Blackboard Vista: Faculty FAQs

How can I enable self-quiz to permit students to see immediate feedback on their chosen answer?

This functionality does not work properly on quizzes migrated from CE. The way to correct it is to use the questions as stored in the Question Database to create a new quiz with the immediate feedback option.

How do I avoid having to turn off the pop-up blocker each time I download an attachment?

You will need to set cms.bc.edu as a trusted site in your Internet browser.

To turn off the pop-up blocker in Mozilla Firefox:

    • Click on the “Tools” menu, and then on “Options.”
    • Select the “Content” tab, and then click on “Exceptions,” next to “Block pop-up windows.”
    • In the field labeled “Address of web site:” type cms.bc.edu.
    • Click “Close.”

To turn off the pop-up blocker in Internet Explorer:

    • Click on the “Tools” menu, and then on “Internet Options.”
    • Select the “Privacy” tab, and then click on “Settings” under “Pop-up Blocker.”
    • In the field labeled “Address of Web site to allow:” type cms.bc.edu.
    • Click “Close.”

To turn off the pop-up blocker in Safari, click on the “Safari” menu and deselect “Block Pop-Up Windows.”

How do I prevent security warning messages from popping up in Vista?

Q. Every time I log into Vista, I get two identical pop-up windows "Warning - Security. The application's digital signature has been verified. Do you want to run the application?" My choices are then "Run" or "Cancel." Which one do I choose? How do I change it so that I no longer have to see these warning messages?

A. You will need to set cms.bc.edu as a trusted site in your Internet browser. To do so, follow this path: Tools/Internet Options/Security/Trusted Sites, and paste in the URL.

I can’t download documents from Blackboard Vista. How do I resolve this?

If you are using Internet Explorer, the download may be blocked as a security measure.

    • Look above the Blackboard Vista header for a yellow/beige bar that says, “To protect your security, Internet Explorer blocked this site from downloading files to your computer. Click here for options.”
    • Click on this bar, and then on “Download the File.”
    You should then be able to download the file, although you may need to re-click on the file.

When I try to upload a document, I am not seeing the “My Computer” icon in the Content Browser. How do I fix this?

The Java on your computer probably needs to be updated.

    • First, run the Browser Check by clicking on “Check Browser” on the Blackboard Vista login screen, or in the upper right corner of the “Course List” page.
    • Wait for the Browser Check to finish running.
    • If it finds any problems, they will be highlighted in red with information on how to resolve the problem.
    • If the issue is with the Java, you can download the most recent version by going to www.java.com and clicking on “Free Java Download.”
    • Once you have updated the Java, close your browser and reopen it before checking for the “My Computer” icon.

How do I print a Word document in Vista?

Open the file and place your arrow on the tool bar. Right click over this area and choose Standard. This menu item will display the printer icon. Use this icon to print the document. Alternately, you can download the document and then print as you ordinarily would.

How do I provide written feedback on group assignments?

Currently, there is no way to do this for the entire group. The feedback must be provided to each individual student.

    • Go to Assignment Dropbox (located in the Teach Tab under Instructor Tools)
    • Click on the title of the assignment,
    • Add comments in the “grader/reviewer comments” section,
    • Click on one of the two save options below commentary field and
    • Click save.

How do I track students’ information on submitted assignments?

To view from the Assignment Dropbox:

    • Go to Assignment Dropbox (located in the Teach Tab under Instructor Tools).
    • Go to the upper right-hand corner of the screen and select the assignment that you want to track.
    • Click the green arrow.
    • Use the tabs “submitted,” “not submitted,” etc. to track student submissions and grading.

To View from the Student Tracking Report:

    • Go to the teach tab.
    • Under Instructor Tools click “tracking”.
    • Select the “student tracking” report type.
    • Scroll to see the assignments columns.

How do I upload more than one document at one time?

You can upload as many as 10 files at one time. If you are using the “Add File” tool from the build tab, you can select up to 10 files from your computer by holding down the Control key on your keyboard to select the files.

You can also upload a zipped folder to the File Manager, and then unzip the folder to reveal all of the documents. To do this, go into the File Manager, located in the Build Tab, under Instructor Tools. Click on “Get Files,” and then look for the zipped folder on your computer. Click “OK” to upload the folder to your File Manager. Once the folder has appeared in the File Manager, select the folder by clicking the check box to the left of the folder name. Then, click on the “Unzip” button that is in the gray bar at the bottom.

How do I upload more than 10 documents at once?

You can upload more than 10 documents at once by using WebDAV:

    • Click on the File Manager.
    • Click on the Action Link menu next to the “File Manager” heading.
    • Then click on “View WebDAV Info,” and copy the address that appears in the “Folder Path” field.
    • Continuing on for a Mac:

      o From the desktop, from the Finder, click on the “Go” menu.
      o Select “Connect to Server,” and a new window will appear.
      o In the field labeled “Server address,” paste the address you copied earlier.
      o Click on “Connect.”
      o When prompted, enter your Blackboard Vista user name and password.
      o There will now be a window open for the Blackboard Vista File Manager, and you can drag files from your computer and drop them into this folder.

    • Continuing on for a PC:

      o If you are using Internet Explorer:
      o Navigate to Content Manager area or folder where you want to create a WebDAV folder and click its ActionLinks icon.
      o Click Open as Web Folder. A WebDAV folder is created in My Network Places on your computer and the contents of the Learning System folder appear. Files and folders that are added or modified in the WebDAV folder are reflected in the Learning System folder when you are connected to the Internet.
      o If you are NOT using Internet Explorer:
      o Navigate to Content Manager area or folder where you want to create a WebDAV folder and click its ActionLinks icon.
      o Click View WebDAV Info. The folder path appears.
      o Copy the folder path by selecting it and pressing CTRL+C on your keyboard.
      o From your Windows desktop, double-click the My Network Places icon.
      o Double-click Add Network Place.
      o Follow the prompts given by the Add Network Place Wizard.
      o When you are prompted to enter an Internet or network address, paste the server path by pressing CTRL+V on your keyboard.
      o Click Next.
      o In the User name and Password text boxes, enter your user name and password and click OK.
      o Click Next.
      o Click Finish. A WebDAV folder is created in My Network Places on your computer and the contents of the Learning System folder appear. Files and folders that are added or modified in the WebDAV folder are reflected in the Learning System folder when you are connected to the Internet.

If I’m unavailable to receive chat invitations while in Vista, is there a way to communicate this to other Vista users?

Yes. To make yourself unavailable:

    • Click on any course under the “Who’s Online” menu on the Course List page.
    • In the upper left-hand corner, there is a “My Status” drop-down menu that allows you to change your availability/visibility status.
    • Be sure to click “Update” to ensure the changes take place.
    You can also change your availability/visibility across all of your courses:
    • Click on “My Settings,” in the upper right corner, from the “Course List” page.
    • Click on the “My Tool Options” tab, and then scroll to the bottom, where you will see a “My Status” drop-down menu.
    • Once you have changed your availability/invisibility status, click “Save.”

If there is course material on Vista that my students are not ready to view, is there a way that I can hide it?

Yes, you can hide whole tools or individual files. Let's say that you have two Learning Modules. The first one is ready for student use, while the second one is not.

    • Go to the Build Tab of your course screen.
    • Under Designer Tools, click on “Selective Release.”
    • This will bring you to the page where you can hide the item, or set release criteria.

You can also manually hide items using the action link menus (the little arrow drop-down menus that appear to the right of the file or tool name). If there is a file you want to hide, click on the action link menu, and then on “Hide Item.” This will hide the item until you are ready to make it visible. The hidden item should appear grayed-out, and “(Hidden)” will appear in the name. To show the item, click on the action link menu, and then on “Show Item,” and it will reappear. You can confirm that an item is hidden or visible by going into the Student View tab to double-check.

In migrating from WebCT CE to Vista, how has linking files to my course site changed?

The linking behavior for course designers has changed. In CE a designer would create a Single Page, name it, and then browse for a file and link it. In this way, the page exists in the site independently of the link, and the page could be re-linked through editing options. In Vista, however, when a designer links a file to Course Content Home or Learning Module, the file name automatically becomes the name of the page. To change the link, the whole file must be deleted and another one should be searched out and imported.

Is there a student presentations module in Vista? I need to control access to certain files that are shared among many students.

The best way to accomplish this is to create Groups. The groups can then be given assignments and discussion topics where the work is published to the members in each particular group.

In the assignment dropbox, the submissions are organized by first name. Is it possible to change this so it is ordered by last name?

Yes, you can change this.

    • From either the Build or Teach tab, click on “Manage Course” under “Instructor Tools.” Then, click on “Settings.”
    • In the right column, Administration, click on “International.”
    • The last option on this page is “Name Format,” and there is a drop-down menu that will let you alter how names are organized.
    • Click “Save Values” when you have finished making your changes.

In the discussion forum, when I have read all of the messages, there is still a green icon indicating that I have unread messages. What is happening?

This is a known bug with Blackboard Vista. Hopefully, it will be fixed in the next version of Blackboard Vista.

How can I give a TA or guest access to my Blackboard Vista site?

Email cms@bc.edu with the name of your TA or guest, and your course/section number. We will be happy to give them access to your site.

Sometimes I get a message that says, “Error: Session Already Running. You cannot use this method to open a new browser window while logged into the Learning System.” Why does this happen?

Blackboard Vista will only let you have one open browser window/tab at one time. If you get this message, check that you only have one window or tab running Blackboard Vista open. Then type cms.bc.edu in the address bar, and you will be able to return to Blackboard Vista.

How do I print out the results of a survey?

  • In the Teach tab, go to the Assessment Manager (on the left side).
  • Find the survey name you want to print the results for, and click on the Action Link menu to the right of the survey name.
  • From the Action Link Menu, click on "View Reports."
  • Choose "Overall Statistics," and then click on "Run Report."
  • Along the top you should see a button that says "Printable Statistics View."
  • Then click on "Print' in the upper left corner.