Friday, January 25, 2013

Trouble Pasting into the Content Text Editor? Keyboard Shortcuts May be the Answer

It has come to our attention that in some web browsers (such as Firefox), you must use CTRL-C to copy and CTRL-V to paste when working in the content text editor (instead of using a right-click to copy and paste). If right-clicking your mouse does not work, you may need to use the keyboard shortcuts instead.
To Copy: 
1) Highlight the text you would like to copy.
2) Hold down the control button while simultaneously pressing "C" 
To Paste: 
1) Hold down the control button while simultaneously pressing "V"

The Content Editor: “Paste from Word” is No Longer an Option

Please note there is a new default content editor throughout Blackboard.  With the new content editor comes many changes to the toolbar; one of which being that the “Paste from Word” option in the mashup dropdown is no longer available. You can now paste directly from Word into the content area.
Click for more information

"Unavailable" Discussion Board Forums? Not Really

Please be aware that a Blackboard “Known Issue” exists where unavailable Discussion Board Forums are visible and sometimes accessible to students. Discussion Boards that are set to “Available” but have a Date/Time restriction set for a future date are still visible and accessible to students.  Students can enter the forum and create threads in those situations.

To make a discussion board inaccessible to students, you must manually make it “Unavailable”. The forum will still be visible to students but they will not be able to access it.  We recommend waiting to add discussion board forums until you are ready to use them. This bug will be fixed in a future service pack.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Important Grade Center Issue for Online Faculty


Please note that a grade MUST be entered into each graded column in the Grade Center for final grades to be calculated correctly.  If you leave the dashes (--) in a graded column, that column will NOT be included in the student's total grade calculation. You must enter a zero if a student does not submit the assignment (test, et al) for that column to be calculated.

Example:  If a student only turns in two assignments for the entire semester but receives the highest number of points on those assignments, the total grade will be calculated as an "A" if there are no other letter grades entered into the missing assignment grade columns and they are left with dashes (--) for a grade where there should be a zero.