Known Bugs and Problems
For BlackBoard 5.5, the best Browsers to use are Netscape 4.x and IE 5x.
You may have some scriting problems with Netscape 6x and the most recent Internet Explorer.
Technical Help
If you need assistance with the BlackBoard system, you can:
1. go to the Student Manual found by clicking Tools on the menu on the left of your screen.
OR
2. click on the question mark icon at the top of the screen. Check out the "Knowledge Base."
Guidelines for Online Etiquette
It is important to always be polite and professional, whether agreeing or disagreeing with colleagues.
Remember NOT to write anything you wouldn't want to see publicly printed; computer messages are NOT absolutely PRIVATE.
Since any E-mail message that you write can be (and may be) forwarded to others, students should not disclose trade secrets or company-confidential information as part of this course.
Do not forward personal notes or messages to others unless you have obtained permission from the author.
In the conferencing format, students will be responding to the entire class (public domain). If that is not what is intended, students should use E-mail to address one/several students or the instructor (private domain).
Since there are no body language cues in the online environment, students should be cautious when using BOLD typeface (which gets attention—is it the type you want?), when using words or phrases that can stereotype people, when responding to ideas with which one feels strongly. Professionalism at all times is critical.
Be sure to give citations for quoted materials or others' ideas, just as one would in hard copy.
Since all communications are written, it is best to keep comments limited—one screen is usually sufficient for online attention spans.
Be sure to re-read messages before sending, and edit as necessary.
Preferred File Formats
In this class, you may be asked to post some assignments to your individual assignment folder. The preferred format is .rtf. If you are using Word, you simply select the .rtf (Rich Text Format) when you
save.In some sections of BlackBoard, such as the study group area and the conference area, you can upload a file from your computer so that class members can download it. These files can be MS Word documents, spread sheets, or even PowerPoint presentations.
Realize, however, that:
Only those students/faculty who have the same application on their computers can read the files.
You must use the proper extension in your file name (the three characters that follow the period after the file name and "tell" the computer which application was used to create the file — for example, .doc for Word documents, .ppt for PowerPoint presentations, and .xls for Excel spreadsheets).
Although our Blackboard software scans files for viruses, some may be missed.
Almost always, the student who uploads an infected file is unaware he or she has a computer virus.
You must use the proper extension in your file name (the three characters that follow To avoid these types of problems, save files you download to your hard drive or floppy and run a virus check on them before opening them up.
Although our Blackboard software scans files for viruses, some may be missed.
Blackboard cannot contract viruses because it only transfers files; it does not execute them. Viruses cannot be hidden in HTML or plain text files.
[back to top] [back to syllabus]
