| Date |
|
Announcement Description |
|
Information |
|
| 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 |
|
| January 2008 |
|
Please do not use non-alphanumeric characters in the titles of assignments or gradebook items as they will cause problems with the Blackboard server which in turn will cause your gradebook to have issues. |
|
Solution |
|
| December 2007 |
|
| Steps to Resetting Weights in Gradebook |
| 1. |
From the Control Panel, click Gradebook |
| 2. |
Click on the Weight Grades button. |
| 3. |
Choose either Weight by Category or Weight by Item. |
| 4. |
Place a "0" in each column that had a previous weight and click the Submit button. |
| 5. |
A message "Total of all weights must equal 100%. Current total is "0" will appear on the page. |
| 6. |
Next, fill in the appropriate values in either Weight by Category or Weight by Item and click the Submit button. |
| 7. |
The Weights Updated page will appear and the following statement should appear: Gradebook Weighting successfully updated. |
|
|
Resolved
This solution
is required to
complete the
repair to your
weighted
gradebook
|
|
| October 2007 |
|
Weighted Grades - Solution
DIET has a solution in place for the duplicate items/weighted grade issue some have been experiencing. We have successfully processed those courses we have been made aware of. If you have a course with duplicate items or weighted grade issues, please send an email requesting that your course be fixed along with the Course ID (Semester + CRN) to blackboard@dtcc.edu. |
|
Resolved
See above
announement
for resetting
weights in
the Gradebook |
|
| August 2007 |
|
This only applies to those that weight grades in the Blackboard gradebook.
There is a two-fold issue with weighted grades in copied gradebooks.
First, if a course with weighted grades has been copied more than once, there are duplicate weighted categories (i.e., exam exam, homework homework, etc.).
The second problem is that if you attempt to change anything in the gradebook, the weights are cleared and will not allow you to re-weight the grades or categories.
Blackboard is aware of the problem and is currently working to resolve these issues.
In the meantime, we offer the following solution: Export the gradebook in to Microsoft Excel. Delete as much content as possible from the Blackboard gradebook. Next, import the gradebook back into Blackboard from Excel.
It is not recommended that gradebooks be copied during the course copy process if weights are being used.
There are no problems for those copying gradebooks that do not include weighted grades.
|
|
Resolved |
