When the font size on a Windows machine is set to a size of 20 or greater, the scroll bars will disappear from the Full Grade Center view in Blackboard.  To fix this issue without changing the font size:

WINDOWS XP ONLY:

1. From your Desktop area, right-click on your desktop and choose Properties.
2. Click on the Appearance tab, and then click the Advanced button to display the Advanced Appearance screen.
3. Select Scrollbar from the pull-down menu and check the size setting. If greater than 20, change the size to 17 (system default setting) and click OK, then Apply.
4. After changing the setting, open a new browser window and access the Full Grade Center. The horizontal scroll bar should now appear.

WINDOWS VISTA or WINDOWS 7:

1. From your Start Menu, access Control Panel > Personalization > Window Color and click Advanced Appearance Settings.
2. If you do not see Advanced Appearance Settings, access Control Panel > Personalization > Aero Themes > Windows 7 and then repeat step 1.
3. Select Scrollbar in the pull-down menu, and set the value for Scrollbar size to 17 or less.
4. After changing the setting, open a new browser window and access the Full Grade Center.  The scroll bars should now appear.

For further questions or assistance, please contact Learning Ventures Support at UTLV@utoledo.edu or by phone at 419-530-8835.

Academic Support has installed a software patch that appears to have resolved the issue with students being locked out of quizzes mid-way through. We are still receiving some reports of failures and we are following up on those reports to see whether there is an underlying cause not related to the main problem, but the number of reports is very small and shrinking. Therefore, we believe it is safe to begin using the quiz tool without the  “force completion” setting. Please be aware of the following:

1. Students who encounter technical troubles should contact LV for support. Students may use the chat window on our web page or call our student support desk (Toll Free: 866.886.5336 | Local: 419.530.8835). Services are available from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8-6 on Friday, and 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturday and 6 – 10 p.m. on Sunday. Our support staff will help resolve technical difficulties and will help facilitate all contacts with faculty should we be unable to help. In LV, we share information throughout the unit so that we can learn from and respond quickly to reports of problems, but the reports have to come from our faculty and students.
2. If only a few students in a course are having troubles, there may be causes that are not related to Blackboard. A large number of problems may indicate a system error. All failures are important, but not all are systemic in nature. Please be aware that some variation is to be expected, and we try to keep technology “out of the way” as much as possible, but there are some things that we can’t prevent.
3. Faculty are strongly encouraged to avoid the “Force Completion” option in quiz settings whenever possible, since this is the setting that seems to give our systems the most trouble. A “Timed” exam with “Auto-submit” turned on is an option that is less risky and still effective.
4. Students are reminded to clear the browser cache before opening an exam, and to ensure that they are using the correct browser on a computer with a supported configuration.
5. Some students have reported difficulties with wireless access. Because some wireless contacts are timed, users can be dropped from the network, interrupting any test in progress. Students are encouraged to avoid commercial or campus-based wireless networks when a professor has constructed a quiz as “forced completion.”  Use a wired connection if there are doubts.
6. Students with continued problems or who are unsure of browser configuration, etc., may wish to use UT’s “Virtual Labs.” Instructions and FAQ’s are posted here.

As always, we are eager to hear about issues you encounter and we are prepared to help resolve problems for faculty and students in our online courses. We are very glad to hear that some faculty have given tests without a single problem. We thank you for your patience and understanding, and wish you the best as we plunge into mid-terms!

(Updated, 10/3/11, 5:41))

After consulting with faculty and assessing our options last spring, Learning Ventures began the transition from WebCT to Blackboard (Bb) 9 in March of 2010. If you are still using WebCT for online or web-assisted teaching, the time to switch is now.

The GOOD news is Bb 9 has some great tools for engaging students online:

• The Blog (web log) tool is a great way to encourage the development of an online community.
• The Discussion Board is easier to grade and easier to track student posts and replies.
• The Journal tool offers a private way to communicate with your students while tracking their individual reflections.
• The Wiki tool allows a group of students to collaborate on a collective document.
• The SafeAssign tool helps students cite their writing properly.
• The Assignment drop box allows you to submit multiple documents at once.
• You can drag and drop files to the course.

Bb 9 is a very different experience for the faculty and the instructional designer; therefore, you will need time and assistance to create a maximally learning-centered experience for your students. Learning Ventures offers extensive, hands-on support for faculty who use Bb 9. In addition to our regularly scheduled workshops (schedule available here: https://utdl.edu/DL_training), we invite your department or program to schedule an instructional session at your convenience.

To get more information about Bb 9, or to make an important connection with an instructional designer, contact LV:

Email: UTLV@utoledo.edu
Phone: 419.530.8835
Chat: utoledo.edu/dl, use our chat window

For more updates on the transition, follow us on Twitter (@UTLV) and check our blog (feed available on the “Teaching” pane in the UT Portal. Also: http://wordpress.utoledo.edu/learningventures).

From time to time, instructors may notice that there is an additional person listed as an instructor in their course.  This occurs because Learning Ventures staff may need to enroll themselves into the course while responding to technical issues.  Once the UTLV staff member completes the task they are working on inside the course, the staff member will remove him/herself from the course.  If an instructor happens to notice that there is an individual listed in Blackboard as an instructor that is not an assigned instructor, the instructor can contact Learning Ventures about the issue, and UTLV will check to make sure that the proper individuals have access to the course and will verify the status of any tasks that are being completed in any course.  To limit confusion for students and instructors enrolled in a particular course, UTLV staff will remove themselves from the course after they have completed their tasks.

When a student encounters an error message early in a test, all hope is not lost.  With a few clicks of your mouse, you can clear the student’s attempt so that the student can retake the test from the very beginning:

1. Find the Grade Center on your Control Panel and click the Smart View for Tests.
   

   Smart View for Tests located under the Grade Center

2. An “In Progress” icon will appear in the test cell to the right of the student’s name.  Use your mouse to hover over the cell.
   

   An "In Progress" icon

3. A chevron will appear in the right side of the cell.  Click the chevron and select the Attempt Date to view the attempt details.
   

   Select the "Attempt Date" to view the student's attempt

4. Click the Test Information link near the top of the screen.
   

   The "Test Information" link

5. Click the Clear Attempt button.
   

   The "Clear Attempt" button

6. A confirmation window will pop open.  Click OK.
   

   The confirmation window. Click "OK" to clear the student's attempt.

Please note: once a student’s attempt has been cleared, all data affiliated with that attempt will be permanently deleted.

If you would like to walk through this or other options with someone in LV, or if you would like to share a screen with your student to confirm the error, log in to Wimba Pronto (using “Add A Tool,” choose Wimba Pronto, download the software, set up an account) and invite the student or LV staff to a chat session. Screen sharing will only work if you are not using “Lockdown Browser.”

Unlike WebCT that had a separate server for each semester, courses on the Blackboard 9.1 server are all listed together in the same window regardless of the semester. Courses are now loaded into the Blackboard server for spring, which means that next semesters courses are now listed along with this semester’s courses.   If you do not wish to see your spring courses at this point you can customize your list and have only the fall 10 courses display in your course list. Here’s how:

1. Login to Bb 9.1
2. On the My Institution tab, click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the My Courses module.
3. Select the courses you want to display by checking the box to the left of the course names.
4. Click the Submit button to secure your changes.

Only the selected courses will be listed on My Course tab. You can also drag and drop a course in the list to rearrange them. To see a screen capture of the “gear” icon and how to rearrange your list, click here: http://screencast.com/t/Yjc4NDU0

Students and faculty are reporting problems with the quiz function in Blackboard 9.1. We introduced a “patch” that we think will take care of many of the issues, so if you’ve had trouble with a quiz in the last few days, consider trying it again now. However, there are a number of rules that we strongly recommend you ask your students to follow. You can publicize these rules on your course site or send students to this post.

We recommend that all BB9.1 users use the Firefox browser 3.6 (free download) when taking tests rather than Internet Explorer, Safari or other browsers. Some browsers are only “compatible” but not “certified” for use with some operating systems. You can check the optimal combination of browser and operating system at Blackboard’s help site. If a student has an operating system with no corresponding certified browser, the student should use a UT computer or the “Virtual Lab.”

Before starting your quiz or test, it is important to follow a few guidelines to better ensure that you will not experience technical problems that might cause your assessment to “lock.”

• Close all windows on the computer and then launch a new window to login to the learning management system.
• Close other applications before taking the quiz/test (including chat programs).
• If there is a specific start time for the test, login 10-15 minutes early to test the connection.
• After opening the test, scroll to the bottom of the page to be sure the save and submit buttons are available.
• Only click “Save and Submit” AFTER you have completed the exam.
• Do not use any of the browser navigation buttons (i.e. Back, Forward, Home, etc.) during the quiz/test. Only use the buttons in the quiz itself.
• Do not leave the assessment page without completing the assessment and clicking the “Save and Submit” button at the end (if it is a forced completion test).
• Do not click the Refresh or Reload buttons in your browser while taking the quiz/test.
• No other browser windows or applications should be running on your computer while taking a quiz/test. Shut everything else down before you start.
• Do not click on buttons in the Blackboard navigation while taking a quiz/test.
• If you are only able to answer one question at a time (questions present themselves on separate pages), make sure you only single-click the “Next” button to move forward.

It is recommended you take a practice test on your course site or the practice test available on LV’s “Guide to UT Online Learning” or “A Web Assisted Guide to UT Online Learning.” Be sure to use the computer that you will use to take tests.

Many of these rules apply to other kinds of “secure” web sites and are worth remembering in any event. Please contact UTLV if you have any questions or concerns about the assessment tool in BB9.1 or if you would like help with online exams.

(Tips reprinted with permission from Cape Fear CC).
(Updated 10/4/10)

Here are some more questions and tips that faculty have shared with us, with answers and suggestions. The first is from the College of Education:

• Question: “We would like to have an ASSIGNMENT DROP BOX link that takes the students directly to the DROP Box (to see all the assignments that are due) on the left-hand menu box. I tried to do it, but the links did not work.”
• Answer: If the assignments have been created within a learning module or a unit, use course link. Here is how:

  1. Create a Content Area link on Course Menu and name it Assignments.
  2. Click the Assignments link on Course Menu
  3. Click Build Content Drop-down Contextual Menu list and select Course Link
  4. Click Browse and select the assignment
  that you have been created in a module or a Unit
  5. The name of the assignment and Location
  will appear respectively in the slot Name & Location
  6. Click Submit

And the next concerns the Gradebook function. We’ve noticed that the WebCT gradebook was much more capable than the Blackboard 9.1 gradebook. It is odd that a company would strip functionality from an old version in updating to a new one, but that seems to be what they have done. Many functions are still there but need to be accessed differently. This comment is from the College of Arts and Sciences and it concerns the grading of multiple attempts at a quiz (do you want to take the highest score, the last score, or an average of the attempts?):

• If you are grading multiple attempts, the graded item must have been set to allow multiple attempts when it was created. If the option for multiple attempts was selected, the option for grading will appear on the Grade Details page. Grades for all attempts are tracked in the Grade History.

The faculty member continues: “…of course there is no link to tell you what/where the “grade details page” is- maybe another week of searching will find it.” And finally, a puzzle: “I am still trying to find out how i check on an individual student’s multiple choice answers… any ideas?”

If imported content from WebCT appears for instructors but not students and students get messages like “File Not Found” or “You Do Not Have Permission To Access This File” etc, then we suggest you take the following steps, and that you suggest two additional steps to your students:

• In the “Control Panel” at the bottom left of the left-pane menu, click on Files.
• Click on the course number (i.e. the “Alphanumeric.” For example, MLS 4600_5600 (since the course is cross-listed as a 4k and 5k course).
• Then, in the window labeled “Course Content:…”, click on the the Contextual Menu to the right of the WebCT imported content folder (it will say “imported content”) and select Permissions. (The “contextual menu” looks like a chevron or a double-arrow pointing downward).
• Click the Add Course User List button near the top of the screen. The button has white writing with a blue background.
• Click the check box to the left of All Course Users and click the Submit button to secure your changes.

Presto, bingo…all course users (including students) should now be able to see content imported from WebCT. If you’d like to see this actually done with a little narration from me (BP) and our senior designer, Dr. Peter You, follow this link to a screen capture: http://screencast.com/t/MTM1Mzky

If students still have problems and cannot see course content, ask them to “clear the cache” in their web browsers. Once they do, the page will load appropriately.

Our transition to Blackboard 9.1 has been compared to “wrestling bears.” Whether this comparison is favorable or unfavorable I will leave to you, and so much depends upon the size of the bear and whether it has been de-clawed, but the message was clear: it has not been easy to make the change, particularly for those of us who like to take a more “hands-on” role in course design.

As part of our regular updates about the transition, the LV Instructional Designers and I would like to address recurring issues and solutions that might help you and your students. You can help us a great deal by leaving comments below: are you frustrated with a feature or a bug (and if you can’t tell the difference, it’s probably a bug)? Is there a mystery tool that you’d like to use but know nothing about? Have your students encountered a problem? Leaving comments here will help us share knowledge and find solutions more quickly.

Some notes:

1. Phoebe Ballard sent us the following today: “If faculty choose to use the Messages tool ONLY for all course related email, they will need to disable to the Email tool for the course in Customization > Tool Availability. If they do not, students will still be able to send Blackboard generated utoledo email via the My Institutions tab.” You may have noticed that the “WebCT Email” function is called “Messages” in Blackboard, and the Blackboard “Email” tool actually integrates with UTAD and generates an email to the preferred UTAD address. Depending on how you want communication to work in your course, you may wish to disable this function following Phoebe’s instructions above.
2. If imported content from WebCT appears for instructors but not students:
   -Go to the File Manager.
   -Click on the Contextual Menu to the right of the WebCT imported content folder and select Permissions.
   -Click the Add Course User List button near the top of the screen.
   -Click the check box to the left of All Course Users and click the Submit button to secure your changes.
3. We’ve discovered that some course content displays perfectly well in one browser but not in another, and the same is true of quiz tools. We recommend that students and faculty download and use Firefox. It is more stable, faster, and seems to give us the fewest fits. If something seems to be “broken” on the site (for students or faculty), you can always try to clear the browser’s cache and try to do something over. If that doesn’t work, try another browser (Explorer, Safari (for mac or windows), or, if you’re feeling adventurous, Chrome or Opera) and see if that clears up the problem.
4. If you’ve started teaching using Blackboard, you’ve noticed that your course comes with a busy-looking “Homepage.” That is a machine generated page that provides students with notifications of new material, announcements, due dates, and reminders. It is a very good thing for students, so we strongly recommend that you leave that page displayed. You do not need to do anything to that page but simply ignore it. It is so that the students can be notified of changes and updates at a glance and will help them with time management.
5. Lance Stoll requests (or perhaps “strongly urges”) faculty who would like to have a web assisted course to use our “WA Course Request” link on the LV home page, even if you have already submitted a request. It really is the fastest way to get your course assigned.

To those of you trying Blackboard 9.1, we appreciate your patience and your willingness to work with us. We are still a few days behind in processing the hundreds of requests we’ve received over the last few days, and we are still dealing with the occasional glitch or hiccup in the marriage of Banner and Blackboard, but that’s to be expected in any marriage. Again, comments are welcome and appreciated. How has your experience been? How can we help you?