Student FAQ

Login to Blackboard http://www.blackboard.uidaho.edu/ with your myUIdaho account computer account. If you're unable to login, try resetting your myUIdaho password / passphrase at http://support.uidaho.edu/. [more...]

If you continue to have trouble logging in to Blackboard,  contact the ITS Help Desk.

ITS Help DESK
Location: Phone: Email: Web:	TLC Room 128 (208)885-HELP helpdesk@uidaho.edu http://support.uidaho.edu

• Ensure your Web browser is compatible with Blackboard and is configured correctly. Make sure you have the latest version of Java and have uninstalled all older versions. If you are using IE7 or IE8, be sure to follow the special instructions provided for setting this application up specifically to work with Blackboard. [more...]
• Blackboard is fairly heavy as Internet applications go. High Speed Internet connections are recommended.
• Review your computer's resources and turn off non-critical applications.
• Peak Internet usage on the networks between you and Blackboard can contribute to slowness issues.
  [more...]

Uninstall ALL Java versions installed on your machine, then install the newest version of Java. [more...]

You have not been added to any Blackboard course, as yet. Instructors have the option to use Blackboard for a course and may choose not to use it for the course(s) you are signed up for. Also, instructors may add students to a Blackboard course at anytime during the semester and may not have added the enrolled students to your courses yet.

The Paging Preference setting refers to the number of discussion posts, assignments, assessments, learning modules, etc. shown per page before you are required to press next to get to the next set of items. Change this default number to something much larger (e.g. 200) to increase the items listed per page and avoid missing something hidden from view because it is not displayed in the initial set. [more...]

View grades by clicking on the My Grades tool located in the left menu of Blackboard. If you can't see a grade in your My Grades tool, it is possible that your instructor has not yet released the grades. If you can't see the My Grades tool listed in the left menu, your instructor has not turned it on for your course. Contact your instructor if you still have questions. [more...]

• A threaded discussion provides asynchronous conversation (not occurring simultaneously) through posted messages and responses. The term "threaded" indicates a message is displayed with all of its related replies. In online instruction, a threaded discussion gives you the opportunity to have a discussion with your instructor and the other students in the class electronically.
• A blog allows the students in a class to post a chronological series of entries on a particular topic. Students may also add comments to the blog entries. This enables your class to collaboratively create an informational piece about a topic. Login at any time, day or night, to contribute to the blog's content.
• A private journal provides a private place to write and reflect. Journals are typically kept private between the student and the instructor.

Blackboard's Discussions tool is used to deliver threaded discussions, blogs, and private journals. [more...]

The Learning Module tool allows access to course content associated with the lecture, assignments, discussions, etc. There are a number of navigation shortcuts and icons that are helpful for moving through the module. [more...]

There are several conditions that may prevent you from getting access to an assessment in order to take it

• Your instructor may not have released it to the class yet
• You may be trying to take it outside the date and time range allowed by your instructor
• You may have taken it already and thus, are not allowed to take it again
• It may have a conditional release applied to it such that you must satisfy some criteria before it is released to you
• It may require a proctor password
• There may be a technical issue preventing you from opening it up. Disable all pop-up blocker software in your Web browser, in external applications such as Google and Yahoo Tool Bars, and in Norton Internet Security. [more...]
• There may be a technical issue preventing you from completing the assessment successfully.

1. Ensure that your computer is setup correctly for Blackboard [more...]
2. Close & restart your Web browser
3. Reboot your computer
4. Uninstall old Java versions & install the latest version of Java [more...]
5. Check out Troubleshooting Tips
6. Contact Help Desk

Contact your Instructor for additional assistance.

Disable all pop-up blocker software in your Web browser, in external applications such as Google and Yahoo Tool Bars, and in Norton Internet Security. [more...]

If you encounter a JavaScript error when you begin a quiz, follow the troubleshooting tips below:

1. Ensure that your computer is setup correctly for Blackboard [more...]
2. Close & restart your Web browser
3. Reboot your computer
4. Uninstall old Java versions & install the latest version of Java [more...]
5. Check out Troubleshooting Tips
6. Contact Help Desk

You MUST press the Save answer button on each question in order for it to be submitted. If you change your answer, you MUST also resave the answer. [more...]

Do not navigate away from your Blackboard assessment or course while taking an assessment—or risk losing your work! If you open an assessment into a popup window and then browse back to the course listing page from the main window, your subsequent answers will APPEAR to save in the assessment popup window, but these answers ARE NOT SAVED.

If you experience a Web browser or computer crash during an assessment, all previously saved answers should still be there when you begin the assessment again. When you log back into the Blackboard assessment, click the Continue button to finish the assessment.

Note: Time remaining for an assessment counts down in "real-time" and decreases even when you are not logged into Blackboard.

If questions are delivered one at a time, it is not uncommon to experience delays of 10-12 seconds between questions. Time remaining for an assessment counts down in "real-time" and decreases during each delay experienced.

Once you have submitted an assessment that is automatically graded, you may view the results through the View Submission option if your Instructor has released them to you. [more...]

If you can not see your assessment results, it may be because of one of the following reasons:

• The results and/or grade will not be released until after the assessment has been graded by the Instructor.
• Your instructor has chosen not to release the results and/or grade until after the due date has ended.
• Your instructor has chosen not to release the results and/or grade to you.

Contact your instructor if you have questions about your submission.

When viewing your assessment results, the answer you gave will be marked with a gray check box icon displayed to the left of the answer. The correct answer will be marked with a green check box icon displayed after the correct response. The correct answer will also show a value of 100%. [more...]

If you can't see a grade in your My Grades tool, it is possible that your instructor has not yet released the grades. Contact your instructor if you still have questions. [more...]

If a link for an assignment is not available in the Inbox tab of Assignments, one of two things may be occurring:

• You may be trying to submit an assignment after (or before) the time period the assignment submittal is available. [more...]
• You may have already submitted an assignment and your instructor has chosen to allow only one submittal per assignment per student. Contact your instructor and ask them to return your assignment to you for further editing, if you need to submit additional materials.

• Ensure the due date and time have not already passed. [more...]
• Check to make sure that there are no special characters (!@#$%^&*) in the filename. [more...]
• Ensure the computer is setup correctly for Blackboard [more...]

If you have more than one document to submit when completing an assignment, be sure to attach every file for the assignment using the Add Attachments button BEFORE pressing the Submit button. [more...]

If you submitted a partial assignment in error, contact your instructor and ask them to return your assignment to you for further editing. Once returned, you may repeat the submittal process—this time submitting all files required at once.  

• Click the Submitted Tab to see the assignments that have been submitted, but not yet graded.
• Click the Graded Tab to see the assignments that have been graded. They will be listed under this tab for the remainder of the course. [more...]

Once the assignment has been graded, click on the Graded tab in Assignments to see your grade and to read the instructor's comments about your submitted work. [more...]

Assignments for your course are graded by the course's grading staff (Professor or TA's). Generally, assignments are not graded until after their availability time period is over.

If you can't see a grade in your My Grades area, it is possible that your instructor has not yet released the grades. Contact your instructor if you still have questions. [more...]

Troubleshooting Tips for Blackboard:

1. Ensure that your computer is setup correctly for Blackboard [more...]
2. Close & Restart your Web Browser
3. Reboot your computer
4. Uninstall old Java versions & Install the latest Java [more...]
5. Check out Troubleshooting Tips
6. Contact Help Desk

There is a known problem with the version of Java that is installed on Windows Vista machine. All Vista users need to uninstall all previously installed versions of Java and reinstall a current version of Java. [more...] 

Troubleshooting Tips for Blackboard:

1. Ensure that your computer is setup correctly for Blackboard [more...]
2. Close & Restart your Web Browser
3. Reboot your computer
4. Uninstall old Java versions & Install the latest Java [more...]
5. Check out Troubleshooting Tips
6. Contact Help Desk

Several conditions can contribute to slow response times from Blackboard:

• There is a known issue with the AVG Anti-Virus Browser Plug-in that causes slowness issues with Blackboard. Please disable this Plug-in if you are experiencing slowness problems with Blackboard.
• Peak Internet usage on the networks between you and Blackboard can contribute to slowness issues.
  [more...]
• Blackboard is fairly heavy as Internet applications go. High Speed Internet connections are recommended.
• Ensure your Web browser is configured correctly for Blackboard. [more...]
• Review your computer's resources and turn off non-critical applications.

Blackboard sessions timeout after 30 minutes of inactivity. Web Browsers DO NOT register typing as activity. If you're typing an assignment or discussion submission for longer than 30 minutes, the session may timeout when the submit button is pressed. This means that you may lose your work. To prevent lost work, create your content in a word processor and then copy & past the content into Blackboard. [more...]

The Blackboard menu retracts automatically. There is a double arrow bar icon between the navigation and the course content that toggles the menu open and closed. Click on this icon to expand the left menu. [more...]

There are a number of reasons why some links might not work correctly in Blackboard.

• Check that you don't have a pop-up blocker turned on [more...]
• Check that your Web browser is compatible with Blackboard [more...]
• If additional software such as Microsoft Word is required to view the linked document, ensure that you have that software installed and operating correctly
• Contact your instructor with additional questions

There are quite a few different types of audio and video files available online. Some file types such as MP3 and AVI files require modifications to player preferences in order to work correctly in Blackboard. [more...]

Often times a file will not download due to security settings in Internet Explorer. Be sure that your computer has been setup to properly run with Blackboard. [more...]

Another possibility is that you have a special character in the name of the file you're attempting to upload. Your files should contain no special characters (!@#$%&*) in their names. [more...]