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Your
Account: Your "login" should be your 8 digit
student ID number. Your initial password is your birthdate
in MMDDYY format (so June 6, 1984 is "060684")
unless you are taking a course entirely on the internet,
in which case your default password is "changeme".
At any time, you can change your password in the "Personal
Information" area under "Tools". Choose a
password you will remember!
Once you login to Blackboard,
you will see the latest announcements. You can review old
announcements by selecting the tabs at the top of the page.
Always remember to look at the announcements under "last
7 days."
What follows is a brief
description of some of the section headings you see to the
left of your announcements. However, please feel free to
explore the different sections to see what is contained
within each area. Depending
on which features your instructor has chosen to use, some
areas may have slightly different names or not be available
at all.
The Course Information
area contains the syllabus, course objectives, course objectives
by Exam units, and a link to any quizzes that are posted.
The Course Documents
section usually contains the main content for the course,
including Powerpoint lectures, notes, and other documents.
Much of the lecture material cannot be found in your text,
and may not be posted, so simply checking this area is NOT
a substitute for attending class. Remember that it may take
time to download the lectures because of the graphic content
and the speed of your connection to the internet.
The Assignments section
highlights the due dates for assignments and projects. Additionally,
it alerts you to Exam dates. Quizzes will also be located
in the "Assignments" section. Other assignments
may be added to the current list of assignments.
The Communication section
contains tools to communicate with your class:
One part of the communications
section is the Discussion Board.
You can use the discussion board to talk about class related
topics. Click the AddNew Thread button and post your
question to discuss a class related topic you are interested
in. Check the Discussion Board every time you login. This
is often a primary means of class participation and your
instructor may periodically post new discussion/assignments
to which you are expected to respond. Read a message by
clicking the forum link and then selecting the topic. Respond
by clicking the Reply button.
Another area with the Communication section
is the Virtual Classroom: this
is a real-time feature comparable to online chat rooms,
but visitors are from this class. Depending on how it is
enabled for your class, you may want to schedule a time
to meet with one or more of your classmates or your instructor
to discuss a certain problem.
E Mail: you may email your classmates through the send email
option.
Click send email and then
click select users to choose your classmates with whom you
want to correspond. Messages will go to the email address
submitted by each student.
External links section contains links associated with this course.
The URLs will be helpful as you start to surf the web for
relevant information. These will take you to web sites outside
of Blackboard, and will usually open in a new window. To
return to your Bb class site, just close the window by clicking
the "x" in the upper right hand corner of the
window.
Tools contains
virtual course tools. The most important tool is the Digital Drop Box. When submitting an assignment,
you will submit it through the virtual drop box. Click Add
File. Title it by the name of the assignment. For written
assignments, create the assignment in Word, Notepad or Wordpad
and save it as plain text (.txt). You will attach it to
the message in the drop box by clicking the Browse button
by File. There is also a manual in the Tools
section. Refer to this when seeking answers to Blackboard
problems. If enabled, you may check your status in the class
under the Check Grade
option.
Exams: An email announcement will be sent to you regarding
when, where and how to access exams.
When you log
into Bb, you should always check Announcements, Course Documents,
Assignments, and the Discussion Board.
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