3.  Where can I access my online class?

• A&M-Texarkana computer labs on campus
• From home: you need a modem; a service provider, and browser software such as Firefox or Internet Explorer

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4.  I am having trouble accessing parts of my Blackboard course.

The problem is, more than likely, your Internet browser. Some browsers don't work well with Blacboard. Visit The Browser Tuneup Page at Blackboard to check your browser version.

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5.  When I try to access Blackboard, I get a message saying "server not responding." What's wrong?

Some school or home computer networks are set up to "firewall" or block certain types of websites, in order to prevent employees from accessing these sites. A computer firewall works like a long-distance block on your home phone. If the computer that you are using meets all of the technical requirements and can access the A&M-Texarkana homepage at http://www.tamut.edu but cannot access the Blackboard site then chances are you have a firewall. Please ask whomever is in charge of your organization's computers to remove the "2000 port firewall"; they should know what this means.

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6.  How do I change my password?

You may or may not be able to change your password. If your instructor wants you to be able to, an icon for changing passwords should be in your Blackboard class.

To change your password:

• Click once on the icon for changing passwords
• A screen appears which requires you to enter your desired password twice
• Click the Update button
• A dialog box appears, click Continue
• You should get a screen which says Password Change Successful
• Click the Continue button
• Click the next Continue button
• A dialog box appears indicating Authorization Failed - you need to log in again, use your loginID and your NEW password. This should get you back into your class.

If your new password does not work, the problem could be that your new password does not have four characters, or you are mis-typing the new password. All Blackboard passwords MUST have at least four characters in them, and remember, are case sensitive.

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7.  What are some of the really important things to know?

Your login ID and password are case sensitive. In other words, if your Login ID or password contains lowercase and/or capital letters, you must type in exactly what you see. Use the navigation within Blackboard to go from place to place instead of the back and forward buttons in your web browser. You must totally exit Netscape in order to log out of your class. In other words, even if you have visited other sites on the web after working in Blackboard, if you don't exit Firefox, someone else may be able to get into your class.

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8.  How do I print selected pages of Blackboard notes?

Blackboard provides a tool for you to print selected pages of notes. The icon the you should click on is called Compile. This Blackboard Tool can be added by the Faculty who is designing the course.

What this tool will do for you is concatenate the HTML files into a gigantic one.

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9.  I can't seem to print my Blackboard course notes("that I "compiled" with the compile option in Blackboard) directly from Netscape. How come?

If you have problem printing your course notes with the compile option in Blackboard, you have to increase the size of your disk cache by going into the Options menu in Netscape and choosing the Network Preferences dialog box (and choosing the Cache tab if the dialog box doesn't display the cache settings).

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10.  What kind of browser is required to access Blackboard?

You can use any browser that handles frames, tables and JavaScript. The browsers that support these features are: Firefox 2.0 or greater and Internet Explorer 6.0 or greater. Make sure that Java and JavaScript are enabled in the browser preferences.

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11.  Do I require a Java capable browser?

Only certain tools require Java, but it is recommended that you have a Java enabled browser since various courses use these tools that require Java:

• the chat facility
• histograms displayed in student management and student tracking

You will not be able to use chat and course designers will not be shown graphs of student accesses (although most of that information is accessible in text-form) unless your browser is Java capable. 

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12.  Can Blackboard generated e-mail be sent outside Blackboard to my e-mail address? Will attachments also be passed?

Yes, Blackboard email can be sent automatically to an external e-mail account.   However, any attachments will not be forwarded. To have your Blackboard e-mail forwarded, select the Mail tool, select the Options Menu button in the left-hand frame, select "Forward Mail" and specify your e-mail address in regular form, i.e. username@student.tamut.edu

Remember: Mail generated outside of Blackboard can not be passed/forwarded back into your Blackboard account.

Tip: The course designer can select two icons to be displayed with the course Mail tool: a "plain" mail icon when there is no new unread mail as well as a "highlighted" icon that gets displayed when there is unread mail.

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13.  What tools are available in Blackboard?

Blackboard contains many tools and features, which are intended for use by students, designers, graders, or a combination. A general summary of the tools available is provided below.  The course designer determines to a which features will be offered in his/her course, thus not all courses will contain all the student tools listed below. The course designer also determines in which part of a course a specific tool will be made available and the icon, or link, used to represent the feature. This allows for considerable customization within an otherwise "standard" course template.

Where applicable, there is a designer development and management tool that corresponds to the listed Student Tools. For example, there is a tool available to the course designer for creating online quizzes.

Student Tools:	Annotation Tool Bulletin Board CD-ROM Tool Chat Electronic Mail Glossary	Grade Book Access Image Archive Index Learning Goals Online Quizzes References	Search Self Evaluation Session Resumption Tool Student Presentation Area Whiteboard
Designer Tools:	Access Control/Account Creation Course Backup & Transfer Course Look and Feel Course Welcome Page Grade Book Management Progress Tracking

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14.  What training/help is available at A&M-Texarkana for Blackboard?

 

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15.  I completed the tutorial and read the FAQs, but I need more help with Blackboard!

Limited help regarding Blackboard can be obtained by calling the A&M-Texarkana Blackboard Support Team at (903) 223-3156 or e-mail blackboard@tamut.edu

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16.  Do I need to know HTML to use Blackboard as a course designer? as a student?

Officially, it is not necessary to know HTML code to develop a Blackboard course if you have at your disposal some means of generating HTML content. This can be done with software tools specifically designed to generate HTML pages such as Microsoft FrontPage, Adobe Dreamweaver, Netscape Composer, or Microsoft Word 2000.  Many recent releases of popular software programs now provide a "convert to HTML" feature, that turn your spreadsheet, PowerPoint or Word document into HTML that can be used in your Blackboard course. However, unless you have some understanding of HTML, the results may not always be what you expect and you may not be in a position to fine tune the layout and display of your content as much as you desire.

The same holds true when student use the student presentation feature of Blackboard and must incorporate web readable files.

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17.  What are the consequences of not logging out of Blackboard properly?

If you do not actually quit your browser when you are finished with Blackboard, you will remain logged in and your account will still be active. If you do not log off of your computer, the next person to sit at that computer will have full access to your account, whether you are logged in as a student or course designer. Unless the browser is closed down, the next time you log into Blackboard at a different computer, you will receive a message stating that you are already logged in somewhere else.

Designers: please note that it is also possible to receive this message if you quit Blackboard while in the Student Management section, without backing up to your course home page. In such cases, ignore the warning message.