Finally! Blackboard has been upgraded, and we've ironed out all the wrinkles. We're ready to have you test it so that we can be absolutely certain it is ready to be made publicly available on Thursday, 7/5 (according to schedule).
As we have asked in the past, could you please review your course sites to make sure things look and function properly? Some things may look a little different, and there are a few new functions, but if you could confirm that everything works, it would be a great help.
Here is the URL: http://216.200.111.251
NOTE: It is important NOT to share this URL with your students. The site will be available to everyone on Thursday (7/5) via the regular Blackboard URL.This is only a test.
Information for Instructors with Courses on the Temporary Server...
For those of you who have had your courses moved to the temporary server, you are welcome to keep using it for the rest of the summer. At the end of the summer, we can replace the version of your course that is currently on regular Blackboard with the one you have been using over the summer (if you want that). Of course, you are free to start using regular Blackboard again and abandon the temporary server if you choose to do so at any time.
For those who have NOT had courses moved, but have had temporary courses and accounts created, you may want to switch back to regular Blackboard when it is publicly available on Thursday (7/5). Any content that you posted before Bb went down will still be there, so if you haven't posted too much new content to the temporary server, it might be easier to abandon it. Since your students are logging in to the temporary server with temporary accounts (while students in courses that were moved before Bb went down have the same login info as they do on regular Bb), it may be easier for them to return to the regular Blackboard site.
Thank you again,
____________________________________
JENNIFER CLISTER
Blackboard & Technology Integration Analyst
University of Miami IAC
305-284-3949
