Canvas for CAHS

Lockdown Browser Woes?

Students complaining they can’t access tests when using Lockdown Browser?  Here are a couple of things to check, advise students that if prompted to upgrade Lockdown they need to complete the upgrade.  As the instructor please note that any changes you make to Test Options may cause Lockdown browser to “error”.  To check on this just go to Control Panel, Course Tools, Respondus Lockdown Browser.  If you see this image just click the Fix It button and all should work fine!lockdownfixit

As Spring ends and Summer begins . . .

With the end of Spring Semester instructors often like to download grades from Blackboard, (go to Grade Center, select Work Offline, select download and follow the prompts to get an Excel workbook of grades for the semester) please remember that those files should be stored on your pirate drive or department pirate drive not your computer’s hard drive.

And a repeat of BB Support’s email yesterday – 

Before we discuss the upcoming Bb updates:
… If you teach this summer, please look at this checklist for reminders of things to do: http://blog.ecu.edu/sites/blackboard/blog/2014/05/02/summer-2014-blackboard-checklist/
… To make spring course unavailable, please look at this screenshot: http://winmedia.ecu.edu/platforms/bb9/graphics/course_availability.jpg

When do the updates take place?
Blackboard will go down on the morning of May 12. While Blackboard is down next week, you will be redirected to a blog post with some brief information. When Blackboard is back up, your courses and all content will be in place for you. Blackboard is on the schedule to be down for the weekdays starting May 12th through May 16th; however, we will likely power back up before Friday if everything goes as expected. The May 12th – May 16th downtime is needed for system-integrity testing purposes. Summer semester 1 and 11-week semesters begin on May 19th.

BB Upgrade coming!

Some of you signed up for the Pilot but others will have to wait until Summer to take advantage of the new features!  To highlight a few, you will be able to drag and drop grade center columns directly in grade center (you won’t have to go to Manage).

The Calendar has been completely restructured so that anytime you enter a due date for an assignment, quiz or exam it will automatically be placed in the course calendar.

Inline grading, no more download/upload papers with comments, just enter your comments directly.

More real estate!  Check out this link for more info!

 

Blackboard Course Purge! October 16, 2013!

Every year old courses are purged from Blackboard. This is done to stay within storage goals and business policy of keeping only two years of Blackboard sites in the production system.  In a few short weeks, Blackboard Admins will be purging the following courses (all of them) unless you submit a request to have your courses saved.

>>>>> The purge date is  October 16th, 2013  <<<<< 

  • 2011 Summer #1 semester

  • 2011 Summer #2 semester

  • 2011 Full Term Summer semester

  • 2011 Fall semester

Click here to find out how to save your courses.

In case you haven’t been back since Spring Semester 2013

Per ITCS’ Blackboard Blog – Blackboard Learn, Version 9.1, Service Pack 9 (SP9) includes a new look and feel that will enhance the experience for instructors, students, and administrators. Users already familiar with Bb 9.1 will be pleased with the additional functionality that SP9 offers.  Check out this link for more information on the newest features.  One that I know many will like is “auto regrading”!

Did you take my challenge? Try the Blackboard Blitz!

I offered a summer challenge last week to try something new. Answer these questions about your Blackboard course and try baby steps by making some changes in you BB course!

Have you added a banner?  Have you changed the color scheme, the buttons?  Do you still use Course Information rather than calling it Syllabus.  Do you use assignments for digital receipt of homework rather than email?  How about trying Blogs instead of Discussion Board, Journals instead of word documents.  Have you taken a test online?  Tried Respondus Lockdown browser.

Checkout the training schedule for a Blackboard Blitz of training!

Something neat to try!

I am stealing from my BB colleagues here at ECU and re-posting their offer!

For your use – a generic sample 5-question quiz

  • If you are interested in adding a short quiz to your Blackboard course at the beginning of the semester to determine if students can successfully take an exam in Blackboard, we have created a 5-question generic quiz. You can use the quiz “as is,” or you can edit the questions.
    • Send an email with the full Course ID to Cindy, Matt, or Allen and we’ll gladly add that quiz to your course. Once you determine if the questions are satisfactory for your purposes, then deploy/add the quiz to the appropriate content area in your course.
  • If you use LockDown Browser to give quizzes and would like a sample quiz, please follow the instructions above. This is a great way to introduce students to using LockDown Browser!

New BB Features Coming this Summer – Auto Regrading

There are a few but wanted to highlight one of the neatest “Auto Regrading”!

Instructors can now fix problematic questions by simply editing the invalid question directly and having all necessary updates flow automatically to the Grade Center.  Check out the Blackboard Blog for more information on all the new features which include Course to Course Navigation, Improved Activity Reports and more.

Troubleshooting Lockdown Browser and Update!

Update on lockdown browser is “That pesky second popup box that students would see with a jumbled password is gone.”

Having problems with LDB?  Here are some troubleshooting tips, additional info can be found by clicking on this link

  • Usually, if something occurs (screen goes blank or connection is lost) after the student has started a quiz, there is likely a network issue or local system issue (their own computer). Two examples: Windows started an automatic update and initiated a restart. A family member is watching streaming HD movies on the same wi-fi network connection. If “Force Completion” is NOT checked, students may be able to log back in and continue. If not, a “clear attempt” will be necessary if the instructor allows another attempt.

  • If a few students are having problems on their own computers, it is likely a configuration/setup issue on their personal computer. If ALL students succesfully installed LDB and have problems logging into the test, it is likely a LockDown Browser configuration setting. You should double check under Edit Test Options that you did NOT delete the default password or UNcheck the Password Required box. That is an LDB-generated password that needs to be in place (you do not need to provide that to students). A Blackboard Admin will be happy to help you check your settings. Contact bowersc@ecu.edu, longm@ecu.edu, or dennisa@ecu.edu

  • If all students in a managed computer lab have a problem logging into a test, it is likely a  network issue or configuration of the managed computers. Contact bowersc@ecu.edu, longm@ecu.edu, or dennisa@ecu.edu in that case, and let us know which computer lab has the problem

Did you click on the Faculty Information and Updates link on My Courses Page in BB?

Lots of great Test Setting and Troubleshooting Tips can be found here.  There are some good tips for this issue unfortunately experienced by all test givers!

““Help! I got kicked out of my test…” Symptom: The student is kicked out of an assessment when the submit button is pressed. Cause: The java session has been terminated due to inactivity, so the submission is unsuccessful. Almost always this issue occurs with randomized tests or where certain questions are randomized.”

 

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