Frequently asked questions about Blackboard

This page provides answers to some of the most essential Blackboard questions.

1. What is Blackboard?
2. What is my username and password?
3. How do I access eReserves via Blackboard?
4. How do I log in to Blackboard?
5. How do I participate in a discussion?
6. How do I send an attachment in the discussion?
7. What is the best way to save a file to be submitted digitally (through an e-assignment, as an attachment in a discussion, as a Safe Assignment, or through a Blackboard eAssignment) and why can’t my instructor retrieve my file when I know I submitted it?
8. How do I take a quiz online?
9. When my instructor sends an email to the class, what e-mail address is used by Blackboard?
10. How do I submit a digital e-assignment?
11. How do I allow sites to get past my pop-up blocker settings?
12. What about Java and other applications that may be needed for my class?
13. Elluminate Live!

Help with Blackboard is provided by Academic Computing professional staff members. If you cannot find the answer to your question online, please contact Linda Smith (845 257-3188) or Chris Mann (845-257-2657) during business hours. Do not contact the Student Help Desk for Blackboard course related issues.

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1. What is Blackboard?

Blackboard is course management software that allows your professor / instructor to place course materials on the web in a password protected environment.

Every course at New Paltz has a corresponding Blackboard site; some instructors choose not to use the site dedicated to the course. Your instructor will let you know if you will be using any Blackboard features.

2. What is my username and password?

Your username may be your Banner ID or the new NPCUID which is up to the first seven characters of your last name, the first character of your first name and a digit provided when you register.  Contact smithl@newpaltz.edu if your bannerID or NPCUID does not work for you.  If you have trouble with your password, go to my.newpaltz.edu and click on “Trouble logging In?“

3. How do I access eReserves via Blackboard? The Library posts scanned eReserves documents in the menu item eReserver on the individual Blackboard course sites.  Not all courses use eReserves. Many faculty are scanning and posting their own articles and posting them in their course site. To access documents in this area: Log in to Blackboard. Click on the the link to your course Click on “eReserves” in the menu area in the left frame of your course site. There may be multiple pages of articles.

4. How do I log in to Blackboard?

Blackboard is web based. The preferred browser for Windows is Mozilla Firefox; for MAC it is Safari. Make sure you have your PopUp blocker set correctly and that you clear the history and cache of your browser.  Connect to your Internet service provider and launch your browser if it does not start automatically. Point your browser to: https://blackboard.newpaltz.edu.

At the Blackboard Login page, enter your NPCUID (BannerID) and Password. Remember, your courses will not be available until ONE WEEK prior to the beginning of the semester / summer session. Your account will be active after registering for a credit bearing class.  If you login “early” you may see: You are not currently participating in any courses. Your course(s) will become available at the designated time.

5. How do I participate in a discussion?

Threaded discussions occur inside Blackboard. If you have a lengthy item to post or a lengthy reply, please use your word processing application and copy / paste the text into the discussion. Create locally (on your computer) then log in and paste (or attach if allowed) into the discussion. To participate in whole class discussions click on either the Tools / Communication button and then Discussion board or click on the menu item labeledDiscussion Board. Once inside the Discussion Board you will have to:

• Open a forum. (Only a faculty member can create a forum.)  There may be several forums inside the Discussion Board. Each forum will contain threaded discussion where faculty may engage students in discussions about specific topics.
  • To start a new thread WHEN ALLOWED, click on the Create Thread button.  Type a subject in the provided field and type or copy paste your message into the message window.  NOTE:  above the “message window” there is a “Visual editor” status indicator.  If  the Visual editor is “Off” consider clicking and turning on the Visual Text Box Editor (VTBE) which provides “What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editing tools.  Text pasted from MS Word may not post correctly.  If this happens, consider using Notepad or another text editor that doesn’t embed code.
  • If you are asked to Reply to an existing message, with the forum open click on the subject title. (If you click on the name of the person who posted, your browser will launch your web email.) As you reply to the original topic and other students reply to you and / or to the original topic, the threaded discussion grows.
• Whether creating a new thread or replying to and existing one, be sure to type (or copy / paste) your message and then click .  If you click Save instead of Submit you will be saving a DRAFT which will NOT be available to anyone other than the person who is saving a draft (you.)  Click Submit to submit the post. Click Cancel to quit.

6. How do I send an attachment in the discussion?

Some (but not all) faculty will allow attachments to be incorporated into a discussion. If your discussion permits attachments, next to Attachment click on the link “Attach a file”; Browse to Attach Local File and when ready, following description above, click Submit to post your entry into the discussion board, including the attachment.

7. What is the best way to save a file to be submitted digitally?
(Why can’t my instructor retrieve my file when I know I submitted it?)

• NOTE: Blackboard will not display files with names longer than thirty (30) characters. Follow these guidelines for naming files:
  • No “special characters” such as / * & ^ % $ # @ ! If you need a separating character use a dash – or an underscore _
  • To save your work in a format that others should be able to read, click File Save as and choose either:
    • Rich Text Format (.rtf) – RTF – NOTE: when choosing RTF, don’t insert extra punctuation into the filename! A file named: my.final.rtf may not open correctly
    • MS Word (.docx) - Although we do not ask that students purchase Microsoft Office, the .docx filetype is easy for instructors to read.
    • Plain Text (.txt) – All word processors save in plain text.
    • Note:  If you are a MAC user, be sure to provide a 3 character extension to your filename.  This will make it easier for your Professor to open your document.

8. How do I take a quiz online?

Some (but not all) faculty ask students to take a quiz online. Some quizzes are used for review and may be taken multiple times. Others may be timed or may be taken only once or may require a password. Some may display one question at a time, and you may resume taking the quiz where you stopped. (If this method is chosen and the quiz is timed, the total elapsed time from the moment you began your quiz, including any time between quitting and resuming your quiz.) Your instructor will include directions and indicate whether the quiz is for review and may be taken multiple times or whether it is timed or has a password, what the password is prior to the taking of the online quiz. Before you start make sure you have your popups set correctly AND that you clear the history and cache of your browser. Click on the link to the quiz (as directed by your Professor) to begin the quiz.

• Click the appropriate response to indicate whether you want to take the quiz. If you choose to take the quiz and then do not submit, NONE of your responses will be recognized.
• Save all responses while taking quiz, Submit when you have completed all questions.
• Elapsed time will be displayed in the “tray” at the bottom of your browser window if the quiz has a time limit. Blackboard generates the message: “Timed assessment: You have 5 minutes to complete this assessment.” The elapsed time appears at the bottom of your browser. A 1 minute warning will be displayed. A pop-up message appears when one minute remains. Be sure to Submit before the time has elapsed.(NOTE: You will be allowed to submit after the time has expired. Your quiz will not be auto-graded until your Professor sees the total elapsed time you used to take the quiz.)
• If feedback has been enabled, you will see your results immediately.

9. When my instructor sends an email to the class, what e-mail address is used by Blackboard?

The campus supplies email to all students, faculty and staff. You are required to use your campus email for campus business. You cannot change the email address known to Blackboard. When faculty send email through Blackboard it will be delivered to your campus email address. Point your browser to http://hawkmail.newpaltz.edu to read your campus email. For more information about your New Paltz email, please see the email pages and click on the Hawkmail FAQs

10. How do I submit an assignment?

Your instructor must first create an Assignment in Blackboard. You can recognize an Assignment from other Blackboard items because it will have:
” >> View/Complete Assignment: (Assignment Name Here) ” at the bottom of the item.

If you click on that, you will be given an option to Browse for the file you would like to submit (make sure you saved in a collaborative format–see 6 above).

11. How do I allow sites to get past my pop-up blocker settings?

See Pop-up Blocker Settings Page

When finished with all tasks for any given session, be sure to logout by clicking on at the top of the Blackboard page.

12. What about other applications such as Java?

Some of the online material require a CURRENT version of Java.  To download Java or to find whether or not your version is current go to http://www.java.com/en/  In addition, you may need RealPlayer, or other video players.  Links for all recommended downloads can be found at the Academic Computing download page.

13. Elluminate Live!

The web conferencing application, Elluminate, is a plugin to Blackboard and may be used in your Blackboard course.  To participate in an Elluminate web conference, your faculty member will set up a session.  You MUST have a Java enabled web browser and Java must be up to date.  (See Java info above.)  The first time you participate in an Elluminate session you may be asked to download a .jnlp file (get the Elluminate, Java adapter)  Once the Java adapter is ready you will see an Elluminate splash screen, some connecting messages and you may be asked to accept the agreement to participate in the session.  You may be asked about your connection speed.  Pick the appropriate connection.

System Requirements for using Elluminate:

• Windows, MAC OS or Linux
  • Windows:   Windows XP (32 bit), Windows Vista (32 or 64 bit) or Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit)

256 MB RAM

• Mac OS X:  Mac OS X 10.5 (32 or 64 bit) or Mac OS X 10.6 (32 or 64 bit)

256 MBRAM

• Linux:  openSUSE 11 (64 bit) or Ubuntu 9.10 (64 bit)

256 MB RAM

• Java
  • 20 MB free disk space
  • 28.8 KBps Internet connection
  • Windows, Linux or Solaris: soundcard with speakers and microphone or headset
  • Macs: internal, USB, or external iSight microphone

If additional speakers are permitted, click the mic to start.  Most likely the faculty member will be the only person using the mic.  You may click into the chat area to ask any questions.