avoid using the "Refresh" or "Reload" button. Listing of all Courses on which you are enrolled Listing of all Organisations of which you are a member This screen draws together much of the information you might want to know about any announcements your lecturers have made and what Blackboard Courses and Organisations you are enrolled on. There are also tools such as those which allow you to check your Quiz grades and control Personal Information. A Blackboard Course will normally relate to a particular module you are studying while an Organisation may have a broader scope. Most students will probably want to access a Course immediately - you can do that by clicking the title of any Course listed under "My Courses". Using Blackboard at SHU 3

4 Inside a Blackboard Course A Blackboard Course (or Organisation) can be used in a number of different ways. Some Blackboard Courses may contain, for example, lecture notes (often as Word documents), PowerPoint presentations and other types of files. Other Courses (and most Organisations) may be used primarily for support and use the communication tools such as and the Discussion Board. Your Course may also contain online quizzes or surveys. Most Courses will open automatically on the Announcements page. Documents about the Course e.g. handbooks, will be here Once inside a Course, you'll see a screen something like the one shown below. Most of the work you do in Blackboard will be based round screens like this one. This screen has a series of navigation buttons down the left-hand side, the same tabs as the Welcome Page along the top and a main content area to the right: This 'breadcrumb trail' helps you navigate Information about Lecturers etc. The bulk of the learning material is usually here You will find electronic communication tools here e.g. Main content area Your Course may have a place to exchange views electronically You may be assigned to a Group within External Websites relevant to Another tool to navigate round Use the navigation buttons down the left hand side of the screen to access different parts of the Course. Note that not all Courses will use the same buttons, so you may find that an area is available in one Course, but not in another. 4 Using Blackboard at SHU

5 Frequently Asked Questions I can't login to Blackboard, what do I do? Contact your local CIS Helpdesk or the Advisory Centre: advisory@shu.ac.uk, phone ext 3824 (externally ). Why can't I see my Course listed? If you are not enrolled on a Course or Organisation and think you should be, first check under both the Courses tab and Community tab (Organisation Catalogue). If you still can't find it, contact the lecturer running the Course or your School Office. How can I print a page from Blackboard without the buttons on it? Make sure you click within the main content area to select it for printing. Use the File > Print Preview facility to check what will be printed out. How do I print out a Word document from my Blackboard Course? The quickest way to do this is to click with the right mouse button on the link to the Word document then choose to open the document in a new window and print it from there. I'm having problems taking a Quiz in Blackboard, what should I do? If you have been locked out of an uncompleted quiz, you may have to ask the appropriate lecturer to reset your quiz attempt. How can I save a document from a Blackboard Course? Right-click on the document link and choose: 'save target as...' or 'save link as...' Why am I having problems accessing my Blackboard Course from home? Common causes of problems off-campus are; slow downloading due to modem speed and lack of appropriate software. You can download appropriate browser updates, plug-ins and free file readers (or you might want to download large documents from a PC on the SHU network.) Files can also sometimes be corrupted during download, try downloading the file again. Why can't I print an Excel file from Blackboard properly? The best way to control the printing of documents is to download the document and print it from its native application, in this case, Excel. Using Blackboard at SHU 5