Blackboard Center
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact Information
Jon Gallaway
- 504-864-7168
- jgallawa@loyno.edu
Jon is available to answer any questions you have about Blackboard.
These Frequently Asked Questions relate to the use and implementation of Blackboard. If you have a question about performing a specific function in your courses, please see our tutorials section.
General FAQs
- Who do I call for help?
- What is my username and password?
- Can I change my username?
- Can I change my password?
- I have changed my password, but have forgotten it. How do I reset it?
- What operating system and browsers are recommended for using Blackboard?
- I am a chair/member of a university committee, academic group, student group, or department, and would like to use Blackboard for my group.
- When I try to access a document on Blackboard, why do I get a “404 – File not found” error?
- When are courses created? When will my enrollments be available?
- When I try to submit a document, I am getting a "invalid file" error; What is causing this?
Faculty FAQs
- Do I need to request to have a Blackboard course created for my on-campus class?
- How long do courses remain on the Blackboard server?
- Can I post Audio or Video materials to my Blackboard site?
- I am teaching multiple sections of the same course in the same semester, can I combine my classes into one Blackboard site?
- What is a “Course Cartridge?
- I am getting messages that my course is nearing or has exceeded the maximum size limit, what should I do?
- Can I reuse course content from previous semesters in the current term?
- What is the difference between a survey and a test?
- My assessment (test/survey) is already deployed and some students have already taken it, but I need to alter it, what can I do?
- Who is responsible for archiving courses?
- How would you suggest I track attendance in Gradebook?
Who do I call for help?
If you need help with Blackboard you can contact our 24 hour support line at 1-866-562-7278, or call Jon Gallaway, the Blackboard Manager at 504-864-7168 or email him at jgallawa@loyno.edu, or contact the Monroe Library in person or at 504-864-7111.
What is my username and password?
Your username is the same as your Loyola email address before the “@loyno.edu.” passwords are assigned when your account is created and will follow one of two conventions. If your account was created before March 20th, 2008, your password will be your four digit birth year followed by the two digit birth month; so a student who was born in June of 1990, would have a password of “198906”. If your account was created after March 20th, 2008, your password is the first two letters of your first name (lowercase) followed by the last four digits of your Social Security Number; so John Doe with a SSN of XXX-XX-1234 would have a password of “jo1234”. If you have tried all of the above and are still unable to log in, please contact Jon Gallaway, the Blackboard Manager at 504-864-7168, or our 24 hour support line at 1-866-562-7278.
Can I change my username?
No, Since the system uses your username as an identifier, it is the only piece of personal information that is not editable.
Can I change my password?
Yes, on your “my institution” page, go to the green tools menu on the left hand side, and select “Personal Information” and then “change password”
I have changed my password, but have forgotten it.
How do I reset it?
To have your password reset, you can do one of two things:
- Contact the Loyola Blackboard Manager, the 24 hours support line, or the Monroe Library and ask for your password to be reset.
- Click the “forgot password” link in the log-in box, and a email will be sent to the address listed on your account with a unique link to allow you to choose a new password. (please note: if you receive an email with a link to change your password, and you did not request the change, contact Jon Gallaway immediately at 504.864.7168 or jgallawa@loyno.edu)
What operating system and browsers are recommended for using Blackboard?
At this time, Blackboard supports OS X, XP, and Vista. For browsers we recommend using either Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2.0. (firefox 3 is not yet fully supported)
I am a Chair/member of a university committee, academic group, student group, or department, and would like to use Blackboard for my group.
Contact the Blackboard Manager, Jon Gallaway, and a course ID will be assigned appropriate to the group. Please have a list of all users ready, complete with email addresses.
When I try to access a document on Blackboard, why do I get a “404 – File not found” error?
This is normally caused by an “illegal” character in the file name of the document. Illegal characters include, among others, #,&, and %. A file that is named with one of these characters will not be recoverable, and the person who uploaded the file should be contacted to rename and reload the file.
When are courses created? When will my enrollments be available?
Courses are created three times a year, two weeks before the beginning of the semester. Instructors are enrolled at this time, but student enrollments are done the week before classes begin and again after the “add date” passes to make sure the class rosters are up to date.
When I try to submit a document, I am getting a "invalid file" error; What is causing this?
This error often occurs when using an unsupported browser such as Firefox 3 or Internet Explorer 8 Beta. To submit your document, try using another browser such as Firefox 2 or IE 7.
Do I need to request to have a course created for my on-campus course?
No, all courses listed on LORA will have a Site set up for them by default.
How long do courses remain on the Blackboard server?
Unless otherwise requested by the course instructor, courses are available on the system for one year. So courses from the fall of 2008 will be removed immediately before the beginning of the fall 2009 semester, the spring 2008 before the spring 2009 and so on.
Can I post Audio or Video materials to my Blackboard site?
Because of the large size of these materials, we try to host multimedia content off of the main Blackboard server. If you are interested in using audio or video in your course, please contact the library at 864-7111.
I am teaching multiple sections of the same course in the same semester, can I combine my classes into one Blackboard site?
Yes, arrangements to do this should be made with the Blackboard Manager as soon as possible once courses have been created for the semester in question to make sure all student enrollments are directed to the correct course.
What is a "Course Cartridge"?
Certain publishers produce materials for Blackboard in place of or as supplement to their textbooks and then require students to purchase a “pass key” (sometimes included with the text) to access the digital materials. The use of course cartridges is at the discretion of the instructor.
I am getting messages that my course is nearing or has exceeded the maximum size limit, what should I do?
The default size for all courses created on blackboard is 200 MB, and every effort should be made to remain under that limit. If you need help cleaning up your course, or optimizing files to reduce their size, contact the blackboard manager. In some circumstances, temporary allowances will be made to exceed the quota limit.
Can I reuse course content from previous semesters in the current term?
Yes, copying individual items or entire courses is relatively simple. See the tutorial section of the Blackboard Center for more detailed instructions.
What is the difference between a survey and a test?
Tests and surveys are created in a very similar way and with the same functionality, but have some key differences. Tests are graded assessments that integrate with the Gradebook. Surveys are anonymous and ungraded; In the gradebook, a survey will only display if the survey has been completed by a student, but will not give you their individual responses. Data from a survey can be viewed as an aggregate or in Excel format.
My assessment (test/survey) is already deployed and some students have already taken it, but I need to alter it, what can I do?
Changes to deployed tests should only be typographical in nature. Adding or removing questions, or dramatically changing questions can cause students who have already taken the test to have incorrectly graded exams. In cases where this becomes an issue, it may be best to throw out a question.
Who is responsible for archiving courses?
Instructors are responsible for archiving their courses. We take system backups at intervals through the year, but cannot guarantee all content will be recoverable. For more information about taking an archive of your course see the tutorial section of the Blackboard center.
How would you suggest I track attendance in Gradebook?
Add a new item in the Gradebook, call it Attendance. Make sure that you select “no” when it asks if you want to include the item in gradebook score calculations. And every time a student is absent (or is present if you would rather) add 1 to the score. This way you will quickly see how many classes each student has missed.