Manging Users
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FAQs: Managing Users
These FAQs address issues dealing with the management of users within Blackboard. If you have a question that is not addressed here check the Guides, or e-mail your question to online-support@newcastle.edu.au
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Q. How are students added to my Blackboard course?
Course registration within Blackboard is based on the corresponding course information contained in NUSTAR, with any changes to enrolments in NUSTAR updated to the Blackboard system approximately every 6 hours (at 8am, 12noon, 6pm and 10pm).
| Related information: FAQs - Adding Content: Why are my students unable to access my Blackboard course when I can? |
Q. How do I add additional teaching staff to my Blackboard course?
All staff in the HRS Concept system are given a Blackboard account. Blackboard is now integrated with Concept and will be updated every 24 hours (overnight) with the details of staff new to the University.
Other categories of potential Blackboard users, such as affiliates, contract staff, and guest lecturers not in Concept, will need to request access via the Computer Accounts webpage.
Additional teaching staff can be added when creating a new course using Blackboard Course Creation.
Alternatively, staff can be added once the course is available in Blackboard.
To add additional teaching staff to a Blackboard course:
- Go into
of your Blackboard course, select Enroll User (located in the "User Management" section). - Enter the last name of the person to be enrolled in the search text field. Make sure that the "Search by: Last Name" radio button is selected (this is the default). Click on the Search button.
- A list of possible matches will be displayed. Click on the checkbox to the left of the correct person, then
.
A confirmation message will appear indicating that the person has been enrolled as a student (the default enrolment type). Click on the OK button to return to the "Control Panel" screen.
- from the of your Blackboard course, select List / Modify Users (located in the "User Management" section).
- Enter the last name of the person, then click on the Search button.
- Select
to the right of the required person. Scroll down to Section 4: Role and Availability, select the required user role, then 
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Related information:
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Q. What are the different types of user roles?
The Blackboard user role determines how much access an individual user has to a course. When a user is added to a course, by default their role will be that of a student.
Course User roles determine the level of access a user has to a course. There are five Course User roles:
- Instructor - user is able to control all aspects of the course via the "Control Panel"
- Teaching Assistant - user is able to control most aspects of the course via the "Control Panel"
- Course Builder - user is able to add content to the course through the "Content Areas" and the "Course Tools"
- Grader - user is able to access all areas under "Assessment"
- Student - user is able tot access all available course content and will be graded on assessments.
A new role - "observer" is available in Blackboard 6 with rights to view the progress of a given student at the Instructor's disgression.
Q. How do I add additional teaching staff to my Blackboard course?
All staff in the HRS Concept system are given a Blackboard account. Blackboard is now integrated with Concept and will be updated every 24 hours (overnight) with the details of staff new to the University.
Other categories of potential Blackboard users, such as affiliates, contract staff, and guest lecturers not in Concept, will need to request access via the Computer Accounts webpage.
Additional teaching staff can be added when creating a new course using Blackboard Course Creation.
Alternatively, staff can be added once the course is available in Blackboard.
To add additional teaching staff to a Blackboard course:
- Go into of your Blackboard course, select Enroll User (located in the "User Management" section).
- Enter the last name of the person to be enrolled in the search text field. Make sure that the "Search by: Last Name" radio button is selected (this is the default). Click on the Search button.
- A list of possible matches will be displayed. Click on the checkbox to the left of the correct person, then .
A confirmation message will appear indicating that the person has been enrolled as a student (the default enrolment type). Click on the OK button to return to the "Control Panel" screen.
- from the of your Blackboard course, select List / Modify Users (located in the "User Management" section).
- Enter the last name of the person, then click on the Search button.
- Select to the right of the required person. Scroll down to Section 4: Role and Availability, select the required user role, then .
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Related information:
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Q. How are users removed from my course?
Students
Course registration within Blackboard is based on the corresponding course information contained in NUSTAR, with any changes to enrolments in NUSTAR updated to the Blackboard system approximately every 6 hours (at 8am, 12noon, 6pm and 10pm). Therefore, an enrolment in a Blackboard course will be disabled when the corresponding enrolment in a NUSTAR course is withdrawn.
Teaching Staff
Teaching staff will stay registered in a Blackboard course until they are either removed by the Blackboard course instructor, or they resign or reach contract termination.
To remove a user:
- Go to the select Remove Users from the Course (within the "User Management" section).
- Enter the last name of the person to be removed in the search text field. Make sure that the search by "Last Name" radio button is selected (this is the default). (If you search by user id, ensure that that the "User Name" radio button is selected). Click
. - A list of possible matches will be displayed. To choose the person to be removed, click on the checkbox to the left of the correct person.
- You must type the word "Yes" (without quote marks) in the text box above the button, before selecting this.
- A confirmation message box will be displayed, click on "OK" to confirm the deletion. A receipt will appear to confirm the process. Click on "OK" again.
Q. Can I tidy up my list of old courses?
There are two ways you can clean up your 'My Courses' view. You can hide old courses from your view by using the Customise My Courses option or you can request that your course be deleted.
With Blackboard 6.2, you can customise your My Courses window display and hide old courses from view. This will hide courses from your view only.
Steps:
1. Click on the My Institution tab and ensure you have the My Courses window open.
2. Click on the Pencil icon to display Customise My Courses
To hide courses from your view
-Under Show Course, uncheck the box next to the courses you do not want to display.
To restore courses to your view.
-Under Show Course, check the box next to the courses you do want to display.
To delete your old Blackboard courses, you will need to send a request to the Blackboard Support Team listing the Course ID's of the courses you want removed. You can find Course ID's by clicking on the Courses tab in Blackboard.
Before requesting deletion of your courses you should export the gradebook and save down any other course materials to your computer.
Please note: Once a course has been deleted it cannot be restored.
Q. Can someone not enrolled in my course access my Blackboard course site?
Your course will initially only allow enrolled users to access the site. However, guest access can be enabled to allow non-enrolled users to view course content. Contact the Blackboard System Administrators for more details.
Q. What support is available for students?
Inevitably, the prime resource for students will be their instructors. Recognising that this places an additional burden on the instructors / tutors, a number of documents and support services have been developed by Blackboard and the University of Newcastle to assist in this role.
- Blackboard Inc Student Manual - Instructors can provide access to this manual via the . Select Manage Tools (within the "Course Options" area), then Enable Blackboard Tools. Ensure the Manual item has been enabled in the tools list.
- "Student Guide to Using Blackboard at the University of Newcastle" has been developed by the Technology & Education Services section of the Education Services portfolio based on their support and training of students. Instructors can download the MS Word version of the guide and edit as suits their course needs. (After editing the file, re-create the table of contents, list of figures etc by "selecting" the entire document (Ctrl-A on a PC), then updating the fields (by pressing F9 on a PC)).
- Student FAQs for Blackboard
- FAQ for studentmail. On enrolment, each student receives a studentmail account. This is the default e-mail address entered in Blackboard for all students.
- The Education Services Information Desk provides a basic level of service and a referral service for more specialist support. Contact the Information Desk:
- by phone - (02) 4921 5382
- in person - hours and locations of Information Desks
- E-mail - blackboard-help@newcastle.edu.au
The Information Desk will respond to enquiries within one working day of receipt.
- by phone - (02) 4921 5382
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IMPORTANT |
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Please DO NOT advise students to contact the Blackboard System Administrators. Students must use one of the contact methods listed above if they require assistance.
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Q. Why are my students unable to access my Blackboard course when I can?
If all of your students report the same problem, it is likely that the problem will either be:
- the course has been set as unavailable, and appears in an instructor's list marked [Unavailable]. The course will need to be made available.
- the course duration has been reset from "Continuous" to a specific date range
- if just a few students are having trouble accessing the site, and others can, those students may be having a problem with their Blackboard user accounts or logins.
Making a course "Available"
If a course is marked [Unavailable] instructors will be able to see and modify the site, but students cannot access it. To check if this is the case, look in your "My Blackboard" list of courses to see if the course in question shows "[Unavailable]" beside it.
To make a course available:
- open the , then choose Settings (in the "Course Options" section)
- select Course Availability, click the 'Yes' option for "Make Course Available", then . ("No" means the course will only appear in the instructor's list of courses. It will not appear to enrolled users nor will it be listed in the Course Catalog in the Courses tab).
Setting the Course Duration to "Continuous"
Even if you have made a course available under the "Course Availability" option in the , it may still be unavailable if the "Continuous option" is NOT selected under "Course Duration".
To check this:
- open the , then choose Settings (in the "Course Options" section)
- select Course Duration
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Ensure that Continuous is selected. When you choose "Select Dates"and then select Start and End Dates, the course will be unavailable outside the selected period, even though "Course Availability" is set to "Yes". |
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Problems with Blackboard user accounts
Course registration within Blackboard is based on the corresponding course information contained in NUSTAR, with any changes to enrolments in NUSTAR updated to the Blackboard system approximately every 6 hours (at 8am, 12noon, 6pm and 10pm).
If a student cannot access your Blackboard course site, check if the student is enrolled in your Blackboard course. ie. are they listed in the course's user list? You can check this by selecting , then List/ Modify Users.
If they are listed:
- They may not be logging in correctly. Advise them of their username (student number preceded by a "c"), and, ask them to try again, (ensuring that their password is entered in lowercase). As Blackboard passwords are synchronized with the Internet Access Password, users who have forgotten this password can look up their details via the “Forgot Your Password?” link on the Blackboard login screen (or directly via the Retrieving Your Username and Password webpage.
If they are not listed:
- The problem may be related to their enrolment. Get them to check this at the Online Enrolment and Course Variations webpage. Once logged in, select Course Enrolment", then Course Enrolment Basket.
If a course is not listed, students will need to check with the Student Services Centre:
Email: enquirycentre@newcastle.edu.au
Phone: 1800 636 466
Location: Student Services Centre, next to the Hunter Union, Callaghan Campus, University of Newcastle.
Q. Can I find out how often students are accessing parts of my Blackboard course site?
Yes. The "Course Statistics" tool within the is useful to find out which parts of your course site are being utilised. Blackboard records every click by a user within a course site.
Instructors can generate reports on the course usage and activity, including:
- Overall Summary of Usage - Communication areas, main content areas, group areas, student areas. This is useful for providing an overall impression of course usage.
- Accesses by Content Area - includes Announcements, Course Information, Staff Information, Course Documents, Assignments, Books
- Accesses by Group - includes Groups, Group Page, Group Discussion Board, Group File Exchange, Group Send E-mail
- Accesses by Forum - Discussion Board.
Reports can include the following detail:
- total number of accesses per area - this will list the hits in each section and what percentage of the total this represents
- number of accesses over time
- user accesses per hour of the day - lists the cumulative number of hits made during a 24 hour period and acts as a snapshot of when students actually access their materials
- user accesses per day of the week
- total accesses by user - lists the name of each student and the total number of times the student clicked onto the course
Q. How long are course statistics kept in Blackboard?
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Suggestions
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Q. How do I know that the student doing the work is who they say they are?
As you can imagine, there is no foolproof method of assuring student identity in an online course. For assignments and projects, you would use the same methods of identification that you would in an on campus course. If you notice a dramatic change in writing style, for instance, it may be an indication that there is a problem.
For graded quizzes or exams, the most reliable means of preventing plagiarism is to use invigilators. You might also consider the use of quiz pools for Blackboard assessment tasks.
Turnitin is an online plagiarism detection and prevention software system for educators and students which the University of Newcastle has recently purchased.
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Further information:
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- Last modified: Friday, 8th February 2008
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