Mail

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Overview
Send Email to Your Class
Set Up Mail Tool
Use Mail Tool
Forward Mail from Blackboard

Overview We do not recommend using Blackboard to email your students. An alternative method exists that works better for this need. This alternative method involves retrieving all student email addresses for a course from the official roster in VandalWeb and then emailing your students through an email application of your choice. Blackboard has an internal Mail tool, but we generally do not recommend its use. Email that instructors send through this tool usually requires students to log into Blackboard to read the message. Fundamental issues you need to understand about the way the Blackboard Mail tool works include: All email sent using the Mail tool goes to an internal Blackboard mail box rather than the student's Official UI Email Address by default. Students may access to Blackboard's internal email ONLY when they are logged into Blackboard. Students can forward the Blackboard internal email to their Official UI Email Address, but ONLY if the instructor changes a setting within the Mail tool to allow forwarding. If forwarding is allowed by the instructor, the student MUST also change a setting within their Tools Options to activate forwarding for themselves. Students cannot reply directly to the email they receive from Blackboard if it has been forwarded. When email forwarded by blackboard@uidaho.edu is replied to by a student, the following error message comes back: You have sent email to the Blackboard server administrators. If you intended to send mail to an instructor or student, please re-send your message to the appropriate University of Idaho email address.

Send Email to Your Class		TOP
We do not recommend using Blackboard to email your students. An alternative method exists that works better for this need and is outlined here. This alternative method involves retrieving all email addresses for a course from the official roster in VandalWeb and then emailing your students through an email application of your choice. Emailing students in your class roster: Login to VandalWeb http://vandalweb.uidaho.edu Click on the Faculty & Adviso Menu Click on Term Selection to select the correct semester (Example: Spring 2009) Click on CRN Selection to select the course you want to access Click on Class List Scroll down to the bottom of the list Press the Display Email List button Scroll down to the bottom of the list again Select all the email addresses displayed there Press Ctrl + C to copy them Open the email client you prefer to use Paste Ctrl + V the addresses into the blind CC (BCC) field Prepare and send your email message just as you normally would If you have additional questions about how to email your students, please contact the Registrar’s office: Office of the Registrar Student Union Building Room 119 Phone: (208) 885-6731 Email: registrar@uidaho.edu

Set Up Mail Tool		TOP
We do not generally recommend using the Blackboard Mail Tool to email your students. Email that instructors send through this tool usually requires students to log into Blackboard to read the message. This may cause miscommunication and confusion for both instructors and students. We recommend using the alternative method outlined in the section above, titled Sending Email to Your Class Roster. However, there are certain specific cases in which the Blackboard Mail Tool can be useful—such as emailing Turning Point Clicker results to each student, comment privately to a student about a discussion post, etc. This section outlines the steps required to turn on the Blackboard Mail Tool. Under the Build Tab, click on Manage Course > Settings. Click on Mail found under Tools. Set Enable Mail tool to True. Set Allow messages to be forwarded to an external e-mail address to True or False. If you chose to allow forwarding, PLEASE explain to your students they should NOT attempt to reply to messages forwarded out of Blackboard, but should log in to Blackboard and use the internal Mail tool to reply. Make other setting changes as desired and press Save Values. Under the Build Tab, click on Manage Course > Tools Check the box next to Mail to turn on the Mail tool Go to the bottom on the screen and press Save If you need additional information on how to add the Mail tool to your course, see Adding a New Tool

Use Mail Tool	Can't find what you're looking for? There are several possibilities: Are you in the correct Tab (Build, Teach, Graded, Submitted, etc.)? Is it on the next page? Permanently increase the default number of items displayed per screen by modifying your global Bb's Paging Preference.
Click on Mail found under Course Tools Click on Create Message to send a message Click on the Title of a mail message to view it
Below is a sample mail message. Click on Reply to Reply to a message. WARNING: Because Blackboard sessions timeout after 30 minutes of inactivity, create your content in a word processor and then copy & paste the content into Blackboard to prevent losing work. Also avoid using special characters ( @ # % & ; )

Forward Mail from Blackboard		TOP
Email forwarding allows email generated through the internal Blackboard Mail tool to automatically forward to your Official UI Email Address. Students may forward the Blackboard internal email to their Official UI Email Address, but ONLY if the instructor changes a setting within the Mail tool to allow forwarding. If forwarding is allowed by the instructor, the student MUST also change a setting within their Tools Options to activate forwarding for themselves. Note: If students try to reply directly to the email forwarded to them through Blackboard, the email is bounced back to them with an error message. Go to My Courses in Blackboard Select My Settings Under the My Profile tab, next to E-mail, you should see your Official UI Email Address. This is the email address Blackboard mail will sent to when forwarding has been turned on. Note: This Official UI Email Address cannot be changed through Blackboard. Contact the ITS Help Desk (208) 885-HELP for more information. Select the My Tool Options tab Scroll down to find the Mail forwarding section Check the box next to Forward all mail messages to the e-mail address in my profile Press Save at the bottom Go to your Blackboard course Under the Build Tab, click on Manage Course > Settings Click on Mail found under Tools Make sure Enable Mail tool to True Make sure Allow messages to be forwarded to an external e-mail address to True Make other setting changes as desired and press Save Values
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Still have a Question? Click Help in the top right corner of your Blackboard course.