------ 1. No "Send as Email" Option with Announcements -----
You may have noticed that the "Send as email" check box is no longer in the announcements in Blackboard. The workaround is to make the announcement, copy the message, go to the Control Panel > Course Tools > Send Email. Paste the message in there and send it to all users. This takes a few extra steps, but it accomplishes the job.
----- 2. Sometimes the "Send Email" option, in the Control Panel's "Course Tools" section, is off the bottom of the screen -----
In order to send an email to all the users in your class, you expand the "Course Tools" in the Control Panel and select the "Send Email" tool. Depending on the size of your screen, "Send Email" might be off the bottom, with no scroll bar to get down to it. This is a side effect of the way things open and close without redrawing the page. They forgot to recalculate the page size each time they open or close an item in the menu bar. The workaround is to close the course menu temporarily, raising the Control Panel and letting the "Send Email" appear. Confused? Watch the two minute video at http://goo.gl/ccLLT to see both the problem and the workaround.
Forgive me for using "echelon" in place of "chevron" in the video. I realized my mistake, and decided "Good enough is good enough" and "Good is good, but done is better." So rather than redoing the recording I am sending it out as-is with the hope you will forgive my misuse of the terms.
Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more
