The issue of word wrapping in tests taken in Internet Explorer and Lockdown Browser have been fixed.  However, it is still recommended for students to use Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome when working in Blackboard. Instructors who are using Lockdown Browser for their online assessments can resume use of the Lockdown Browser in student assessments.

Note: Users of Internet Explorer may need to clear their browser’s cache in order for the changes to take effect.

How to clear cache:
http://www.utoledo.edu/dl/faculty/fac_browser.html

If you have any questions, please contact us at 419-530-8835 or utlv@utoledo.edu.

The University of Toledo’s internet service provider has announced planned maintenance on the Toledo, OH core router on June 7, 2013 between 12:01 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. They expect a downtime of approximately 20 minutes during this window.  Blackboard will be unavailable during the downtime.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 419-530-8835 or utlv@utoledo.edu.

Users have reported that the question text in Blackboard tests does not wrap over to the next line when the test is taken in Internet Explorer.  However, this issue only affects Internet Explorer.  In addition, as the Respondus Lockdown Browser is based off Internet Explorer, this issue will also occur in tests that require the lockdown browser.  It is suggested that instructors remove the requirement to use the lockdown browser for any test in which it is enabled, and encourage students to take tests using a web browser other than Internet Explorer, such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.  If instructors and students do not have another browser installed on their machine, it is recommended to go to http://www.utoledo.edu/dl/main/downloads.html to download an alternative browser to use.

If you have any questions about this issue, please contact us at utlv@utoledo.edu or at 419-530-8835.  This issue has been reported to Blackboard and we are awaiting a fix for the issue.

Update: As of 5/21/2013, this issue has been resolved.

Instructors and students are receiving the following message when attempting to copy or paste text within the Blackboard text editor:  “Your web browser currently does nto support this behavior. Use the following keyboard shortcuts instead. Cut: Control + X (Command + X) Copy: Control + C (Command + C) Paste: Control + V (Command + V).  This message appears if users copy and paste text into the text editor by using the buttons in the text editor toolbar or by using the right click menu to copy and paste text.  A workaround for this issue would be to use the keyboard shortcuts that are described in the error message above. (Mac users can use the commands within the parentheses).

If any user has any questions about this, please contact us at 419-530-8835 or at utlv@utoledo.edu

Blackboard will be taken offline and an upgrade will be started early Thursday morning (12:01 a.m.).  Changes will appear when Blackboard is brought back online sometime during the morning/day on Thursday.

The primary enhancements from the installation of Service Packs 10 and 11 included the following item:

• Enhanced Calendar
• New Retention Center (replaces previous Early Warning System)
• A new Content System
• New Inline Grading
• New Content Editor
• Enhanced Discussion Board
• New Test Item Analysis
• New “My Blackboard” and Global Navigation Menu

For an overview of these new features and enhancements, please login to Blackboard and open the “Faculty Resource Center” course site  listed under the “Courses” tab. All instructors automatically have access to the Faculty Resources Center (FRC) site within Blackboard. Once in the FRC, click on the “SP10 & SP11 Enhancements” near the top of the Main Course Menu in the left-hand navigation panel on the screen.

In the “SP10 & SP11 Enhancements” folder you will find links to a number of PDF documents and other resources outlining the changes and enhancements to Blackboard as well as detailed instructions for using these new features.

If you have any questions, please contact Learning Ventures at utlv@utoledo.edu or 419-530-8835.

Starting with Summer Semester 2013, we have implemented an improved course merge feature.  Courses that are merged in Blackboard will receive an independent master course site.  The child course enrollments are merged into the new master site.  Master course titles will contain the course id of one of the merged courses as well as the word “MERGED” in all caps.

The two most important benefits of the new method include:

• Students will see the name of the actual course they are enrolled in when they log in to Blackboard.  Previously, they would see the name of the “master” course even if they were enrolled in one of the other courses that was part of the merged set.
• Instructors will see a new grade center column in the master course that identifies which child course students are enrolled in.

To instructors, there are some fundamental differences in how merged courses appear in Blackboard:

• The master course site for each merged course set will be visible in the Blackboard course list with (MERGED) in the title.  This is the course site that should be used for teaching the course.
• The child course sites will also be visible to the instructor, but with the following message appended to the title: (unavailable – Child course of 2013:3 Summer, MATH1200 (MERGED) Intro to Math)
• The instructor will see the following message if they enter a child course site:  Unavailable child course: Students will not see changes made to this course. Please work in master course.  The instructor can navigate directly to the master course by clicking on the link in the message.

If you have any questions, please contact Learning Ventures at utlv@utoledo.edu or 419-530-8835.

Sites in Blackboard are now available for all courses being offered in Summer 2013. You may access your course site(s) either through the myUT web portal or the Blackboard login page at https://blackboard.utdl.edu.

All sites for Summer 2013 were created using a common course shell, which includes the following items in the Main Course Menu:

• Start Here: This is a blank area in which you can place your course orientation materials to help your students get started with this course.
• Course News: The area contains four basic modules (Announcements, Calendar, To Do, and What’s New) that give information to users based on their enrollment and their role in the system. Students can navigate to individual items to take action.
• Public Area: This is the public area of your course. Any person throughout the world can access this area of your course site by clicking the “Preview as Guest” link on the Blackboard login screen. You can place your course syllabus and/or any other course information in this content area to share with prospective students and others interested in your course. Please ensure that the materials you post to this content area do not violate any copyright or privacy laws. For more information about the public area, please view the video tutorials or PDF documents on the Learning Ventures page in the “Hot Topics” section titled “Course Syllabus Posting.”
• Learner Support: This area contains critical information about Online Learning technology support, Office of Accessibility, eLibrary services, eTutroing services, as well as a browser requirements check and Blackboard video tutorials.
• Instructor Support: This area is only visible to instructors and it contains a list of tutorials on how to use Blackboard tools and other resources such as templates and quality matters standards.
• LibGuides: This link contains research assistance, subject guides, and useful resources compiled by University of Toledo Librarians.
• My Grades: This link allows students to view grades within their course.  Grades entered by the instructor in Blackboard’s Grade Center are visible to the student here.

Instructors can use the “Course Copy” function in Blackboard to copy a class from a previous semester or import an archive package of a previous course into their Summer 2013 course site(s). (The Course Copy function is available in the Control Panel under the “Packages and Utilities” heading and a link to instructions for its use are provided below.)

Please see the links below for instructions:

• Copying a Course
• Creating a Course Archive Package
• Downloading a Course Archive Package
• Importing a Course Archive Package

Should you have any questions or need assistance feel free to contact UTLV@utoledo.edu or call 419-530-8835, and a member of our Educational Technology team will respond to your request.  Additionally, instructors needing assistance with Blackboard or other educational technology tools can make arrangements for a one-on-one or small group training session.

If you need assistance with your course design or applying best practices, you can contact our Instructional Designers. For information on contacting or scheduling an appointment with one of our Instructional Designers (IDs), please see our Learning Ventures’ web page: Designing Your Course.

Please visit our LV blog often for more tips, events, and updates throughout the semester at http://wordpress.utoledo.edu/learningventures/.

Respondus is offering a webinar on StudyMate, which is a program that allows instructors to author flash cards and interactive games that students can use to review and practice the materials they have learned.

Don’t miss our upcoming webinars on StudyMate. In each session, learn how to help students “master the basics” of course material through learning activities, self-assessments and games. The activities can be accessed from an online course, a web link or a mobile device.

WEBINAR: StudyMate – Create Learning Activities in Minutes (45 minutes)

– Wednesday, February 27th at 3 pm ET

– Thursday, February 28th at 2 pm ET

Register at

http://www.respondus.com/products/studymate/webinars.shtml

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Visit our website for more information, including demo movies and how to start a free, 3-month pilot.

http://www.respondus.com/studymate

StudyMate integrates with:

Blackboard – ANGEL – Canvas – Desire2Learn – Moodle

Faculty members are encouraged to create an archive of their course each semester.  The archive package is then saved to the faculty member’s computer and it can be re-uploaded to a blank Blackboard course site.  The archive package consists of all course content, tests, and tool settings.  However, the archive package does not include user content such as grades or course messages.  In addition to creating a course package, instructors can also copy a previous Blackboard course site into a blank course site to reuse the course site each semester.  The course copy process copies the selected course materials to a destination Blackboard course without requiring users to make a local copy.

When creating a backup copy of the course, instructors can choose to make an export copy or an archive copy of the course.

Export creates a ZIP file in which instructors can specify which content areas and tools they want to include, but does not include user information.

Archive creates a ZIP file that contains all user interactions in addition to course content and tools.

An Export is best for reloading course content from one semester to another while an Archive is best for making periodic backups of your course during the semester.

The export and archive processes create .zip files that can be saved to the faculty member’s computer.  To access the contents of the file, the package must be restored to a Blackboard course site.   Content is not accessible by unzipping the archive package to the user’s computer.

How to create a course archive package

How to download a course archive package

How to import a course archive package

How to copy a course

Over the next few weeks, there will be two noticeable changes to Blackboard:

1. Students will no longer be able to access courses that took place during previous semesters. However, instructors can still grant access to individual students for special cases such as finishing an incomplete.
2. Courses taught during or before the 2011 Fall semester will be removed from the server.  PLEASE REMEMBER TO RETAIN BACKUPS OF YOUR COURSES IN CASE YOU NEED TO ACCESS THEM IN THE FUTURE.

Starting with the 2013 Spring Semester, student access to courses will end approximately 2 weeks after a semester ends.  Instructors have the ability to give access back to students as needed for situations such as finishing an incomplete.  All course sites on Blackboard will remain accessible to faculty for 1 year + 1 full semester before being archived and removed from our servers. For example, a course offered in Fall Semester 2012 will remain accessible to the instructor(s) for that course until the end of Spring Semester 2014. During this time, students can be given access to a course to finish any incompletes and faculty can easily access past materials to use in current or future courses.

Please note that these changes will affect courses that run on a standard semester schedule.  Customized sites will not be affected by this change.

If you have any comments or concerns, please send them to UTLV@utoledo.edu.