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Blackboard 6.3 at CSI: Frequently Asked Questions

Why the change? (top of page)

Blackboard Inc. has recently ceased support of our version of Blackboard (5.5). In order to provide continued access to Blackboard, CSI will be migrating to CUNY's Blackboard server prior to the Fall 2006 semester. This migration, in addition to providing the additional features of Blackboard 6.3, will also present uniform access for all users through the CUNY portal. No more classes will be taught on the Blackboard 5.5 installation, though your content from old classes will remain accessible to you on CSI's Blackboard server.

What's different about Blackboard 6.3? (top of page)

The most visible difference is the use of the CUNY Portal for logging in to Blackboard. All students must be registered on the portal before they can access Blackboard courses.

Also, courses will be created automatically from the scheduling system-- the CUNY server should create the links and populate your course with students on its own. You shouldn't have to wait for anyone to set up your classes going forward on the CUNY server. Each semester from now on, your courses will be set up and ready to use before the semester begins-- you won't have to wait for us them up to get started (but please let us know if some of your courses don't show up).

Blackboard 6.3 also offers many new and improved features for use in your courses. Tutorials and workshops for these features will be arranged by CELT, but please come by or call x4007 to request specific training sessions.

Where can I learn more about the CUNY Portal?

You can start with our condensed version of the CUNY Portal's FAQs; login to the portal to find more information.

How do I login to Blackboard 6.3? (top of page)

In order to access the new Blackboard 6.3, login to the CUNY Portal (you may need to register if you have not used the portal before):

https://portal.cuny.edu/portal/site/cuny/index.jsp?epi-content=LOGIN

Instructions for logging in can be found at the following link

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/celt/blackboard_training/login/

How do students log in? (top of page)

As far as student logins to the new Blackboard, your students will need to access Blackboard through the CUNY portal as well, with the user ID and password they created when registering for the portal. You can find directions to share with them here:

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/celt/blackboard_training/login/

Some students may need to go through the registration process, which requires their last name, birthdate, and social security number (or student ID number if they have no SSN).

Who sets up student logins and usernames? (top of page)

The CUNY Blackboard system uses CUNY Portal login information, and students will access their courses through the Portal. They are automatically created and added to courses as they are registered. If they have not already done so, students will need to register for their portal accounts before they'll be able to access Blackboard (and eSIMS).

You may refer students to the following webpage for instructions for logging in to Blackboard:

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/celt/blackboard_training/login/

What are students' usernames? (top of page)

Students will log in to Blackboard 6.3 through the CUNY Portal, using the username and password they set up when registering for the Portal. There is no particular naming convention or formula common to all student usernames or initial passwords.

What is that big long number I see listed as students' usernames? (top of page)

Technically, "usernames" listed in Blackboard 6.3 are the horribly long UUID numbers you may have noticed in the control panel. The good news is that you really shouldn't ever have to type/remember/otherwise deal with one of those. These are student ID numbers and should not be used, copied, shared, or otherwise exposed.

Students' portal user IDs are roughly equivalent to the old "username" idea from Bb 5.5-- students use them to log in (and will likely never see the long number unless they hunt for it). With the CUNY system, you're never supposed to need to add anyone to your course section, as the computer will do that, and therefore you shouldn't need to use students' usernames often.

How can I get my courses set up in Blackboard 6.3? (top of page)

One of the benefits of using the CUNY Blackboard installation is that the courses are created automatically from the scheduling system-- the CUNY server should create course sections and populate them with students on its own. You shouldn't have to wait for anyone to set up your classes going forward on the CUNY server.

Each semester from now on, your courses will be set up and ready to use before the semester begins-- you won't have to wait for us them up to get started (but please let us know if some of your courses don't show up).

How do I create new users/courses? (top of page)

Now that Blackboard is controlled by the Portal, we can no longer create users or change names and passwords at CSI. In addition to sounding like the first act of a science fiction movie, it also sounds like a bad thing. But the benefits are that students will be automatically added to course sections when registered, and courses will be automatically set up and maintained. You won't have to wait for us to set up your classes anymore, but, since it's supposed to happen automatically, if your classes don't show up, or students aren't appearing, let us know right away and we'll figure out the issue. Drops and adds will be handled automatically by the server.

However, if you would like us to set up an organizational site for your organization, we can do that. Users will have to be registered on the CUNY Portal to access the organizational site.

One or more of the courses I'm scheduled to teach this semester is not listed as one of my courses in Blackboard 6.3-- what should I do? (top of page)

Courses should automatically be set up and appear in your list of courses. In some cases, however, courses you expect to see listed may not be associated with you in Blackboard. Usually this is due to a course being listed TBA in the schedule. If this happens, please notify Patrick Williams (x4097) and he will have the appropriate course associated with you in the system. There is no need to wait for this to resolve itself, if anything looks strange or out of order (or if you are associated with courses you shouldn't be), please let Patrick know.

Why does it say that my courses are unavailable? (top of page)

In this version of Bb, courses are hidden from students until you choose to unhide them. The one additional step you'll have to go through once your class is set up is making it "available". You can find instructions on doing that at the following link:

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/celt/blackboard_training/available/

How do I get my old courses to show up in the new Blackboard? (top of page)

No courses before Spring 2005 will appear in Blackboard 6.3, and old courses will eventually be removed from the CUNY Server. However, your old courses will remain on CSI's Blackboard 5.5 Server, so there is no need to recreate your old courses on the new Blackboard to archive them. The primary reason you'll want to migrate content to the new Blackboard 6.3 server is in order to use it in your upcoming classes. You are free to do this at any time.

Is the old Blackboard going away?
Will my old courses be deleted? (top of page)

There are no plans to take down CSI's Blackboard server; it should be up and running for a long time to come. No new classes will be created on it, but you will have access to your old classes. If you would like to back up your course data on your own computer or on a CDR, please contact CELT for assistance.

I want to use materials from one of my old classes this semester-- how do I move it to the new Blackboard server? (top of page)

If you'd like to bring in content from your Blackboard 5.5 classes, you can follow the instructions at the link below or contact me if you run into trouble. The same basic instructions will work for moving content between Blackboard 6.3 classes.

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/celt/blackboard_training/migrating/

Why do the discussion board posts and announcements I migrated to Blackboard 6.3 have no authors? (top of page)

It is important to note that, while the migration interface will allow you to choose to include Users and Groups in your archive, the actual students in your previous class will not be added to the new class, nor will any groups to which you assigned them. You may include content from the Discussion Board (both the threads you set up and all of the subsequent responses will be archived), but student's names will be removed from the content. You may choose to delete these later or opt out of including the discussion board content in the import process. The same follows for announcements-- they will be attributed to the System Administrator because the identity of the person who posted them is not the same in the new system.

I reset my password, but now it's a string of numbers that I'll never remember-- how do I change my password in the CUNY Portal? (top of page)

You can change your password by clicking on "My Profile" at the bottom of the left-hand navigation on any CUNY portal page. Once you get to your profile, click on "modify," and then scroll down a ways. You have to enter your old password, then a new one and confirmation. It's a little tricky-- it remembers your old passwords, and won't let you repeat them, so it might take a few tries to find a good one. If you end up forgetting it, you can visit this page:

https://portal.cuny.edu/portal/site/cuny/index.jsp?epi-content=FORGOT_PASSWORD

(it's where you're taken when you click "Forgot you password?" link on the login form.)

And a new password will be sent to your listed email address, at which point you can go through the change process (trust me, you're NOT going to want to remember the password they generate for you).

I've had a hard time using email through Blackboard in the past. Are there any alternatives in Blackboard 6.3?

Blackboard 6.3 allows for email-like communication that remains integrated within your course sites. The feature (called "Messages") allows you to send, recieve, and organize your communications with students in context without having to worry about email messages bouncing back or being considered spam by your students' email clients.

Do I have to keep my external links all in one place in Blackboard 6.3?

In Blackboard 6.3, you have much more flexibility in terms of how you organize your course content. You may place links to external websites in any content area.

Changes I'm making in the control panel aren't "taking"-- what's wrong?

Sometimes the changes you make to your Blackboard classes will not appear automatically, in these cases, try refreshing the page in your browser. That should fix things.

How do I change the information listed in my Blackboard Profile? Who can see this? (top of page)

Your Blackboard profile information, beyond your primary role, is not visible to other users. There is no need to enter information here, and in fact, you may want to delete any information that is there.

How do I change the information listed in my CUNY Portal Profile? Who can see this? (top of page)

Your personal information on the CUNY Portal reflects what the registrar's (or HR's) office has on file for you. There are a few fields that you may edit yourself, but most changes need to be made by contacting the appropriate office.

Can students share files within groups in Blackboard 6.3? (top of page)

Students in a group will most definitely be able to share files in Blackboard 6.3, with better tools than in Blackboard 5.5. As an instructor, you need only create the groups enable the appropriate file sharing features. You can also create chatrooms and discussion boards for the groups.