Frequently Asked Questions:

Have a question about Blackboard that isn't listed here?
Ask Us: Phone: 412-268-9090 | Email: bb-help@andrew.cmu.edu

Q: What plug-ins and other applications might my students need to access course material?

If your course materials in Blackboard have been uploaded in their native document formats, then your students will need the appropriate software and/or plug-ins in order to access it.

If your materials are PDF documents, then your students will need to download Acrobat Reader first.

If your materials are Microsoft Office documents, then your students will need either Microsoft Office or the appropriate Microsoft Office viewer.

Q: Should I have one or more Blackboard sites for my large, multi-section course?

If you are teaching a multi-section course, you will need to make a decision about whether to have one Blackboard course site that all sections share or whether to have a separate Blackboard course site for each section. You should base your decision on how you want to manage the use of Blackboard for your course. The following list indicates the primary characteristics of each approach:

One course site that all sections share:

• Only one site to maintain
• Only need to post course information and documents in one site
• Section-specific information can be posted to site but will be visible to all sections
• Roster and Gradebook contain all students intermixed, regardless of section
• TA's have access to entire site, roster, and Gradebook, regardless of section
• Can use groups to divide students based on section but group structure is not reflected in site roster or Gradebook

Multiple course sites, one for each section:

• Multiple sites to maintain
• Common course information and documents must be posted on multiple pages
• Can post section-specific information on individual section page
• Roster and Gradebook contain only students in that section
• TA's have access to site, roster, and Gradebook only for their section

If you decide to use multiple course sites, one for each section, it is possible to create a "template" or "model" site that contains all the information that is common to all section sites and have the individual section sites created as a copy of that template site.

Note: this is a one-time copy operation. The template site must be completed before any of the additional section sites are created.

Once the section sites are created, any later common information must be added to each section site individually. It is not possible to re-copy the template site into the section sites (without completely deleting the section sites and all that they contain).

Between the two extremes of one site for all sections and a separate site for each section, you may find it useful in some circumstances to create multiple sites, each of which is for a certain set of sections.

• If you want one course site for all sections, submit one course site request, indicating all the sections that will use that site in the request.
• If you want multiple course sites for each sections, submit a course request for each course section that you want, indicating for each one which section (or sections) will use that particular course site.

If you would like to discuss these options before requesting your course site(s), contact us at bb-help@andrew.cmu.edu.

Q: Once I submit the Blackboard Course Request Form, when can I expect to start using my site?

You should receive a confirmation and helpful instructions within 48-72hrs at which point you will be able to access your course site.

Q: I'm trying to add a user to my course, but I can't find him in the list of existing users that Blackboard provides. Why?

• The user might already be enrolled in your course. To check this, list the students enrolled in your course by selecting List/Modify Users under User Management in the Control Panel.
  
• The user might have recently registered for the course and Blackboard did not yet receive the enrollment information from the HUB. Blackboard enrollments are updated nightly, so if the user is registered, has waited 24 hours and is still not listed in Blackboard then he/she should contact Blackboard support.
  
• The user might not have an Andrew ID. If you would like to request a Sponsored account for someone, view Blackboard Sponsored Accounts.

Q: Can I add a student who is not officially enrolled in my course?

Yes. To add a student, follow these instruction.

Q: Is it possible to give someone outside of Carnegie Mellon access to my Blackboard course?

Yes, you can either enable guest access to your course or request a Sponsored account.

Guest access will allow a user to log in using the "Guest User" button to access content areas (e.g., Assignments) of your course, but not Communication (e.g., Discussion Board), Tools (e.g., Digital Dropbox) areas, or any online assessments.
How to Allow Guest Access.

A Sponsored Account can be created for someone who is not eligible for an Andrew Account and needs access to the content areas of your course (e.g., Assignments) as well as the Communication (e.g., Discussion Board), Tools (e.g., Digital Dropbox) areas, and online assessments.
Blackboard Sponsored Accounts.

Q: What is a Sponsored account and how do I get one?

Sponsored Accounts: (Blackboard External User Accounts)

The Office of Technology for Education can no longer independently provide external accounts for Blackboard users who are not eligible an Andrew account. User accounts must come from the official accounts of the university.

If you need to provide access to Blackboard for someone who is not eligible for an Andrew account, then you will need to fill out an online request form for a Blackboard Sponsored Account.

Who needs a Sponsored Account? (A fee is required.)*

• Students NOT enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University who are NOT eligible for an Andrew User ID** who need access to your Blackboard course.
• Course participants (e.g., colleague at another institution who will be participating in your course) who is NOT eligible for an Andrew User ID** and is NOT a student.

**NOTE: ALL Carnegie Mellon faculty, staff, and students are eligible for Andrew IDs.)

*Fee Required: There is typically a $120 per year fee required for these accounts. During a transition period we (OTE and Computing Services) are going to cover the costs of these accounts for STUDENTS ONLY.

Starting Academic Year 05/06 you will be responsible for the costs.

More information from Computing Services about Sponsored Accounts:
http://www.cmu.edu/computing/documentation/userid/userid.html#andrew

More information from Computing Services about Andrew Accounts:
http://www.cmu.edu/computing/support/#andrewaccounts

To request a Blackboard Sponsored Account send email to:
bb-help@andrew.cmu.edu

You will need to provide the user’s name, address, phone number, and social security number (if the user has one).

> Links to more info…

Access to Blackboard
Helping Students Log in

Q: Can I remove a student from my Blackboard course?

No, because removing a student would also permanently remove any data associated with that student (e.g. Gradebook data dropbox items).

Q: How do I allow Guest access to my course?

The default property for each course is NOT to allow guest access (access to anyone within or outside of Carnegie Mellon) unless the instructor enables it. To enable guest access, follow these steps.

Q: What if a red "X" appears next to a user's name?

A red "X" indicates the user is in the process of being removed from the class and can no longer access the Blackboard course.

Q: How can I start building a course site for next semester without the students having access?

You can work on your site without your students accessing it by making your site unavailable.

To mark a course site as "unavailable", follow these steps:

• Go to the Control Panel for the course that you want to make unavailable.
• Click on "Settings" in the Course Options Area.
• Then click on "Course Availability".
• In section 1 ("Set Course Availability"), click the button beside "No" to make the course unavailable.
• In section 2 ("Submit") of the "Course Availability" page, click "Submit".
• You should then see a "Receipt: Success" heading on the "Course Availability" page and, underneath it, a note saying that your settings for the course have been updated.

If you would like to make the course site "available" again, simply follow the above steps, clicking "Yes" (rather than "No") in section 1 of the" Course Availability" page.

Q: How can I reuse my old course (or part of it)?

To reuse all or part of an old course site for a subsequent semester, submit a Blackboard Course Request Form for the new course site, just as if you were requesting an entirely new course site.

If you want to reuse material from an existing course site in this new course site, clearly identify the existing course site on this form. The new course site will be created as a copy of the existing course site.

When a new course site is created as a copy of an existing course site, all of the course content (Announcements, Course Information, Staff Information, Course Documents, Assignments, and External Links) and all of the Assessments and Assessment Pools (but not the Gradebook nor the Assessment results) are copied to the new course site. It is possible to copy only the course content or only the Assessments and Pools but we are not able to copy only specific portions of the course content nor specific portions of the Assessments and Pools.

If you want to reuse only part of the content of an existing course site in a new course site, you can either (a) have all of the existing course site copied over and then remove the portions that you do not want to use this time (b) have a new course site created and upload only the portions that you want to re-use or (c) use the new copy feature of Blackboard 6 to copy over individual items from another course in which you also have Instructor status. For more information on this see the How To’s on Moving and Copying content.

When a new course site is created as a copy of an existing course site, we do not routinely copy over information that is tied to specific course users (like the Student Roster and the Discussion Board entries) since the new course site will usually have its own Student Roster, etc... Much of this user-specific information can be included in the copy process upon special request (in the Comment section of the Blackboard Course Request Form. However, if there were not a specific reason for doing so, we would typically advise against it.

Q: How can I archive my course?

The answer to this question depends somewhat on what you're trying to accomplish. Course sites are maintained on the Blackboard server for several semesters after the semester in which they are used. So, if your primary concern is access to your course site materials after the end of the semester, you don't need to worry about archiving your course site you will continue to have access to it just as it is.

Blackboard does provide a course archiving facility but its primary purpose is for moving a course from one Blackboard server to another. The archive file that Blackboard produces is a Zip file containing a set of XML and document files that represent the content of your course site. These files are in IMS format (IMS is a set of international standards for online learning objects). In order for the archived course site to be re-used, it would have to be imported back into Blackboard (or some other IMS-compatible course management system). You would not be able to use it to re-build your course site on a Web server.

Note too that the Blackboard course archive file does not contain the Gradebook or Assessment results. If you want to save a copy of the Gradebook outside of Blackboard (highly recommended), see the How To’s on downloading the Gradebook.

If you do want to archive your course site for subsequent import onto another Blackboard server, the steps are as follows:

• Go to the Control Panel for the course you want to archive.
• In the Course Options section, click on "Archive Course".
• Note the Destination Course ID and click "Submit".
• Depending on the size of the course site you are exporting, it may take Blackboard several minutes to prepare the archive file for downloading. When the archive file is ready for downloading, you will see a "Receipt" heading on the Archive Course page and, underneath it, a link ("Click here to download the exported course site") by which you can download the course archive file to your local hard drive. Click on the link as instructed and save the archive file to your hard drive. Note that this page will also report any errors that Blackboard encountered in preparing the archive file, under the heading "Export Log".

To import an archived course site onto another Blackboard server, contact Blackboard support. The import will have to be performed by a Blackboard administrator; it is not something that you can do yourself.

Q: After the semester ends, how long before my Blackboard course site is deleted?