| Date |
|
Announcement Description |
|
Information |
|
| July 2010 |
|
Safe Assignment Attempt View: When inputting grades for SafeAssignment in the "View Attempt" area, the Grade Center hangs up while loading. As a result, the screen freezes and the only way for the grade to register and to unfreeze the screen is to exit the course completely. At present, we are not sure what is causing this issue. However, the problem has been reported to Blackboard.
In the meantime it is recommended that faculty members view the SafeAssignment and report from the SafeAssign link in the control panel. Faculty may still view from the "View Attempt" area, but will not be able to input a grade from there. It is recommended that the grading be done directly in the cell or through the "Modify Attempt" page. |
|
Resolved |
|
| April 2010 |
|
Special Characters in Grade Center Columns
This is just a reminder that no special characters (i.e. #, @, &, etc.) are to be used in the Grade Center Column names. Special characters can cause errors in your Grade Center. Please keep this in mind when naming Assignments, SafeAssignments and other items that are associated with the Grade Center.
Incorrect Example: Chapter #1 H.W. Assignment
Correct Example: Chapter 1 HW Assignment |
|
Information |
|
| March 2010 |
|
Announcement E-Mail Function
The email option for Announcements in Blackboard is no longer working. There is no time frame for if or when this feature will be re-instated.
The students will continue to see any new announcements when they log into Blackboard and click on the My Courses tab. We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause. |
|
Information |
|
| December 2009 |
|
Equally/Proportional Weighted Columns
The proportional category weighting feature in Blackboard's Grade Center is not working at this time for Internet Explorer 7 users. All weighting will work for Firefox and Opera users, and equal weighting (the default) will work for all browsers. We are keeping an eye on this issue and will provide further information when Microsoft releases a standards-compliant IE, or Blackboard issues a workaround patch. In the meantime, please consider using the Firefox browser for Blackboard access where you need to proportionally weight grade categories
|
|
Information |
|
| November 2009 |
|
Timed Online Tests Issue: Many of your students have been experiencing difficulty taking timed online tests. While attempting to take timed tests in Blackboard, the timer button extends and covers the submit button, making it impossible for the student to submit their tests. This problem occurs in Internet Explorer 8, which is not yet supported by Blackboard. However, foreseeing that some websites may not yet be ready for the new browser, Microsoft has created a compatibility mode that allows users to display the website as viewed in Internet Explorer 7.
For instructions to use the compatibility mode, select the link below:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/features/easier.aspx |
|
Information
Click here to see the currently supported
Web browsers |
|
| September 2009 |
|
Wimba Classroom "Security Information" pop-up
If you see the "Security Infomration" pop-up after selecting a Wimba Classroom link, please click on "Yes" to proceed on and then click "Enter Room" to begin your Wimba Classroom |
|
Information
Click here to
see the
pop-up |
|
| September 2009 |
|
Inserting WMV video for viewing on current course page
When inserting WMV videos, please do not insert the video within the Text section.
The icon for video in the Text section is only for MPEG and AVI type files.
Placing a WMV video within section will result in the video only being accessable
from Internet Explorer. No other browser will see it at this time.
If you want to display your WMV video in your Blackboard couse please use Section 2
to attach a local file or link to Content Collection Item and then select the Special Action
"Display media file within the page" to show the video on the page.WMV video for display on current course page. |
|
Information
Click here to
see the
pop-up |
|
| November 2008 |
|
SafeAssign has been updated:
* SafeAssign now accepts Office 2007 (.docx) and OpenOffice (.odt) word processing documents
* Safe Assign may now be used in Organizations
* Additional stability enhancements and bug fixes |
|
Information |
|
| September 2008 |
|
Assignments and Mozilla Firefox 3
If students are getting a "Please enter a valid file" error when submitting assignments on Blackboard, that is because there is a compatibility issue with Blackboard and the latest version of Mozilla, Firefox 3. The problem primarily affects assignments that are attached to the gradebook. Students accessing Blackboard from home should only use the following browsers: Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Firefox 2 or Safari 2.
Please see the below notice regarding Firefox 3:
Firefox 3 was released Tuesday June 17th. For the most part, Firefox 3 is compatible with Blackboard, but we have identified at least one significant area in which Firefox 3 fails.
When trying to upload an attachment to an assignment with Firefox 3, we get an error. A javascript popup displays "please enter a valid file" although the file is valid. This issue is being addressed in a service pack for version 7.3, but that has not been released yet. We will evaluate the service pack once it becomes available.
In the meanwhile, we recommend that you do not upgrade to Firefox 3 if you have need to upload files to Blackboard. Please remain on Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 6 or 7, or Safari 2. These are the only web browsers currently certified and supported by Blackboard.
Glen Parker, University of South Florida |
|
Information |
|
| June 2008 |
|
| Copy files from Courses to Content Collection |
Files that are currently in courses in the Blackboard Learning System may be copied into a folder in the Content Collection. Items that are added through to the Content Collection may be used in new courses and shared with other users.
This tool is meant for adding new content to the Content Collection; it does not detect Content Collection items that have been added to a course or make changes to the course itself. |
| The Copy Files to Collection tool copies items attached to the following: |
| |
Content Folders
Content Items
Course Links
Assignments
Instructions
External Links
Learning Units
|
| Attachments added to the following areas of a course are NOT added to the Content Collection through the Copy Files to CS tool: |
| |
Attachements added to any Assessment areas (this includes Test, Surveys and Question Pools)
Attachments added to Discussion Board messages, incuding Group Discussion Board messages.
Files uploaded to the Digital Drop Box by instructors
Items added to the Grade Assignment page by the instructor are not copied. These items include comments for a specific user and are sent when the Assignment is graded (Items added to the Add Assignment page by an instructor are copied.
|
| Student files added to acourse are also not copied. This includes: |
| |
Files uploaded to the Digital Drop Box by users
Files uploaded by users to Assignments
|
| To copy files from courses to Content Collection complete the following steps: |
| |
1. |
From the Control Panel of the course, click on the Copy Files to Collection link. |
| |
2. |
Select the content areas from which to copy the items. (i.e. Course Information, Course Documents, Assignments, etc.) by placing a check mark in the box next to the appropriate area(s). |
| |
3. |
Next, click on Browse next to Destination. This will open the Content Collection. |
| |
4. |
Choose a location to deposit the content by selecting the radio button next to desired location, and click Submit in the Content Collection window. |
| |
5. |
The Content Collection window will close. |
| |
6. |
Next click on Submit. |
| |
7. |
The Copy Files to Content Collection: Results page will open.
It will detail the name of the files and the location of the files.
Click OK. |
| |
8. |
That’s it. The information is now copied from the course to the Content Collection. |
| Check Collection Links |
| Errors may occur from time to time because a link from the Content Collection has been broken. One of the primary reasons that may cause this to happen is that the document has been removed from the Content Collection or the document has been renamed. |
The Course Link Checker feature checks the validity of links to the Content Collection items in a course.
To access this tool follow the below steps: |
| |
1. |
From the Control Panel, click on the Check Collection Links link under the Course Tools heading. |
| |
2. |
Click on OK. |
| |
3. |
A list of all content linked in the course will show. |
| |
|
|
|
|
Information
Click here for
a printable
version of this
Announcement.
You will need
Adobe Acrobat
to view and
print it. |
|
| April 2008 |
|
Invalid File Location Error in SafeAssign
Some of your students may have been experiencing an "Invalid file location"
error when they submit SafeAssignments while on campus. This is a problem
that usually occurs while using the Internet Explorer 7 web browser.
Students experiencing this problem using IE 7 should complete the following
steps to avoid this error:
When attaching a SafeAssignment document, click on "Browse". Choose the "your username on 'your campus location-fs\users' (Z:)." From there you may
choose the location of your file (i.e. My Documents, My Computer, or
Desktop).
Failure to do the above, and clicking directly on My documents, My Computer
or Desktop, will result in a File location error.
When done correctly students should see Z:\file location\etc. If the File
to Attach window displays \\your campus location-fs\Users\your username,
then it will display the File location Error. |
|
Solution |
|
| February 2008 |
|
SafeAssignment Error
Many have been experiencing difficulty with SafeAssignments that were copied from last semester. There is a glitch in the Blackboard Learning System. Blackboard is aware of the problem and they are working on it.
While Blackboard continues to work on this problem as a whole, there is a way to individually fix each SafeAssignment.
Complete the following steps to fix the SafeAssignment error:
1. Click on Modify next to the SafeAssignment.
2. Do not make any changes.
3. Click on Submit. This will reset the SafeAssignment and it will then work.
We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. Thank you for your patience in this matter. |
|
This error
has been
resolved |
|
