Blackboard Tech Support: Heartland Community College

Common Issues with Blackboard 9: Students

At Heartland Community College we are utilizing a Course Management System (CMS) called Blackboard Learn (aka Blackboard 9). This CMS is fairly new and as such it has some bugs to work out. We appreciate your patience with this system while we try to make your online course experience at Heartland the best it can be.

Below you will find a list of common issues we have discovered using Blackboard and a solution to the problem. If you are still experiencing difficulty using your online course(s) please contact the Blackboard Tech Support personnel at the Tech Support: Contact information at right. Other tips to keep in mind when trying to troubleshoot issues you are having with your computer are to keep your operating system up-to-date using the operating system updates appropriate for your computer and using the latest Mozilla Firefox web browser which tends to alleviate many of the common issues that persist when using Microsoft Internet Explorer. Firefox is a free and safe download which you can install on your computer and use with the myHeartland and Blackboard online courses. That browser is available at the link at right under the Tech Support: Web Browsers section. Another suggestion is to clear the web browser cookies. The instructions for clearing browser cookies are on the right side of this web page under Tech Support: Clearing Cookies.

Use this menu to find Blackboard Student Tech Support Solutions:

Words of Advice: First Days of Class Words of Advice: Work Offline First Words of Advice: Disable Screensavers Words of Advice: Taking a Test or Quiz Words of Advice: Show/Hide Navigation Words of Advice: File Names Cannot Download Course Materials Cannot Print Course Materials Cannot Copy and Paste in My Course Cannot Access My Grades Cannot Find Instructor Feedback Cannot Send Instructor A Message Cannot Take A Test: Logged Out? Cannot Take A Test: Access Key? Cannot Use Lecture Hall or Chat Cannot Login to My Course Cannot Save and Submit My Quiz Cannot Save As A Rich Text File (.rtf) Cannot Delete A Forum Thread Cannot Upload A Document Getting a Security Warning Message Getting a Certificate Error Message Online Courses Not Showing Up Discussion Board Causing An Error Cannot Get Into My Course Safe Assignments Not Working Error When Taking a Quiz Cannot Get to Course Pages Cannot Get Into my Online Class List Links in the Contents Area Not Working Getting Remote Device Error Getting 404 Error Message Getting Cannot Download Error Cannot Submit SafeAssign Cannot Get To Course Materials Cannot Upload Assignment File Cannot Complete Short Answer Test

Words of Advice: First Days of Class

You won't see your online courses show up until the first day of your class at 8:00 am (Central Time). If your course(s) is/are 16-week course(s) during the Fall or Spring semester or 8-week course(s) during the Summer semester you will see them show up on the first day of classes. However you may be enrolled in 12-week courses or 4-week courses and then your courses may not start on the traditional "day one" of the semester. In those cases you won't see your courses show up until the first day of those classes later on in the semester. Be sure to check your enrollment schedule to see if you are enrolled in 16-week, 12-week, 8-week or 4-week courses.

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Words of Advice: Work Offline First

When typing in an Assignment, Email Message or Discussion Board Entry it is best to work offline typing your text into a word processing program like Microsoft Word, Open Office Writer, a plain text editor like Notepad or WordPad on a Windows computer or TextEdit on a Macintosh computer. If you have spent a while typing into the Visual Editor in your Blackboard online course and your computer shuts down accidentally or logs out or times out of myHeartland/Blackboard online course you will lose all of your text document work and have to start over again from scratch. Working offline first in a word processing or text editor program on your computer and saving your work often means you can always get back to your assignment, email message or discussion board entry and not have to worry about Internet issues or your course suddenly timing you out and losing all of your work. After you are finished typing up your text on your computer offline you can log into your myHeartland and Blackboard online course and copy and paste the text into the area you need to submit (assignment, email, discussion board, etc) online. This way you have an electronic copy of your text that you can always refer back to on your own computer.

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Words of Advice: Disable Screensavers

When working in a Blackboard online course another piece of advice is to disable any screensaver, hibernation mode, or sleep settings you have running on your computer. These energy saving modes can cause you problems when working in an online course. If you are in the middle of taking a quiz and your screensaver goes on you could be kicked out of the quiz by the screensaver. If the quiz is set so you can only take the quiz one time you won't be able to get back into the quiz to continue taking the quiz. Please disable any screensaver, hibernation or sleep mode settings you have running when using Blackboard.

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Words of Advice: Taking a Test or Quiz

IMPORTANT ADVICE FOR TEST TAKING, PLEASE READ

In short: LOG OUT and RE-LOGIN to your Blackboard course BEFORE taking a test or quiz.

Explanation: If you have been logged into your Blackboard course for awhile it is recommended that before taking a test/quiz you log out of your Blackboard course and re-enter that same course. This will reset your activity session (which has a time limit in Blackboard) allowing you to take a longer test or quiz. If you exceed the Blackboard active session time limit while taking a test you will be logged out of your Blackboard course while you are taking the test or quiz. When this happens you will go to click Submit at the end of your test and you'll be presented with a screen telling you that you are not logged into Blackboard (even though it appears you are still logged in) and the message will tell you that you will have to log in again. Being logged out by Blackboard will also most likely mean losing ALL of your test answers and having to have your test reset so you can take it again. So please LOG OUT of Blackboard and re-log in before taking a test/quiz so you can reset your active session time limit within your Blackboard course.

MORE ADVICE FOR TEST TAKING

When starting to take a test or quiz DO NOT double click the "Begin" button. Blackboard will see this second click as a second attempt at taking the test or quiz and then not allow you into the test or quiz. Always single click buttons in the Blackboard online course system.

When taking a test or quiz please be careful of the following:

• DO NOT start taking a test until the test has completely loaded on the screen,
• DO NOT click the "back" button in the browser during a test or quiz,
• DO NOT open a new brower window or browser tab or click on an already opened window or tab during the test or quiz,
• DO NOT enlarge/maximize or reduce/minimize the browser window during the test or quiz.
• DO NOT press the Enter key on the keyboard for tests with questions presented one at a time (rather SINGLE click the next button to proceed to the next question).
• DO NOT double click on any items, buttons, graphics, etc. in Blackboard.
• DO NOT press the backspace key on the keyboard.

Doing any of the above will kick you out of being able to complete a test or quiz. If you are kicked out of taking the test or quiz after doing one of the above items and your instructor has set the test or quiz up to be a "force completion" exam then you won't be able to get back into that test or quiz to finish it after being kicked out of the exam.

Also wireless connections can be troublesome as they are more susceptible to timing out and/or losing an Internet connection. We are recommending that you use a computer with a wired connection to the Internet (if possible) to avoid being logged out of your test or quiz in the middle of taking it. Wireless laptops can usually be connected straight into a cable modem or wireless router using a Catagory 5 (Cat5) or Ethernet Cable. After connecting to a wired connection turn off your wireless card so you are using a wired Internet connection. Then log into Heartland Community College's web site, into myHeartland and into your Blackboard online course to take a test or quiz.

Depending on your own Internet Service Provider settings or even your home computer network settings, these settings may limit your browser "inactivity" to a certain amount of time before your Internet connection times out. Even if you think your are typing away in Blackboard (or in this case taking a test or quiz) the Blackboard online course system may think that your are being inactive (that the browser is logged in but you aren't doing anything like navigating from one area to another within your Blackboard online course... browser pages aren't loading or changing as you take the test or type up an essay... simply typing into Blackboard is not recognized as "activity"). The Blackboard online system or your home Internet settings sees this browser "inactivity" for a certain amount of time and logs you off the system without informing you that you are no longer logged in. It appears you are still logged in but in the background you are no longer logged in. So when you go to submit your test, quiz or assignment it won't allow you to submit and you lose all of your work.

If this happens to you please submit a Blackboard Tech Support Request explaining what happened to you (the link to submit a Blackboard Tech Support is in the upper right column of this web page) and contact your instructor telling him/her that you were timed out while taking a test or quiz and that you couldn't submit the test or quiz correctly.

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Words of Advice: Show/Hide Navigation

If you enter into your course but you don't see anything other than a single page (like Announcements) you will want to click on the Show Course Menu tab so you can see all of the links to course materials used in your online class. The Show Course Menu tab is a small white rectangle with a left pointing arrow (a "greater than" symbol like >) when the Course Menu is hidden and a right pointing arrow (a "less than" symbol like <) then the Course Menu is shown.

Click on the screenshot below for an image of the left navigation hidden.

Click on the screenshot below for an image of the left navigation expanded/shown.

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Words of Advice: Files Names

When naming assignments or other course materials you want to upload to your instructor (Microsoft PowerPoints, Adobe PDFs, Word Documents, Rich Text Files, etc.) please refrain from using special characters (ex. #, @, &, *). Using these special characters can cause Blackboard to have issues with your files. Avoiding characters like these (basically anything that requires you to hold the shift key down on the keyboard) will cause you less frustration in the end.

So for example rather than saving your Microsoft Word document assignment file as: lastNameAssignment #1.doc,

label your Word document assignment: lastNameAssignment1.doc or lastNameAssignmentOne.doc

This way you are avoiding using any of those special characters (in this case the number sign: #) in the file name.

If your instructor gives you specific instructions on what your file name should be always follow your instructors specific instructions for naming your files.

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Cannot Download Course Materials

I try to open a Word document, PowerPoint, Excel spreadsheet or other Microsoft Office document and it won’t allow me to download the file.

Click the screenshot below to see a larger version of this Internet Explorer error message.

At this time we are experiencing difficulty with the new Microsoft Office 2007 files. If your instructor has uploaded an Office 2007 file for you to download try using the Firefox web browser available to download for free at the link on the right of this page under Web Browsers.

First Reported: 06/01/2010 (downloadingIssue)

At this time this Office 2007 document issue should no longer be effecting students. A patch was installed to correct for this issue. If you are still experiencing problems downloading Office 2007 files in Blackboard online courses please contact your instructor and contact the Tech Support staff at the link at the top right column of this web page.

Update: 07/06/2010

Cannot Print Course Materials

I try to print my syllabus or another type of course material document inside of Blackboard and it will only print out the first page. I can't get the whole document to print.

When you go to open the document make sure you are opening it in a new Browser window or new Browser tab. To do this you can right click using the mouse on the link to the document and choose Open in New Window or Open in New Browser Tab. Then you can use the Print button in the Web Browser (or use Control-P on a Windows PC and Command-P on a Macintosh) to print the entire document. This is only necessary if the document is a web page which loads inside of the Blackboard course. Word documents, PDFs or plain text documents can be opened in their own respective program (Microsoft Word, Adobe Reader, or a Plain text reader) and printed from there. If you can't get a Word document to open or save see the issue above titled "Cannot Download Course Materials".

First Reported: 06/03/2010 (printingIssue)

Cannot Copy and Paste in my Course

I need to copy and paste text from a Word document or other word processor up into my Blackboard online course but it won't work. I try to paste into the Visual Editor Text Area but I get an error saying the browser can't access the clipboard when I click on the small paste icon in my online course.

Click the screenshot below to see a larger version of this Firefox error message.

At this time the Firefox browser has trouble copy and pasting using the paste icon in the Blackboard courses. You can however simply place your cursor in the text area by clicking anywhere in the white space of the text area and press Control-V (Command-V on a Macintosh) to paste text from your computer into the Blackboard Visual Editor text area.

First Reported: 06/11/2010 (copyPasteIssue)

Cannot Access My Grades

When I click on the Grades (or myGrades) link on the left side of my online course I cannot get into see my grades. It shows an error that looks like:

Error reading 'grade' on type blackboard.webapps.gradebook.student.StudentGradebookRow
For reference, the Error ID is 02d6b1ef-c17f-4e6d-997f-e27b8ac32f61.
Friday, June 4, 2010 4:18:22 PM CDT.

We are looking into why this error is taking place when you click on your grades section. At this time please let your instructor know that you cannot access your grades and also please contact us using the Tech Support request form link at the top right of this page.

First Reported: 06/04/2010 (gradesAccessIssue)

This is being caused by an instructor entering a grade as an override grade when no original grade was ever entered (overriding a null value).

Instructions for Instructors: Each overriden grade needs to be edited by the instructor. Through the contextual menu (double chevron symbol) beside the Grade Center score, select View Grade details. Then under the Attempts section, do Edit Grade -> add the same Value -> Save. A submission attempt and score will be registered in the Attempts section.

Click the screenshots below to see larger versions of these instructions for fixing the Grade Center.

Update: 01/06/2011

Cannot Find Instructor Feedback

I'm trying to find where my instructor has left feedback about an assignment for me but I can't find it.

Any feedback from your instructor is found under your Grades section. From the Grades section if your points/score for that test or assignment is underlined it is a clickable link. Click on the score you have received and you will be taken into the submission history for that test or assignment. Here you will see a section called Instructor Feedback. If your instructor has left you comments you can read them here. Also your instructor might upload a file back to you. This will be available under Attached Files in the Instructor Feedback section.

Click the screenshots below to see a larger version of these Grades and Submission History screens.

First Reported: 06/03/2010 (feedbackIssue)

Cannot Send my Instructor a Message

I am trying to send my instructor a message in my online course but after I choose his/her name, type a subject, my message, and click submit it tells me I haven't chosen a recipient to send the message to. How do I choose a recipient?

After clicking on/highlighting the instructor’s name be sure to click the small right arrow button. This will place the instructors name over in the right side box (the Selected Items list). Then you can continue down to type your subject and message and submit.

Click the screenshots below to see a larger version of this screen showing adding a recepient to a online course email.

First Reported: 06/04/2010 (sendingMessageIssue)

Cannot Take a Test: Logged Out?

I am trying to take a test but I get down to the end, click Save and Submit and it gives me an error message that says I must login. It then kicks me out to the Heartland Authentication Service and makes me log back in. I lose all of my test answers when this happens.

This error is probably happening due to the active session in your Blackboard course expiring. Be sure to let your instructor know this is happening and send in a Tech Support Request using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page.

First Reported: 06/16/2010 (testLogOutIssue)

If you are being logged out by Blackboard while taking a test/quiz a way to solve this issue is to log out of your Blackboard course and re-login BEFORE taking a test/quiz. This resets your Blackboard active session time limit giving you enough time to complete a test/quiz and remain logged in.

For more information on this issue see Words of Advice: Taking a Test or Quiz on this web site above.

Also make sure you are using a compatible browser (such as the current version of the Firefox browser) when logging into and using Blackboard. many issues are caused by using an unsupported browser (such as Internet Explorer 6 or earlier versions or Firefox prior to version 3.5). If you are using an old or incompatible broswer your online course may load but the functionality within the course will cause you problems. A list of compatible browsers is available on this page in the right column under Tech Support: Web Browsers.

Updated: 12/06/2010 (testLogOutIssue)

Cannot Take a Test: Access Key?

I am trying to take a test but before I can even begin it is asking me to enter an Access Key. What is this and where do I find it?

We are currently looking into why this error is occuring. Be sure to let your instructor know this is happening and send in a Tech Support Request using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page.

First Reported: 06/03/2010 (testAccessCodeIssue)

Cannot Open Lecture Hall or Office Hours

I can't get the Lecture Hall (Virtual Classroom) or Office Hours (Chat) functions to work on my computer. I get an error that looks like this:

Application failed to run. Exception:java.lang.ClassNotFoundException:
blackboard.plugins.virtualclassroom.ui.Tools.class
Firefox can't find server at collab.hccnet.heartland.edu

We are currently looking into why this error is occuring. Be sure to let your instructor know this is happening and send in a Tech Support Request using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page. Also make sure you have the Java plug-in installed in your browser. You can download the Java plug-in for free at:

http://www.java.com

First Reported: 06/07/2010 (chatIssue)

Cannot Login to my Blackboard Course

Cannot load my Blackboard course page. I get the following error message:

Unable to connect Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at blackboard.heartland.edu.
The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network connection.
If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

The Blackboard server is down for maintenance on Saturday mornings from Midnight to 8:00 am. If you are having trouble logging into your Blackboard courses at any other time please contact the Heartland Information Technology (IT) helpdesk so they can look into this login issues. The phone number for the IT helpdesk at Heartland Community College is (309)268-8350.

First Reported: 06/26/2010 (loginIssue)

Cannot Save and Submit Quiz

I cannot save and submit my quiz questions in my Blackboard class. I get the following error message:

Error saving Test.
For reference, the Error ID is c3cb1335-66eb-42aa-9579-c1578c611e47.
Friday, June 25, 2010 2:33:24 PM CDT

We are currently looking into why this error is occuring. Be sure to let your instructor know this is happening and send in a Tech Support Request using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page.

First Reported: 06/25/2010 (testIssue)

Cannot Save a Rich Text File (RTF)

I cannot save my document as a rich text format file (.rtf). How do I save a document in this format?

The following will walk you through the steps to saving your document as a Rich Text Format file.

Microsoft Word 2007 Rich Text Format instructions:

1. In Microsoft Word 2007 with your document open press the F12 key on the keyboard,
2. This will open the Save As dialog box,
3. In the lower middle of this Save As dialog box you'll see an area called "Save As Type",
4. Drop the Save As Type menu down and scroll down to Rich Text Format (*.rtf) and click on it with the mouse,
5. Name your file and choose a location on your computer to save it to and click save,
6. Your file will save in the location you chose and the name you chose followed by a .rtf file extension.

Click on the screenshot below for an image of the Save As dialog box from Microsoft Word 2007.

Open Office Writer Rich Text Format instructions:

1. In Open Office Writer with your document open press and hold Control Shift S on the keyboard,
2. This will open the Save As dialog box,
3. In the lower middle of this Save As dialog box you'll see an area called "Save As Type",
4. Drop the Save As Type menu down and scroll down to Rich Text Format (*.rtf) and click on it with the mouse,
5. Name your file and choose a location on your computer to save it to and click save,
6. Your file will save in the location you chose and the name you chose followed by a .rtf file extension.

Click on the screenshot below for an image of the Save As dialog box from Open Office Writer.

First Reported: 06/29/2010 (richTextIssue)

Cannot Delete a Forum Thread

Can I delete a thread after I have posted it to a Discussion Board in my online class?

You can only delete a Thread if your instructor has given students that permission when he/she created the Forum. If you have the ability to delete a thread you can select the thread and click on the delete button to the lower right of this screen. Check with your instructor if you are in need of deleting a thread you have posted to a Discussion Board but can't delete it.

Click on the screenshot below for an image of the Thread Detail screen showing the delete button.

First Reported: 06/30/2010 (threadIssue)

Cannot Upload a Document

Can I upload a paper instead of copying and pasting it into a Discussion Board in my online class?

If your instructor prefers you to copy and paste your paper into the thread you should follow what your specific instructor wants you to do for submitting papers. Otherwise you can use these steps to attach the file to a thread (instead of copying and pasting):

1. Log into your online class,
2. Navigate into the area where you want to upload the paper in the class (ex. A Discussion Board forum and specific thread area),
3. Create a new Thread (click on the Create Thread button),
4. Give the Thread a name/subject and type text into the Visual Editor text area saying something like "My paper is attached.",
5. Click on the words "Attach a File" (down in Section 2. Attachments),
6. Click the Browse button,
7. Locate the file on your computer you want to attach, click on the file to highlight it and then click Open,
8. Your file will be attached to the Thread,
9. Then you can submit the thread (using the Submit Button).

Click on the screenshots below for an images of steps 5, 6, 7, and 8 from above.

First Reported: 07/1/2010 (uploadIssue)

Getting a Security Warning Message

When I go into my online class I receive a message that says "Do you want to view only the webpage content that was delivered securely?". What do I do?

Click on the screenshot below for an image of this security warning:

If your instructor has embedded audio or video content from an outside source (ex. youTube) then you should click on the No button so you can see this "nonsecure" content. If you click Yes then you won't be able to listen to or watch this "outside of Blackboard" content.

First Reported: 8/11/2010 (securityWarning)

Getting a Certificate Error Message

After I log into myHeartland when I go to get into a Blackboard course I get a certificate error message. How do I get into my Blackboard courses?

If you are receiving a certificate error message when trying to get into a Blackboard course please contact us using the Tech Support request form link at the top right of this page.

First Reported: 8/11/2010 (certificateError)

Blackboard Courses not Showing Up

When I log into Blackboard before the semester starts I don't see any of my courses show up. Only a course called Blackboard 100 Orientation and Support appears. Why can't I see any of my classes before the semester starts?

You will begin to see the online courses you are enrolled into on the first official day of the semester. The week before the semester starts you will be given access to a course called Blackboard 100. It is simply a course you can use to test your computer settings, try out some of the online class functions (like taking a quiz or posting to a discussion board), and get acquainted with using Blackboard. This course will be available to you for the entire semester. You don't need to complete any assignments in the course and you will not receive a grade for the Blackboard 100 course. It is just an online course you can use to test your own computer settings.

On the first day of the semester you will then be able to access all of the online courses you are enrolled in. Keep in mind that some courses are 12-week courses that don't begin on the first day along with the 16-week courses. If you still can't see an online course you are enrolled in after the first day of the semester and your course starts on the first day of the semester please contact us using the Tech Support request form link at the top right of this page.

First Reported: 8/11/2010 (onlineCourses)

Discussion Board Causes An Error

When I try to post to a Discussion Board I am getting an Internet Explorer error. The top left tab for this website says this "This tab has been recovered" and if i go back and click a few more times it will go to a blank error screen that says "We were unable to return you to heartland.edu. Internet Explorer has stopped trying to restore this website. It appears that the website continues to have a problem." I've tried using Firefox as my browser but get the same error. What do I do?

This error appears to be caused by the combination of the Windows 7 operating system, the Java plug-in and Blackboard. What you will need to do if you are running Windows 7 is that you need to uninstall all versions of the Java plug-in you have on your computer. Please consult your Windows 7 operating system manual/help files for information on how to uninstall Java. After Java has been uninstalled you need to go to http://www.java.com and install the 32 and 64-bit versions of the Java plug in.

Uninstalling Java and reinstalling the latest version of the 32 and 64-bit versions seems to clear up this problem.

First Reported: 8/18/2010 (discussionBoardError)

Cannot Get Into My Course

When I click on my course from the myBlackboard page it opens a Tech Support Request Form. Why isn't my class opening?

See the screen shot below for an image of this Tech Support Screen Loading in place of the Blackboard course home page:

This is being caused because something happened to your courses home page (it was accidentally deleted, removed, or left blank). Please contact us using the Tech Support request form link at the top right of this page or the Tech Support page that opens for your course's home page and we will work with your instructor on getting this fixed.

First Reported: 8/19/2010 (loginTechSupport)

Safe Assignments Not Working

My Safe Assignments are not accessible. When I click the View/Complete link I get kicked back out to the myBlackboard web page and can't get into submit my Safe Assignment. What do I do?

Please contact your instructor and contact us using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page if you are trying to submit a safe assignment and cannot get into View/Complete the assignment.

First Reported: 08/24/2010 (safeAssignIssue)

Error When Taking a Quiz

When taking a quiz I get kicked out of the quiz and I get the following error message:

Only the original user can complete this Test. Please click "OK" to exit the Test.
For reference, the Error ID is b06ec84e-b982-45e1-8544-523c1d524efb.
Sunday, August 29, 2010 10:41:41 PM CDT

Please contact your instructor and contact us using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page if you are trying to take a quiz and get this error message. You possibly have a problem with too many browsers being open or an error caused by the cookies that get saved to your browser. Exit out of all of your open browsers. Open one browser window and follow along with the steps on this web site about Clearing Cookies at Tech Support: Clearing Cookies in the upper right column. After clearing your cookies log back into myHeartland and your Blackboard course. You may have to have your instructor clear your attempt at taking the test in order to take the test a second time.

First Reported: 08/30/2010 (sessionCookieIssue)

Cannot Get to Course Pages

When I log into my class all I can see if the first page of the course. I can't get to any other pages. What do I do?

Click on the screenshot below for an image of the left navigation hidden.

If you can log into your Blackboard online course but all you see is the very first page of the course then your left navigation is hidden. Simply click on the small tab with the arrow pointing right down the middle of the far left side of the screen. This tab will open up your left side navigation allowing you to access all of the areas in your online course.

Click on the screenshot below for an image of the left navigation expanded/shown.

First Reported: 09/20/2010 (leftNavigationIssue)

Cannot Get Into my Online Class List

I'm having trouble getting into my Blackboard Courses but it isn't a specific error message and I know the course is supposed to be available. The courses just never seem to load. How do I get into my classes?

If your online courses aren't appearing in the myHeartland list after clicking on the Blackboard tab or never load in the myBlackboard Screen in the module called "My Courses" you may have an issue with your home Internet connection. You will need to consult your Internet Service Provider and/or manuals for your home cable modem, DSL or wireless router to check on these settings. Some ideas to keep in mind include:

• DO NOT have multiple browsers open when trying to log into Blackboard.
• Try shutting down your computer and restarting.
• Try disabling pop-up blocking and clearing out your Browser cookies. Instructions for clearing cookies can be found at Tech Support: Clearing Cookies and instructions for disabling pop-up blockers is at Tech Support: Enable Pop-ups on the Browser Check web page on this web site.
• Try restarting your cable modem and wireless router (if applicable). This usually just means unplugging these devices and letting them sit for up to 10 minutes. Then plug in the cable modem first, let it connect, and then plug in your wireless router. Then try connecting to your online courses.
• If you suspect it is a wireless router try connecting a Category 5 (Cat 5) cable or Ethernet Cable directly from your computer into the Cable Modem (rather than using the wireless connection). Change your network connectivity settings to shut off the wireless detection and connect to the Internet directly through the Ethernet port. Then try to connect to myHeartland and your Blackboard online courses. If this solves the issue then you know it is something wrong with your wireless router settings. Please consult your wireless router manual for more information on wireless router settings.
• If you are having trouble connecting to Blackboard courses from home on a wireless-enabled laptop try bringing your laptop onto campus and accessing the Internet at Heartland Community College. We have wireless routers throughout the buildings you can access with your student login and password. If your laptop works on campus then you know it is something wrong with your home modem or wireless router settings. Again please consult your modem/wireless router manuals for more details on settings.
• If you are still having difficulty connecting to your online courses try coming onto campus and connecting in a computer lab at Heartland Community College. If you are successful you have an issue with your home internet setup. If you aren't successful on campus please contact us using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page. Be as specific about what you have tried (shutting down and restarting the computer/modem/router) in your message to the Tech Support staff so we can do our best to assist you with your issue.

First Reported: 09/22/2010 (courseLoadingIssue)

Links in the Contents Area Not Working

In my online course it won't let me click on assignments to complete them. How do I complete an assignment from the contents listing for this week?

If your instructor has chosen to display each assignment, quiz, or other course material one piece at a time inside of a week folder (or by chapter or unit) which is called a Learning Module rather than displaying a long web page with all of the assignments, quizzes and other materials for that week on a single page (called a Folder view) you will see a screen that has a large blue "Contents" button on the left side of the screen (see first image below). Clicking on that Contents button will take you to a table of contents listing out all of that week's assignments, quizzes, etc. This view is simply a table of contents list and may not allow you to click on the assignment from that view to complete the assignment. Click on the large blue "Go Back" button to go back one screen (see second image below). Then click on the link that says "Click to Launch" (see first image below) . This will take you into the first assignment. Once that is completed/submitted you can click the right arrow over on the upper right of the screen inside of that week's folder to advance to the next assignment or quiz for that week in that Learning Module (see third image below).

Click on the screenshots below for images of the Contents and Click to Launch buttons, Table of Contents screen and Go Back button, and the right and left arrows to advance from page to page in this learning module view.

First Reported: 10/20/2010 (contentsTableIssue)

Getting Remote Device Error

My computer is telling me that the "remote device or resource won't accept my connection". How do I fix this to get into my online class?

This problem is probably caused by an Internet Options setting in your Internet Explorer browser. A possible fix for this problem is to follow these steps:

1. Open Internet Explorer,
2. Click on Tools (from the menu or ALT t on the keyboard),
3. Mouse down to and click on Internet Options,
4. Click on the Connections tab along the top of the Internet Options dialog box,
5. Click on the LAN settings button,
6. Likely your Proxy sever setting is checkmarked (none of the boxes should be checked on the LAN Settings screen).

Then you can close down Internet Explorer and reopen and you should get rid of the "remote device or resource won't accept my connection" error message.

Click on the screenshots below to see larger images of the Internet Explorer browser Tools menu, the Connections Tab screen with the LAN Button, and the screen with the LAN Settings shown.

If you are still having difficulty with this "remote device or resource won't accept my connection" error message we would suggest using the Firefox browser instead of Internet Explorer. Instructions for downloading Firefox can be found on this web page above in the right column under Tech Support: Web Browsers.

First Reported: 11/8/2010 (remoteDeviceIssue)

Getting 404 Error Message

When I go to click on an underlined link to an assignment or other area within my Blackboard course I get an error message. How do I get into this Assignment to submit my work?

Click on the screenshots below to see larger image of this "404 Error" message.

Please contact your instructor and contact us using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page if you are getting this "404 Error" message. This is a problem with the way your course was set up not something you as a student are doing wrong.

First Reported: 12/3/2010 (404ErrorAssignmentsIssue)

Getting Cannot Download Error

When I go to log into a course or I'm already in a course and click on a link I see an error screen that says "Internet Explorer cannot download login/ from blackboard.heartland.edu. Internet Explorer was not able to open this Internet site. The requested site is either unavailable or cannot be found. Please try again later".

Click on the screenshots below to see larger image of this "cannot download login/ error" message.

Please contact us using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page if you are getting this "cannot download login/ from blackboard.heartland.edu" message.

First Reported: 02/14/2011 (CannotDownloadError)

Cannot Submit SafeAssign

When I try to submit a SafeAssignment I get an error telling me to allow cookies. What does this mean?

Click on the screenshot below to see larger image of this "The page at https://safeassignment.blackboard.com says There was a problem communicating with the SafeAssign central server. Please make sure your browser is set to accept all cookies." message.

Cookies are small files which store information on your computer about Web sites you have visited. Most Web sites including the Blackboard online classes at Heartland Community College use cookies. Blackboard uses them to enable you to login and take online classes. The SafeAssignment service is a third-party that works with Blackboard to check research papers for plagiarism. Because the SafeAssignment system is a separate third-party service you will need to make sure your Web browser allows for all cookies to be accepted (not only cookies from sites you directly navigate to).

In Firefox the cookies setting is under:

• Tools menu and click Options,
• Privacy tab along the top of the Options window,
• Drop down box should show "Firefox Will: Remember history".

In Windows Internet Explorer the cookies setting is under:

• Tools menu and click Internet Options,
• Security Tab and Trusted sites checkmark chosen,
• Set the trusted sites setting to Low.

In Safari on a Macintosh computer the cookies setting is under:

• Safari menu and click Preferences,
• Under the Security tab along the top of the Preferences window,
• Always needs to be selected near the Accept Cookies option.

First Reported: 06/09/2011 (safeAssignCookies)

Cannot Get To Course Materials

When I click on a link to view course materials it returns a screen with a red box and an error message that says:

Error:
Index 4: Size: 2
For References the Error ID is: bfffd318-20af-42b8-8e0c-e93ad70044c8
Monday, June 13, 2011 08:35:04 PM CDT

Click on the screenshot below to see larger image of this "Index 4: Size: 2" error:

This might indicate that you are trying to get into course materials that haven't been released by your instructor.

Please contact us using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page if you are getting this "Index 4: Size: 2" error message.

First Reported: 06/13/2011 (courseMaterialsError)

Cannot Upload Assignment File

When I try to upload an assignment I get an error message that says to contact the system administrator. What do I do?

A sample of the error message is shown below:

Error:
An error occurred. Contact the System Administrator
For References the Error ID is:
0dd317c2-44c7-477d-b06c-def76f281370
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 08:49:05 AM CST

Click on the screenshot below to see larger image of this "An error occurred" message:

It is possible that you are trying to upload an assignment file that exceeds the maximum file size for Blackboard to handle. Please limit your files to under 35 Megabytes.

You can determine the size of the file you are trying to upload by right mouse clicking on the file name of the original file on your computer (or flash drive) and choosing "Properties". If the file size is larger than 35 Megabytes (MB) your file might not upload into your online course. You may need to work with your instructor on getting the file size down to an appropriate size.

Please contact us using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page if you are getting an error message when attempting to upload an assignment file.

First Reported: 11/22/2011 (fileSizeLimitError)

Cannot Complete Short Answer Test

When I am taking a test and have short answer or essay questions to type into I cannot type into any more than the first questions text box. How do I complete the rest of the test short answer questions?

This issue has been discovered to be related to using Firefox 11.0. Please update your Web Browser to Firefox 12.0 (or newer) to alleviate this problem.

First Reported: 4/15/2012 (firefox11TextInput)

Common Issues with Blackboard 9: Instructors

At Heartland Community College we are utilizing a Course Management System (CMS) called Blackboard Learn (aka Blackboard 9). This CMS is fairly new and as such it has some bugs to work out. We appreciate your patience with this system while we try to make your online course experience at Heartland the best it can be.

Below you will find a list of common issues we have discovered using Blackboard and a solution to the problem. If you are still experiencing difficulty using your online course(s) please contact the Blackboard Tech Support personnel at the Tech Support: Contact information at right. Other tips to keep in mind when trying to troubleshoot issues you are having with your computer are to keep your operating system up-to-date using the operating system updates appropriate for your computer and using the Mozilla Firefox browser which tends to alleviate many of the common issues that persist when using Microsoft Internet Explorer. Firefox is a free and safe download which you can install on your computer and use with the myHeartland and Blackboard online courses. That browser is available at the link at right under the Tech Support: Web Browsers section. Another suggestion is to clear the web browser cookies. The instructions for clearing browser cookies are on the right side of this web page under Tech Support: Clearing Cookies.

Use this menu to find Blackboard Instructor Tech Support Solutions:

Words of Advice: Internet Explorer 9 Words of Advice: Entry Point Words of Advice: Files Names Words of Advice: Files Size Limit Blackboard Running Slowly Cannot Use Lecture Hall or Chat Cannot Download Course Materials Cannot Open A Student's Assignment Cannot Access My Grades Cannot Open Adaptive Release Quiz Cannot Change Test Availability Cannot Change Test Availability Cannot See Discussion Board Post Cannot Embed Audio Into a Course Cannot Add a Safe Assignment Cannot Get Into My Course Safe Assignments Not Working Student Submissions Not Showing Up Cannot Get a Content Area to Show Cannot Get ScrollBar for GradeCenter Copy and Pasting Loses Formatting Incorrect Grade Center Total Column Getting 403 Error Message Getting Cannot Download Error Getting Anonymous Author Name Grade Center Changes Not Immediate Cannot Get External Link to Open

Words of Advice: Internet Explorer 9

As a Blackboard online instructor, you should not be using Internet Explorer 9. This Web browser not only hasn't been certified as compatible with our current version of Blackboard 9.0 but it will break most of the "Edit Mode On" functions you require to successfully set up and teach an online course. The "drag and drop ability", "double chevron/editing ability" and most course editing functionality completely breaks when using Internet Explorer 9 and our current version of the Blackboard Learning Management System.

If you experience issues with the drag and drop not working, double chevron symbol not "clickable" or other broken functionality you are probably using Internet Explorer 9.

Please use the Firefox Web browser (download location linked at right under Tech Support: Web Browsers) instead of using Internet Explorer 9.

(wordsAdviceInternetExplorer9)

Words of Advice: Entry Point

If you choose to make your Entry Point (the Landing Page or Home Page) of your class different from the default home page ONLY make the Entry Point an internal Blackboard page. If you choose to make your Entry Point an external web site (like www.google.com or even www.heartland.edu) then everytime you try to get back into your Blackboard course you will be sent out to that external web page with no way to see your course's internal navigation.

Preferred Landing Pages include:

• A course Announcements page with at least one announcement and has been made visible to students (and has been configured to be Permanent or Date Restricted with both Start and End Dates and Times selected correctly),
• A welcome page with at least one piece of content and has been made visible to students, or
• A Course Information (module) page.

DO NOT make your Landing Page ANY of the following:

• The HCC Tech Support Page,
• Any External Web page such as Google.com or CNN.com, etc.,
• The My Grades page,
• Any other internal Blackboard page which has been made invisible to students or contain no content/text.

Using any of these four page types above will result in you being knocked out of your course before you ever get to see the left side course navigation (as the first two are external or outside of Blackboard pages and the My Grades page isn't accessible from the instructor view so you will see an error message). Pages which are invisible to students or contain no content/text will not appear when the student logs into your course. They will end up with an error and won't be able to access your class.

If you accidentally make one of these "not acceptible" pages your courses landing page please contact the Tech Support for Blackboard at Heartland at the Tech Support link at the top right of this web page.

To access your Styles for that Blackboard course tack on your course ID onto the end of this URL:

https://blackboard.heartland.edu/webapps/blackboard/execute/cp/
manageCourseDesign?cmd=display&course_id=_

So if your course ID is 43_1 enter the number 43_1 after the URL above to enter into that course's Styles page and change the Landing Page to an acceptible Blackboard page.

https://blackboard.heartland.edu/webapps/blackboard/execute/cp/
manageCourseDesign?cmd=display&course_id=_43_1

Click the screenshot below to see a larger version of this Styles Landing Page/Entry Page selection.

(wordsAdviceEntryPoint)

Words of Advice: Files Names

When naming uploaded files (PowerPoints, Adobe PDFs, Word Documents, etc) please refrain from using special characters (ex. #, @, &, *). Using these special characters can cause Blackboard to have issues with your files. This goes for names of columns in the grade center, names of tests/quizzes, announcements, or other course content and even names of the content areas along the left navigation of your course. Avoiding characters like these (basically anything that requires you to hold the shift key down on the keyboard) will cause you less frustration in the end.

So rather than label an assignment: Assignment #1,

label your assignment: Assignment1 or AssignmentOne.

(wordsAdviceFileNamesInstructors)

Words of Advice: Files Size Limit

When uploading files into your Blackboard course please do not exceed a file size limit of approximately 10 MB. If you attempt to upload a file larger than 10 MB you will receive a warning telling you that you have exceeded the 9.766 MB file size limit and your attachment/upload will not be attached or uploaded.

(wordsAdviceFileSizesInstructors)

Blackboard is Running Slowly

When I try to access and use my Blackboard course(s) the system seems to be running especially slow.

Some faculty have battled EXTREMELY SLOW performance which makes it near impossible to work. If you have such an experience, please email Tech Support using the link at the upper right of this web page with the specific date/time and information on the computer your were using (Office computer/Home computer, - Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari, etc.). We are building a lists of specific instances of SLOW performance.

First Reported: 06/08/2010 (slowIssue)

Cannot Open Lecture Hall or Office Hours

I can't get the Lecture Hall (Virtual Classroom) or Office Hours (Chat) functions to work on my computer. I get an error that looks like this:

Application failed to run. Exception:java.lang.ClassNotFoundException:
blackboard.plugins.virtualclassroom.ui.Tools.class
Firefox can't find server at collab.hccnet.heartland.edu

We are currently looking into why this error is occuring. Be sure to let your instructor know this is happening and send in a Tech Support Request using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page. Also make sure you have the Java plug-in installed in your browser. You can download the Java plug-in for free at:

http://www.java.com

First Reported: 06/01/2010 (chatJavaIssue)

Cannot Download Course Materials

I try to open a Word document, PowerPoint, Excel spreadsheet or other Microsoft Office document that a student submitted as an assignment but the browser won’t allow me to download or open the file.

Click the screenshot below to see a larger version of this Internet Explorer error message.

At this time we are experiencing difficulty with the new Microsoft Office 2007 files. If a student has uploaded an Office 2007 file for you to download try using the Firefox web browser available to download for free at the link on the right of this page under Web Browsers.

First Reported: 06/01/2010 (downloading07Issue)

At this time this Office 2007 document issue should no longer be effecting students or faculty. A patch was installed to correct for this issue. If you are still experiencing problems downloading Office 2007 files in Blackboard online courses please contact the Tech Support staff at the link at the top right column of this web page.

Update: 07/06/2010

Cannot Open Student's Assignment

How do I open a student's assignment after they submit or upload an assignment to me? I need to see their assignment to grade it but I don't know how to open it.

To open a student's assignment they have submitted through Blackboard follow these steps:

1. In the Control Panel (lower left under the course navigation)- select Evaluation – then Grade Center
2. You will see a green exclamation point when students submit work.
3. In the cell for each student you should see a double chevron when you hover in a cell. Click it and select View Grade Details and under Attempts (2nd section of the new page) you should click Open Attempt to grade the work.

First Reported: 06/04/2010 (openingAssignmentIssue)

Cannot Access My Grades

When my student's click on the Grades (or myGrades) link on the left side of my online course they cannot get into see their grades. It shows an error that looks like

Error reading 'grade' on type blackboard.webapps.gradebook.student.StudentGradebookRow
For reference, the Error ID is 02d6b1ef-c17f-4e6d-997f-e27b8ac32f61.
Friday, June 4, 2010 4:18:22 PM CDT.

We are looking into why this error is taking place when you click on your grades section. This problem seems to stem from instructors overriding a grade that was never entered in the first place (overriding a null grade) or assigning a grade to an assignment before the due date for the assignment has passed. Don't enter a grade as an override grade if no grade was initially entered and don't assign a grade to an assignment before the assignment has been submitted. If you go into the View Attempt for that student's assignment and then assign the grade there this avoids the grades problem student are encountering.

First Reported: 06/04/2010 (mygradesAccessIssue)

This is being caused by an instructor entering a grade as an override grade when no original grade was ever entered (overriding a null value).

Instructions for Instructors: Each overriden grade needs to be edited by the instructor. Through the contextual menu (double chevron symbol) beside the Grade Center score, select View Grade details. Then under the Attempts section, do Edit Grade -> add the same Value -> Save. A submission attempt and score will be registered in the Attempts section.

Click the screenshots below to see larger versions of these instructions for fixing the Grade Center.

Update: 01/06/2011

Students Cannot Open a Adaptive Release Quiz

Students are getting an error when they try to get into a quiz I have set to adaptively release within a Content Learning Module. The error they are receiving looks like this:

Index: 2, Size: 2
For reference, the error ID is: 3dbb0c74-363a-4e02-968b-991e500cf5c7.
Friday, June 4, 2010 9:21:53 AM CDT

It is suggested that you switch from using a Course Content Learning Module to a Content Folder if you are using Adaptively released quizzes and tests.

First Reported: 06/04/2010 (adaptiveQuizIssue)

Cannot Change a Tests Availability After the Fact

I'm wondering how to change the date and time availability on a quiz after the date has already passed to allow students more time to take the quiz?

There is no way to allow for more time after a quiz has already expired. Be sure to initially either set a date and time availability for both a start and end date or don't set an availability constraint at all.

First Reported: 06/08/2010 (testAvailabilityIssue)

Cannot Edit Quiz Date Availability

I'm getting an error message when I go to edit the date availability of a quiz. The error looks like the following:

blackboard.servlet.tags.ngui.picker.DateRangePickerTag tag restrict: the end time cannot be earlier than or equal to the start time.
For reference, the Error ID is fce591e6-4afc-47a5-9c02-8a1155a74310.
Monday, June 14, 2010 8:48:02 AM CDT

It is suggested that you copy the quiz questions into a new quiz and then delete the old quiz that you cannot edit the date availability for if you receive this error message. When entering a date and time restriction please use the calendar and clock icons provided by Blackboard instead of typing your date and time contraint into the text box.

First Reported: 06/11/2010 (testAvailabilityIssue)

Cannot See Student's Discussion Board Post

When I view a student's post in the Thread Detail Screen in the Firefox Browser the Message List (top of the screen) is overlapping the Current Post (bottom the the screen) so I can't read the selected student's post. How can I remove this overlapping?

In Firefox you need to click on the Minimize Message List button (right most button in the set of three buttons to the middle upper right of the Thread Detail Screen). This will minimize the Message List down preventing the Message List from overlapping the Current Post view.

First Reported: 04/19/2010 (firefoxDiscussionBoardIssue)

Cannot Embed Audio Into A Course

When I embed windows media audio files (.wma) into my course I and/or my students are receiving a QuickTime error message that states additional components may need to be downloaded to playback the embedded audio correctly (first image below). Then the browser's QuickTime plugin crashes. How can I embed audio into my Blackboard course?

Click the screenshots below to see a larger version of these QuickTime error and QuickTime crashed screens.

When embedding audio into an online course it is best to use .MP3 file types. MP3s are more easily accessible than a Windows Media Audio file type and playback in a wider variety of audio players/plugins.

One way to convert Windows Media Audio (.WMA) files to .MP3 is to use the iTunes application. iTunes is a free download from Apple.com and will allow you to convert audio files from .WMA to .MP3 following these steps:

1. Open the iTunes Application (if you don't have iTunes you can find it from our Downloads web page),
2. On a Windows PC in iTunes go to the Edit Menu and down to Preferences (on a Macintosh go to the iTunes menu and down to Preferences),
3. Under the General Tab (the first tab that opens) click on the Import Settings button,
4. Drop the Import Using menu down and select MP3 Encoder,
5. Click OK and OK again to get back out to the main iTunes application,
6. Drag and Drop your Windows Media Audio (.WMA) files off of your computer into your iTunes Library,
7. The iTunes application will ask if you want to convert the WMA to MP3... click Convert,
8. Your files will then be converted to .MP3 format (be patient with this process),
9. You can then drag and drop those new .MP3 versions out of your iTunes library to the desktop (a copy will also exist in your iTunes Music library (typically in your My Documents folder under My Music/iTunes/iTunes Music)(On a Macintosh these will be stored in your iTunes Music library under Music/iTunes/iTunes Music),
10. These desktop .MP3 files can then be embedded into a Blackboard course.

First Reported: 07/26/2010 (audioEmbeddingIssue)

Cannot Add a Safe Assignment

When I try to add a Safe Assignment to my course I see a HTTP Status 404 error message. What do I do?

Click on the screenshot below for an image of this HTTP error message:

If you are seeing a screen like the one above with the HTTP Status 404 message when adding a Safe Assignment please contact us using the Tech Support request form link at the top right of this page.

First Reported: 08/10/2010 (safeAssignIssue)

Cannot Get into My Course

When I try to get into a section of my Blackboard courses all I can see is the Tech Support Request form. What do I do?

If you are seeing the Tech Support Request form screen please contact us using that Tech Support Request Form or use the Tech Support Request form link at the top right of this page. Your landing page (or entry page) of your Blackboard course must not be deleted, it must not be hidden or be a link to an external web page, and it has to contain content (at least one item must exist... no blank landing pages).

You can change the landing page of your Blackboard course by following these steps:

1. Login to your Blackboard course,
2. Go to the Course Management Control Panel (lower left below your Course Navigation) and click on Customization,
3. Click on Style (under the Customization options),
4. On the Style web page you can change the look of your Course Navigation Menu, Select a Landing Page (Entry Point), Add a Banner Graphic, and more,
5. Click the drop down menu to select a new Landing Page (Entry Point) for your course if you desire an different Landing Page,
6. If you make a change to the Style page click the Submit button to commit to those changes.

If you change your courses Landing Page please make sure you choose either an Announcments page containing at least one announcement and has been made visible to students, a Welcome page with at least one piece of content/text and is visible to students, or a Course Information (module) page which has been made visible to students. If you make the Landing Page of your Blackboard course any other type of entry page (like the My Grades page, or a page which is invisible to students or has no content or an external web page such as google.com) you and/or your students will not be able to access your Blackboard course correctly. See the Words of Advice section above on this web page for more information about Landing Pages in Blackboard.

Click the screenshot below to see a larger version of this Styles Landing Page/Entry Page selection.

First Reported: 08/13/2010 (courseAccessIssue)

Safe Assignments Not Working

My Safe Assignments are not accessible by students. When they click the View/Complete link they get kicked back out to the myBlackboard web page and can't get into a submission screen for their safe assignment(s). What do I do?

When you copy a course from one semester to the next or copy a course from one section to another you must synchronize the safe assignments with that new course. To synchronize your safe assignments follow these steps:

1. Log into your course section that isn't working,
2. In the Course Management Control Panel open up the Course Tools and click on SafeAssign,
3. On the new screen that loads click on Safe Assignment,
4. In the upper right portion of the screen you will see a Synchronize this course button, click that Synchronize this course button and your Safe Assignments will be accessible for the new course or semester.

Click the screenshot below to see a larger version of this Safe Assignment "Synchronize this course" button.

First Reported: 08/24/2010 (syncSafeAssignIssue)

Student Submissions Not Showing Up

When students submit assignments or other graded items they are not showing up in my Grade Center. How do I check on their submission or grade their assignment if I don't see it?

Most likely you have a hidden column in your Grade Center preventing you from seeing the submission. To unhide any hidden columns in the Grade Center follow these steps:

1. Log into your course section that is giving you trouble,
2. In the Course Management Control Panel open up the Evaluation area and click on Grade Center,
3. From the Grade Center roll over the Manage button and click on Column Organization,
4. The Column Organization screen will show you all of your Grade Center columns and whether they are hidden or not,
5. If a column is hidden and you don't think it should be checkmark the box next to that column name and roll over the Show/Hide button. Then click on Show Selected Columns,
6. To accept those changes click Submit,
7. This will unhide that column showing it to you so you can see student's submissions for that column.

Click the screenshot below to see a larger version of this Grade Center Column Organization.

First Reported: 08/24/2010 (hiddenColumnIssue)

Cannot Get a Content Area to Show

I have a link to a Course Content area in my left navigation that refuses to show. I've tried clicking on the small double chevron to the right and clicking Show Link but it still won't show up in the student view. How do I make this link available?

You probably have a Date and Time restriction on that course content area preventing the link from showing in the student view. Follow these steps to make this course content area available/shown:

1. Log into your course section that is giving you trouble,
2. With the Edit Mode set to On (so you as the instructor can make changes) click on the Course Content area giving you problems (in the left navigation area) to navigate into this content area,
3. At the top of the screen you will see a bold face Course Content Area Name and a large double chevron. Click that large double chevron to the right of the Content Area name and click Edit,
4. Scroll down to the 3rd section of this edit screen called Options. The date/time restriction is causing your Content Area to be hidden from student's view,
5. Change the Display Until date to something in the future or delete the dates and times for both Display After and Display Until and uncheck their checkboxes to show this Content Area,
6. To commit to this change click Submit in the lower right corner.

Click the screenshots below to see a larger version of this Content Area Editing screen.

First Reported: 08/31/2010 (hiddenContentIssue)

Missing Scrollbar for GradeCenter

In my GradeCenter I don't have a ScrollBar when I use Internet Explorer as my browser. How do I make the ScrollBar show up?

Windows XP and Windows 7 instructions for resizing the Scrollbar are shown below.

If you are using Internet Explorer and you can't see the ScrollBar in the GradeCenter the default font size setting in your operating system is probably set to high. Follow these instructions for the Windows XP operating system for changing the default font size of the scrollbar to a smaller setting:

1. Logout of Blackboard and close your web browser,
2. Open the operating system Control Panel by going to the lower left corner Start button and up to Control Panel (under Settings),
3. Double-click the Display (or Display Properties) icon,
4. Click the Appearance tab,
5. Click the Advanced button,
6. Drop down the Item: list and choose Scrollbar,
7. Select a number less than 20 from the Size: option (17 is the default value),
8. Click OK,
9. Close all open control panel windows,
10. Reopen your web browser and login to Blackboard.

Click the screenshots below to see a larger version of these steps to setting the size property of the ScrollBar in Windows XP.

Windows 7 Instructions: For Windows 7 operating system follow these instructions for changing the default font size of the scrollbar to a smaller setting:

1. Logout of Blackboard and close your web browser,
2. Open the operating system Control Panel by going to the lower left corner Start button and up to Control Panel,
3. Select Appearance and Personalization from the Control Panel window,
4. In the top right corner search box, type "windows color",
5. From the list which appears choose "Change window colors and metrics",
6. Drop down the Item: list and choose Scrollbar,
7. Select a number less than 20 from the Size: option (17 should work for Size ),
8. Click OK,
9. Close all open control panel windows,
10. Reopen your web browser and login to Blackboard.

Click the screenshots below to see a larger version of these steps to setting the size property of the ScrollBar in Windows 7 Operating System.

First Reported: 09/01/2010 (scrollBarIssue)

Copy and Pasting Loses Formatting

When I copy and paste my text into the Visual Text Editor in Blackboard I lose all of the original formatting (bold facing, line breaks, text sizing, etc). How do I retain the formatting of the text when I copy and paste?

Technically you should be able to right click and choose paste into the Visual Text Editor after copying your text from a Microsoft Office product to retain text formatting. However this doesn't always work. So the next best option is to strip all of the text formatting out of your text, copy the plain text, paste into Blackboard and reformat in Blackboard. To strip formatting out of text you can save your file as a plain text file (with a .txt file extension) or copy and paste the text into a plain text editor such as Microsoft Notepad (located under the Start button -> Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad). This will remove all of the formatting and allow you to copy and paste the plain text version of your text into the Blackboard Visual Text Editor. Then you will need to reformat all of your text using the Visual Text Editors text formatting functions.

First Reported: 09/27/2010 (copyPasteFormatIssue)

Incorrect Grade Center Total Column

When I add grades to columns in my Grade Center the totals don't look like they are calculating correctly. What do I do to fix this total column in the Grade Center?

If your total column in Grade Center doesn't look like it is calculating grades correctly you will need to manually re-enter any column already in the Grade Center. Blackboard will then correctly display the total in the total column. This manual entry method forces Blackboard to refresh the total column calculation. If the totals still do not look correct you may have a hidden column(s) incorrectly adding to the total column. To show hidden columns in the Grade Center roll the mouse over Manage and click on Column Organization. This will bring up the list of all columns you have set up in the Grade Center and show if they are hidden (italicized and greyed out) or not hidden/shown. If a column is hidden then you can show that column by checkmarking the column you'd like to show and roll over the Show/Hide button at the bottom or top of this screen and click on Show Selected Columns.

Click the screenshot below to see a larger version of this Grade Center Column Organization.

If you want your students to see a percentage or letter grade rather than a point total you can create more total columns and have them display percentages or a letter grade total. To add another total column roll over the Create Calculated Column button on the main Grade Center screen and click on Total Column from this dropdown menu. You will be asked to fill in the options for creating a new total column including giving the column a name and a grade center display name. Type those two entries in and change the drop down box at the bottom of section 1 on this screen to show a Primary Display: Letter or Primary Display: Percentage (depending on which one of these you want displayed). When you are satisfied with this new total column's settings click Submit. Your new total column will be added to the end of your Grade Center as the new last column listed. However when you choose Letter Grade or Percentage Total to display you will scroll over to the end of your Grade Center Columns and notice that the total is still in a points format (not a letter grade or percentage displaying). To get this new Letter Grade Total Column or Percentages Total Column to display correctly you will have to exit out of this course completely, go back to the myBlackboard screen and enter back into this course. This will "refresh" the columns in your Grade Center and you will see the Letter Grade or Percentages column correctly.

Click the screenshot below to see a larger version of adding a new Total Column from the Create Calculated Column button as well as a screenshot of the Create Total Column Screen which allows you to choose a Letter Grade or Percentage Total to display in the Primary Display.

First Reported: 10/12/2010 (gradeColumnsIssue)

Getting 403 Error Message

When I go into and click on a document a student has submitted as an assignment in my Blackboard course I get a 403 error message. How do I get into this assignment to view/grade the work?

Please contact us using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page if you are getting this "403 Error" message.

First Reported: 01/11/2011 (403ErrorIssue)

Getting Cannot Download Error

When I go to log into a course or I'm already in a course and click on a link I see an error screen that says "Internet Explorer cannot download login/ from blackboard.heartland.edu. Internet Explorer was not able to open this Internet site. The requested site is either unavailable or cannot be found. Please try again later".

Click on the screenshots below to see larger image of this "cannot download login/ error" message.

Please contact us using the Tech Support Request Form link at the top right of this page if you are getting this "cannot download login/ from blackboard.heartland.edu" message.

First Reported: 02/14/2011 (CannotDownloadErrorInstructors)

Getting Anonymous Author Name

After I do a course copy all of my Discussion Board Threads have the author name listed as Anonymous and the thread date is from a previous semester. How can I get my name as the course instructor to show as the author of my posts and the date on the thread to update to a date closer to this semester?

The steps to correct this Anonymous post author and date/time stamp issue after doing a Course Copy are:

1. Locate the Thread in your Copied Course (new course),
2. Edit the Thread by making one small change (like adding a space after a period),
3. and Submit the Thread.

The date/time stamp should update and your name should appear instead of seeing Anonymous listed for the post author.

Click on the screenshots below to see larger image showing these instructions for fixing this "Anonymous post author and date/time stamp issue".

First Reported: 04/22/2011 (discussionBoardAnonymousInstructors)

Grade Center Changes Not Immediate

When I make changes to the Grade Center those changes don't seem to immediately take effect. But when I come back later the change has been made. Why aren't my changes to the Grade Center immediate?

One possible reason you are not seeing an immediate change to the Grade Center is that the Grade Center Web page is being cached (temporarily stored) by your Web browser and as such you don't see immediate changes until the cache is emptied and the Web browser goes back to check for a newer version of that Web page.

To force your Web browser to cache Web pages less aggressively you can follow these steps:

Internet Explorer 8 "less aggressive caching" instructions:

1. Within Internet Explorer 8 open the Tools menu,
2. From Tools choose Internet Options,
3. Within the General tab click on the Browsing History Settings button,
4. Click the radio button for "Every time I visit the webpage",
5. Click OK

Click on the screenshot below to see larger image showing these instructions for setting the Internet Explorer 8 Cache to check for a Web page every time you navigate to that Web page.

Firefox "less agressive caching" instructions:

1. Within Firefox open the Tools menu,
2. From Tools choose Options,
3. Within the Advanced button and the Network tab checkmark the "Override automatic cache management",
4. Change the number for "Limit cache to" to 10 MB of space,
5. Click the Clear Now button to clear the cache of any files currently stored,
6. Click OK.

Click on the screenshot below to see larger image showing these instructions for setting the Firefox Web browser Cache to check for a Web page more frequently.

These instructions should help alleviate the problem of the Grade Center not updating immediately when you change information. Sometimes changes to total columns will not update until you exit out of the course and re-enter the course. See the information "Incorrect Grade Center Total Column" on this Web page above.

First Reported: 05/19/2011 (gradeCenterUpdateInstructors)

Cannot Get External Link to Open

When I try to put a link into my Blackboard course to a YouTube video it won't open the external link. How do I get this to work?

We've found that links to external sites like YouTube will only open if you tell Blackboard to open the page in a new window.

Click on the screenshot below to see larger image showing the screen in Blackboard for setting an external link to open in a new window.

First Reported: 08/23/2011 (linkOpenIssueInstructors)