Submission uploads to Blackboard – advice for students

We have had some reports of submissions to Blackboard being 0 bytes (empty) when accessed for marking.  In the past this has been identified as a problem with a browser, initially with Edge and then with Safari.  These errors have since been fixed in Blackboard upgrades, however if you have students and markers still reporting similar problems it may be prudent to offer your students some advice for when they upload a submission:

Start the submission at least an hour before the due time.

Make sure you are on a stable, secure connection, an intermittent wi-fi connection could cause problems.

Close the document before trying to upload it to Blackboard.

Wait to see the document rendered properly on screen before assuming that it has uploaded.

If you are having problems, change browser and/or refresh the cache in the browser you are using.

Check that your internet connection is still active and you are still logged in to Blackboard properly (restart the machine and log out and back in).

If you are unable to submit properly email your school administrator immediately attaching a copy of the submission and let them know you have a problem.  They can then clear the submission and allow you to try again if necessary.

 

 

Errors uploading zip files to Turnitin

We have had reports from some users that uploading zip files to Turnitin is giving the error ‘Zip file submission is currently unavailable.’

This appears to be an intermittent error that occurs at times of high workload for Turnitin and currently the advice is to try the upload again at a later time.  The Digital Education Office are in touch with Turnitin about the error and will update this blog with any further information.

 

Problems uploading submissions to Turnitin using the Safari browser

We have recently identified problems when trying to upload submissions to Turnitin using the Safari browser (version 12.0) where the upload appears to hang and never completes.

We have three recommendations to fix this issue.

  1. Try working in a different browser, both Chrome and Firefox can be downloaded and used on a Mac.
  2. Clear the cache on your browser. You can find guidance on how to do this by going to refreshyourcache.com
  3. You can also follow these instructions to change the settings in Safari Preferences:
    1. Go to Safari Preferences > Privacy Tab > Manage Website Data.
    2. Look for and remove the three cached websites listed below:
      1. googlesyndication.com
      2. Googleservices.com
  • turnitinuk.com or turnitin.com
  1. Close and reopen Safari.
  2. Try submitting again.