Blackboard - Faculty & Staff

Faculty - Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

To access Blackboard 8.0:

Open an Internet browser and type in the address for Blackboard: http://bb.siue.edu.
Users must begin the login process from that entry point; they cannot bypass that page and go straight to the login page itself.
Username = your SIUE e-ID (the first part of your SIUE email address), for example jsmith.
Password = the same one used to access your SIUE email.

Who can request a Blackboard course?
Only the instructor of record for a course. as listed in Banner, may request a course.

How do I request a course on Blackboard?
The instructor of record must request a Blackboard course on the ITS website.

What version of Blackboard is used at SIUE?
The current version, as of the Fall 2012 semester, is Blackboard 9.1.

How do I request the addition of other (non-student) users to my Blackboard course?

Instructors may request the addition of other users (e.g. Teaching Assistants, Instructors), using the online request form.

What are the Blackboard backup procedures?
Administrative backups of Blackboard are made on a regular basis. However, these backups are not for archival purposes. We strongly recommend you make regular backups of your course and download those to a local hard drive or disk. If you would like assistance in backing up your course, please contact the ITS at 618-650-5500.

How can I see my course as my students see it?

Instructors can log into Blackboard using their faculty "Test Student" account (your e-ID_s) to see their course as their students see it. The "Test Student" account is created once, but must be enrolled in each course each semester. Once the faculty "Test Student" is enrolled in each course, instructors will use the link beneath the "Login" button on the Blackboard home page that reads "CLICK HERE to login with your test student (_s) account" to log into Blackboard.

Additional Information

How do I locate a Course ID in a Blackboard course shell?
ITS requires the course ID whenever your contact us about any concern with a course from adding users, to uploading a course cartridge, to troubleshooting issues To locate the course ID:

Log into Blackboard.
From either the My Blackboard or My Courses tab, locate the course.
Click on the linked name of the course to enter it.
The Course ID appears in the upper left corner of the screen, at the top of the course navigational items. The Course ID begins with your discipline and ends with a series of number reflecting the year and semester. In the example shown below, the Course ID is: ENG-101-002-201235.

I don't want to delete my courses from previous semesters but I want to hide them from view. How do I remove them from my view?

You can hide courses from the My Courses module on the My Blackboard page and/or the Course List module on the My Courses tab.
Mouse over the module header and click on the cog icon on the far right end of the module header.
Deselect the check box next to any course that you do not want visible.
Make sure you deselect the Announcements, Tasks and Calendar Events for those courses too.
Click Submit
To make them visible again, reverse these steps, checking the box beside each course you wish to see.

ITS recommends that instructors teaching multiple sections of a course within a single, merged course shell, hide the "child" courses from their own view avoid confusion. Note that "child" shells should never be made available to students.

ITS expects to carry only the most recent five semesters of classes on the server. If you wish to delete a course permanently sooner than that, please send an email to ftc_help@siue.edu and request that the courses be deleted. Once they are deleted, they are gone for good. Make sure that you create an archive of the course in case you want to restore it.

Where do I go to create an announcement?
Within the course, go to Control Panel > Course Tools > Announcement > Create Announcement.

Additional Information

How do I hide and/or show one or more tools within the "Tools" navigational link?

Before you choose to hide a tool under the "Tools" navigational link, you must know that hiding a tool here will make any course "Tool Link' navigational item nonfunctional. In other words, if you hide the "Discussion Board," and/or "My Grades" tool here, the default "Discussions"and/or "My Grades" course navigational link(s) will work.

With Edit Mode "ON," click on the Tools link in the course navigational menu.
Click on the "Hide Link" button beside a tool to hide it from student view. Note that the icon for that tool will be grayed out, and the button beside it will be relabeled "Show Link."
Repeat this process for each tool students will not be using in Blackboard. If you change your mind later, you can return to this screen and click on the "Show Link" button to display the tool to your students.
With Edit Mode "OFF," view the page as your students will view it. Make sure that the tools remaining are just those your students will be using in the course.
Additional Information

How do I add links to the Course Menu?

Click on + button in the upper left corner above the course navigational items.
Select the type of content to create. Generally you will be adding one of the following
- Content Area (which will provide the Build Content, Assessments, Tools, and Publisher Information buttons for adding content)
- Tool Link (to link to a specific Blackboard tool like Discussion Boards, Journals, etc.)
- Web Link (to link to an external web site like Lovejoy Library e-Reserves)
Additional Information

How do I change the order of things in the Course Menu?

Within the course, with Edit Mode "ON," mouse over the navigational item you wish to move.
Left click on the double pointed arrow in front of the item.
Holding the left mouse key down, drag and drop the item to the desired destination.
Additional Information

How do I rename an item on the Course Menu?

Within the course, with Edit Mode "ON," mouse over the navigational item you wish to rename.
Click on the gray circle to the right of the name of the item to expand the drop down options.
Click on Rename Link.
Type in the new name and then click on the green check mark beside it.
Additional Information

How do I remove an item from the Course Menu?

Within the course, with Edit Mode "ON," mouse over the navigational item you wish to remove.
Click on the gray circle to the right of the name of the item to expand the drop down options.
Click on Delete.
Additional Information

How do I hide an item on the Course Menu?

Navigational links to Content Areas in Blackboard 9.1 are not visible to students until they contain some content. A gray box appears beside the item indicating that students cannot see it. To hide other navigational items:

Within the course, with Edit Mode "ON," mouse over the navigational item you wish to hide.
Click on the gray circle to the right of the name of the item to expand the drop down options.
Click on Hide Link.
Additional Information

How can I further customize the look and feel of my course?

There are a number of quick customizations you can apply to your Blackboard course from adding a banner, to creating buttons instead of plain text navigational links, to applying course themes that change the wallpaper in the course and the overall color scheme.

Within the course, under the Control Panel, click on Customization > Teaching Style. Review and customize one or more of the following sections:
- #3. Select Course Theme
- #4. Select Menu Style
- #7. Select Banner
Click on Submit.

NOTE: ITS discourages "experimentation" with #1 Course Structures. Applying a Course Structure does not replace the existing course navigational items, rather, it adds the new items to the existing default navigational items, requiring you to remove any and all duplicates.

Why can’t my students see the course?

The course has not been made available to the students.
Within the course, click on Control Panel> Customization > Properties.
In Section #3: Set Availability, click the Yes radio button.
Click Submit.

How do I share a file in my personal Content Collection with someone outside of Blackboard?

Go into your Content Collection.
Locate the file you wish to share.
Mouse over the name of the file and click on the gray circle with the downward pointing arrow to the right of the name.
Select "Passes" from the drop down list.
Click Create Pass.
Set the “Lifetime” of the pass (how many hours, days, etc.) that you want someone to have access to this file.
Set the Permission (Read or Read/Write/Delete).
Click Submit.
Click on the box in front of the pass to select it and then click on the Email Pass button.
Enter the email address of the individual with whom you wish to share the file. Edit the subject and/or add to the message.
Click Submit.
Additional Information

I tried to log onto Blackboard but it says I have to change my password. How do I do that?

Go to the e-ID page at http://www.siue.edu/e-id .
Find the option "I know what my password is and I want to change it" and click on the button.
Click Continue and follow the directions provided there.

What if I used to know my email password but have forgotten it?
If you remember you secret phrase, you can reset your password on the e-ID web site. If you do not remember your secret phrase, you must go to the Information Technology Services offices located in the basement of Lovejoy Library, room 0005. You must have a photo ID with you in order to change your password.