Introduction to Blackboard

Logging into Blackboard

 The URL for Blackboard is: http://bb.siue.edu. Users MUST begin the login process from that entry point: they cannot bypass that page and go straight to the login page itself. The Username is: your SIUE e-ID (i.e. jdoe); and the Password is the same one used to access your SIUE e-mail. Students can activate their e-ID online at http://www.siue.edu/e-ID/ or by stopping by either the FTC or OIT Customer Support Center (DH 0210). An SIUE ID must be presented. Passwords may also be changed on the e-ID web site.

My Blackboard Tab

This is the first tab you see when you log into Blackboard.

1. You can configure the screen to meet your content and design preferences.

Click on this icon to minimize the content area. Maximize it again by clicking on

Click on this icon to edit the content area. You can choose where or not a course, course ID, course announcement, task or calendar is displayed by checking or deselecting appropriate boxes.

Click button.

The changes will appear in the My Blackboard Tab.

Click on this icon to remove the content area. Removing the content area will make it unavailable in the future. If you later wish to make this item available again, see the information below. If an area does not display an icon, it has been defined by the Blackboard Collection administrator as one that cannot be removed.

Click on this button to select the content areas that will appear on your screen. Once selected, be sure to click on the button in the lower right corner of the screen. If you deselect a content area, it will not appear on your screen. If you remove an area from view and later want to see it, simply go back in and reselect the item. Items with a red check mark are controlled by the Blackboard administrator and will always appear on your screen.

Click on this icon to select the page layout and the order of the items that appear on the screen and/or the color scheme. The default color scheme is “State”.

2. You can access a number of tools from the Tools bar on the left side of the screen. These are your personal items. The tool bar is set up by the Blackboard Collection administrator.

The settings for most of these items are self explanatory:

Announcements are view only. In the Calendar, you may view items and/or add new calendar items, one at a time. In Tasks, you may view tasks and/or add new tasks one at a time. In View Grades, select the course you want, and be able to view your grades in that course.

My Courses Tab

 The Courses Tab lists the courses you are currently enrolled in.

Note: If your instructor is not using Blackboard, that course will not be listed. Only courses using Blackboard are listed.

Content and Files (Content Collection) Tab

Blackboard’s Content Collection offers a central repository for all of your instructional materials. You can store material for your couses here in the Cntent Collection. (For example, if you need to attach a file to a discussion posting, you would store it here and link from the Content Collection.)

In the left frame of the Content Collection screen, you will see the areas of the Content Collection to which you have been granted access based upon your user ID.

My Content is where you will place your own personal course materials. You have the ability to add and organize folders to this area to best fit your needs. It is recommended that you take some time initially to think through how best to organize your content through a Collection of folders and subfolders, down to individual files in order to facilitate your finding them. Institution Content will be defined by the Blackboard Administrator at a later date.     Learning Objects may be added, cataloged and searched.

Farther down the left column you will find the Tools dialog box. If you have been granted permission to access a file or folder owned by another instructor, you will need to use this feature to locate that shared content on the Content Collection. You will need to know something about the content you are seeking such as the name of the file itself, the document type, etc., in order to search for it.

The right hand frame of the screen will show you the details of the directory tree in the Content Collection folders.

You can use the tool bar to manage your content within the Content Collection. You have the following options:

• Use to establish a folder in My Network Place on your PC to connect directly to the Content Collection. This allows you to drag and drop content from your PC into the Content Collection. It also allows you to edit a file from within the Content Collection: any changes you make in the Content Collection will be reflected across all courses linking to that file. You should be at the top of your directory tree (users/youruserid/) when you create the folder. This folder need only be created ONCE on each machine from which you will be working on your course(s).
• Use to add a single file from your PC to the appropriate directory.
• Use to add a folder to your directory tree structure.
• Use to add a link to the Content Collection.
• Select a file from within the Content Collection by clicking in the box in front of that file, and then select the appropriate option from among the following to copy, move, or remove that file from the Content Collection.
• 
  Select a file (by clicking on the box in front of a file), and then select from among the options in the drop down box at the end of the tool bar to e-mail a file, or to download items. Click on to proceed with the steps necessary to complete the process you have selected.