Emergency Faculty Guide to Blackboard

http://blackboard.hartford.edu

 

Blackboard is a Learning Management System.  It provides you with a ready-made course template so you can put your courses on the Internet without having to be a computer programmer.  This guide is designed to get you started with Blackboard in the unlikely event that the University is shut down for an emergency for a short period of time – less than two weeks.  

  • Go to http://blackboard.hartford.edu  and click User Login.
  • In the login text box, type in the first part of your University of Hartford email (jdoe if your email is jdoe@hartford.edu).
  • Your Blackboard password is set to the last four digits of your University ID. 
  • Click Login.  You will now see your Blackboard Homepage. 

Note:  Forgot your Password?  Click on “Forgot Password?” on the login page and Blackboard will send a reminder to the email address you have registered in Blackboard. 

Blackboard course sites are created automatically with enrolled students for all scheduled classes.  Dropping, as well as adding is updated daily.  In an emergency, if add/drops aren’t working, faculty can manually add students as long as the students have accounts (students must have University email) using the Enroll User menu option in the Control Panel (see page two).  All courses are created as ‘unavailable’ to students (hidden from students).  Instructors using Blackboard must change the course availability setting in order for students to access the course.  From the Control Panel, go to Settings à Course Availability, select yes or no, then submit.

Getting to Your Blackboard Course

When you first log into Blackboard http://blackboard.hartford.edu , you will see your Blackboard Home Page.  This is your personal space in Blackboard – students can’t access it.   To access your Blackboard courses, click onto the course name under “My Courses”.

Accessing Courses from the ‘Blackboard Home Page’

When you enter a course site, you will see a column of buttons on the left side of the screen.  Students use this course menu to access documents related to your course (syllabus, assignments, etc.), as well as course tools. 

If you are an instructor, there is an extra button displayed near the bottom called the Control Panel. Click here to begin adding content to courses.  Note:  Students do not have access to the Control Panel.

Blackboard includes a ready-made email distribution list for all students in your Blackboard class.  Email in Blackboard is one way; users must read the email using regular email programs.

Send Email

To send email within Blackboard, go to the Control Panel à Send Email (under Course Tools).  Select one of the options for recipients (all users, select users, etc.), then:

  1. Enter a Subject and Message.
  2. Select Attach a File if you wish to attach a file (optional).
  3. Click Submit.

 

All email addresses in Blackboard are set to University of Hartford email.  Although you can send email from your Blackboard course, you must exit Blackboard and read it using your regular email program (e.g., Webmail, Outlook Express, Eudora, etc.).   The University email is also available via the Internet and is called Webmail.  To access Webmail, go to http://webmail.hartford.edu and login using your email username and password.

 

If University email isn’t working, the Messages tool provides a “Blackboard only” alternative.  Messages are like email, but are sent and stored only within your Blackboard course.  The messages tool is also under Course Tools in the Control Panel.

Adding an Announcement

  1. From your Control Panel, click on the Announcements button under Course Tools.
  2. Click on Add Announcement.
  3. Fill in both the Subject and Message sections. 
  4. Under options, do not select dates to display the announcement.  If you do not choose any dates, the message will display for only seven days, starting the day you added it.  After seven days, students can review the announcement by selecting the View All tab.
  5. To modify an existing announcement, select the Modify button to the right of the announcement you want to change, make changes, then resubmit.

Add Item: Adding Course files

1.      Enter a course, and select Control panel.

2.      Find a content area (e.g., Course Information, Course Documents, etc.).

3.      Select Add Item.

Options for Adding Course Materials to Content Areas

4.      Select a name from the dropdown menu or create your own name in the empty text box.

5.      Choose a name color (black is always clear and easy to read). 

6.      Text:  Enter a brief paragraph describing the file for your students.

7.      Attaching your content:  Tell Blackboard where to find the file you want to upload. 

§         Click Browse to search your computer for the file you want to upload.   A window opens showing you the files on your computer. 

§         Select the file you wish to add by double clicking its name. The path name will appear next to Browse.  Do not type in the box next to browse.  The link name will be the filename being uploaded, unless you type in a name in the text box.

§         Under Special Action and Options sections, leave the default settings. 

8.      Click Submit.  Blackboard will give you a receipt, letting you know the file was added.  Click OK.  Your students should now be able to see the file.

Online Blackboard Help

Instructions are available from any screen in Blackboard.  Select the Help icon at the top of the page next to the logout button.

 

Help is also available from the Control Panel under “Help”:

Manual – Written Instructions  (version 7.3)

Tutorial – Video Tutorials  (version 7.3)

Contact System Administrator - generates an e-mail to FCLD.  

 

Should University staff be unavailable to help, use an Internet search tool (e.g., Google) to search for answers to common Blackboard questions.  There are many how-tos and technical support documents on other University websites.

 

Call:   (860) 768-4661

M-F, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

 

Email: fcld@hartford.edu