Blackboard

Getting Started

Students

Once a registered student has logged in to Blackboard with their Netpass username and password, they will see a Course List.  If their professor has chosen to use Blackboard, a link to the course site will appear under that heading. Students can view section information approximately 1 week before the term begins and approximately 2 weeks after the term ends.

Faculty

Sections are managed on a term basis. Every term, instructors must activate Blackboard sections in HomerConnect. Faculty teaching multiple sections of the same course have the option in HomerConnect of creating a Blackboard Grouping Section.

Once the requested course has been created, student information is added automatically to the new Blackboard site by the registrar.  Faculty log in to Blackboard with their Netpass username and password and select the course they wish to edit from the Course List. Instructors can base their new course on a previous course or build a brand new course by selecting tools and adding content.  For detailed information about how to use Blackboard, see the on-line contextual help.

Instructors can activate sections approximately 2 months in advance of the term. Blackboard will store content for 2 years. After that, the section content will be removed by ITS. If an instructor wants to keep the content for longer, then they must create a backup file which they can download or store in the "My Files" section accessible under the Build tab in their Blackboard course.

Technical Tips

  • Browser Check: Before logging in, it is highly recommended that users perform a browser check to see if their computer is properly configured to use Blackboard. The browser check tool is available at courses.ithaca.edu.
  • Pop-ups: Blackboard sometimes uses small browser windows to deliver requested content. Some pop-up blockers incorrectly interpret these small windows as pop-ups and block them. If the user has installed a pop-up blocker, they must turn it off while using Blackboard.
  • Java Security Certificate: After logging in to Blackboard, users will be prompted to accept a Java Security Certificate. Users must click Yes or Always to ensure that Blackboard functionality using Java will work properly in their browser.