Blackboard upgrade – quicker access to courses and “My Blackboard”

Posted on by Tel Team

After this summer’s upgrade, Blackboard will have a new “Global Navigation Menu”, accessible at all times in the top right corner of the screen. This allows quicker access to courses and “My Blackboard”, an aggregated view of data across courses. For example you can see events or deadlines from different courses via the new Calendar.

A 4  minute video tutorial on the Global Navigation Menu and My Blackboard is available.

To find out more about this or any of the other Blackboard enhancements this summer:

This summer’s upgrade will take place between Tuesday 30th July (starting at 9am ) and Monday 5th August (midday). A temporary replacement service will be available during this time.

Blackboard upgrade – improved discussion board

Posted on by Tel Team

As part of this summer’s upgrade, Blackboard will have a more modern-looking and usable discussion board. All posts in a thread will now load on one page, discussion forum roles are highlighted, e.g showing posts by an instructor, and when writing a reply, the original post remains visible on the same screen.

A 1 minute video on some of the discussion board improvements is available.

To find out more about this or any of the other Blackboard enhancements this summer:

This summer’s upgrade will take place between Tuesday 30th July (starting at 9am ) and Monday 5th August (midday). A temporary replacement service will be available during this time.

Blackboard upgrade – new Content Editor

Posted on by Tel Team

As part of this summer’s upgrade, Blackboard will have a new content editor. The content editor allows you to add and format text, insert equations,  video, web links and  tables, and attach different types of files. The editor appears throughout the system, and the new version includes:

  • Better ability to paste from Word and retain formatting
  • Edit box which can be expanded to full screen, and has Preview function
  • Simple & advanced modes for editing. Simple mode just shows basic icons
  • New MathML equation editor

A 2 minute  Blackboard video on the new Content editor is available on YouTube.

To find out more about this or any of the other Blackboard enhancements this summer:

This summer’s upgrade will take place between Tuesday 30th July (starting at 9am ) and Monday 5th August (midday). A temporary replacement service will be available during this time.

Blackboard upgrade – summer 2013

Posted on by Tel Team

The 2013 Blackboard upgrade will take place between Tuesday 30th July (starting at 9am) and Monday 5th August (completed by midday). A temporary replacement service will be available during this time.

The familiar interface remains in the new version, but the upgrade will bring some notable improvements, for example a new Content Editor (allowing easier editing and pasting from Word), a more modern-looking and usable discussion board, and “My Blackboard” which gives an aggregated view of data from across Blackboard courses. There will also be hardware improvements, and once again automatic archiving and roll-over of SITS courses.

Short videos on some of the new features and enhancements can be found on the Blackboard upgrade website. Further information will be added in due course.

The Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) team are once again offering roadshows and drop-in sessions to update colleagues on the changes and enhancements in the new version of Blackboard. The sessions last approximately one hour and will include demonstrations and the chance for staff to ask questions.

If you would like to request a roadshow, or if you have any questions or concerns, please contact tel-help@bristol.ac.uk.

eReserves now available to all Faculties

Posted on by Joseph Gliddon

Dear All

We are pleased to announce that eReserves are now available to all Faculties within the University.  More details can be found on the library pages http://www.bristol.ac.uk/library/resources/eresources/ereserves.html

To request an eReserve you need to log into Blackboard and click on the eReserves tab at the top of the page.

Academics in the Faculties that have just been added will receive an email outlining the service from the library.

 

Critical dates for 2012 – 13

Posted on by Roger Gardner

We are currently collecting information on critical dates for Blackboard availability for this academic year.  Critical dates are those dates on which it is essential that Blackboard is available, for activities such as assignment submission, online assessments, collaborative student report writing or access to materials in preparation for an assessment.

Critical date information is very important to us. We use these dates to schedule downtime for essential maintenance to Blackboard and other systems on which Blackboard depends with the least disruption to you and your students.  The information also helps us and the IT Servicedesk to more effectively support students and staff in the event of an unexpected disruption to Blackboard or related services (such as MyBristol).

Please could you send the following information about any critical dates to tel-help@bristol.ac.uk
* date and time of activity (e.g. online submission deadline)
* summary of activity (e.g. assignment submission, peer assessment activity,  online quiz or exam, departmental Blackboard demonstration, etc)
* approximate number of students involved
* course names or IDs
* staff contact details

Many thanks
TEL team
tel-help@bristol.ac.uk

Why can’t my student(s) see my course in Blackboard?

Posted on by Hanrahan Highland

All units and programmes are automatically created as courses in Blackboard, and all students automatically enrolled, based on the registration data held in SITS. If some students can’t see a particular course in Blackboard:

• First, check the course is available. If under “My courses” on your Blackboard Home page you see “unavailable” after the course, this means the course is unavailable to students.  To make it available, follow the instructions in ‘What does course “unavailable” mean and how can I make a course available?’

• Second, if the course IS available, check the student is enrolled on it. Go into the course, and in the Control Panel, click Users and Groups, then Users. Change the middle search box to “Not blank” and click on Go. Search for their name in the list. If the student is not enrolled, they should check if they are registered for it in My Students.  If  you need to manually enrol a student see  ‘How do I enrol a student on my course?’

Why can’t I see a Blackboard course for a unit I am teaching?

Posted on by Tel Team

All units and programmes are automatically created as courses in Blackboard, and all students automatically enrolled, based on the registration data held in SITS. However, staff are not automatically enrolled, since staffing data is not centrally available.

Any Instructor on a course can enrol another Instructor onto that course, and local Blackboard System Administrators can do the same – so please check if a colleague can enrol you. Instructions on how to enrol an Instructor are in this FAQ.

If another Instructor or a local Blackboard System Administrator cannot enrol you, please email tel-help@bristol.ac.uk and ask to be enrolled as an Instructor, giving the unit ID.

Staff Access to 2011-12 courses

Posted on by Tel Team

As of Friday 28th of September we have completed the course rollover process. Last year’s courses have now been hidden from members of staff. Those staff that have requested continued access to last year’s courses will see them reappear during the morning of October 1st as we go through the requests and switch them back on. if you have requested access to a course from last year and you don’t see it by the end of October 1st, please let us know.

More information on the rollover is available on the TEL website.

Staff wishing to have access to last year’s courses should complete this form and send it to TEL help.