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Mid-Semester Blackboard ToDo List

We are at the spring break point in the spring 2011 semester, and there are several things you should do or get ready to do with your Blackboard courses. Full semester length courses are ongoing, but the first set of 8-week courses are ending and the next about to begin. First, for faculty members about to begin your courses, here are a couple of critical Q & A's:

Q. How do I login to Blackboard?
A. Go to http://www.palomar.edu/blackboard and login using your Palomar email ID (the username part to the left of the "@" sign without the "@palomar.edu" part) as username and Palomar email password as password. Remember you have two accounts in your Blackboard courses, one as instructor and one as a student. Your student login uses your 9-digit eServices EMPLID as username. Use this one only when you want to see what your course materials look like from the student perspective.

Q. How do I make my course available to my students?
A. On your control panel click Customization > Properties > Set Availability (section 3 of the Properties control) = Yes.

Q. My course materials exist on the old Blackboard system. How do I move them to the new system?
A. Click here for full instructions. Basically, export from the old system and import into the new.

Q. I can see all my Blackboard course content, but my students say they cannot.
A. There could be any one of three problems:

1. You have not made the content available to student. When adding content to Blackboard be sure to set the "Permit Users to View this Content" Option to Yes.

2. Make sure that you have not restricted access to the item based on a date/time range.

3. There is a known issue in Blackboard 9.1 Service Pack version 3--the version we will be using until the end of the spring 2011 semester--whereby if an item was copied or moved using the item copy/move command from one course to another students who attempt to view it in the course to which it was moved will get an "Access Denied" error. Click here for a full description. The fix is to upload the item to the second course, not copy/move it using the copy/move item tool. The COURSE COPY tool works fine, not the ITEM copy/move. This will be fixed when we apply service pack 4 at the end of the current semester.

Q. Should I archive my course or export it, and what is the difference?
A. Both will produce a zip file which, after you create it, should be downloaded to your local computer. An archive zip file contains student enrollments and student work, an export zip file contains only course content, without student enrollments or work. You should do both. Please note, Blackboard cannot restore an archive or zip file larger than 250MB. If your file is larger than this, contact us for assistance. Your archive or export file is your course backup.

Q. How do I export or archive a course?
A. On your course Control Panel click Packages and Utilities > Export/Archive Course > select the one you want. You can and should do both separately. Blackboard will create the zip file and send you an email when it is complete. After you receive this email, go back to the Export/Archive course to download the file locally.

Q. How long will my course materials remain on the Blackboard system?
A. For one year after the end of the semester in which they were delivered. For example, at the end of the spring semester 2012 the courses for spring 2011 will be purged from the system. This is why it is critical for you to have local backups of your courses.

Q. How do I view a list of students in my class from within Blackboard?
A. On your course Control Panel click Users and Groups > Users > to see all enrolled students click the Go button; to see a specific student search by name. To download a list of students in Excel format, on your course Control Panel click Grade Center > Full Grade Center > click the drop-down next to Work Offline > choose Download. On the Download Grades form select User Information Only.

Q. How do I learn to use the features of Blackboard.
A. Each semester we offer in-person workshops, and we have a "Teaching with Blackboard" page that contains numerous screen videos and documents that explain how to use its features. Feel free to contact us with your questions or to make an appointment for individual training.

We have been pleased with the turnout at our weekly Blackboard with Cream & Sugar sessions, held on a drop-in basis each Wednesday morning between 7:30 and 10:30 AM. We are going on hiatus over spring break, but will re-commence on March 30. If you feel the urge to learn about Blackboard at that time, or have any other Blackboard-related questions or comments, drop by room LL-111. We provide the coffee and tea and, we hope, answers.

Training Opportunities

We have nearly completed our in-person workshops for spring 2011, but there are still a few workshops left to attend.

On Thursday, March 31, we will present "PowerPoint 3: Placing Your Narrated PowerPoint Presentation Online," postponed from an earlier date.

On Firday, April 1 we will present "Teaching with Blackboard: Evaluating Learning," in which we will cover surveys, tests, assignments, anti-plagiarism tools, and the Blackboard Grade Center. It is a three part workshop, meeting for 2 hours on
three successive Fridays.

On Thursday, April 21 we will present a "Technology Roundtable: What Works in Blackboard," where we are inviting those who have found effective teaching techniques to come and share. Please contact Dr. Haydn Davis for more information.

On Friday, April 22 we will begin a three-part workshop--and our final workshop for the semester-- on "Teaching with Blackboard: Communicating with Your Students." It will meet on three successive Fridays. Please see our training schedule for details.

Watch for an announcement of our summer tech camp, to be held in August, in our next newsletter and on our web site.

Trouble reading this? Click here.	Number 119 - March 18, 2011

Mid-Semester Blackboard ToDo List We are at the spring break point in the spring 2011 semester, and there are several things you should do or get ready to do with your Blackboard courses. Full semester length courses are ongoing, but the first set of 8-week courses are ending and the next about to begin. First, for faculty members about to begin your courses, here are a couple of critical Q & A's: Q. How do I login to Blackboard? A. Go to http://www.palomar.edu/blackboard and login using your Palomar email ID (the username part to the left of the "@" sign without the "@palomar.edu" part) as username and Palomar email password as password. Remember you have two accounts in your Blackboard courses, one as instructor and one as a student. Your student login uses your 9-digit eServices EMPLID as username. Use this one only when you want to see what your course materials look like from the student perspective. Q. How do I make my course available to my students? A. On your control panel click Customization > Properties > Set Availability (section 3 of the Properties control) = Yes. Q. My course materials exist on the old Blackboard system. How do I move them to the new system? A. Click here for full instructions. Basically, export from the old system and import into the new. Q. I can see all my Blackboard course content, but my students say they cannot. A. There could be any one of three problems: 1. You have not made the content available to student. When adding content to Blackboard be sure to set the "Permit Users to View this Content" Option to Yes. 2. Make sure that you have not restricted access to the item based on a date/time range. 3. There is a known issue in Blackboard 9.1 Service Pack version 3--the version we will be using until the end of the spring 2011 semester--whereby if an item was copied or moved using the item copy/move command from one course to another students who attempt to view it in the course to which it was moved will get an "Access Denied" error. Click here for a full description. The fix is to upload the item to the second course, not copy/move it using the copy/move item tool. The COURSE COPY tool works fine, not the ITEM copy/move. This will be fixed when we apply service pack 4 at the end of the current semester. Now, for all instructors, here are a few useful Q & A's: Q. Should I archive my course or export it, and what is the difference? A. Both will produce a zip file which, after you create it, should be downloaded to your local computer. An archive zip file contains student enrollments and student work, an export zip file contains only course content, without student enrollments or work. You should do both. Please note, Blackboard cannot restore an archive or zip file larger than 250MB. If your file is larger than this, contact us for assistance. Your archive or export file is your course backup. Q. How do I export or archive a course? A. On your course Control Panel click Packages and Utilities > Export/Archive Course > select the one you want. You can and should do both separately. Blackboard will create the zip file and send you an email when it is complete. After you receive this email, go back to the Export/Archive course to download the file locally. Q. How long will my course materials remain on the Blackboard system? A. For one year after the end of the semester in which they were delivered. For example, at the end of the spring semester 2012 the courses for spring 2011 will be purged from the system. This is why it is critical for you to have local backups of your courses. Q. How do I view a list of students in my class from within Blackboard? A. On your course Control Panel click Users and Groups > Users > to see all enrolled students click the Go button; to see a specific student search by name. To download a list of students in Excel format, on your course Control Panel click Grade Center > Full Grade Center > click the drop-down next to Work Offline > choose Download. On the Download Grades form select User Information Only. Q. How do I learn to use the features of Blackboard. A. Each semester we offer in-person workshops, and we have a "Teaching with Blackboard" page that contains numerous screen videos and documents that explain how to use its features. Feel free to contact us with your questions or to make an appointment for individual training. Blackboard with Cream & Sugar We have been pleased with the turnout at our weekly Blackboard with Cream & Sugar sessions, held on a drop-in basis each Wednesday morning between 7:30 and 10:30 AM. We are going on hiatus over spring break, but will re-commence on March 30. If you feel the urge to learn about Blackboard at that time, or have any other Blackboard-related questions or comments, drop by room LL-111. We provide the coffee and tea and, we hope, answers. Training Opportunities We have nearly completed our in-person workshops for spring 2011, but there are still a few workshops left to attend. On Thursday, March 31, we will present "PowerPoint 3: Placing Your Narrated PowerPoint Presentation Online," postponed from an earlier date. On Firday, April 1 we will present "Teaching with Blackboard: Evaluating Learning," in which we will cover surveys, tests, assignments, anti-plagiarism tools, and the Blackboard Grade Center. It is a three part workshop, meeting for 2 hours on three successive Fridays. On Thursday, April 21 we will present a "Technology Roundtable: What Works in Blackboard," where we are inviting those who have found effective teaching techniques to come and share. Please contact Dr. Haydn Davis for more information. On Friday, April 22 we will begin a three-part workshop--and our final workshop for the semester-- on "Teaching with Blackboard: Communicating with Your Students." It will meet on three successive Fridays. Please see our training schedule for details. Watch for an announcement of our summer tech camp, to be held in August, in our next newsletter and on our web site. New From Our Blogs Teaching with Technology Video, Video, Video Next Semester: A Really Good Discussion Board Plan! Avoiding Audio Assumptions Passwords are secret, really! 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