Frequently Asked Questions about Blackboard and about Course Links

Click on the question category (TEXTBOOK) or the question itself. If you have additional questions, just ask and I will add them here.

 

WHY CAN’T I GET BACK IN TO THE ESSAY WHEN THE PROMPT SAYS “This Test can be saved and resumed later.”

WHY CAN’T I SEE…

Why can’t I see the Unit Exams?

Why can’t I see the Unit 1 Essay Exam? I know I did the Practice Essay (History Changes Essay)?

LINKS TO CONTENT

I click on a link but nothing happens?

LINKS TO VIDEOS

I click on a video but it asks for a password or nothing happens?

GRADING

Where are my grades?

What is the grade A_ec and B_ec and so on?

BLACKBOARD

I am a little confused on how to: submit assignments? post a discussion?

On a mail message how to I use strike through?

WHY CAN’T I GET BACK IN TO THE ESSAY WHEN THE PROMPT SAYS “This Test can be saved and resumed later.

Because of some technical difficulties, instructors had to change some settings. I made those changes, including turning off a setting called Force Completion—the one I am pointing to with the hand-drawn arrow.)

With this setting Blackboard displays the prompt: “This Test can be saved and resumed later.” If you decide to try it, make sure you understand three things:

  1. The timer continues to run all the time you are out of the test.
  2. This test is set up to “save and submit automatically when the time expires.”
  3. When you decide to “resume,” your time may already be up and Blackboard may have already submitted the test and you can’t come back in.

 

A safer practice is that you do not leave the exam until you are done. Also save frequently as you work.

WHY CAN’T I SEE

Why can’t I see the Unit Exams?

This Blackboard does not display anything unless students can take it right now. The Unit 1 exam (both essays and objective) are sitting there, but you can't see them until the hour you can take them.

 

To help you know what exams will be at Quizzes & Exams, you can see a block of information right above each Unit (and other things). The block of information tells all possible quizzes and when the exam becomes available.

 

Why can’t I see the Unit 1 Essay Exam? I know I did the Practice Essay (History Changes Essay)?

This sounds like a Blackboard issue but it is not so I’ve placed this question in several FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

The course includes a Practice Essay so that students find out the typical requirements for a factual essay without getting their grade average (or their futures) messed up:

1.       You prepare and do the Practice Essay.

2.       Your instructor gives you feedback on that essay and tells you the essay grade for the Practice Essay AND for any future essays if you do the work in same way.

3.       You follow the instructions in that feedback.

4.       What happens next depends on what you did:

·         If you found the problems the instructor pointed out, she replies back saying she will enter the points for the essay itself AND the extra credit.
The points for the extra credit cause Blackboard to display the Unit 1 essays to you.

·         If you did not, she may do several possible things such as:
- Read her response and then reply back
- Have a phone or face-to-face meeting

LINKS TO CONTENT

I click on a link but nothing happens?

Some links open a webpage in a new window, so first be sure that all of your pop up blockers are off. Sometimes one may be working in the background, so you may want to try holding down the ctrl key when clicking on the lesson link.

Sometimes there is a lag time between clicking on the link and the page loading (depending on your connection speed).

 

I am not used to using links to content?

These basic Internet tips may help you. They are also provided as a link at the top of many webpages.

 

What You Want to Do

How to Do It

View a link but stay on the same page or screen so you do not get lost in the links

1.       Put your cursor over a link.

2.       Click on the right mouse button.

3.       Select Open in New Window.
If you prefer, you can select Open in New Tab.

 

In this course, you should not click automatically but instead read the name of the link and its purpose. If the link does not match your needs, do not use it.

Copy the content in a link to your computer or flash drive

1.       Put your cursor over a link.

2.       Click on the right mouse button.

3.       Select Save Target As.

Tip: Just remember where you saved it.
If you are copying many things (such as several resources from Unit 1), you may want to create a folder called History or History Unit 1.

 

Find something in a file or on a webpage

How to do this varies, but thus far Ctrl-F (pressing the Ctrl key and the F key at the same time) has worked.

 

Favor: If you find that this does not work, please tell me the kind of file or kind of computer you were using.

 

LINKS TO VIDEOS

I click on a video but it asks for a password or nothing happens?

Since summer this problem has not occurred with any of the browsers I have tested. If you click on the video, it displays a video in a frame. You click on it and it plays as usual.

Only if you do see a prompt that requires a password or nothing happens, do you need to read the rest of this.

In spring 2013, the management group for the videos (Dallas TeleLearning) sent out an email saying they had changed the interface. When I tried the interface, I had a prompt requiring a password.

 

At that time, I found this method worked:

1. Place your cursor over the video link.

2. Click the right mouse button.

3. On the menu displayed, click Open in New Window so the video is in a separate window.

4. Follow the prompts from there. (Example: click the > arrow to start it.)

This tip may not work on an older machine or Internet browser. (If you have problems, then please tell me so I can try to research an answer.)

 

GRADING

Where are my grades?

You can access your grades by clicking on the "My Grades" link on the left hand menu.

 

What is the grade A_ec and B_ec and so on?

A_ec is the place I stick the 2 points extra credit if you make 9 or 10 on Quiz A (the regular one for 10 points) on the date in the Course Schedule.
Last term this was more guessable because previously students could see right next to each other like this:

Quiz A
A_ec

I have added categories (a label that appears with a grade) to help you recognize the types of assignments. I have also placed the name of the grade in the gradebook (such as A_ec) for each extra credit in the grading table that ends the syllabus.

BLACKBOARD

I am a little confused on how to: submit assignments? post a discussion?

On the menu on the left, there is a link to Blackboard Help or to On Demand Tutorials. This link provides help on most of the common issues for students.

 

On a mail message how do I use strike through?

1. Click reply on the message (and do plan what you want to do before you do that).

2. Look at the edit box--on the left it shows 3 small buttons T T T  (for bold, italic, and underline).

3. Look at the edit box on the same line but far right. You see a small button showing 2 downward pointing Vs or arrows or whatever you want to call them.  It is a very common symbol for MORE stuff available by clicking here.

4.  Click on that the small button for MORE.

5. Notice on the left it NOW shows 4 small buttons T T T  T (for bold, italic, underline, and strike through). It also shows a LOT of other types of buttons.

 

 With thanks to WCJC’s Director of Distance Education, Professor Michele Betancourt, for her permission to use her Getting Started documents (including her exact words) in the Getting Started sections of our WCJC courses.

 

 

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu

Last Updated:

2013

WCJC Home:

http://www.wcjc.edu/