FAQs Communication Tools in Blackboard / Blackboard / University Services / The University of Newcastle, Australia

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FAQs: Communication Tools

Discussion Forums

What do I need to do to prepare the Discussion Board for student use?
How do I gather all of the discussion contributions made by a student into one place?

Sharing and Uploading Files

How can files be shared?
Can folders be created within the digital drop box?
A student says they submitted their assignment via the digital drop box, yet I can't find it. What's wrong?
How do I view completed student assignmentssubmitted via the Assignment Manager?
Can I download all assignments for an assessment task at the one time?
What is the size limit on files that can be attached in discussion forums or uploaded into the digital drop box?
How do I electronically correct assignments submitted via the digital drop box, and return them to my students?
Is there an easy way to remove all files in my drop box?
Attachments drop off discussion board messages before I post them - why, and how do I stop this?

Groups

I'm using groups - what access will I have as the instructor, and are there any special considerations in setting up group resources?

E-mail

My students say they are not receiving e-mail I am sending them from Blackboard - what's happening?
Is there a limit to the length of e-mail messages sent from Blackboard?

Q. What do I need to do to prepare the Discussion Board for student use?

By default courses are created with the Discussion Board area enabled within the Communication Tools area of all Blackboard courses. If this has been disabled, it will be necessary to re-enable it:

enter the , select Manage Tools (within the COURSE OPTIONS area) , then Enable Blackboard Tools. Ensure a tick appears in the Enabled column for Discussion Boards.

In order for students to be able to use the Discussion Board, your must first create a forum. To create a forum:

enter the , select Discussion Boards (within the "COURSE TOOLS"area) , then .
enter a title, and description of the discussion to be held within the forum. Choose the "Forum Settings" required, then .

Q. How do I gather all of the discussion contributions made by a student into one place?

You cannot quite do this, but you can "collect" contributions at the forum level.

Display all the message titles by clicking the forum option (you must be in the forum itself to do this)
sort the messages by author (using the Sort by: drop-down box at the bottom of the forum page)
if you cannot see check boxes at the start of the message title, click to reveal the check boxes
tick each message sent by the student, then display the contents of the ticked messages by clicking .

Suggestion

Create a limited number of forums for contributions that will be assessed.
Develop separate forums for contributions that will not be assessed

Q. How can files be shared?

Files can be shared or exchanged through discussion forums, the digital dropbox, assignment manager, or as an attachment to e-mail messages in Blackboard.

Student to student

whole class - via the discussion forums
student group - via the discussion forums and the digital drop box (access is limited to students in the group and the instructor)
individually - as an attachment to an e-mail message

Instructor to student

whole class - via whole class discussion forums, assignments, course information
student group - via the discussion forums and the digital drop box (access is limited to students in the group and the instructor)
individual students - via the digital dropbox, assignment manager, or as an attachment to an e-mail message

Q. Can folders be created within the digital drop box?

Unfortunately, there is no way to create folders within the digital drop box. There are, however, other ways in which to handle the problem of managing drop box files. Alternately, consider using the Assignment Manager instead for the submission of student work.

Sorting
Drop box submission can be sorted in a number of ways - by sender, link name, file size of file sent, and by group. By default, Blackboard sorts them by the order in which they were received. You can select another sorting criterion by clicking on the appropriate column heading - for example clicking on the "Uploaded By" column heading will sort files by sender.

Filtering
The drop box also allows for filtering by group, user or time span in which files were submitted. If you choose to filter by user, for example, you will just see the files uploaded by the user you select.

File naming standards
Devise a naming standard for student submissions that will allow for easier sorting.

Q. A student says they submitted their assignment via the digital drop box, yet I can't find it. What's wrong?

Students access to the Digital Drop Box is available from the Digital Drop Box area located in the Blackboard Course menu. To send files via the digital drop box:

students select , then either select the file from the Select File: drop down list, or upload a new file using the option.

When an assignment is submitted the student will see text similar to right indicating the date and time of submission.

If students use the button they have only completed the first stage of the submission process - they have added the file to their digital drop box, but have not sent the files to you.

The file listing will appear similar to at right, and will not include a submission date and time.

If this is the case, ask the student to follow the steps for sending the file above.

When setting assessment tasks requiring submission of work via the digital drop box, either include instructions describing the process involved, or link to the Blackboard FAQs for Students covering this topic.

Q. How do I view completed student assignments submitted via the Assignment Manager?

As an instructor you can view completed student assignments via the Gradebook:

Go to the for the course, and select Gradebook (within the "Assessment"section).
Look for the column containing details of the assignment. Submitted assignments will include an exclamation mark in this column. To view an assignment click on the exclamation mark, and select View.

To download all completed files for an assignment

Click on the name of the assignment in the Gradebook column. Select Item Download.
Select individual students of select Check All. Scroll to the foot of the page, and , then Download Items Now. A compressed "zip" file will be created containing all selected assignments.

Related information:

Blackboard 6: Instructor Manual. Chapter 6- Assessment (HTML)

Q. What is the size limit on files that can be attached in discussion forums or uploaded into the digital drop box?

This really depends on the browser installed on each computer. Although no limit is imposed by Blackboard, the browser loses sync with the server after a certain length of time (similar to a time-out). Once this happens, the browser declares the upload as "incomplete" (although the server is still waiting for completion of the upload).

Be aware that "maximum file sizes" vary for students. All e-mail sent to students from within Blackboard is delivered to Studentmail accounts. However, Studentmail has a maximum quota size of ten megabytes, with a 2 Mb limit for each message including any files attached to the message.

Further information:
Studentmail FAQs

Q. How do I electronically correct assignments submitted via the digital drop box, and return them to my students?

There is no way to directly modify a document submitted via the digital drop box. However, by right clicking on the underlined filename within the digital drop box before it is opened, then selecting the Save Target As… option the file can be saved in order to open and edit.

It is important when saving corrected files, that the file naming convention used identifies the student's name and that the file is the corrected version.

If you want to incorporate your own comments to assignments to be returned to students (submitted in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, or Adobe Acrobat format) check the guidelines.

Returning Corrected Assignments to Students
Once corrected, assignments may be returned to students either via:

1. Digital Drop Box

within the , select Digital Drop Box (within the "Couse Tools" area).
select , browse to locate the file, add title and comments as required, then .

next, select Send File

, select the recipient and file, then

You will see an entry in the Digital Drop Box stating that the file was "Submitted on…", and indicates the file has been sent to the student's digital drop box for collection.

2. E-mail

from the , select Send E-mail (within the "Course Tools" area)
select Single/ Select Users, click in the box next to the required student, add a subject and message for the e-mail, attach the file, then .

Related information:

Blackboard 6: Instructor Manual. Chapter 2- Course Tools (HTML)

Q. Is there an easy way to remove all files in my drop box?

Files contained in the digital drop box can be removed by selecting the button to the right of each file. If you use the digital drop box for submission of student assessment tasks then it can become full very quickly.

An alternative is to consider using the Assignment Manager function, new with Blackboard 6.

Related information:

Blackboard 6: Instructor Manual. Chapter 2- Content Areas (HTML)

Q. Attachments drop off discussion board messages before I post them - why, and how do I stop this?

This problem is still evident in Blackboard version 6 and happens when using both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Attachments drop off only when you preview the message.

Suggestion

Attach the file just before you click the "submit" button… after previewing and editing the message.
Emphasize this to students. If it is important for all students to share or exchange files, consider setting up a group for the entire class with a "digital drop box", leaving attachments to occasions when students want to attach files under their own volition

Q. I'm using groups - what access will I have as the instructor, and are there any special considerations in setting up group resources?

Apart from the Virtual Classroom and Lightweight Chat, tools in the group area function exactly the same as they do at the "whole class" level.

A step which is often overlooked is establishing forums in the discussion area. Like the "whole class" area, only instructors can create forums. Without a forum, students cannot add messages.

As the instructor, although your name does not come up in the group list, you can contribute to the discussion forums, submit and read files in the digital dropbox and send e-mails.

However, because your name isn't on the group list, you will not receive copies of e-mails sent to the group.

New - Batch Group Manager

This tool enhances your ability to create and manage groups in your Blackboard course.

Suggestion

Because you have access to all the group areas, make it clear to students how you will participate in the groups and use the material developed by the group. For example, you will participate only when invited, and will use the material in the area to gauge participation in group activities.
Double-check that the group area is functional for students. Do they have at least one forum in Discussion area? Do they have appropriate support for chat unmoderated by the instructor?
Assessing students unfamiliar with assessment practices in Australian higher education, and Assessing group work (AUTC Centre for the Study of Higher Education).
See also - Resources on Collaborative Learning

Q. My students say they are not receiving e-mail I am sending them from Blackboard - what's happening?

All enrolled University of Newcastle students are given an e-mail account on the University's student e-mail server called 'Studentmail' (http://studentmail.newcastle.edu.au). All student Blackboard accounts are set with the Studentmail e-mail address - therefore all e-mail sent from within Blackboard will go to a student's 'Studentmail' account.

Prior to the Blackboard Version 6 upgrade users had the ability to change their e-mail address within Blackboard; however, from January 2004, all student e-mail addresses in Blackboard will revert back to their studentmail address. Students who use another e-mail account can add this as a forwarding address within Studentmail. For further details see the Studentmail FAQs.

Hint

Include information on your Blackboard course site about the importance of Studentmail, as well as a link to the Studentmail FAQs.

Q. Is there a limit to the length of e-mail messages sent from Blackboard?

The Blackboard manual does not state any limitation of the character length of e-mail messages sent from within Blackboard. It's probably best however to include lengthy (beyond 1 page) text in an attached document.