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 turnitin assignment, or through the digital drop box) 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?

See Also Using Blackboard Guide.

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 Brian Waite (845-257-3117) during business hours. Do not contact the Student Help Desk for Blackboard issues.

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1. What is Blackboard?

Blackboard is course management software that is licensed by SUNY New Paltz. Blackboard allows your professor / instructor to place course materials on the web in a password protected environment. Blackboard is also portal to your academic communities (departments, academic groups, etc.).

Every course at New Paltz has a corresponding Blackboard site, but not all instructors choose to use this space. Your instructor will let you know if you will be using any Blackboard features.

2. What is my username and password?

See NPCUID/Banner ID Page

3. How do I access eReserves via Blackboard? The Library posts scanned eReserves documents in the area of Blackboard known as the “Content Collection”, organized by course. To access documents in this area: Log in to Blackboard. Click on the “eReserves” tab.

4. How do I log in to Blackboard?

Blackboard is web based. The preferred browser for all operating systems (Windows and MAC) is Mozilla Firefox. If you have access to the web and are using Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer (6.x or newer) you should be able to use Blackboard. (Mac users - Mozilla Firefox works perfectly on your computer, Safari works, but is not recommended.) Connect to your Internet service provider and launch your browser if it does not start automatically. (In a lab, just click on Firefox, Internet Explorer or Netscape.) Point your browser to: http://blackboard.newpaltz.edu.

At the Blackboard Portal page, you must enter your NPCUID (BannerID) and Password. (You must let the system know who you are. Before you enter your username it will say: You are not currently participating in any courses. Click login to proceed. (Your NPCUID, New Paltz Computer UserID is the username and password used for most other campus computer resourses.) All characters are entered in lower case!

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 “Communication” button and then Discussion board, or click on the button labeled “Discussion Board.” Once inside the Discussion Board you will have to:

• Open 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, click on the button Blackboard displays information to you about the forum in which you are posting, the date and time as well as your name. Type a subject in the provided field and type or copy paste your message into the message window.
• 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 launce 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 .

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, you will see a field next to Attachment. Do not type anything into the empty field! Click the Browse button. The same technique will be used if a faculty member asks you to submit your assignment digitally. This may be done through a Turnitin assignment (to check your work for plagiarism), through a digital e-assignment, or via the digital dropbox.

• Highlight the file to be attached (Note: The browser may be looking for “Files of type HTML” Change the file type to All files *.* if necessary.)
• Click on Open and then .

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. Remember that Blackboard is a web environment and may not work well if you allow “blank spaces” in the file name. Follow these guidelines for naming files:
• No blank spaces; no “special characters” such as / * & ^ % $ # @ ! If you need a separating character to replace the blank spaces 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 (.doc) - Although we do not ask that students purchase Microsoft Office, the .doc filetype is easy for instructors to read.
  • PDF - If you have a tool that lets you create PDFs, this is a pretty universal file type.
    

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. 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 https://npmail.newpaltz.edu to read your campus email. For more information about your New Paltz email, please see the email pages.

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.