Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Tech Tip Tuesday - Mixed Content Blocker (Firefox)

As we navigate through the issues that may arise with these updated and more secure web browsers we have come across another potential issue known as 'mixed content blocking.'

This issue may not affect everyone but if you see multimedia items (YouTube videos, SafeAssign etc) not loading it may not be a broken link but your web browser that is blocking the content.

This weeks video tutorial, by Nadine Edwards, gives a quick overview on how to override the Firefox default settings to allow multimedia items to work properly in Blackboard.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Tech Tip Tuesday - Discussion Board Update

With the many web browser security issues we had in 8 week 1 we ran into many issues, mostly with the Discussion Board.  I am pleased to report that many of these issues have been resolved! (Kermit the Frog YAY!!)

This week's tech tip, by Nadine Edwards, shows some updated tips and tricks and best practices with the Discussion Board.


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Tech Tip Tuesday - Blackboard Calendar

One of the new(ish) features in Blackboard is the Blackboard Calendar.  This isn't a widely used feature (yet) as it does take some time to set up.  However, I'm sure you can see the benefits of having a well organized and well defined course.




This week's video tutorial shows you how to:

  • Get to the calendar
  • Create a calendar tool link in your course
  • Add events 
  • What it looks like to the students.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Tech Tip Tuesday - Finding What Textbooks are Used For Different Courses

Often at the beginning of a semester or when courses are ready to flip over to a new session instructors and students inquire about what textbook courses are using.

Students, especially new ones, are anxious and can't wait for their online course to open or for the syllabus to be shared.  Students can't see the syllabus or announcements from instructors until the course has been made available to them.  However, students have been told in various orientations how to find out their textbook information BEFORE a course opens via WebExpress or the Library Website.

Instructors and students can also follow the steps in this week's simple video tutorial.

*NOTE: Remember, if you share this video with students please share just the video link, not the blog post.


Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Tech Tip Tuesday - What If You Suspect Blackboard Is Down?

Sometimes things just don't work.

Blackboard is not immune.  For many reasons, Blackboard might go out of service for a while without notice.

So what do you do if you or your students suspect Blackboard might be down?  This week's Tech Tip Tuesday Video Tutorial, by Nadine Edwards, answers just that!

Note: If there is a scheduled outage of Blackboard you WOULD be notified (probably many many times! :) )