Some students have reported seeing error messages when trying to upload files to a Blackboard assignment using Firefox version 3.5.x. Information Services is working with Blackboard to obtain a fix for this problem and that fix should be available sometime Monday, September 21. The problem also seems to affect some sub-versions of Internet Explorer 7 and 8. For the short term, Blackboard users are asked to try a different web browser among Firefox, Safari (Mac), and Internet Explorer (Chrome, Opera, and Safari for Windows are not supported on Blackboard).
Update: a patch was installed Friday at 7:30pm that should eliminate this problem for supported browsers.
The timed-test issue, which caused the timer to hide the Submit button while taking a test in IE 8, has been fixed! Feel free to use IE 8 while taking a timed test in Blackboard.
Listen up: Very soon, your students will be disappearing from last semester’s Blackboard courses. These courses have CRNs that begin with 2008_20. So if you haven’t gotten around to archiving your courses and you want to keep a record of your students’ grades and discussion board interactions, now is the time to archive.
Other than student interactions, though, all materials will remain in your course until you request its removal.
The exact date this will happen following every semester is 60 days past the last date of the semester across the UR Schools. For this past semester, this means July 10.
See “Winterizing Your Blackboard Course” for more information on how to archive, the difference between archiving and exporting, and more.
Attention all UR Blackboard users: The Blackboard servers are unavailable each day from 2:45 a.m. to 3 a.m. Hopefully, you’re tucked safely in your beds by that point, but for those of you who are night owls, this announcement is important. The servers undergo nightly maintenance and are restarted during this window.
Thanks for your patience, and happy teaching, learning, and grading!
Have you heard the buzz about Blackboard arriving in the iPhone’s App Store? If not, certainly, you’ve seen the Facebook application, no? The iPhone app installs on your iPhone or iPod Touch and allows you to access assignments, grades, course documents, and more while on the go in a sleek, mobile interface.
Read more about Blackboard Learn on Blackboard’s Teaching and Learning website.
From the Blackboard application’s Facebook page: “You can find out if you have a new assignment, grade, new forum posts, etc., without having to leave Facebook. The Blackboard Learn application also cross-references your courses’ rosters with Facebook to make it easier to connect with your classmates through Facebook.” You can read the press release here.
So, will these platforms be available at UR? Information Services is reviewing the applications and its security features to ensure it meets all UR privacy requirements and ensures students’ confidential information is safe.
Stay tuned.
Blackboard is now available for service. The problem had been isolated, and we foresee no additional outages.
Again, your browser might not immediately show the updated status (get the working web page) depending on the settings of you browser’s cache. For most browsers, you can force it to try to download an updated page by using the Ctrl-R key combination on Windows and Linux or Command-R key combination on a Mac.
For those affected, thank you for your patience and again, forward any questions or concerns to blackboard@richmond.edu .
Blackboard is unexpectedly unavailable as of approximately 9 AM, March 25. Information Services is investigating the problem and will work to restore service as soon as possible. Updates will be posted to this site.
FYI, once Blackboard is again available, your browser might not immediately show the updated status (get the new page) depending on the settings of you browser’s cache. For most browsers, you can force it to try to download an updated page by using the Ctrl-R key combination on Windows and Linux or Command-R key combination on a Mac.
Please direct any questions or concerns to blackboard@richmond.edu.
For those affected, thank you for your patience.
No need for alarm - it’s not too bad. However, it seems there are some intermittent errors with Apple’s new Safari 4 beta browser for PC and Blackboard 8’s Grade Center. Apparently the javascript engine has been rewritten to make it more fast and efficient with AJAX apps (like Grade Center). For those of you noticing improper loading, misaligned tables and/or missing graphics - have no alarm, you can always use Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer and everything will work just fine! Stay tuned on planned bug fixes from Apple.
Note to all Mac users of Safari 4 beta: Fortunately this notice does not affect you.
Blackboard is very flexible in the types of files it can store and in the ways that they can be named, but there are certain characters that Blackboard cannot handle. If a file name contains any of these illegal characters and the file is uploaded to Blackboard, any subsequent attempt to open that file will result in an HTTP Status 404 error or a completely blank page. These characters are: ?, #, / and \
Take a look at this comprehensive resource on Blackboard 8’s Grade Center. Thirty-two FAQs detail everything from rearranging your Grade Center items to weighting grades by item and category. This guide tells you how to do what you did in BB7 in the new version in an easy-to-read format. Check it out, and comment on the tip that was most useful to you!
CNDLS: Grades (Faculty FAQs)
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