The VTBE, or Visual Text Box Editor, is enabled in Blackboard 9.1. What does this mean? The VTBE is a WYSIWYG, or What You See Is What You Get, editor (I promise, that’s the last of the alphabet soup.) that lets you post formatted text and images to discussion boards, blogs, wikis, etc.<\/p>\n
But there is one caveat.<\/p>\n
If an instructor uses the Content Attachments (section 2) to attach files to a posting, students will get an error message saying they do not have permission to access the content. And when students use the VTBE, the instructor can’t access the attachment. But if instructors use the VTBE and students use Content Attachments to attach files, all files can be accessed and downloaded by all users in a course.<\/p>\n
Blackboard has targeted a fix for this in a future release, but for now, instructors will need to use the VTBE to attach content to discussion board postings, and students will need to use Content Attachments. If you’re using the discussion board in your class, be sure to let your students know this important step if they’re attaching files to their posts.<\/p>\n
The VTBE is enabled by default, but to verify this, on the main screen of Blackboard, go to: Tools > Personal Information > Set Visual Text Box Editor Options.<\/p>\n
NOTE: The VTBE is not supported in Google’s Chrome browser unless you install the IEtab.net extension. Chrome is not a supported browser with Blackboard, though. Use Firefox on the PC or Mac for best results.<\/p>\n