Navigating Blackboard at Bowie State University: A Comprehensive Guide

Blackboard is the Learning Management System (LMS) used at Bowie State University (BSU). This article serves as a comprehensive resource to help students and faculty navigate and utilize Blackboard effectively. Whether you're accessing course materials, submitting assignments, engaging in discussions, or managing your courses, this guide aims to provide the necessary information and troubleshooting tips.

Accessing Blackboard

To gain access to the system, students and faculty must have an active relationship with a Blackboard course. This means students must be enrolled in a course, and instructors must be assigned to teach it. If a student drops a course or is dropped for any reason, their account may be automatically disabled.

For new BSU instructors, several steps must be completed before a Blackboard account is created. A contract must be signed and processed through the department, College, and Provost's offices, undergo a budget check, and be finalized by Human Resources. Additionally, instructors must complete a security form from the Department of Information Technology to access PeopleSoft for checking rosters, advising students, and submitting grades.

Common Blackboard Features and Navigation

Blackboard Home Screen

The Blackboard Home screen features the "My Courses" panel, displaying all courses in which a student is enrolled. The view of this panel can be customized using the settings menu (gearwheel icon) to group courses by term, show or hide courses, and rearrange them.

An alternative way to access courses and communities is through the Global Navigation Menu, located at the top right corner of the screen, below your name. Clicking the triangle next to your name reveals a drop-down menu with options for courses, organizations, and messages. The Settings menu in this area allows users to update their information and upload a profile picture (avatar).

Course Organization

Online courses in Blackboard typically share common design elements that facilitate navigation. These include:

The Left Panel or Menu Ribbon: Provides access to course tools and content areas.
The View Panel: Displays information based on the selected menu item.
Modules: Organize course content, sometimes presented as "Weeks" or "Chapters."

The Menu Panel is usually divided into three blocks: Course Menu, Tools, and Communication. The Course Menu displays the course title and sub-menus for major course components. Common conventions include:

Homepage: Summarizes announcements and course activity.
Syllabus/About This Course: Provides course and instructor information.
Blackboard Collaborate ULTRA: Accesses interactive lectures via voice and video communication (headset required).
Course Materials/Modules: Contains the bulk of course information.
Assignments & Tests: For completing assessment activities.
Discussions: Provides access to discussion forums.

The lower half of the menu provides access to elements such as 'My Grades' (summary of your grades and instructor comments), 'Attendance', 'Other Tools' (a variety of learning and communication aids) and 'Users and Groups' (an a area for working in teams).

Announcements

Announcements appear in the order they are uploaded. To post an announcement, navigate to Course Tools > Announcements from the Control Panel's menu and select Make an Announcement. Enter a subject, which will serve as the announcement's title. Announcements can be reordered on the Announcements page by dragging the bar. To edit or remove an announcement, select Edit or Remove from its menu.

Common Operations in Blackboard

In online or hybrid courses, instructors set up materials for access and activities to be completed within deadlines. This includes accessing course materials, submitting assignments, and participating in discussions.

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

Access Problems

If Blackboard itself is down, a large notice will be displayed on the site. If a student is dropped from a course, their account may be disabled automatically.

Password and Login

Blackboard uses your BSU network username and password. You cannot change your password within Blackboard.

Pop-Up Blockers

Many Blackboard features, such as submitting attachments and links, require pop-up windows. Disable your pop-up blocker to ensure these features function correctly.

File Upload Issues

Blackboard may not properly upload files with spaces in the title or special characters (#, ?, etc.). Rename files to remove spaces and special characters, using hyphens or dashes instead. There is a file size limit of 10MB for each uploaded file. Reduce the file size of your assignment by resizing images or compressing the file.

Test Issues

Blackboard may lock students out of tests for several reasons, including inactivity (not saving for 90 minutes), loss of internet connection, malware or viruses, or exceeding the exam duration. Contact your instructor to request a test reset, providing the quiz name and a description of the problem.

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Display Issues

If you encounter display issues or error messages, attempt the same actions from another computer to determine if the problem is specific to your device. Malware or viruses can cause display issues.

Text Formatting Issues

Pasting text from Microsoft Word into Blackboard can sometimes cause formatting problems due to hidden coding. Words may appear on the edge of the screen, or strange characters may appear. To avoid this, consider typing directly into Blackboard or using a plain text editor.

Discussion Board Issues

Empty DIV or P tags in a discussion board reply can prevent future replies from displaying text. Edit your post, click the HTML button, remove any extra tags from the bottom (especially DIV and P tags), click Update, and then Submit.

Blackboard Mobile

Blackboard Mobile Learn allows students and teachers to access course content on mobile devices, including Android, Blackberry, and iOS devices. Users can access documents, post announcements (instructors), create threaded discussion posts, upload media, create content items, and comment on blogs and journals. Bowie State University does not charge to use the Bb Mobile Learn app.

The Blackboard Collaborate Mobile app allows participation in web conferences and watching recordings. Users can participate by voice, view desktop sharing and presentations, participate in polls, engage in chat, and respond to polls. It is available for iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire devices.

Course Merging

Instructors teaching multiple sections of the same course may wish to merge those sections into one course shell for efficient management of content, communication, and grades. Academic Computing can create a new course shell with the section code 000 (e.g., NURS201-000-Sprg2014) to replace the separate course sections. Students will still see their respective section numbers but will be directed to the master course. The instructor maintains full control over content, communication, and assessment. The grade book will include a "Child Course" column for filtering by section.

User Access Control

User access to items can be controlled through the Manage Permissions page. Permissions can be set for specific users, users by location (e.g., course, group), or roles (e.g., instructor, teaching assistant). Public permissions can also be added to a folder.

Transition to Blackboard Learn Ultra

Anthology, the parent company of Blackboard, will sunset the "Learn" version of Blackboard on December 31, 2026. Bowie State University will transition all courses to the Ultra format by this date. A gradual transition schedule will be implemented, with teams from Academic Transformation, Academic Computing, and Anthology available to assist faculty. All courses are scheduled to be in the Ultra format by August 15, 2026.

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