Blackboard Learn

Blackboard - Frequently Asked Questions

Students are automatically added to courses beginning 3 weeks before each new term begins, continuing throughout that term.
  • Students are automatically added to courses in Blackboard within 48 hours of registering for a course in Banner (UAonline). For existing students, the turnaround time is usually less than 24 hours
  • Please Note: Even though you registered, students will only see courses in Blackboard when the instructor makes them available for viewing.
    • Why? Courses for each new term are created ahead of time as Unavailable to students so the instructor has time to prepare the course materials.
    • Students registered for that course will not see it in Blackboard until the instructor changes the course status to Available.
  • If you cannot find a course you are registered for, please understand that some instructors choose not to use Blackboard. Let your instructor know if you would prefer they did.

Students can view all available* courses they have current or past enrollment in Blackboard by navigating to their personalized course list. Start by logging into Blackboard Learn, and then:

  • Select "Courses" from the top-frame.
  • In the courses area, the Course List will display all courses the user has active or past enrollments in subject to the user's filtered courses.
  • To adjust filters and see all courses that may have been filtered out, hover over the "Course List" module, then select the settings cogwheel.
    Course List Module
  • All available* courses will be listed, and can be filtered to display in the Course List module.

*Note: Past and present courses in Blackboard are always limited by their availability. If an instructor has set a current or past course to Unavailable to Students, it will not appear in the Course List, nor under the course list filters. Users should always refer to their record in UAonline for a definitive list of completed courses. If you require access to a previously completed course, please contact your instructor.

Course and instructor information will be loaded into Blackboard when Registration begins for the semester. This will continue every day until the semester starts. Students will not begin to be enrolled into the course until shortly before the courses starts.

If you do not see your course(s) in Blackboard, please confirm the following information is correct in Banner (via UAonlineor the Registrar's Office)

  • the course exists in Banner for the term in question
  • you are listed as the instructor in Banner

NOTE: Courses for the next term are initially created as Unavailable in Blackboard. This prevents students from seeing your course until you make it Available.

Browsers

While Blackboard Learn is available on all modern browsing platforms, some features are not fully supported by all browsers. For this reason, the following browsers are recommended for the best Blackboard Learn experience:

To check if your browser is supported, and for which features, navigate to the Blackboard Learn Bro Checker page.

Extensions

Blackboard Learn makes use of cookies to help manage your activity. Some learning tools may also make use of cookies and/or other data that may normally be blocked by some privacy extensions.

It is recommended that the use of any ad-blocking and privacy management extensions be suspended during sessions of activity on Blackboard Learn to prevent any issues or inconsistencies with user experience.

Log in to Blackboard with your UA Username and password for authentication, the same credentials you used for many other university services such as email and computer labs.

You can find your User Name (UA Username) and set your password using the Easy Login Maintenance Option (ELMO).

Accounts for students enrolled in classes are automatically created daily. Login to Blackboard in the column to the left using your UA Username and password.

Your My Courses module in UAF Blackboard features a new function that lets you choose which courses and announcements appear in the My Blackboard tab. Click the Pencil icon in the top-right corner of the module to change your display options.

TurningPoint Clickers and Polling Software can be used in any room where a computer or laptop is available. Student Response Systems allow faculty to perform instant in-class polling and concept testing using interactive polling software.  Hardware & ResponseWare accounts can be purchased at the UAF Bookstore, or online at the Turning Technologies store page.  Students can receive a discounted price online using the e-commerce code “UAFACCT”. 

Students:

You must register your clicker's ID, or sign-in with your ResponseWare account, in at least one of your Blackboard Courses to tie your device to your Blackboard account.  You can register your device or your account using the Turning Technologies Registration Tool in your Blackboard Course. For more information on how to register, please see the first few minutes of this Blackboard tutorial video.  

Faculty:

As of August 23rd, 2013, TurningPoint 5 must be used if Faculty wish to utilize the Blackboard integration.

For more information and training on TurningPoint products, please visit TurningPoint Training & Documentation page, or Sign Up for our "Power of Polling" training classes on the NTS Training Calendar.

For more information on how to use the Blackboard integration see the Blackboard tutorial video for a full walkthrough.

As part of the Winter 2018 Blackboard Upgrade, UA Learn also moved to the Learn 2016 Theme. The Learn 2016 theme incorporates responsive design elements into the Learn environment that allow for better usage and support across multiple devices, as well as provides modern content accessibility features.

The 2016 Theme modify the behavior of a few old features, namely:

  • Course Themes: Course themes are not supported by the Learn 2016 Themes. Although Course Themes still appear in the Teaching Style menu for course customization, they are not enforced on the user-end.
  • Course Menu Customizations like Menu Buttons are no longer supported in the Learn 2016 Theme. Like Course Themes, this setting is only visible under Teaching Style, but is not enforced on the user-end.

UAF faculty users are encouraged to explore the UAF eCampus iTeach program Faculty members from UAA/UAS should contact their respective IT Help Desk to be directed to training resources.

Please refer to the UA Course Stacking guide for all stacking guidelines, and for information on how to stack course as it varies by campus.

This Term:
  • Existing courses and enrollments are processed directly from Banner in 5 minute intervals.
  • New courses are automatically added when the upcoming semester's course catalog is published.
  • New students will be automatically added to courses they have enrolled in once their person exists in Banner (approx. 24-48 hours).

Next Term Scheduling:

  • Next Term Courses and Instructors are automatically added to UA Blackboard daily (from Banner) beginning on the opening date for Student Registration for that term.
  • Students are automatically added to courses (from Banner) 3 weeks before instruction begins, and continue to be added throughout the term.

Next Term Preparation:

  • Courses for the next term are initially created as Unavailable in Blackboard. This prevents students from seeing your course until you make it Available.
  • If you are planning to use Blackboard in the next term, please verify that the courses you are instructing are available to you in Blackboard well before the next term begins... If you do not see your course(s) in Blackboard, please confirm the following information is correct in Banner (via UAonlineor the Registrar's Office):
    1. You are listed as one of the instructors in Banner
    2. The course exists in Banner for the term in question

This tutorial will show how you can set a user in your Blackboard course to be unavailable, so the user can no longer see the course. It does not remove the user from the course, and preserves all of the work the user has done in the course.

Access Users and Groups

In your course, go to the section Control Panel -> Users and Groups -> Users to display the list of current users in your course.

 
Access User Options

Find the student user you want to make unavailable in the users list (1). Each user will have a drop down arrow (2). Click on the arrow to see the users options list and select Change User's Availability in Course (3).

 
Set User Availability

On the Role and Availability page, change the Availability setting to 'No' (4). Click Submit to confirm the change.

 
Hide Rows in Grade Center

Once a user is unavailable in the course, you may what to hide them from your Grade Center as well. In your course, under the Control Panel, go to Grade Center -> Full Grade Center.

 
Change Row Visibility

In the Grade Center, go to the Manage menu, and select Row Visibility.

 
Show/Hide User Rows

The users that are unavailable in the course have a icon marked in front of their user name (1). Select the user that you want to hide from the Grade Center (2), and click on Hide Rows (3). Click Submit to confirm the changes. You can hide multiple users at the same time. To reverse the action, and show the user back in the Grade Center, select the user (2) and click on Show Rows.