student guide to blackboard and student email1.1 introduction 1.2 isp connection 1.3 blackboard 1.4...

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Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Technology Services

Student Guide to Blackboard and Student Email

9th EDITION · JUNE, 2010

[email protected] _________________________________________________________


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Introduction Welcome to the ninth edition of Student Guide to Blackboard and Student Email! What’s in this manual? This manual will show you how to access your online materials. In addition, it will introduce you to other important aspects of online learning – taking online tests, viewing PowerPoint slides, using Blackboard to send messages, etc. Your student email account Your student email account is web-based (like Microsoft’s Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail), so all you need is a web browser and an Internet connection to access it. Typically, your instructor will send all course-related email to your student email address. Is there anything else covered in this manual? This manual will list the software you need to view class documents; show you how to send attachments using your student email account; provide links to important downloads; and more. Have a great semester! June 2010


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STUDENTS USING BLACKBOARD: READ THE FOLLOWING!

It is imperative (and a requirement) that you have anti-virus software installed on your computer. The wide spectrum of viruses on the Internet poses a serious threat to home computer systems. Viruses can contaminate your computer through such means as infected email attachments and Microsoft Word documents that include contaminated macros (macros are Microsoft Word scripts that contain automatic tasks).

The three cardinal rules of Internet security are:

1. Install anti-virus software on your computer and update it weekly (even more for better protection) with the latest anti-virus files. See your software manual or contact your anti-virus software company for directions.

2. Make sure that your anti-virus software is configured to check all incoming email. Even then, never open an attachment unless you are expecting it.

3. Check all documents for viruses before opening them. This includes documents sent as email attachments as well as those posted to Blackboard’s Discussion Board. Download documents posted to the Blackboard and check them for viruses before you open them. See your software manual or contact your anti-virus software company for information on how to run virus checks on individual files. For help with downloading documents from Blackboard, see sections 2.4-2.5 in this Guide.

For web links to selected anti-virus companies, see section 5.2 of this Guide.


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Contents

Part 1: Introduction to Southwestern’s Online Learning Program

PAGE

Chapter 1: The elements of the online-learning program 11

1.1 Introduction 1.2 ISP connection 1.3 Blackboard 1.4 Student Email 1.5 Software for viewing, protecting, unzipping, creating documents

Part 2: How to use Blackboard and Student Email

Chapter 2: Blackboard 17 2.1 What is Blackboard?

2.2 Accessing Blackboard 2.3 Changing your password 2.4 Viewing documents in Blackboard 2.5 Downloading documents that your professor posted in Blackboard 2.6 Taking quizzes in Blackboard 2.7 How to use Blackboard to send email 2.8 How to get more help

Chapter 3: Viewing PowerPoint Presentations 33 PowerPoint Presentations

Downloading PowerPoint Files The Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer

Chapter 4: Student Email 39 4.1 What is Student Email?

4.2 Accessing your student email account 4.3 Changing your password 4.4 How to send student email messages and add attachments 4.5 How to get more help


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Part 3: System and Software Requirements Chapter 5: System and web browser requirements 51 5.1 System and web browser requirements

5.2 Other software requirements Part 4: Troubleshooting Blackboard and Student Email Chapter 6: Frequently-asked questions (FAQs) 57 6.1 I want to download documents (for example: Microsoft Word

or Adobe PDF files) from my Blackboard class to my hard drive. How do I do that?

6.2 I want to download documents (for example: Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF files) from my Blackboard class to my hard drive. How do I do that?

6.3 I can't read Adobe PDF documents. All I see are strange characters that make no sense. What do I do?

6.4 How do I determine the version of my web browser?


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Part 1

Introduction to Southwestern’s Online Learning Program

Chapter 1: The elements of the

online-learning program


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Chapter 1 The elements of the online-learning program

This chapter will:

Alert you to Internet connection issues Introduce you to Student Email Introduce you to Blackboard List required software for viewing, creating, and protecting documents

1.1 Introduction

The SWBTS Online Learning Program has four basic components, which are illustrated in the pie graph below. While you are responsible for the “Connection to Internet” and “Software for viewing, protecting, unzipping, and creating documents” portions, we provide the student email and Blackboard portions.

The following discussion centers on these four components:


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1.2 ISP Connection You will need a reliable connection to the Internet via an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

1.3 Blackboard

Blackboard is the name of Southwestern's online learning software. The Blackboard software resides on one of our servers and generates an online learning web site, where you can find the classes in which you are enrolled. To access your classes, you will need a reliable connection to the Internet (see section 1.2 above) and one of the web browsers listed on the chart located at: http://bbsupport.swbts.edu/end_user.pdf Chapter 2 will show you how to access your Blackboard class.

1.4 Student email

To access your student email account, you will need a reliable connection to the Internet and one of the web browsers listed in section 5.1 of this Guide. After you log onto the student email web site, you can both send and receive email. When your instructor sends you documents or information about your class, he or she will send it to your student email address. You should check student email at least twice weekly (or even more often if you can) for any class-related correspondence. Chapter 4 will show you how to access your student email account.

1.5 Software for viewing, protecting, unzipping, and creating documents

You will need the following software to open, read, and write documents:

1) Microsoft Word Microsoft Word is the official format for class-related documents. The catalog reads as follows: “All seminary students are expected to have regular access to a personal computer and an Internet provider. The seminary uses Microsoft Office, and all papers and documents will be submitted in appropriate formats.” There is a special requirement for students taking Internet classes: Students taking Internet courses are required to have Microsoft Word as their word processor. Students attending on-campus classes at the Fort Worth campus or at one of our satellite centers are required to have access to a word processor that allows them to submit documents in a format compatible with Microsoft Word.

2) WinZip Check with your instructor to see if he or she zips files before you purchase this product.


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3) Free Adobe Acrobat Reader

4) Free PowerPoint viewer

5) Virus Protection software You will need virus protection software that has been updated with the latest anti-virus files.

6) Web browser You will need a web browser that is compatible with Blackboard and the student email service.

Chapter 5 will introduce you to these software products and show you where you can download or otherwise obtain them.

What’s in the next chapter…

In chapter 2, we will focus on Blackboard, the key element of Southwestern’s online-learning program. We will show you how to access Blackboard, how to change your password, and how to download documents that your instructor has posted.


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Part 2

How to use Blackboard and Student Email

Chapter 2: Blackboard Chapter 3: Viewing PowerPoint Presentations Chapter 4: Student Email


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Chapter 2 Blackboard

This chapter will:

Introduce you to Blackboard Help you access Blackboard and change your password Show you how to download files Offer you guidelines for taking Blackboard quizzes Provide special instructions for downloading and submitting forms

2.1 What is Blackboard?

Blackboard is the name of Southwestern's online learning software. Blackboard sits on one of Southwestern’s web servers and generates an online learning web site where your professor may post documents for your class. All you need in order to access Blackboard is a web browser and a reliable Internet connection. To find out which browsers work best with Blackboard, view the chart located at: http://bbsupport.swbts.edu/bbStudentHelp/browser.html

2.2 Accessing Blackboard

To access Blackboard and your Blackboard class, go to: http://blackboard.swbts.edu Enter your username in the Username field and your password in the Password field (see image below).


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IMPORTANT: No spaces are permitted in either field and the password field is case-sensitive. If you get a message that your password was incorrect, try the following:

1. Make sure the Caps Lock button on your keyboard was not pressed. 2. Remember that passwords are case-sensitive. 3. Try re-typing your password. It's easy to mistype the password since only asterisks

are displayed! Now click the Login button. This will bring you to the Welcome page of Blackboard. The Welcome provides quick access to your Blackboard classes. You will find links to your classes in the My Courses section. Clicking a link will bring you to the home page of your class. Usually, the home page of your class is the Announcements page. Your instructor can change this setting, however, so don't be surprised if your class opens to another page. Feel free to explore your class by clicking on buttons and links. To learn more about Blackboard, click the Tools button. This will open the Tools page. Click the User Manual link to access the Blackboard User Manual. This will familiarize you with all the exciting features that the Blackboard online learning environment offers. Your first task in Blackboard will be to change your password. To secure your Blackboard account, change your password immediately!


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2.3 Changing your password To change your password, follow these directions: 1) On the Welcome page, there is a Tools Menu on the left-hand side.

2) In the Tools Menu, click the Personal Information link. This will open the Personal

Information page.

3) Click the Change Password link.

4) This will open the Change Password page.


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5) On the Change Password page, enter your desired password into both the Password field and into the Verify Password field. Now click the Submit button.

2.4 Viewing documents in Blackboard

If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, most of the documents posted by your instructor will open online within Blackboard when you click on the document’s link. These include:

Microsoft Word documents PowerPoint slides Text documents Adobe PDF documents

If the file is large, however, you may have difficulty viewing the document online. In this case, it will be easier to first download the document to your computer before viewing it. See the next section (2.5), which explains how to download documents posted in Blackboard. Also, see section 5.2 of this Guide to learn about special software that you can use to view documents on your computer.

2.5 Downloading documents that your professor has posted in Blackboard

If you are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer as your web browser, you can easily download the files posted by your professor. Just follow these steps (the steps for Netscape's Navigator are almost identical):

1) Find the link to the document and right-click on it (i.e., press the button on the right-hand side of the mouse). This will open a drop-down menu on your computer screen. The drop-down menu will look like this:


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In the above illustration, the user has right-clicked on a link to a document (“syl-nt1i.doc”) posted in Blackboard by the course instructor. Right-clicking on the link opened a drop-down menu.

2) In the drop-down menu, click on the Save Target As option. This will open the Save As window (illustrated below).


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3) In the Save As window, navigate to the folder in which you want to store the document. In the illustration, the user has used the Save As window to navigate to a folder called Documents. However, you can use the Save As window to navigate to any folder on your computer. If you are a beginner, navigate to Desktop and save your document there. This will save the file on your computer screen (you will have to minimize any open windows to see the file).

4) Once you have chosen your storage place, click the Save button. This will save the document. Do not forget where you stored your document!

5) Remember that some documents (such as Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF documents) require special programs or readers in order to view them. See the software requirements for viewing documents in section 5.2.

Web links to viewers can be found in chapter 5 of this Guide. Just remember that the Microsoft Word viewer will only let you view Word documents. It will not let you edit them. To create or edit Word documents, you will need a word processor that can open and edit these documents, as well as save them as Word documents (such as Microsoft Word). Masters-level Internet students are required to have Microsoft Word as their word processor. Masters-level students who are attending classes on the Fort Worth campus or at one of our satellite centers are required to submit documents in a format compatible with Microsoft Word.

2.6 Taking quizzes in Blackboard

Read this before you take a test in Blackboard! Can I preview the exam? Most professors configure exams so that you can only access it once. So if you open an exam just to preview it, you will be locked out after you exit it. Do not open the test until you are ready to start taking it!

A SPECIAL NOTE ON ESSAY QUESTIONS

Your professor may create online quizzes and assign them throughout the semester. If the quiz includes essay questions, then:

1. Open Notepad. Notepad is a program that comes with most Windows-driven computers. To find it, go to Start menu Programs Accessories Notepad.

2. Type your essay in Notepad and save it.

3. Copy the essay which you created in Notepad and paste it to the quiz.

4. Finish and submit the quiz.

You now have a copy of the essay just in case the submission of


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Where is the exam? Your professor will tell you where to find the exam in your online Blackboard class. Do I have an unlimited amount of time to take the exam? Some professors place time limits on the exam. In this case, you will be alerted when you have two minutes left to finish the exam. If you exceed the time limit, Blackboard (1) records the amount of time you spent in excess of the time limit and (2) does not give you a final grade. Your professor will decide if your grade will be penalized by exceeding the time limit. Even if you do not have a time limit, try to take the test as quickly as possible. If you lose your Internet connection, you may end up locked out of your exam. What do I do if I lose my Internet connection and Blackboard locks me out of the exam? You will need to contact your professor by phone or email. He or she will need to reset the exam so that you can re-take it. Can I use any web browser to access Blackboard and take my exam? Blackboard supports a limited number of web browsers. You may not be able to complete the exam successfully if you use an unsupported browser. To view a list of supported browsers, view the chart located at: http://bbsupport.swbts.edu/end_user.pdf What can I do to prevent losing my Internet connection while taking an exam? Primarily, this is a problem for students with dial-up connections. Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) disconnect clients from the Internet after a perceived period of inactivity. Since your test consists of one page on the Internet and you are not visiting other pages while taking the test, your ISP perceives this as a period of inactivity and may disconnect you. There are a few things you can do:

1. Try contacting your ISP. Tell them that you are a student taking exams online. Ask them if they can configure your service so that you do not get disconnected.

2. Open another web browser window (before you access your exam!!!). While

taking the exam, occasionally navigate to a new web page in the second browser. This will signal the ISP that your connection is active.

3. Try setting your email client to look for new email every five minutes or so. This

will signal the ISP that your connection is active. What else do I need to know about taking a test in Blackboard? Here are some very important tips for taking Blackboard exams:

1. When you are ready to take the exam, click the link to the exam only once! Clicking the link twice may lock you out of the exam.

2. Disable all window pop-up blocking software before taking an exam. This

type of software can prevent you from completing a Blackboard exam successfully.


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3. Do not use the web browser back button or forward button when taking an exam. This will lock you out of your test.

4. Do not open a new web browser window while you are taking the exam. This

could reload the quiz and lock you out of it.

5. Do not click outside the exam area. For example, do not click any Blackboard menu links such as 'Assignments' or 'Announcements'. This will cause Blackboard to submit the exam prematurely and you will be locked out.

6. Type answers to essay questions in Notepad or another word processor

before entering them in the exam. Type your essay answers in Notepad; save the Notepad document; and, finally, copy and paste the answers into Blackboard (that is, into the text fields provided for each essay question). This way, you have a copy of your answers just in case you lose your Internet connection and need to re-take the exam.

7. Do not resize the browser window while taking the exam. Some browsers will

erase any information you have provided in the answer text fields if you re-size the browser window. Needless to say, you will have to re-enter your answers.

Some browsers may even lock you out of the exam if you resize the window. Maximize the web browser window before you begin the exam.

8. Do not use the scroll button on your mouse while taking an exam. We have

had a report from at least one student that using the scroll button on his mouse locked him out of the exam.

9. Click the exam's Submit button only once! Be patient during the submission

process. It may take a minute or two if you have a slow Internet connection. Remember: Contact your professor during office hours if your web browser crashes; you lose your Internet connection; or some other issue locks you out of your exam prematurely.

2.7 How to use Blackboard to send email

IMPORTANT: There are two ways that you can send email to your instructor and to your fellow class members. You can use Blackboard's "Send Email" feature or you can use your student email account. We have an entire chapter devoted to using student email (chapter 4). Here we will focus on Blackboard’s “Send Email” feature.

First, note these important differences between student email and Blackboard:

Your student email account (located at http://elearning.swbts.edu) allows you to receive, store, compose, and send email. It is a complete online email service.

Blackboard allows you to compose and send email only (you cannot receive email in Blackboard). Furthermore, Blackboard allows you to send email to your class instructor and fellow students only.


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Your student email account and Blackboard are separate entities. THEREFORE, your student email account DOES NOT store copies of emails that you send through Blackboard. Since Blackboard does not keep a record of emails that are sent, use your student email account (located at http://elearning.swbts.edu) if you must keep a record. TO ENABLE THIS FEATURE IN YOUR STUDENT EMAIL ACCOUNT, CHECK THE “SAVE MESSAGE IN SENT FOLDER” CHECKBOX, WHICH YOU WILL FIND ON THE STUDENT EMAIL COMPOSE PAGE (UNDER THE SUBJECT FIELD).

Now, here is how to use Blackboard to send email: In your online Blackboard course, click the Tools link on the left-hand side of the page.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Professors have the ability to change the menu style. For example, your professor may prefer to have the menu links display as buttons. For this reason, the appearance of your course menu may be unlike the menu in the above image.

Clicking the Tools link will open the Tools page, where you will find the Send Email link (see image below).


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Click the Send Email link to open the Send Email page.


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The All Users link "All Users" means all users in your class (not all users in all Blackboard classes!). If you wish to send an email message to everyone in your class, click the All Users link. This will allow you to send an email message to all users, including all instructors, teaching assistants, and fellow classmates.

The All Groups and Select Groups links If your professor has divided the class into groups, you can click the All Groups link to send messages to all the groups in your class. You can also send a message to just one group or a select number of groups by using the Select Groups link.

The All Instructor Users and All Teaching Assistant Users link You can send a message to your instructor by choosing the All Instructors link. IMPORTANT NOTE: "All Instructor Users" refers to all instructors teaching your class. Typically you will have only one instructor (although a small number of courses are co-taught by more than one professor). Use the All Instructor Users link to send a message to your professor. You can also send a message to all Teaching Assistants in your class by choosing the All Teaching Assistant Users link.

The Select Users link Use the Select Users link to send messages to a select number of your fellow class members.

How do I know if my email was sent successfully? After you press the Submit button to send an email in Blackboard, a page will appear with the following message:

Receipt: Success Your message was sent to the following recipients: [name of user to whom you sent the email]

This message indicates that the email was sent successfully.

IN ADDITION, YOU CAN SEND ATTACHMENTS VIA BLACKBOARD’S SEND EMAIL FEATURE:

1. On the email message input page, click the Attach a file link.

2. The Attachments feature will appear (see image below). To select a file on your computer that you want to attach, click the Browse button.


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3. Click the Browse button. This will open a window similar to the one illustrated below:

4. Using this window, navigate to the file that you wish to add to your email message. (In the above illustration, the user has navigated to a file called BookReport.doc.) When you have navigated to your file, click the file so that it is highlighted and then click the Open button. This will add the file to your message and bring you back to the email input page. Notice in the illustration below that there is a new button – the remove button. You can use this button to remove the attachment if you realize that you have added the wrong file.


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5. If you are ready to send your email, scroll down the page and click the Submit button.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Blackboard and your student email account are different programs. As a result, when you use Blackboard to send an email message, you will not receive notification in your student email account that the email was sent.

2.8 How to get more help

Blackboard has an online manual that you can use to learn about each program’s special features. Be sure to look through this manual carefully—it will give you the guidance you need to get started. If you have difficulty accessing Blackboard, please contact the Blackboard administrator at:

[email protected]

Include the following information in your email:

1) A thorough explanation of the problem that you are encountering. Describe the steps you were taking before you encountered the problem, as well as the problem itself. Include any error messages.

2) The name of the web browser that you are using (i.e., Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator) and version (i.e., 7.05 SP2, 6.0). If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can find the version number by following the directions in section 6.7 (chapter 6) of this manual.

3) The ISP (Internet Service Provider) that you are using to link to the Internet. For example, are you using Juno, Earthlink, AT&T, etc.?

4) The OS (Operating System) on your computer (Mac 9, Windows 98, Windows ME, etc.).

5) The username and password that you are using to access Blackboard.

In addition…If you are having problems opening documents, answer the following questions in your email:

1) What documents are you trying to open? If there are a large number of documents, then just list a few representatives.

2) Where are the documents located (i.e., in which online course and in which section within the course)?

3) We will also need to know what program you are using to read these documents. If the documents are Adobe Acrobat PDF documents, then please include the version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader that you are using. If you are trying to open Microsoft Word documents, then please include the name and version of your word processor.

4) Are you using a PC or a Mac?


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If you are having problems taking Blackboard quizzes:

Some students have taken an online quiz but were then unable to successfully submit it. See section 2.7 above to see how you can save your essay questions just in case this happens. Failed submissions can result from disconnection from the Internet. The only option at this point is to re-take the test. You will need to contact your instructor and explain your circumstances. If the problem continues, please send us via email answers to the following questions: 1) Is this the first quiz that you have taken?

2) If you have taken other quizzes, were they taken successfully? Each time that

you took a test successfully, were you using AOL as your ISP?

3) During a long exam, the connection to the Internet may become broken. Could this have happened? Or were you still connected (i.e., able to continue navigating from web page to web page)?


In chapter 3, we will show you how to download and view PowerPoint presentations that your professor has posted to Blackboard.


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Chapter 3 Viewing PowerPoint Presentations

This chapter will:

Help you view PowerPoint presentations posted by your professor to

Blackboard. Introduce you to the free Microsoft PowerPoint viewer.

3.1 PowerPoint Presentations

Your online class may include PowerPoint slides. Most PowerPoint files are large by nature and may take a while to view over the Internet (depending on the speed of your Internet connection). If this is the case, download the files to your computer before opening them.

3.2 Downloading PowerPoint Files

If you are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer as your web browser, you can easily download the PowerPoint files posted to Blackboard by your professor. Just follow these steps (the steps for Netscape's Navigator are almost identical):

1) Find the link to the file and right-click on it (i.e., press the button on the right-hand side of the mouse). This will open a drop-down menu on your computer screen. The drop-down menu will look like this:


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In the above illustration, the user has right-clicked on a link to a document (“CriticPreacha.ppt”) posted in Blackboard by the course instructor. Right-clicking on the link opened a drop-down menu.

2) In the drop-down menu, click on the Save Target As option. This will open the Save As window (similar to the one illustrated below).


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3) In the Save As window, navigate to the folder in which you want to store the document. In the illustration, the user has used the Save As window to navigate to a folder called My PowerPoint Files. However, you can use the Save As window to navigate to any folder on your computer. If you are a beginner, navigate to Desktop and save your document there. This will save the file on your computer screen (you will have to minimize any open windows to see the file).

Once you have chosen your storage place, click the Save button. This will save the file. Do not forget where you stored your file! To view the PowerPoint presentation, you will need the free Microsoft PowerPoint viewer.

3.3 The Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer 2007 If you do not own Microsoft PowerPoint, then you will need to download the free Microsoft viewer in order to view PowerPoint presentations. While Microsoft’s PowerPoint program (which comes bundled with Microsoft Office) allows you to both create and view slide presentations, the free PowerPoint viewer enables you to view them only. PowerPoint Viewer 2007 will enable you to view presentations created with the following Microsoft Office:

Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Microsoft PowerPoint 2000


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Microsoft PowerPoint 97 TO DOWNLOAD THE VIEWER: 1) Go to the Microsoft Download Center at:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/default.aspx

2) Enter powerpoint viewer in the Downloads search field and click the Search button (see image below).

3) Click the PowerPoint Viewer 2007 link (see image below).


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4) This will open the viewer’s Download page. Click the Download button to download the application.

5) The download may take 30 minutes to an hour or more (depending on the speed of your Internet connection). After the program has downloaded onto your computer, you will need to install the program. If you are not familiar with installing programs, we recommend that you ask a friend or relative conversant with program installation to help you at this point.

6) Now that you have installed PowerPoint Viewer 2007, you can view PowerPoint presentations that you have downloaded from Blackboard.

7) Fnd the PowerPoint presentation file that you downloaded and click on it. It should automatically open in the PowerPoint viewer.


In chapter 4 we will focus on your student email account. We will show you how to access it, how to change your password, and how to send attachments with your email.


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Chapter 4

Student Email

This chapter will:

Introduce you to your student email account Show you how to access your student email account Show you how to change your student email password Show you how to add attachments Tell you how to get more help

4.1 What is Student Email?

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary provides each student an online email account. You do not need to download any special software to use it. All you need is a reliable Internet connection and one of the web browsers listed in chapter 5 and on the following web page: http://www.swbts.edu/index.cfm?pageid=817

Let’s review these important differences between your student email account and Blackboard:

Your student email account allows you to receive, store, compose, and send email. It is a complete online email service.

Blackboard allows you to compose and send email only (you cannot receive email in Blackboard). Furthermore, Blackboard allows you to send email to your class instructor and fellow students only.

NOTE: Student email and Blackboard are separate web sites – student email DOES NOT store copies of emails that you send via Blackboard.

You can use either your student email account or Blackboard to send email to your professor. (See section 2.8 to learn how you can use Blackboard to send email.)

After you log onto the student email web site, you can send email and view email that you have received. When your professor sends you information about your class, he or she will send it to your student email address.


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The directions below will help you access your student email account, so that you can start logging in and exploring some of its features. Check with your professor to see how often you should log in and check for new mail.

4.2 Accessing your student email account Navigate to the following web page:

http://elearning.swbts.edu

Enter your username in the Username field and your password in the Password field.

IMPORTANT: No spaces are permitted in either field and the password field is case-sensitive.

Now click the Login button.

If you get a message that your password was incorrect, try the following:

1) Make sure the Caps Lock button was not pressed. 2) Remember that passwords are case-sensitive.

3) Try re-typing your password. It's easy to mistype the password since only

asterisks are displayed!


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The above steps should get you into your student email account. The page will look something like this:

You will now be able to compose, send, and receive email. You will also be able to send attachments with your email messages.

Be sure to change your password as soon as you log into your student email account.

4.3 Changing your password

You can change your password by following these steps:

1) Click Preferences in the right-hand menu (see image below).


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2) On the User Preferences page, enter a new password in both the New Password field and the Retype Password field.

4) Now click the Save button (see image below).


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5) Remember your new password! Use it the next time you log into your student email account.

4.4 How to send student email messages and add attachments

This short tutorial will show you how to send student email messages and add attachments. First, you must access your student email account. If you do not know how to do that, read the above section “Accessing your student email account.” After you have accessed your student email account, follow these steps:

1) Click the New button.

This open the New Message page. On this page you will find the following components:


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The TO field Enter the email address to which you want to send your message.

The Cc field This is not a necessary field. If you want to send a copy of your email message to someone, enter that person's email address here. The field can be left empty.

The SUBJECT field You should enter a short phrase describing your message in the SUBJECT field.

The text field This is the large text field under the “Save message in Sent folder” checkbox. You enter your actual message in this field.


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The Send button Click this link to send your message. If you wish to add an attachment, however, do not click this link just yet. Follow the directions below for adding attachments and then come back to the Send link and click it.

Attachments You can send attachments with your email. Click the Attachments button.

This will cause the attachments area to appear:

Simply browse for the file that you want to attach by clicking the Browse button. Once you have located the file, click the Insert File button, which adds your file as an attachment. The X next to the attachment allows you to remove it (just in case you realize you attached the wrong document by mistake).

If you wish, you can add another attachment.

Now that you have a file (or files) added as attachments, click the Send button. Your message will be sent with any attachments that you added.


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4.5 How to get more help

If you have difficulty accessing your student email account, please contact the student email administrator at:

[email protected]

Include the following information in your email:

1) A thorough explanation of the problem that you are encountering. Describe the

steps you were taking before you encountered the problem, as well as the problem itself. Include any error messages.

2) The name of the web browser that you are using (i.e., Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator) and version (i.e., 7.05 SP2, 6.0). If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can find the version number by following the directions in section 6.7 (chapter 6) of this manual.

3) The ISP (Internet Service Provider) that you are using to link to the Internet. For example, are you using Juno, Earthlink, AT&T, etc.?

4) The OS (Operating System) on your computer (Mac 9, Windows 98, Windows ME, etc.).

5) The username and password that you are using to access your student email account.

6) Let us know if you are accessing the your student email account from home or from work. (There are sometimes firewall issues when accessing certain web sites while at work.)

In addition…If you are having problems sending attachments, answer the following questions in your email:

1) Have you ever successfully used the attachment feature?

2) If you were once able to use the attachment feature, can you isolate any changes that you made to your computer since the feature stopped working? For example, did you install any programs on the computer? Did you install any programs that integrate with the web browser or affect the web browser in any way?

3) Did you install any "firewall" programs that are designed to protect users when they are connected to the Internet?

4) Did you make any changes to your operating system (i.e., upgrade or update the system)?


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In chapter 5, we will list the system requirements for distance-learning and online-learning students. We will also acquaint you with the software you will need for creating, viewing, and protecting documents.


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Part 3

System and Software Requirements

Chapter 5: System and web browser requirements


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Chapter 5 System and web browser requirements

This chapter will:

Introduce you to system and web browser requirements List other software requirements

5.1 System and web browser requirements

If you are using a Mac, it MUST have one of the following operating systems (these are the only two that Blackboard currently supports):

o Mac OSX 10.5 "Leopard®" Mac OS X.1 o Mac OSX 10.6 "Snow Leopard®"

Windows operating systems that are supported:

o Windows XP o Windows Vista o Windows 7

A list of web browsers that are compatible with Blackboard can be located at:

http://bbsupport.swbts.edu/bbStudentHelp/browser.html This page will help you find the best web browser depending on what operation system you are using on your computer.

You will need a reliable connection to the Internet via an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

5.2 Other software requirements

You will need the following software to open, read, unzip, protect, and create documents:

Microsoft Word You can obtain this product at most computer stores. Some colleges and universities sell a less-expensive academic version of this product. You will need your student ID to


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obtain it. Call the university bookstore nearest you to see if they sell it.

o Virus Protection software You must have virus protection software that has been updated with the latest anti-virus files. The following companies (among others) sell virus protection software for home computers (you can purchase the software online or at your local computer store):

Symantec http://www.symantec.com/

McAfee http://www.mcafee.com/

Trend http://www.trendmicro.com/

AVG AntiVirus http://www.grisoft.com/

Or check out the following free options:

AVG Free http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

Avast Home Edition http://www.avast.com/index

Microsoft Security Essentials http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

o WinZip WinZip is a tool that extracts files that have been zipped (i.e., reduced in size for delivery via the Internet). If your instructor zips files before he or she sends them, then you will need to purchase this tool. Check with your instructor to see if he or she zips files before you download and purchase this product. The product can be obtained at: http://www.winzip.com

o Free Adobe Acrobat Reader This is a free tool that you can use to read documents that have been saved in the Adobe PDF format. This format retains the formatting of the document so that you see the documents exactly as the instructor designed it. You can download this free tool from the Adobe web site (be sure to click the "Get Acrobat Reader free" link when you get to the Acrobat web page) at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html Once you download and install this program on your computer, you can click on any Adobe PDF document and it will automatically open in the Adobe Acrobat


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Reader.

o Free PowerPoint viewer This is a free tool that you can use to view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. Not every instructor uses PowerPoint but, if he or she does, you can download a free viewer from the Microsoft web site. See chapter 3 of this manual for directions.


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Part 4

Troubleshooting Blackboard

and Student Email

Chapter 6: Frequently-asked questions (FAQs)


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Chapter 6 Frequently-asked questions (FAQs)

This chapter will answer the following questions:

I want to download documents (for example: Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF files)

from my Blackboard class to my hard drive. How do I do that?

I want to download documents (for example: Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF files) from my Blackboard class to my hard drive. How do I do that?

I can't read Adobe PDF documents. All I see are strange characters that make no sense. What do I do?

How do I determine the version of my web browser?



1. Find the link to the document and right-click on it (i.e., press the button on the right-hand side of the mouse). This will open a drop-down menu on your computer screen.

2. In the drop-down menu, click on the Save Target As... option. This will open the Save As window. The Save As window allows you to navigate to any folder on your hard drive.

3. In the Save As window, navigate to the folder in which you want to store the document. You can also navigate to your Desktop and store your document there.

4. Once you have chosen your storage place, click the Save button. This will save the document. Do not forget where you stored your document!

5. Remember that some documents (such as Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF documents) require special programs or readers in order to view them. You will find the system requirements in chapter 5.


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1. Find the link to the document and right-click on it (i.e., press the button on the right-hand side of the mouse). This will open a drop-down menu on your computer screen.

2. In the drop-down menu, click on the Save Target As... option. This will open the Save As window. The Save As window allows you to navigate to any folder on your hard drive.

3. In the Save As window, navigate to the folder in which you want to store the document. You can also navigate to your Desktop and store your document there.

4. Once you have chosen your storage place, click the Save button. This will save the document. Do not forget where you stored your document!

5. Remember that some documents (such as Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF documents) require special programs or readers in order to view them. Review the system requirements in chapter 4.

6.3 I can't read Adobe PDF documents. All I see are strange characters that make no sense. What do I do?

1. Uninstall the Acrobat Reader that is currently on your computer.

2. Reboot your computer.

3. Download the latest version of Acrobat Reader and install it. You can find the latest

version at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

4. Once the latest version of Acrobat Reader is installed, the document that you wish to view should open properly.

So far, all students who had problems viewing PDF documents have gone through these steps and found that they worked.

6.4 How do I determine the version of my web browser? If you are using Internet Explorer, you can find the version number by following these directions (the directions for Netscape Navigator are almost identical):


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1. Click the Help link on the web browser's menu bar. (Your web browser may look slightly different from the web browser in the images below.)

2. Clicking the Help link will open a drop-down menu. On the drop-down menu, click the "About Internet Explorer" option.

3. Clicking the "About Internet Explorer" option will open a new window that contains the version number.


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