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Blackboard (Bb)- Student User Guide

Blackboard is a web based course management system.
It enables you to access the syllabi, course-related materials, assignments,
assessments, and communication features provided by your instructor.

Logging Into Blackboard
Who gets a Blackboard account, logging into Bb, and password problems...
Customizing Your Blackboard Portal
You can choose what information you want shown on your 'My Institution' web page.
How to Ensure You Receive Emails from your Instructors
Changing email addresses in Blackboard and
problems using Hotmail, Yahoo or AOL email
When you view an assignment, do you see a View/Complete option?
This means you can hand in your assignment through Blackboard.
Learn how to navigate to the Assignment Manager page,
how to upload your file, and how to send a file to your instructor.
Most (but not all) instructors enter their student's grades in the online Blackboard gradebook where you can check you grade and track your progress.
Student Blog/Journal Information
Using Teams Wiki to Create Group Projects
Blackboard FAQ's
Class(es) not appearing, dropping/adding classes, the red exclamation point,
difference between chat & discussions...
Where Can I Get Help?
If you need help you can contact the TLT Student Help Desk .
LOGGING INTO BLACKBOARD

All registered students (Undergraduate & Graduate) receive a Blackboard account at the beginning of their first semester at Stony Brook.


Stony Brook's Blackboard system can be accessed from the following website: http://blackboard.stonybrook.edu

We recommend that you bookmark the site on your computer.


To log into Blackboard, you will need your Net ID username and a password.
To find out and set your Net ID Password, you will need to log into SOLAR.

PASSWORD PROBLEMS

If you are having trouble logging into Blackboard, you will need to log into SOLAR
to verify your Net ID username & set your Net ID Security Question and Password.

For more information, visit : http://clientsupport.stonybrook.edu/public/netid/psswd.shtml

If you are a student and continue to have a problem logging into Blackboard, you will need to bring photo ID to either the Melville Library SINC Site Room S1460 or the Union SINC Site Room 080 and speak to a Blackboard Administrator from Monday - Friday from 9 am - 5 pm.

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CUSTOMIZING YOUR BLACKOARD PORTAL

Your 'My Institution' page can be customized with information that you want displayed. You can manipulate the different modules and information.

A modify in the title bar of a module indicates that the information inside can be modified.
To modify the information just click on the modify, make changes and click Submit.

A collapse in the title bar indicates that the module can be collapsed. You can see the title of the module, but the information is hidden.

A remove in the title bar indicates that the module can be removed from your 'My Institution' page.

A detach in the title bar indicates that the module can be opened in a new window.

Modules can also be added to your 'My Institution' page. Click on the contents button and checking which modules you would like displayed on your page, then click Submit.

The layout of the modules can be changed by clicking the layout button.

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CHANGING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN BLACKBOARD

When your account is created in Blackboard, the email address you entered in SOLAR is set as your Blackboard email address.

If you want to change it for any reason, follow the steps below.

  • Log in to Blackboard
  • On the 'My Institution' page (the first page you will see), click on 'Personal Information' in the Tools button bar on the left side of the screen
  • Click on 'Edit Personal Information '
  • In the first section you will see the space for email address
  • Delete the old address (highlight and hit "delete" key on your keyboard or highlight and start typing the new address)
  • Type in the new address
  • Scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the Submit button
WHY AM I NOT RECEIVING MY CLASS EMAILS?

Many popular email clients, such as Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL, may identify email from Blackboard as junk mail and then either automatically delete the email or move it to a junk mail folder. In Hotmail, you can fix this problem by changing your options by turning off your junk mail filter and setting your junk mail deletion option to delayed.

If you have problems receiving Blackboard emails in any other email program, you should check your user preferences or options for settings regarding the handling of junk email.

Solution 1: change your email address in Blackboard to an account other than Hotmail, Yahoo, or AOL (such as your IC (Sparky) email account or your cable modem/DSL company if you subscribe to such a service).

Solution 2: you will need to change one of the default junk mail options in your Hotmail, Yahoo or AOL account.

  • Log in to your email account;
  • Click on "Options";
  • Under the Mail Handling heading, click on "Junk Mail Deletion";
  • Click the button next to "delayed deletion";
  • This change means that all emails that you receive with no "To:" field will be stored for a week in the junk mail folder in your account -- to read messages
  • From your professor, you will need to go into the junk mail folder and look for them. Once you see a message from your professor, click the box next to
  • The message, and then click the "this is not junk mail" button. Now all messages from that email address will be directed to your inbox.
SUBMITTING AN ASSIGNMENT

To submit an assignment you must upload your file to your instructor.

  1. From the Course Menu choose the link that holds your assignment.
  2. Read the assignment that your instructor has given you.
  3. Click View/Complete to view the assignment and to hand it in.
  4. The uploaded assignment created by the instructor will appear.
    If your Instructor has posted a file that you need to edit, you will need tosave that file to your computer.
    Below are instruction on how to do this:

      For PC

    1. Right-Click the mouse button on the file name and the context sensitive menu will appear.
    2. Select Save Target As... to save the file to your computer.
    3. Click Save to save your file.
      IMPORTANT: Remember where you save the file!
      You will need to access it to complete the assignment.

      For Mac

    1. Control-Click the file name and select Save Link Target As...
    2. Choose a location for the file and click Save
      IMPORTANT: Remember where you save the file!
      You will need to access it to complete the assignment.

  5. Once you have completed your assignment navigate back to the assignment page.
  6. Scroll down to the Your Files section.
  7. Type any comments, Click Browse to attach your finished assignment.
  8. Select the file to attach and Click Open to confirm your selection.
  9. Click Submit, indicating you are ready to turn in this assignment.
  10. Click OK.

To make sure the Assignment was submitted, click on:
Tools > My Grades

You should see an ! posted for that assignment.

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VIEWING GRADES

To view your grades via Blackboard gradebook:

OPTION 1:

  1. Click on the View Grades link under the "My Institution" tab.
  2. Locate the course that you want to view the grades for.
  3. View your grades.



    OPTION 2:
  1. You can also access your grades from the Courses tab.
    When you enter the course you are participating in, click on the Tools button.
  2. Scroll down to the My Grades link and click on it.
BLACKBOARD FAQS

I DON'T SEE MY CLASS(ES)!

You can log into Blackboard, but you don't see your class(es).
This doesn't mean you are not enrolled at Stony Brook or registered for class(es)...
  • You might have registered late and will not see you class(es) for 24 hours.
  • None of your instructors have made the classes 'available' that they are teaching using Blackboard. It is up to the instructor to set the class(es) to 'available'. Please notify your instructor.

Your instructor might not be using Blackboard. Contact your instructor to see if they are using Blackboard.

ADDING/DROPPING CLASS(ES)

Your class list will be automatically updated based on SOLAR, the official student registration information system, available at the time of the update.
In most circumstances the updates for Classs will occur nightly.

Adding a Class
When you add a class in SOLAR, you will see it in your Blackboard class list within
24 hours.

Dropping a Class
When you drop a class in SOLAR, you will be removed from the Blackboard class within 24 hours.

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RED EXCLAMATION POINT IN GRADEBOOK

This could mean one of many things:

  • You may not have completed the quiz. If you do not click the Submit button after completing the quiz or leave the quiz before finishing, your answers will not be counted.

  • If you encountered technical problems during the quiz you will also have an exclamation point recorded in the book. For example, if your computer crashes, or your Internet connection is disconnected, any questions you have completed will not be counted.

  • If your quiz was timed and you went over the allotted time limit, you will also see an exclamation point in the gradebook instead of a grade.
    (In this case your instructor will receive all your answers and information on how long it took you to complete the quiz. They will have discretion on whether to accept all or part of your quiz answers.)

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHAT AND DISCUSSIONS

Chat occurs at the same time for all users.

Discussions allow you:

  • to reply to a forum topic posted by your instructor
  • reply to one another
  • start new threads within the forum.

Users do not have to be online at the same time for the history of a discussion to be read.

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WHERE TO GET HELP?

Teaching, Learning + Technology Student Help Desk is located in the
Student Union SINC Site in the Student Union , Room 080.

Telephone: 631.632.9602
Email: helpme@ic.sunysb.edu