Blackboard is up and running.

Blackboard is currently down. A hardware failure occured on our primary Blackboard Oracle server in the computing center during a planned power outage of our secondary server in Carlson Library. We are in the process of bringing that server back up. The secondary server in Carlson and Blackboard service will be restored once the power outage is complete.

Students will be loaded into Blackboard for the summer 2012 semester on Monday, May 7.  Students will NOT have access to individual course sites until midnight of the course start date; however, the course instructor can grant students access to a course any time after May 7. If you would like to give students access to your course immediately after May 7, please do the following to change the course duration:

1. Click Control Panel.
2. Click Customization.
3. Click Properties.
4. Choose a new start date for Set Course Duration.
5. Click Submit.

Please watch this video clip for step-by-step instruction. For further questions or assistance, please contact Learning Ventures Support at UTLV@utoledo.edu or by phone at 419-530-8835.

If you have NOT uploaded course materials or copied your course materials from a previous semester to your summer course site please do so as earlier as possible. Copying courses takes more time and resources on the system so it may take longer if you copy courses in the last days before the semester starts due to the number of users using the system copying courses. If you need assistance please email UTLV@utoledo.edu or refer to this blog http://wordpress.utoledo.edu/learningventures/2012/01/04/copy-a-course/

Java Certificates Updated (Friday, April 20, 2012) 

THIS Java Certificate Warning WILL NOT AFFECT COURSE CONTENT or YOUR LEARNING ACTIVITIES!

Beginning at 8 PM on Sunday, April 15, you may receive a Java Certificate warning when you attempt to utilize the following tools in Blackboard:

• The ‘Chat’ / ‘Virtual Classroom’ tool (not Blackboard IM).
• The ‘Equation Editor’ tools which are part of the embedded text editor.

The warning message may be slightly different depending on the operating system, browser and security programs installed on the computer accessing these tools. In all cases, you will need to accept the invalid/expired certificate (by clicking ‘yes’, ‘proceed’, ‘run’ or a similar button). Once you have accepted the warning, the tool will function normally.

Note: Instructors will receive a similar warning when accessing the ‘Multiple File Upload’ tool available to instructors from their ‘My Files’ area.

Here is a selection of sample error message which you might see when you attempt to use any of the tools above.

Windows + Firefox users: Click “Run”or “Yes” in the dialouge box.

Windows + Chrome Users: Click “Run this time” in the yellow banner.

Mac Users: Click “Allow” in the dialogue box.

Blackboard is currently working with universities that use Blackboard 9 to resolve this issue. If you are having additional problems, contact our Learning Ventures helpdesk at 419 530 8835 or email utdl@utoledo.edu. We will keep you updated about this issue via this blog.

If you are having a problem with the chatting feature in Blackboard, there is now a fix.

The problem was a java issue with a patch that we installed. We rolled back the patch to resolve the problem for new chat users, but any users that had used chat before in any capacity will need to clear their java cache for it to work properly.

Note: Java cache is different than browser cache! See below for instructions to clear the java cache.

Instructions for clearing Java cache:

Windows:
http://www.java.com/en/download/help/plugin_cache.xml 

Mac:
https://wikis.tamu.edu/display/itsdocs/Clearing+the+Java+Cache+in+Macintosh+OS+10.X.X 

From the College of Visual and Performing Arts:

Professors Scott Ligon and Jimmy Kuehnle from the Cleveland Institute of Art will be on hand to discuss the Digital Canvas Initiative at the CIA, and how iPads can be incorporated into all disciplines of arts education within the CVPA. All UT faculty are invited to attend this presentation:

Friday, April 20th
Center for Performing Arts
Recital Hall
9:00 AM

To use SafeAssign, your browser must be configured to accept third-party cookies.

If you receive a popup error after attaching the file or if you are notified of a red “Instance Not Found” error, you will need to configure your web browser to enable third-party cookies. If you have any further difficulties after doing so, please let Learning Ventures know. Thanks

Please follow the browser-specific instructions below to enable third-party cookies:

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)

To enable cookies in IE 8:

1. Click Start > Control Panel. (Note: with Windows XP Classic View, click the Windows Start button > Settings > Control Panel).
2. Double-click the Internet Options icon.
3. Click the Privacy tab.
4. Click the Advanced button.
5. Select the option ‘Override automatic cookie handling’ under the Cookies section in the Advanced Privacy Settings window.
6. Select the ‘Accept’ or ‘Prompt’ option under ‘First-party Cookies.’
7. Select the ‘Accept’ or ‘Prompt’ option under ‘Third-party Cookies.’ (Note: if you select the ‘Prompt’ option, you’ll be prompted to click OK every time a website attempts to send you a cookie.)
8. In the Internet Options window, click OK to exit.

Mozilla Firefox

To enable cookies in Mozilla Firefox (9, Windows):

1. Click Tools > Options.
2. Click Privacy in the top panel.
3. Set ‘Firefox will:’ to ‘Use custom settings for history’
4. Select the option ‘Accept cookies from sites’ and ‘Accept third-party cookies’.
5. Click OK.

To enable cookies in Mozilla Firefox (Macintosh):

1. Go to the Firefox drop-down menu.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click Privacy.
4. Under Cookies, select the option ‘Accept cookies from sites’ and ‘Accept third-party cookies’.

Safari (5.1 for Macintosh

1. Go to the Safari drop-down menu.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click Privacy in the top panel.
4. Under ‘Block Cookies’ select the option ‘Never.’

Learning Ventures is pleased to announce that we have extended the weekday hours for Blackboard technical support for faculty. These extended hours now match those previously provided to students.

Faculty can now received technical support Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM till 8:00 PM and on Friday from 8:30 AM till 6:00 PM.

To contact one of our Educational Technologists for technical assistance and support with Blackboard, please call 419-530-8835 or email UTLV@utoledo.edu.