Univ. of Miami - Blackboard

Re: [BB] Blackboard & iClicker training- reminder

2012-01-18T11:08:00.000-05:00

Blackboard List Members,

This is a reminder of the training classes that the Instructional Advancement Center’s team are offering:

iClicker

Participate in a demonstration of how the iClicker classroom student response system works and learn how to use the system in your classes. Faculty find that iClickers can increase engagement, learning, and class participation. Give it a try. Start by attending this short training session.

Blackboard

Whether you are using the Blackboard course web site system or not, you may want to participate in one or more of the training sessions.

- Introduction to Blackboard 9.1

- Blackboard Grade Center

- Blackboard Training - Assignments

- Blackboard Learning Modules

For full descriptions, dates, times, and rooms, and the registration forms for these training sessions, please visit the http://iacevents.org web site and click on the title of the desired training session. For additional information contact Kelley Seaman at k.seaman@miami.edu

Kelley Seaman

University of Miami

Instructional Advancement Center

Richter Library, 325 (LC 0320)

305-284-2008 P

305-284-3865 F

Re: [BB] General Purpose Classroom Technology Training

2012-01-17T13:13:00.001-05:00

Blackboard Users:

The general purpose classrooms in Memorial, the Learning Center, and the Residential College Classrooms feature some wonderful technology that can be used to enhance teaching. These sessions will demonstrate the features of the rooms, from the lights and telephone system to the writing tablet and video cameras. All teachers using these rooms are encouraged to attend one of the scheduled demonstrations.

The classes will be held: Wednesday 1/18/12 from 9:05 am – 10:05 am Memorial Bldg. room 204

Wednesday 1/18/12 from 2:30 pm – 3:20 pm Memorial Bldg. room 314

Friday 1/20/12 from 9:05 am – 10:05 am Memorial Bldg. room 204

Ken Gamber, 305-284-6239 or kgamber@miami.edu, is also available for private sessions if you cannot make a scheduled session or would prefer one-on-one training.

University of Miami

Instructional Advancement Center

Richter Library, 325 (LC 0320)

305-284-2008 P

305-284-3865 F

[BB] Pre-semester Rush

2012-01-11T11:48:00.001-05:00

Bb using Faculty at UM,

Classes start this coming Tuesday. Requests for Blackboard activities are coming in at an incredible rate. We are short staffed at the moment, so your requests my not be handled as quickly as usual. Our student workers don't start until next week and some of our full-time employees are out sick.

If you need something done on Blackboard, please fill out a ticket. You can create a ticket by sending your request in an email to blackboardhelp@miami.edu. You can also get to the ticketing system by going to Blackboard and clicking on the Help link in the banner at the top of every page and then clicking on the "Create Blackboard Help Desk Ticket" link on the next screen that appears.

Please try to refrain from calling or emailing any of us directly, if possible. We need to spend our time working on tickets. Thanks in advance.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement Center
Information Technology
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
305-284-3944

Re: [BB] iClicker training starts Thursday, Jan. 12th

2012-01-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

Blackboard List Members,

Thursday January 12^th 3 – 4:30 pm

Friday January 13^th 3 – 4:30 pm

Wednesday January 18^th 2:30 – 4:00 pm

To register please visit http://iacevents.org and for additional information contact Kelley Seaman 305-284-2008 or k.seaman@miami.edu

Kelley Seaman

Instructional Advancement Center

[BB] Blackboard Training Starts Monday, Jan 9

2012-01-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

Blackboard List Members,

Whether you are using the Blackboard course web site system or not, you may want to participate in one or more of the training sessions starting Monday, January 9th.

- Introduction to Blackboard 9.1
- Blackboard Grade Center
- Blackboard Training - Assignments
- Blackboard Learning Modules

Bill Vilberg

[This message is being sent to the Blackboard mailing list at the University of Miami. If you would like to be removed from this list, let me know in a reply to this message. If you know people who would like to subscribe to this list, they can go to https://listserv.miami.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=BB&A=1 and fill out the automated form.]

[BB] Security Certificate problem

2011-12-28T17:56:00.000-05:00

Blackboard users,

We currently have a problem with the security certificate for www.courses.miami.edu. You are likely to see a warning message, until we get the problem corrected. You can safely continue to the web site, even though your browser indicates the certificate problem. We are working on it, and will let you know when the problem is resolved.

Bill Vilberg

[BB] Safe Assign - Please do not resubmit

2011-12-08T18:48:00.001-05:00

Bb users,

Blackboard is saying that resubmissions are one of the causes of the long delays in Safe Assign processing. If you are waiting for a Safe Assign report, please do not resubmit the item.

If a report isn't available after 72 hours (3 days) please let us know so we can document it and check things out. Please provide the course, assignment, and whether the report was requested via direct submit. We have limited access to information inside Blackboard, but we will do what we can.

Blackboard continues to report that the delays will be less than 24 hours as soon as the backlog gets processed. We will see. The current situation is, of course, completely unsatisfactory, and is one of the things leading us to reevaluate our long term commitment to Blackboard.

Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Safe Assignment issue

2011-12-08T09:59:00.001-05:00

Hello Bb Users

Please be informed that we are once again experiencing issues with SafeAssignment. In addition, on Friday Dec. 9th, 2011 between the hours of 02:00 am to 04:00 am US Eastern, Blackboard will be performing preventative maintenance on SafeAssign. During this 2 hour period, the Blackboard Safeassign client applications will not be unavailable.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and please feel free to contact the help desk if you have any issue or concern at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Thanks,

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] PAUSE before using DELETE in Blackboard

2011-12-06T15:13:00.001-05:00

Blackboard users,

We are processing an increasing number of requests from faculty members to restore their Blackboard course sites to a previous date. Such a restore takes a number of days to accomplish, at best, and can only be done to the state of a nightly backup. So if grades are added and then the grade column is deleted the same day, there is no way to recover them.

Some services, such as SafeAssign, add further complexity to the situation. SafeAssign stores papers on an external server which deletes the information immediately. It is very difficult or impossible to restore information that has been deleted from SafeAssign.

Please pause before deleting anything in Blackboard. Think of the consequences of what you are doing. If you are not sure how to proceed, consult with the Blackboard Help Desk at either 205-284-3949 or blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

We will do all we can to help you if you make a mistake, but there are limitations to what we can do. Help us and yourself by pausing before deleting anything in Blackboard to make sure that you won't regret your actions.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement Center
Information Technology
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
305-284-3944

[BB] Safe Assignment Delays

2011-11-29T11:17:00.001-05:00

Hello Bb Users,

Unfortunately, SafeAssign Services are again temporarily experiencing delays due to high usage. This might result in longer paper processing times. This is a recurring issue at the end of each semester due to high amounts of papers submitted to SafeAssign.

Blackboard regrets any inconvenience this may cause.

We will update you as soon as we receive notification from Blackboard of any change.

If you have any issues or questions, please feel free to call us at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Thank you,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

Re: [BB] Safe Assignment delays update

2011-11-28T10:24:00.000-05:00

Hi Rick,

I don't really experience what you promised below. It has been over 30 mins., and today's uploads seem to be just as slow as on Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

I was forced to work on Black Friday and Saturday to upload my class of 40 students and see the results of Safe Assign within the 30 mins. interval.

Furthermore, the waiting of 24-hours (or until after midnight) after you have deleted a student's work before you can resubmit the revised paper for the check is also an inconvenience Blackboard should address. (Yes, a few students can actually make the necessary changes to "qualify" within a few short hours, when given the second chance.)

Kaufui Vincent Wong

Professor and Faculty Senator

U. Miami

________________________________
From: UM Blackboard Announcements [BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] on behalf of Ramos, Ricardo [r.ramos3@MIAMI.EDU]
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2011 10:08 AM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: [BB] Safe Assignment delays update

Hello Bb Users,

Please be informed SafeAssign Services high load situation has been resolved and paper processing is back to normal processing times. Blackboard regrets any inconvenience this may have caused.

If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu<mailto:blackboardhelp@miami.edu>.

Thanks,

Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949

[BB] Safe Assignment delays update

2011-11-28T10:08:00.000-05:00

Hello Bb Users,

Please be informed SafeAssign Services high load situation has been resolved and paper processing is back to normal processing times. Blackboard regrets any inconvenience this may have caused.

If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Thanks,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

Re: [BB] Changing Blackboard login selection page

2011-11-19T16:15:00.001-05:00

HI Bill,

Looks good to me and simplifies the log in process.

Lyndon Godsall Ed.D, Ed.S, M.Ed, B.Ed
Instructional Designer
305-284-2710 Office
954-647-4634 Cell
l.godsall@miami.edu

On 11/18/11 3:45 PM, "Vilberg, William R." <bill.vilberg@MIAMI.EDU> wrote:

>Blackboard users,
>
>We are proposing some changes to the Blackbaord login selection page.
>This is the page that you use to select either the CaneID or the
>Blackboard login page. Before implementing them we wanted to run the
>changes by you to see if you have any problems with them. The first two
>are fairly minor, but we specifically want to know how the third change
>might affect your use of. Please let us know if any of these will have an
>affect on how you use Blackboard.
>
>You can see images of the current and proposed login selection pages at
>http://goo.gl/S09LY
>
>These are the changes being proposed:
>
>1. You can press ENTER/RETURN to use your CaneID username and password.
>(Since that is what most people do, it should speed up the process of
>logging in.)
>
>2. The text has been changed to, hopefully, make the options clearer
>("Login with" instead of "I have a ") and to direct people to the CaneID
>login page (larger text and bold text style on the primary path).
>
>3. The "Guest login" option has been removed. (Everyone accessing the
>Blackboard system will need to login.)
>
>If any of these will (negatively) impact your use of Blackboard, please
>let us know.
>
>No change will take place until after finals, but we need to get things
>scheduled now.
>
>Thank you,
>
>Bill Vilberg
>Technology Enhanced Learning
>bill.vilberg@miami.edu
>786-250-2255

[BB] Changing Blackboard login selection page

2011-11-18T15:45:00.001-05:00

Blackboard users,

We are proposing some changes to the Blackbaord login selection page. This is the page that you use to select either the CaneID or the Blackboard login page. Before implementing them we wanted to run the changes by you to see if you have any problems with them. The first two are fairly minor, but we specifically want to know how the third change might affect your use of. Please let us know if any of these will have an affect on how you use Blackboard.

You can see images of the current and proposed login selection pages at http://goo.gl/S09LY

These are the changes being proposed:

1. You can press ENTER/RETURN to use your CaneID username and password. (Since that is what most people do, it should speed up the process of logging in.)

2. The text has been changed to, hopefully, make the options clearer ("Login with" instead of "I have a ") and to direct people to the CaneID login page (larger text and bold text style on the primary path).

3. The "Guest login" option has been removed. (Everyone accessing the Blackboard system will need to login.)

If any of these will (negatively) impact your use of Blackboard, please let us know.

No change will take place until after finals, but we need to get things scheduled now.

Thank you,

Bill Vilberg
Technology Enhanced Learning
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

[BB] Safe Assignment delays

2011-11-17T13:59:00.001-05:00

Hello Bb Users

SafeAssign Services are temporarily experiencing delays due to high usage. This might result in longer paper processing times. Blackboard regrets any inconvenience this may cause.

We will inform you as soon as the service is back to normal.

Thanks,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Spring 2012 classes

2011-11-04T14:02:00.001-04:00

Hello Bb Users,

Please be informed that we just recently added all the spring classes into Blackboard and should be available to all enrolled in a class.

If you need any additional information, please feel free to contact our Blackboard Help Desk at 305-284-3949 or email us at blackboardhelp@miami.edu

Thanks,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard mobile learn

2011-09-29T13:41:00.001-04:00

Hello Bb users,

Blackboard mobile learn is back online and ready to be used again.

Please let us know if you have any question or concern by calling us at 305-284-3949 or email us at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thanks,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Mobile Learn

2011-09-29T11:01:00.001-04:00

Bb users

Please be advised the Blackboard mobile learn version is not working at this moment. We are working with Blackboard to restore the service as soon as possible.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] @ The U

2011-09-27T16:04:00.001-04:00

You may have noticed the new "@ The U" feature on the Blackboard Home page. I hope you are OK with it. The goal is to help our students, particularly undergraduates from across the various schools and colleges, be aware of the breadth of opportunities to hear great speakers at UM. Hopefully the students will attend some of these lectures or presentations. Either way they will be able to feel good about UM as a center for learning.

For example, I attended the talk today on "Innovation for the 21st Century." It was both educational and inspiring. I wish more people would have been there, beyond the engineering faculty and students. Hopefully that will happen over time.

I am using Google Calendar to manage these items. You can see all the items on the calendar by going to the "News" tab in Blackboard and choosing the "@ The U" sub-tab. If you have events that you think would be appropriate, please let me know.

Guidelines:

* Should be an academic event, such as a lecture or presentation
* Should feature a person of importance (someone who has won awards of some kind or is at least slightly famous)
* Should be at a level that everyone can attend, from first year students on up
* Should be free (at least for students)
* Should be on the UM campus
* Should have a web page with more information about the event

Information Required

* Date of event
* Time
* Location
* Name of speaker
* Title of speech
* Web page for more information

Bill Vilberg

Re: [BB] Sending email in Blackboard

2011-09-06T18:21:00.000-04:00

Hi Bill,

Another little "trick" I have been using is to add a tool/email to the
course home. Everyone seems to use email and I just added it to most
peoples course home to help them save time.

Lyndon Godsall Ed.D, Ed.S, M.Ed, B.Ed
Instructional Designer
305-284-2710 Office
954-647-4634 Cell
l.godsall@miami.edu

On 9/6/11 4:05 PM, "Vilberg, William R." <bill.vilberg@MIAMI.EDU> wrote:

>Blackboard users,
>
>------ 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

[BB] Sending email in Blackboard

2011-09-06T16:05:00.001-04:00

Blackboard users,

------ 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

[BB] Blackboard: A Tale of 2 Companies

2011-09-02T13:16:00.001-04:00

"Dropping Blackboard, it would appear, is quickly taking root as the new campus tech fad."

This is probably too deep an analysis of Blackboard, Inc. for many of you, since you just use Blackboard and are not interested in the company itself. Some of you may find it interesting. I did.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/290299-blackboard-a-tale-of-2-companies

Don't expect any reaction from me. We are still trying to live through the start of the fall semester. We had almost twice as many requests for assistance (tickets) this August as we had last August. Some of that is attributable to the upgrade, some to problems with our snapshot process, some to better ways to offer support, but most of the increase is because more and more faculty are taking advantage of the availability of the Blackboard Learn 9.1 system. Good job!

Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Assessments problem resolved

2011-08-26T08:57:00.001-04:00

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The assessment problem has been resolved. Everyone should be able to get to assessments now.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Our Blackboard system is managed by the Blackboard company. At 5:00 pm yesterday I informed them of the problem accessing assessments from some browsers on some computers. At 11:00 they had resolved the problem. They discovered an add-on (Building Block) that was somehow causing the problem. We were not using its features any more, so the make it unavailable and verified that everything was working. I just verified it myself with three different browsers on both Mac and Windows. They are all working at this point.

If you see any errors or anything else that we need to know about, PLEASE click on the "Help" link at the top of any Blackboard page and fill out a ticket to let us know about the issue. You are using the system in ways that we may not have thoroughly tested. Let us know about problems so that we can get them resolved for you and for everyone else. Thanks.

Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Assessment issue

2011-08-25T17:11:00.001-04:00

It appears that some browsers, on some computers, are unable to access any assessments. I can't even tell you which browsers because it is different on different computers.

If you have online quizzes or tests, stay tuned for more information. We have generated a ticket with Blackboard and will follow up with them on tomorrow and keep you posted.

Bill Vilberg

[BB] Fall 2011 Semester

2011-08-19T08:28:00.001-04:00

Bb Users,

Here are a few announcement and reminders for Fall 2011 semester:

1. Course Merges

2. TA enrollment

3. Join the Bb Mailing List

4. Blackboard Training

Course Merges
If you would like to collapse your Blackboard sites into one course site or would like to add an additional site that include all of the students in your courses, let us know. Here's a shortcut to filling out a Course Merge Request Ticket<http://www6.miami.edu/bb/forms/combine_courses.htm>.( Or copy and paste this URL: <http://www6.miami.edu/bb/forms/combine_courses.htm> <http://www6.miami.edu/bb/forms/combine_courses.htm> http://www6.miami.edu/bb/forms/combine_courses.htm )

TA enrollment
We offer assistance enrolling TA's for you so if you need help and would like us to do it for you, contact the Blackboard help desk at 305-284-3949<tel:305-284-3949> or email <mailto:blackboardhelp@miami.edu> <mailto:blackboardhelp@miami.edu> blackboardhelp@miami.edu<mailto:blackboardhelp@miami.edu>.

Join the Bb Mailing List
Do you know someone who should be receiving these emails? Please pass this information on to them. Join the Bb Mailing list<https://listserv.miami.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=BB&A=1> ( Or copy and paste this URL:<https://listserv.miami.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=BB&A=1><https://listserv.miami.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=BB&A=1>https://listserv.miami.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=BB&A=1 )

Blackboard Training
New to UM? New to Blackboard? Join us for these introductory training to set up your Blackboard course. There will be time after each session for additional questions by people who stay. Please try to arrive early if you need assistance logging in to Blackboard.

To Register and to look at all trainings we offer, go to the IAC site at <http://www.iacmiami.org/> <http://www.iacmiami.org/> http://www.iacmiami.org/ and click on the "Events" page

Please let us know if you have any questions, Thank you for your patience and feedback, and we look forward to work with you throughout the fall semester.

Sincerely,

Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949<tel:305-284-3949>

[BB] Blackboard training information

2011-08-16T11:16:00.000-04:00

Hello Bb Users,

On July 5th, the University of Miami upgraded Blackboard, the class site system, to Version 9.1. The new version has been designed to increase student engagement and faculty efficiency.

== FACE TO FACE TRAINING SESSIONS ==

To help with the transition to the new system, we have scheduled multiple training sessions. "Getting Comfortable with Blackboard 9.1" is designed for people who have used Blackboard 8.0 and need to quickly get up to speed on 9.1. "Introduction to Blackboard" is designed for people who have not used Blackboard before and need to start at the beginning. Multiple offerings of both trainings are available.

See the schedule and register for a training session at http://iacevents.org

== ON-LINE VIDEO ==

We have also created a nine minute video to explain the six major new features in this new version. This video will help you quickly get started with your class site, if you had experience with Blackboard 8.0.

View the video at: http://snurl.com/sixthings

These six important features are covered in the video:

1. The new "Edit" button

2. The new "Hide and Show Control Panel" button

3. The new "Chevrons" or "Contextual Menus"

4. The new "Control Panel"

5. The new "Drag and Drop" reordering

6. The new "Create Menu" button

== CONTACT THE HELP DESK ==

Our help desk team is available to answer any of your questions. We can be reached by phone at 305-284-3949 or by email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Let us know what we can do to help you use Blackboard at its fullest.

Blackboard Support Team: Bill, Alex, Rick, and Kelley Instructional Advancement Center

305-284-3949

[BB] Bb Upgrades and Maintenances

2011-08-10T14:28:00.001-04:00

Hello Bb Users,

Please be informed there are some important maintenances and upgrades coming up. Here is a list and dates for them:

· ARES Course Reserve Upgrade and Maintenance

The library Course Reserve (Ares) service will be temporarily unavailable between 1:00 pm -5pm on Aug. 10th due to a system upgrade.

· SafeAssign Upgrade and Maintenance

Blackboard is upgrading SafeAssign so that it will increase the reliability and performance of the SafeAssign product.

The SafeAssign service will be unavailable on Saturday August 13, 2011 from 8:00 AM US Eastern (GMT -4) until Saturday August 13, 2011 at 11:59 PM US Eastern (GMT-4).

During this outage, SafeAssign will be unavailable. End-users will not be able to submit papers through SafeAssign during the planned downtime and will receive an error message if they attempt to do so. SafeAssign Originality Reports will not be available to Instructors or Students during the planned downtime, nor will Instructors be able to access SafeAssign DirectSubmit.

If you have question, please feel free to contact our Blackboard help desk by calling 305-284-3949 or by email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu .

Sincerely,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Training

2011-08-01T13:03:00.001-04:00

Hello Bb Users,

In July, the Blackboard class web site system at UM was upgraded from 8.0 to 9.1. This is a major improvement in the interface and workflow of the system.

The Instructional Advancement Center will provide training sessions on the Gables Campus for people who are already familiar with Blackboard 8.0 and need to learn how to work in Blackboard 9.1.

We are also offering complete training on 9.1 for people who have NOT used Blackboard before. These training classes are offered before and during the fall semester. Please visit our events page http://www.iacmiami.org , click on upcoming events and register for a training session that is convenient for you.

Classes are also offered on the Medical Campus by appointment 305-284-2008

For additional information please contact Kelley Seaman 305-284-2008 or k.seaman@miami.edu

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Fall 2011 Classes

2011-07-15T09:45:00.001-04:00

Hello Bb Users,

Please be informed the classes for Fall 2011 are now available under “My Current Courses”.

If you have any question or concern, call the blackboard help desk at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu

Thanks,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard will be down on Wednesday morning, 3:00 am - 6:00 am

2011-07-05T18:02:00.001-04:00

The Blackboard system will be out of service Wednesday July 6, 2011 between the hours of 03:00 am to 06:00 am US Eastern due to important maintenance following our recent upgrade.

[BB] Bb 9.1 training site: iacevents.org

2011-07-04T17:37:00.001-04:00

The correct web site to register for Bb 9.1 training, if you are using the system NOW, is http://iacevents.org

Bill

[BB] Blackboard upgrade - COMPLETED

2011-07-04T17:31:00.001-04:00

The Blackboard system has been upgraded from version 8.0 to version 9.1. We have configured, customized, and tested the new system. The system is now available for your use.

If you see problems, or have questions, let us know. I will be monitoring my email overnight. From 9-5 on Tuesday, call the Blackboard Help Desk at 305-284-3949 with any questions.

If you have not gone to a Blackboard 9.1 upgrade training, and are using the system NOW in a class, see if you can sign up for one of the upcoming trainings on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will really make the migration easier for you. You can find the available times at the http://iacenvets.org web page. No need to log in. Just look in the upcoming events and click on the event to register.

More dates and times will be added soon for people getting ready for the fall semester.

You Blackboard team,

Rick Ramos
Bill Vilberg
Alex Zaldivar

[BB] Blackboard upgrade - status report

2011-07-03T14:10:00.001-04:00

Blackboard Managed Hosting has run into some issues with our upgrade. Luckily we have tomorrow, Monday, in case we need to get everything taken care of.

We are waiting for them to hand the system over to us so that we can customize and configure it. Then it will be released for your use. I will keep you informed of developments.

Bill Vilberg, 786-250-2255, http://vilberg.com

[BB] Upgrading to 9.1 this weekend

2011-07-03T08:44:00.001-04:00

Just a quick reminder that our Blackboard system is being upgraded from version 8.0 to 9.1 this weekend. We will let you know as soon as the upgrade is completed, sometime on Monday we expect.

Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Blackboard 9.1 is coming!

2011-06-28T10:05:00.001-04:00

If you cannot see this email, click or copy and paste in your browser the following link: http://www6.miami.edu/bb/helpdesk/email_upgrade/upgrade%20announcement%20email.htm

Dear Bb Users

I have some exciting news. We will be upgrading to Blackboard Learn™, Release 9.1 over the 4th of July weekend. Here are just a few things that are built into Release 9.1:

Student Engagement is the Key to Success

In Release 9.1, exciting new social learning and teaching tools foster more logical, visually impactful, and active learning opportunities for students, helping them stay connected to their educational experience 24 hours a day. Features like wiki’s, gradable blogs, and Mashups are part of Release 9.1.

Educator Efficiency is Important

New capabilities in Release 9.1 will save educators and organizational leaders’ time and effort, making it easier to focus on student achievement and retention. Enhanced grading workflow, an assessment manager, and learning modules for course organization allow instructors to be more efficient.

Success Enablers to Help Us Get There

Blackboard is offering more assistance than ever before to help us better understand how to take advantage of all the new features in Release 9.1. A couple of the valuable new resources that you may be interested in checking out are:

• A New On-Demand Learning Center with free access to video quick tutorials and Getting Started Guide

• The University of Miami Blackboard Help Site with links to Blackboard's video quick tutorials and more: http://iacinfo.org/index.php?title=Blackboard_Course_Management_System

Please take some time to look at the attached “What’s New in Release 9.1” brochure. It will give you some more detail about the innovative new features we are about to experience.

Regards,

The UM Blackboard Support Team

Rick Ramos, Blackboard User Support Manager

Alex Zaldivar, Blackboard System Manager

Bill Vilberg, Director of Instructional Advancement

305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard 9.1 is coming!

2011-06-28T10:03:00.000-04:00

If you cannot see this email, click or copy and paste in your browser the following link: http://www6.miami.edu/bb/helpdesk/email_upgrade/upgrade%20announcement%20email.htm

Dear Bb Users

I have some exciting news. We will be upgrading to Blackboard Learn™, Release 9.1 over the 4th of July weekend. Here are just a few things that are built into Release 9.1:

Student Engagement is the Key to Success

Educator Efficiency is Important

Success Enablers to Help Us Get There

• A New On-Demand Learning Center with free access to video quick tutorials and Getting Started Guide

• The University of Miami Blackboard Help Site with links to Blackboard's video quick tutorials and more: http://iacinfo.org/index.php?title=Blackboard_Course_Management_System

Please take some time to look at the attached “What’s New in Release 9.1” brochure. It will give you some more detail about the innovative new features we are about to experience.

Regards,

The UM Blackboard Support Team

Rick Ramos, Blackboard User Support Manager

Alex Zaldivar, Blackboard System Manager

Bill Vilberg, Director of Instructional Advancement

305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard is BACK

2011-05-06T13:03:00.001-04:00

The Blackboard system seems to be back. Some sort of appliance failed.

If the outage caused problems and you need our help, please call 8-3949 or 305-284-3949 off campus.

Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Blackboard still down

2011-05-06T12:11:00.000-04:00

The Blackboard system at UM is still down. Here is the information we have received.

"Blackboard Managed Hosting is currently experiencing an unexpected event at the Data Center that is affecting multiple clients. It appears that your institution is affected by this problem. While there is currently no ETA for resolution, Blackboard Engineers are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible"

We will keep you informed.

Bill Vilberg
8-3944 or 786-250-2255

[BB] Blackboard is down

2011-05-06T11:21:00.001-04:00

Blackboard is down. Blackboard, Inc., is aware of it and working to repair correct the solution. I will keep you informed.

Bill
8-3944 or 786-250-2255

[BB] Bb may be target of acquisition + Instructure Canvas

2011-04-21T08:37:00.001-04:00

Interesting article about BB fundamentals and their problems. In the article they talk about Instructure Canvas, a new and exciting alternative system.

> http://www.cnbc.com/id/42667338?__source=yahoo|headline|quote|text|&par=yahoo

Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Instructure Canvas Demo THURSDAY - Please sign up

2011-04-12T12:36:00.001-04:00

Instructure Canvas is a new learning management system, designed to be better than Blackboard. Really. It was designed by two graduate students who used Blackboard and were frustrated by it. They started from scratch, using a modern programming language, and came up with an interesting system.

Someone from Instructure will be on campus this THURSDAY to do demos for faculty focus groups. There will be two sessions, one from 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm and a second one from 2:00 pm to 3:15 pm. Since you have experience with Blackboard, it would be great if you could attend one of the sessions and compare Instructure Canvas to Bb.

To register for either session (registration is required) go to the http://iacevents.org web page.

To learn more about Instructrue Canvas, go to http://goo.gl/HV5Yv for information from outside of Instructure, including a link to a YouTube video, or go to http://www.instructure.com for material from instrcuture.

I hope a number of you will be able to sign up for one or the other session. You feedback will greatly influence our future plans.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

http://iacinfo.org - Access to the information you need, WHEN YOU NEED IT.

[BB] Blackboard Advisory Committee

2011-04-05T16:23:00.001-04:00

We need your help. We want to have an advisory committee help us with recommendations about Blackboard. Would you be willing to help? (If you, let me know by replying to this email. Otherwise, keep reading and maybe I can still convince you.)

In some cases we just need a group of people for opinions and ideas. In other cases we will ask a few people to get together as a focus group to look at something and provide feedback. This will NOT be a major time sink. If should take less than 30 minutes a week, unless you agree to be in a focus group. Those take an hour and 15 minutes.

We are looking for a range of users from beginners who use Backboard very little to people who are using multiple aspects of Blackboard as part of the student's learning experience. Over the summer participation will be almost exclusively via email or other electronic form, so you don't need to make any commitment to be in the heat and humidity of Miami all summer long.

If you are willing to be on the advisory committee, please reply to this message and I will be in touch with you. We would like about 30-40 advisors, so the load can be spread around a group of people. Please volunteer if you can.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

http://iacinfo.org - Access to the information you need, WHEN YOU NEED IT.

[BB] Blackboard upgrade to 9.1 scheduled for July 2-3

2011-03-08T16:03:00.001-05:00

Blackboard list members,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

If you have any serious problem with Blackboard being upgraded (and therefor unavailable) the weekend of July 2-3, 2011, please let me know NOW.

DETAILS:

Our Blackboard system is scheduled to be upgraded from 8.0 to 9.1 on Saturday, July 2nd, and Sunday, July 3rd of this year. That is the first weekend of Summer School 2. Our plan is to take the system down, have Blackboard upgrade it, and bring it right back up. Since the 4th is a holiday, that should give us some time in case we need it, before students will hit it on the 5th. The system will be completely unavailable during the upgrade. Faculty using the system will want to review their class sites on the 4th or early on the 5th to make sure everything is correct.

This will be an "in place" upgrade. All courses, accounts, content, grades, etc., will be there when the upgrade is completed. The two things that will happen are: (1) the system will be down on July 2nd and 3rd and (2) the system will come up with the new Blackboard 9.1 interface. Some things will look different and, especially for the instructors, some things will work differently. It will be better, MUCH better, than the current system.

Having been a faculty member years ago, I know how frustrating it can be to have something change and have to adapt to it. We will do everything that we can to make the change go as smoothly as possible. We will have an on-line course to certify people who want to learn all about version 9.1. We will have videos for people who just want to know how to do certain things. We will have training sessions where we demonstrate how to do things and then you can try it yourself. We will have handouts that cover certain common tasks. We will have special sessions just to show the three or four major differences between 9.1 and 8.0. We will have people standing by as soon as the system comes up on the 3rd to work with you and explain or resolve anything that you need.

We selected July 2-3 after careful review of alternatives. We can't do it between the spring and SS1 terms because there is only one day between them. Same thing between SS1 and SS2. There are two weeks between SS2 and the start of the fall semester, but I have a standing rule that we won't make changes to Blackboard during the two weeks before fall semester starts. That is the time that most faculty are working to create syllabi and get their class web sites set up on Blackboard. I won't make any changes then unless they are absolutely required for security or to fix some issue. SS1 has many more classes than SS2 so it would be better to do it during SS2 rather than SS1. It will still have an impact, but not as great. We have programs such as the Global Academy and EMBA that are year round, so no matter when we do the upgrade they will be affected. We hope that getting it done in two days will not adversely affect those programs. We also hope that by making the announcement as early as possible, they will be able to make alternative plans, if necessary. Given our analysis, we came to the conclusion that July 2-3, the first weekend of SS2, is the best time to do it.

So, if you have any serious problem with Blackboard being upgraded (and therefor being unavailable) the weekend of July 2-3, 2011, please let me know NOW.

Lots more information will follow. Once the date is decided, we can move ahead with other things.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

http://iacinfo.org - Access to the information you need, WHEN YOU NEED IT.

[BB] Summer 1 Classes are now in My Current Courses

2011-02-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

Blackboard users,

In order to support the EMBA class schedule, we have added to Blackboard the Summer 1 and Summer 2 classes for 2011. The 2011 Summer 1 classes (-113) have been added to your "My Current Courses" list, if you are teaching any of these and they have been entered into the course registration system. The 2011 Summer 2 classes (-114) are available from your "Courses" tab on Blackboard, with the same restrictions. You may begin setting them up at your pleasure.

Bill Vilberg

----- Call our Blackboard Help Desk (305-284-3949) for assistance -----

[BB] Blackboard Usage Numbers

2011-02-24T12:26:00.001-05:00

Blackboard mailing list members,

Blackboard continues to be used at UM by an incredible number of students and faculty. For example here are some numbers from this week.

--> People who logged in on Tuesday: 8,756

If one person logged in multiple times, that person is counted ONCE in this report. Given the fact that Blackboard is used predominately by undergraduates, and that we have around 10,000 undergraduates, that is an amazing number, in my opinion.

--> Assessments taken on Tuesday: 4.318

This is the total number of assessments submitted. A student who is taking a self-assessment, and allowed multiple attempts, would increase this number once for each attempt. It is exciting to see how many of you are using the assessment tool in Blackboard as part of your course design.

--> Discussion Board posts in the past week: 1,938

Almost 2,000 posts are added to the Blackboard discussion boards in class web sites every week.

Congratulations to all of you for the excellent use you are making of the Blackboard class web site system at the University of Miami. You should be proud of these numbers. If you get the chance, please share them with your colleagues. There are still some people at UM who don't know what Blackboard is, or assume that no one is using it. These numbers tell a different story. The numbers might convince some people to consider using Blackboard or to begin using it in new ways.

If you are interested in learning to use assessments, discussion boards, or any other exciting part of the Blackboard system, please call the Blackboard Help Desk at 305-284-4949. The wonderful people there will be more than happy to help you

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] SafeAssign Issue Fixed

2011-02-10T09:59:00.001-05:00

Hello Bb Users,

Blackboard has fixed the issue with the safe assignment and you should now be able to review the reports.

Please give us a call if you are experiencing any problem at 305-284-3949

Thank you,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] SafeAssign Update

2011-02-09T16:51:00.001-05:00

Hello Bb Users,

Blackboard will reboot the Safe Assign Server tomorrow morning between 1AM and 2AM. You will still be able to access Blackboard but some tools such as collaboration will not be available.

Please call the Blackboard Help Desk if you have any question at 305-284-3949.

Sincerely,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] SafeAssign update

2011-02-09T10:06:00.001-05:00

Hello Bb Users,

The problem with SafeAssign has not been fixed yet and Blackboard explained that it will require a reboot of the server. They have a planned maintenance window set for Friday morning but we are trying to get it done tonight.

We will continue to update you if anything new comes up.

We again apologize for the inconvenience,

Sincerely,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] SafeAssignment Still Down

2011-02-08T17:41:00.001-05:00

Hello Bb Users,

The safe assignment tool is still not operational. Blackboard is working to resolve the issue.

We will let you know once the service is back up.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] SafeAssignment problem

2011-02-08T10:42:00.001-05:00

Bb Users,

Please be informed SafeAssignment is generating an error when trying to submit or view a paper. The issues is not specific to the University of Miami, other Universities are affected as well.

Blackboard is working to get the service restored as soon as possible.

We will keep you informed of any update.

We apologize for the inconvenience,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Respondus Lockdown Browser - Webinars

2011-01-20T13:25:00.001-05:00

Blackboard users,

I just received word of a webinar on the Respondus Lockdown Browser. We have a site license for this browser at UM. You can set a quiz, test, or self-assessment in Blackboard so that it can only be taken in the Lockdown Browser. While the Lockdown Browser is in use the computer cannot go to other pages, print the test, copy the text, or do other similar things. It is not perfect, since the student can have another computer that they use to look up answers, or even use a smart phone, but it helps. And it means that everyone is using the same browser for the activity, which reduces the number of problems that might occur.

If you are interested in learning more about the Respondus Lockdown Browser, watch the video we have posted at http://tinyurl.com/lockdownvideo or else sign up for one of the webinars from the Respondus company as listed below.

Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

----- BEGIN INSERT -----

Hello,

Join this free, live demonstration and learn how to reduce student cheating during online tests in Blackboard, ANGEL, Moodle, or Desire2Learn. See why so many institutions are using Respondus LockDown Browserwith online tests to prevent students from printing, copying, going to other URLs, accessing other applications, or exiting the test before it has been submitted.

Introduction to Respondus LockDown Browser (45 minutes)
- Tuesday, February 1st at 4 pm ET (1 pm PT) – Register
- Wednesday, February 2nd at 1 pm ET (10 am PT) – Register

Space is limited for each session, so register soon!

For additional information on Respondus LockDown Browser, visit our website at http://www.respondus.com/lockdown.

Regards,

The Team at Respondus
www.respondus.com

----- END INSERT -----

[BB] Jennifer Clister

2011-01-18T15:24:00.001-05:00

Blackboard List Members,

We recently celebrated Jennifer Clister's fourth year here at UM as manager of the Blackboard system. It is with mixed feelings that I tell you that she is leaving to take a job at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. as of the end of January.

She has done an incredible job here, so it will be impossible to replace her with anyone nearly as competent. I am certain of that, since, in the short term, I will be assuming her duties. She has taken on a wide range of tasks and done them impeccably. We will miss her greatly.

JOY: Her husband is already in D.C. at his new job there, and Jennifer is anxious to join him. She has a wonderful new position, and I am happy for her. I also am proud to have a UM employee hired at another institution of higher education. One of the ways that our prestige grows at UM is by people learning more about us. Jennifer will be a wonderful ambassador.

I wanted to let you know so that you could share in her joy and perhaps let her know how much we appreciate her work here and how proud we are to have worked with her here at UM.

Have a great semester.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Blackboard Training

2011-01-10T13:38:00.001-05:00

Hello Bb Users

We are pleased to announce we have scheduled several Blackboard trainings in the upcoming weeks. For a list of dates, please visit our web page at www.miami.edu/iac then click on “Events”.

If you have any question, feel free to call our help desk line at 305-284-3949 or email us at blackboardhelp@miami.edu

Thanks,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

Re: [BB] Blackboard Up and Running

2010-12-28T17:22:00.001-05:00

Bb Users,

Some people were still having problems after my message that Blackboard was back up. This issues should be resolved for everyone in the next 24-48 hours, but if you still see a message that Blackboard is down, here is a fix that should work:

I think we have a temporary fix that will work until everything is updated.

You will have to type a command into the MS DOS command line.

1. Go to the Start Menu.
2. Choose Run.
3. Type "cmd" and click OK.
4. Type this in the MS Dos window that appears: "ipconfig /flushdns"
5. You should get a message that says: "Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache."
6. Try to access Blackboard again: www.miami.edu/blackboard

I apologize for the inconvenience, and I will be in the office tomorrow to deal with any problems.

-Jennifer

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER

Blackboard System Manager

University of Miami IAC

305-284-3949

-----Original Message-----
From: UM Blackboard Announcements [mailto:BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] On Behalf Of Clister, Jennifer R
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 7:48 AM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: [BB] Blackboard Up and Running

Bb Users,

Blackboard is up and running again. Blackboard upgrading our environment, and we had some issues making sure our URLs were pointing to the right places, but we believe the problem is resolved now, and I sincerely apologize for any issues caused by this extended downtime.

-Jennifer

__________________

JENNIFER CLISTER

Blackboard System Manager

University of Miami IAC

305-284-3949

________________________________________

From: UM Blackboard Announcements [BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] On Behalf Of Vilberg, William R. [bill.vilberg@MIAMI.EDU]

Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 5:17 PM

To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU

Subject: [BB] Blackboard still unavailable

The Blackboard system is still down. There are some issues that may not get resolved before tomorrow. We will keep you posted.

Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Blackboard Up and Running

2010-12-28T07:48:00.000-05:00

Bb Users,

-Jennifer
__________________
JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949
________________________________________
From: UM Blackboard Announcements [BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] On Behalf Of Vilberg, William R. [bill.vilberg@MIAMI.EDU]
Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 5:17 PM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: [BB] Blackboard still unavailable

The Blackboard system is still down. There are some issues that may not get resolved before tomorrow. We will keep you posted.

Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Blackboard still unavailable

2010-12-27T17:17:00.000-05:00

The Blackboard system is still down. There are some issues that may not get resolved before tomorrow. We will keep you posted.

Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

[BB] Blackboard Maintenance

2010-12-27T16:06:00.001-05:00

>
>
<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param><bigger><x-tad-bigger>

</x-tad-bigger></bigger></fontfamily></excerpt><excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param><smaller> </smaller><bigger><x-tad-bigger>

</x-tad-bigger></bigger></fontfamily></excerpt>Blackboard users,

Blackboard is currently down, as scheduled, so that some maintenance activities can be performed. It went down on Sunday around 10:00 pm and is scheduled to be back up today, Monday, after 4:00 pm.

If you go to http://miami.edu/blackboard a web page appears that says the system "should be restored after 08:00 am on Tuesday, May 16th." This is the notice that was used last summer during our summer maintenance. We forgot to update it. Please don't be confused by the date. The system is really scheduled to be restored after 4:00 pm on Monday, December27th.

Bill Vilberg
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255
AIM: bvilberg

[BB] Blackboard Holiday Downtime

2010-12-17T10:19:00.000-05:00

Bb Users,

Blackboard is doing some maintenance and upgrades over the holidays. Here are the dates and times you need to be aware of.

1. Blackboard will be DOWN from Sunday, Dec. 26^th at 10pm through Monday, Dec. 27^th at 4pm.

2. Blackboard may be subject to intermittent downtime during these timeframes:

o Tuesday, Dec. 28^th from midnight until 9am

o Thursday, Dec. 30^th from midnight until 9am

Hopefully this won’t interrupt anyone’s holiday Blackboard fun or festivities.

Best wishes for a safe and restful winter break,

Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Bb 9.1 Live Demo

2010-12-06T10:06:00.001-05:00

Bb Users,

We are planning on upgrading to Blackboard 9.1 this summer (2011). Blackboard is coming to give us a demonstration tomorrow (Dec. 7^th) in Learning Center room 184 at 11:00am. The session is scheduled for an hour, but the Blackboard people are planning on staying for another hour to cover more details and questions for those who want to stay.

This version of Blackboard has a lot more differences than we are used to seeing from one version of Blackboard to another, but Bb 9.1 has a lot of great features and functionality that many of us have waited on for a long time. This is a great chance to get a sneak peek and have Blackboard representatives available for questions.

Hope to see you there,

Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard training

2010-11-12T14:44:00.001-05:00

Hello Bb Users,

We have two blackboard training coming up this month and if you are interested space is still available. The dates are:

Tuesday November 16^th, 2010

Introduction to Blackboard

10am – 11am

Richter Library room 305

Monday November 29^th, 2010

Grade Center training

10am – 11am

Richter Library room 305

To check for future trainings and to register please go to www.iacevents.org

Thank you,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Archiving & Removing '07-'08 Bb Courses

2010-11-10T16:39:00.001-05:00

Bb Users,

It is time to start the annual archival/removal of old courses from Blackboard.

Every year we archive and remove old courses. This time we will be removing the 2007-2008 (Fall 2007 – Summer 2008) courses from the Blackboard system (ending with 080, 081, 082, 083, 084). Courses from the 2008-2009 (090-094) school year will be made unavailable to students, but will still be accessible to faculty for another year. You can find your old courses in Blackboard by going to the Courses tab.

I will begin disabling these courses so that they can be archived and removed on Monday, November 22.

Attached is a document that explains how to archive and save your courses to your computer or disk if you would like to maintain your own archive. (We maintain an archive at the Instructional Advancement Center.)

QUESTIONS:

WHAT IS ARCHIVING?
Archiving means we take your entire course and save it to a disk. Then we remove it from the Blackboard system. If we ever need to restore the course, we can, but it may take a while for me to dig it out of the archive since we maintain over 100,000 courses.
CAN YOU ARCHIVE AND SAVE YOUR OWN COURSE?
Yes, you can! Attached is a document that explains how to archive your course and how to download a great tool that will make navigating archived courses easier. You can also access these instructions through the Support tab in Blackboard.

If you need any more information, please let me know or open a ticket: Blackboard Help Desk.

Best wishes for a smooth end-of-the-semester/year,

Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Updates: Maintenance, Slow SafeAssign

2010-11-03T09:56:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

On Friday morning from 2am-6am, Blackboard will be doing some preventative maintenance which *could* impact service intermittently during that time. Please plan accordingly.

Just a reminder, Safe Assignment is slow this time of year. They are experiencing very high traffic, and it could take longer than usual to generate the Safe Assignment reports.

Thank you for your patience.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

Re: [BB] Blackboard Restart Fri. between 9:30-10am

2010-10-15T12:16:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

The last piece of the CAS integration is complete, and the Virtual Classroom tool is working again.

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

From: UM Blackboard Announcements [mailto:BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] On Behalf Of Clister, Jennifer R
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2010 11:56 AM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: [BB] Blackboard Restart Fri. between 9:30-10am

Bb Users,

The final tweak in our CAS (MyUM) login process must be done during business hours, and since there are no classes on Friday, we are going to do it Friday (10/15) morning at 9:30. It requires a restart, which should not affect availability EXCEPT for people who are in the middle of taking a test during that time.

I have put this message at the top of the Blackboard home page. If you or your students need to take a test on Friday morning, please wait until this message has been removed:

Blackboard will be restarted between 9:30 and 10:00am Fri. 10/15
There should be little to no service interruption but please refrain from taking quizzes during this time. If you are submitting text, please compose it using a text editor to protect your work.

This change should fix the problem with the Virtual Classroom tool (the one with the writeboard) we have been experiencing this semester.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Restart Fri. between 9:30-10am

2010-10-11T11:56:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

I have put this message at the top of the Blackboard home page. If you or your students need to take a test on Friday morning, please wait until this message has been removed:

This change should fix the problem with the Virtual Classroom tool (the one with the writeboard) we have been experiencing this semester.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Virtual Classroom

2010-09-15T14:50:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

We need to make a small change to restore the Bb Virtual Classroom tool (the Chat tool is working fine). This change needs to be made during normal business hours and requires a Blackboard restart.

QUESTION: Is anyone missing the Virtual Classroom tool? Would it be better to restart* Blackboard at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon to restore the Virtual Classroom tool or wait until the end of the fall semester?

* A restart means that normal service will not really be impacted because we restart one server and then the other, BUT if students are in the middle of a discussion board or a test when the server they are working on goes down, they may lose their changes.

I appreciate your feedback on this.

Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Synchronize Safe Assignments Reminder

2010-09-05T10:59:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

If you copy Safe Assignments from other courses, you need to click the "Synchronize this course" link on the SafeAssign page from the Control Panel. If you don't do this, then the assignment links try to connect back to your former course, and this causes problems for (and confuses) students.

-Jennifer

__________________
JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Updates

2010-09-03T18:03:00.001-04:00

Bb Users,

As of this moment:

o The CAS (login) update is complete. (This was a tweak that should have no visible effect on anything.)

o The Collaboration tools (virtual classroom and chat) are *almost working* again (we are still having a problem with the Virtual Classroom, but Chat is working)

o The Blackboard mobile application will now allow you to login with your CaneID (though it may take up to 20 seconds for the mobile application to load after you’ve entered your CaneID) *

If you experience any login problems this weekend, please let me know.

-Jennifer

* I will be sending more information out about the Bb Mobile app in the coming weeks, but you can learn about the Bb Mobile Learn app right now, if you’re interested.

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Restart Friday Afternoon?

2010-09-01T15:38:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

We have a couple of changes to make to our CAS integration (one of which will fix our Collaboration Tools) that require Blackboard to be restarted between 4:30 and 5:00pm on Friday, September 3.

Unfortunately, this has to be done during normal business hours. We will do a rolling restart, so there shouldn’t be a service interruption unless:

o you are in the middle of a test

o you are in the middle of submitting a lengthy discussion board post you haven’t saved

o etc...

I apologize for the inconvenience, and if this is absolutely unacceptable to anyone, please let me know right away.

Thank you,

Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Email Announcements Fixed

2010-08-26T14:46:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

The “Email Announcement” feature that automatically sends an email to students when the box is checked is working again. If you create an announcement in Blackboard and check the box next to “Email this announcement to all course users,” the Email will be sent out as expected.

Thank you so much for your patience. We do not underestimate how important that feature is during this time of year, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

-Jennifer

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

From: UM Blackboard Announcements [mailto:BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] On Behalf Of Clister, Jennifer R
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 11:45 AM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: [BB] Important Blackboard Updates

Bb Users,

Please be aware of the following:

1. Announcements can not be emailed automatically at this time
Faculty can email students via Blackboard and can also post announcements. The “Email Announcement” feature that automatically sends an email to students when the box is checked is not currently working. We are working with Blackboard to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

2. The Collaboration Tools (chat) are not currently working
The virtual classroom and office hours tools are not currently working. The tools never finish loading. We are working with Blackboard to resolve this issue.

3. Freshmen (and new students) have been added to Blackboard
New undergraduate students do not have access to Blackboard until their schedules are made available to them. These students should all have access to Blackboard now.

4. Course adds/drops are only processed once a night
When a student adds or drops a class, that adjustment is not made in Blackboard in real time. That data is passed to Blackboard once a night and is usually processed between 12-4am. *

Thank you, and we will send out an update as soon as the announcements and collaboration tools issues are resolved.

-Jennifer

* Please keep in mind when you manually add students to your course that they will NOT be removed if they drop the course. Faculty have the right to manually add any student to their Blackboard course, but that creates a condition where the Registrar’s data feed can’t undo that manual add. If your students can’t wait until night when their enrollments will be processed, you can call the Blackboard Help Desk, and we can add them in a way that they can still be removed should they drop the class. (You can also manually remove any students that you added should you discover they are no longer participating in your course.)

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Important Blackboard Updates

2010-08-24T11:44:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

Please be aware of the following:

Thank you, and we will send out an update as soon as the announcements and collaboration tools issues are resolved.

-Jennifer

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard announcement

2010-08-19T16:58:00.001-04:00

Hello Bb Users,

If you have noticed discrepancies between the number of students enrolled in MyUM and the number of students enrolled in Blackboard for the same class, it is because first semester students will not be added to any courses in Blackboard until the day before classes begin (August 24^th).

If you have any questions, please contact the Blackboard help desk at 305-284-3949 or email blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Thanks,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Email Announcments Not Working

2010-08-17T10:56:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

The Email Announcement feature is not working right now. If you create an announcement and check the box to email the announcement, no email is sent (and no error is produced to inform you that no email has been sent).

I am currently working with Blackboard to figure out what is causing this problem. In the meantime, you can still send email via Blackboard, and you can still post announcements. It’s only the automated “email this announcement” feature that is not working at this time.

I’ll let you know when it’s resolved, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] On the lookout for a CaneID Blackboard Login Issue

2010-08-16T17:54:00.001-04:00

Bb Users,

We have discovered a very rare instance where once people make the choice to login to Blackboard using CaneID, and enter the CaneID and password, Blackboard never loads. The page remains blank.

Currently I am aware of only 3 people who are affected by this, and I think I know what condition causes the problem, but I am still collecting data to make sure we understand how to fix it. If you have this problem (or talk to anyone else who does), please let me know right away. You can still access Blackboard with your old Blackboard login while I work on finding a fix.

Again, please encourage anyone who has this problem to contact me directly so I can inform them when it is fixed.

As always, thank you for your cooperation.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard announcement

2010-08-16T09:36:00.001-04:00

Bb Users,

Here are a few announcement and reminders for Fall 2010 semester:

1. Log into Blackboard using your CaneID

2. TA enrollment

3. Course Merges

4. Join the Bb Mailing List

5. Blackboard Training

Log into Blackboard using your CaneID

If you have tried to log into Blackboard you may have noticed since August 11, 2010 we have changed the way we log into Blackboard. We are now required to enter the CaneID in order to gain access to our courses. For instructions on how to log in go to the Blackboard log in instruction page (Or copy and paste this URL: http://www6.miami.edu/bb/demos/handouts/BlackboardLogin.pdf )

TA enrollment

We offer assistance enrolling TA’s for you so if you need help and would like us to do it for you, contact the Blackboard help desk at 305-284-3949 or email blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Course Merges

If you would like to collapse your Blackboard sites into one course site or would like to add an additional site that include all of the students in your courses, let us know. Here’s a shortcut to filling out a Course Merge Request Ticket.( Or copy and paste this URL: http://www6.miami.edu/bb/forms/combine_courses.htm )

Join the Bb Mailing List

Do you know someone who should be receiving these emails? Please pass this information on to them. Join the Bb Mailing list. .( Or copy and paste this URL: https://listserv.miami.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=BB&A=1 )

Blackboard Training

New to UM? New to Blackboard? Join us for these introductory training to set up your Blackboard course. There will be time after each session for additional questions by people who stay. Please try to arrive early if you need assistance logging in to Blackboard.

Here are the dates and time:

Event: Introduction to Blackboard

Dates: Friday, August 20^th, 2010

Time: 10:00AM to 11:00AM

Event: Introduction to Blackboard

Dates: Tuesday, August 24^th, 2010

Time: 10:00AM to 11:00AM

Event: Blackboard Grade Center Training

Dates: Tuesday, September 14^th, 2010

Time: 10:00AM to 11:00AM

Event: Blackboard Grade Center Training

Dates: Friday, September 17^th, 2010

Time: 10:00AM to 11:00AM

To Register and to look at all trainings we offer, go to the IAC site at http://www.iacmiami.org/ and click on the “Events” page

Please let us know if you have any questions, Thank you for your patience and feedback, and we look forward to work with you throughout the fall semester.

Sincerely,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Bb Mobile App Problem

2010-08-12T10:56:00.000-04:00

Bb Mobile Users,

If you use the Blackboard Mobile application then you need to login using your “old”, “special” Blackboard account information rather than your CaneID and password.

I am working to resolve this problem and will send an update when I do.

Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

Re: [BB] Logging into Blackboard with CaneID

2010-08-10T17:47:00.001-04:00

Bb Users,

Finally, you will be able to login to Blackboard with your CaneID! (If everything goes according to plan*)

We will be making this change live at approximately 10:00am on Wednesday, August 11^th.

The process will look like this:

1. If you have a CaneID, click the Continue button in the bottom right of this window:

2. You will be prompted for your MyUM/CaneID login information:

3. You will have access to Blackboard the same as ever.

If you have a “special” account (as many faculty have student account that they use for testing) that does not have a CaneID associated with it, then choose the second option and login with your same old Blackboard login for that account.

* In the event that everything does not go according to plan, we will back out the changes, and things will go right back to the way they were. I will send out a message if that happens. We will be standing by to deal with any issues or questions. (305-284-3949)

-Jennifer

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

From: Clister, Jennifer R
Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2010 5:19 PM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: Logging into Blackboard with CaneID

Bb Users,

We have been working to allow you to login to Blackboard using your CaneID and password, and it looks promising that we will make it happen before this fall. If we can’t implement it by August 11^th, we will postpone it another semester, but I wanted to let you know that we are getting close.

What does this mean? Instead of being presented with the standard Blackboard login page, you will see a page similar to the one that appears below. You will be able to choose whether you want to login with your CaneID or your Blackboard login. We encourage you to start using the CaneID/MyUM login.

I just wanted to keep you in the loop and make you aware that when you go to www.miami.edu/blackboard or www.courses.miami.edu, you will hopefully see a page like the one below instead of the Blackboard login page you are accustomed to seeing.

SAMPLE Blackboard Login Page:

Questions? (about this transition or anything else)

Please call the Blackboard Help Desk (305-284-3949).

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Restart early Thurs. Morning

2010-08-03T16:14:00.001-04:00

Bb Users,

Blackboard has to do a restart, and we may experience up to an hour of downtime between 2am and 6am Thursday, August 5^th.

If you have any questions, please contact the Blackboard help desk at 305-284-3949 or email blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Thank you for your patience,

Jennifer

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Introduction to Blackboard

2010-07-30T13:11:00.001-04:00

Hello BB users,

New to UM? New to Blackboard? Join us for this introductory training to set up your Blackboard course. There will be time after this session for additional questions by people who stay. Please try to arrive early if you need assistance logging in to Blackboard.

Title: Introduction to Blackboard

Date: Tue 2010 Aug 24

Time: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

To register please go to www.miami.edu/iac and click on the “Event” tab.

I hope to see you there,

Thanks,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Logging into Blackboard with CaneID

2010-07-29T17:19:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

SAMPLE Blackboard Login Page:

Questions? (about this transition or anything else)

Please call the Blackboard Help Desk (305-284-3949).

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard downtime

2010-07-29T15:02:00.001-04:00

Bb Users,

Please be advised Blackboard will be doing essential maintenance on Saturday, August 7th, 2010 between 12:01am and 8:00am. Certain infrastructure devices will be upgraded in preparation for the upcoming back-to-school period, and we have been advised to expect a service interruption during this time.

I apologize for the inconvenience, and if you have any questions, please contact the Blackboard help desk at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Thank you for your patience.

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard downtime

2010-07-29T14:59:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

Please be advised Blackboard will be doing essential maintenance on Saturday, August 7th, 2010 between 12:01am and 8:00am. Certain infrastructure devices will be upgraded in preparation for the upcoming back-to-school period, and we have been advised to expect a service interruption during this time.

I apologize for the inconvenience, and if you have any questions, please contact the Blackboard help desk at 305-284-3949 or email at blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Thank you for your patience

Rick Ramos
Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard DOWNTIME

2010-07-19T16:14:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

Blackboard is doing some maintenance this weekend, partly in response to having to undo the maintenance they did on July 9^th that caused the service outage that Friday morning.

This Saturday morning, July 24^th from 12am-8am, Blackboard will be subject to intermittent service interruptions.

On Sunday, July 25^th beginning at 6pm, SafeAssign will be unavailable and will be restored by Monday, July 26th at 6am, if not sooner.

I apologize for the inconvenience, and these estimates may be inflated because Blackboard wants to make certain that the large volume of institutions affected by this work are prepared for anything.

Thank you for your patience,

Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

Re: [BB] Blackboard Back Up

2010-07-09T10:48:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

Blackboard has been restored. I will post details explaining what happened on the Blackboard home page under announcements when they provide that information.

The Blackboard World annual conference is next week, and they will have to face all the schools they brought down this morning (who are no happier than we are about the service interruption).

Thank you for your patience, and I apologize for the trouble.

-Jennifer

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

From: UM Blackboard Announcements [mailto:BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] On Behalf Of Clister, Jennifer R
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2010 10:22 AM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: Re: [BB] Blackboard Halfway Up

Bb Users,

This is just an update. Both of our Blackboard servers are up, but our load balancer is still down. That means that you can access Blackboard, but NOT via its URL.

If you need Blackboard before this problem is completely resolved, use one of these URLs:

http://64.125.201.81

http://209.133.92.202

Many schools are already completely up and running. I will let you know as soon as we are.

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

From: UM Blackboard Announcements [mailto:BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] On Behalf Of Clister, Jennifer R
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2010 9:06 AM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: [BB] Blackboard Down

Bb Users,

Blackboard is currently down for us and hundreds of other schools. Blackboard is working to solve the problem, and I am told they are rolling back changes they made early this morning.

Unfortunately that process could take up to 2 hours to restore service to all clients.

I apologize for this, and I will provide more information as soon as I have it.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

Re: [BB] Blackboard Halfway Up

2010-07-09T10:22:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

This is just an update. Both of our Blackboard servers are up, but our load balancer is still down. That means that you can access Blackboard, but NOT via its URL.

If you need Blackboard before this problem is completely resolved, use one of these URLs:

http://64.125.201.81

http://209.133.92.202

Many schools are already completely up and running. I will let you know as soon as we are.

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

Bb Users,

Blackboard is currently down for us and hundreds of other schools. Blackboard is working to solve the problem, and I am told they are rolling back changes they made early this morning.

Unfortunately that process could take up to 2 hours to restore service to all clients.

I apologize for this, and I will provide more information as soon as I have it.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Down

2010-07-09T09:06:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

Blackboard is currently down for us and hundreds of other schools. Blackboard is working to solve the problem, and I am told they are rolling back changes they made early this morning.

Unfortunately that process could take up to 2 hours to restore service to all clients.

I apologize for this, and I will provide more information as soon as I have it.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

Re: [BB] Blackboard down for 12 hours May 17-18 (FINAL REMINDER)

2010-05-14T09:46:00.000-04:00

Blackboard will be UNAVAILABLE from Monday night at 8pm until Tuesday morning around 8am.

If you have problems accessing Blackboard after 9am on Tuesday, please contact the Blackboard Help Desk. (305-284-3949)

Thank you for your patience with this little upgrade. It is important that we remain current with the latest versions of Blackboard.

-Jennifer

___________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

From: UM Blackboard Announcements [mailto:BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU] On Behalf Of Clister, Jennifer R
Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 4:02 PM
To: BB@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU
Subject: [BB] Blackboard will be down for 12 hours May 17-18

Bb Users,

This is just a reminder that we’ll be doing a little upgrade that will require Blackboard to be unavailable for 12 hours beginning Monday, May 17^th at 8pm until Tuesday, May 18^th at 8am.

I’ll send out another reminder next week, but please keep these dates in mind.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard will be down for 12 hours May 17-18

2010-05-07T16:02:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

I’ll send out another reminder next week, but please keep these dates in mind.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] SafeAssign Ignores Footnote Text in .docx Documents

2010-04-30T14:52:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

I have just confirmed a bug with Blackboard whereby SafeAssign does not recognize footnote text in student submissions when they are in .docx format (which is the newest version of MS Word 2008).

If your students are using footnotes, please ask them to submit their Word documents in the .doc format by choosing Save As: “Word 97-2004 Document (.doc)”

This bug has been reported to Blackboard, and they will notify me when they have a fix (but that won’t help us get through the end of this semester).

I apologize, and if I can help you or you can help me communicate this message, please let me know.

Thank you for your continued patience,

Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Important Blackboard Updates

2010-04-22T15:57:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

Here are some important updates for the upcoming weeks. Please read below for additional details.

1. Blackboard will be DOWN for down for 12 hours the night of May 17^th.

2. SafeAssign may be slow and cause some frustration due to end-of-semester high usage.

3. Blackboard has a new mobile app that will be available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android this summer.

Here are the details on those updates:

1. Blackboard Down from 8pm 5/17 to 8am 5/18
We need to do a small upgrade to our Bb system. The effects of this upgrade are mostly on the back end, so there won’t be any visible changes this time around. Blackboard must be down for 12 hours, however, from Monday, 5/17 at 8pm – Tuesday, 5/18 at 8am. I apologize for any inconvenience this causes being squeezed between submitting final grades for the Spring semester and the beginning of the first Summer session. I will send out reminders of this downtime as we get closer to it.

2. SafeAssign May Be Slow
Since it is the end of the semester, a lot of people at a lot of schools are submitting papers via SafeAssign, and high volume usually means more problems. Processing times are slower, and sometimes submission attempts fail. Please encourage your students to not wait until the last possible minute to submit assignments so they have time to wait a few minutes and try again later. If they have problems, direct them to the Help Desk: 305-284-3949.

3. Blackboard New Mobile Application
Blackboard currently has an iPhone application, but it has been so unpopular, they have created a new mobile application called “Bb Mobile.” This will be available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android and Blackberry phones on Sprint this June. The current unpopular iPhone application will also be retired in June. Once we complete the upgrade on May 18^th, I can install the new mobile application. If you have an iPad, you’ll be able to use it right away. If not, you will have to wait until the service is available to the other devices in June. Stay tuned for more information on this.

Here’s to a smooth of the semester.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Summer and Fall, 2010 Courses Available

2010-04-19T09:15:00.000-04:00

Bb Users,

The Summer 1 courses are now “current” (which means they show up under “My Current Courses” on your Blackboard Home page).

Summer 2 and Fall, 2010 courses are also now available in Blackboard via the green “Courses” tab.

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Tip of the Week

2010-04-13T09:46:00.001-04:00

Hello BB User,

SafeAssign Originality Reports provide detailed information about the matches found between a submitted paper and existing sources. The SafeAssign report identifies all matching blocks of text. It is the responsibility of the teacher and student to investigate whether the matching text is properly referenced or not. Detailing every match prevents detection errors due to differences in citing standards.

How SafeAssignments work:

SafeAssign is based on a unique text matching algorithm capable of detecting exact and inexact matching between a paper and source material. SafeAssignments are compared against several different databases, including:

• Internet – comprehensive index of documents available for public access on the Internet;

• ProQuest ABI/Inform database with over 1,100 publication titles and about 2.6 million articles from 1990s to present time, updated weekly (exclusive access);

• Institutional document archives containing all papers submitted to SafeAssign by users in their respective institutions;

• Global Reference Database containing papers that were volunteered by students from Blackboard client institutions to help prevent cross-institutional plagiarism.

If you have created a safeAssignment and students have submitted their paper, here is how to read the report:

1. Go to the “Control Panel”

2. Click on “SafeAssing”

3. Locate the Safe Assignment from the list

4. Click on View to access results

5. You now have access the result page

6. Text

By clicking the text icon, the instructor will see the text of the safe assignment submitted.

7. File

By clicking on the file icon, the instructor will be able to download the original filed submitted.

8. Matching

The Matching column will inform the instructor the percentage of the submitted assignment matching other sources.

Overall score is an indicator of what percentage of the submitted paper matches existing sources. This score is a warning indicator only and papers should be reviewed to see if the matches are properly attributed.

• Scores below 15 percent: These papers typical include some quotes and few common phrases or blocks of text that match other documents. These papers typically do not require further analysis, as there is no evidence of the possibility of plagiarism in these papers.

• Scores between 15 percent and 40 percent: These papers include extensive quoted or paraphrased material or they may include plagiarism. These papers should be reviewed to determine if the matching content is properly attributed.

• Scores over 40 percent: There is a very high probability that text in this paper was copied from other sources. These papers include quoted or paraphrased text in excess and should be reviewed for plagiarism.

9. SA Report

The SA Report will provide a complete report for the instructor to review.

10. SA Report

a. Paper information

This section lists data about the paper, such as the author, percent Matching, and when it was submitted. This section also includes options for downloading the report, emailing the report, or viewing a printable version.

b. Suspected Sources

This section lists the sources that have text that matches the text of the submitted paper. Users may select sources, exclude them from the review, and process the paper again. This is useful if a source is a previous work from the same student for the same assignment, or if there is some reason that lengthy sections of a particular source appear in the paper. Processing the paper again will generate a new value for the percent matching without using the excluded sources.

c. Paper Text

This section shows the submitted paper. All matching blocks of text are identified. Clicking a matching block of text will display information about the original source and the probability that the block or sentence was copied from the source.

You can always review other tips by clicking the help button on the top middle of your blackboard page, then click on “Setup your Course”, or click here: http://umblackboardhelp.helpdeskconnect.com/

If you have any question please feel free to contact us at 305-284-3949 or email us at blackboardhelp@miami.edu, we are here to assist you with any question.

Thank you,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] Tip of The Week

2010-04-06T09:21:00.001-04:00

Hello BB Users,

Creating assignments is a great way to receive work from students but sometimes we would like a little bit more from it. For example, wouldn’t it be great to verify if the work submitted by students is original?

If you are not familiar with SafeAssign, it is a plagiarism prevention service. This service helps educators prevent plagiarism by detecting unoriginal content in student papers. In addition to acting as a plagiarism deterrent, it also has features designed to aid in educating students about plagiarism and importance of proper attribution of any borrowed content.

How to create a Safe Assignment

1. Go to the control panel

2. Open a Content Area, such as Course Documents or Assignments, from the Control Panel.

3. Select Add “SafeAssignment” from the Action Bar and click on Go.

4. Enter the Name and the Points Possible

**Make sure it is set to be available to the students.**

5. Select Draft if you don’t want the assignment to be added to the database. Which means it can be resubmitted in the future without matching it to the draft already submitted.

6. Select “Yes” for “Student Viewable” if you want the students to see the results. If you select “No”, only the instructor will have access to the results.

7. Click on Submit

8. A new column will be added to the grade center with the Safe Assignment name.

9. To Submit it or to view results, students will have to access the folder where you created the Safe Assignment and click the “View/Complete” button.

Next tip, we will review the SafeAssignment report. Please feel free to contact me if you have any question about this tip or about anything else you need assistance with. Our Blackboard help desk number is 305-284-3949 and our email is blackboardhelp@miami.edu.

Thanks,

Rick Ramos

Blackboard Help Desk Supervisor

305-284-3949

[BB] New Sign Up Tool

2010-04-05T13:51:00.001-04:00

Bb Users,

I just installed a new tool that will allow you to create sessions that students can sign up (and un-sign up) for. They can not remove another student from the list.

You can decide how many students can sign up for each session and whether you want to maintain a wait list (which will automatically promote the first student if a signed-up student withdraws him/herself). You can implement this tool in your course by going into any content area in the Control Panel. “Sign-Up Lists” is the last option in the Select menu (where assignments, blogs, surveys, etc… also appear).

You can find more details by clicking the Blackboard Support Tab and following the link to “Instructor handouts.” Here’s a shortcut to the Sign-Up Lists handout.
<https://www6.miami.edu/bb/demos/handouts/Sign-Up%20Lists.pdf>

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949

[BB] Blackboard Conference (July)

2010-03-26T14:09:00.001-04:00

Bb Users,

If anyone is interested in going to the Blackboard convention (BbWorld) this summer, it will be in Orlando, FL July 13-16. (http://www.blackboard.com/BbWorld/2010/Home.aspx)

The early, early bird registration rates are in effect until 3/31:

by 3/31/2010	by 6/18/2010	after 6/18/2010
$715.00*	$815.00	$895.00

If you are interested in registering (or want more information about BbWorld), please let me know. (The price drops if we have 5 or more people register. I will be one of them.)

-Jennifer

_____________________________________

JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard System Manager
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949