Blackboard 9 Orientation
CUAccelerate and MAIS Students
If you have been using WebCT, you will find the majority of the features in Blackboard that you were
used to using in WebCT. Initially it will take a little searching to find the location of the discussion board,
how to use it, etc. Once you know where it is, it will quickly become second nature. If you are already
familiar with a previous version of Blackboard, you will find the same features (sometimes in a different
location) plus some new ones.
Fall 2009
Logging into Blackboard 9
A. Go to http://online.cui.edu
B. Select the link to Blackboard 9 from the options
C. Your Username is your Banner number, including the E.
D. Use the Password you have been provided.
Entering Your Course Shell
On the entrance page in Blackboard 9 you will see your course(s) listed. To enter your course, click on
the underlined link.
Entering your course shell will take you immediately to the home page. This is a convenient starting
point since it provides easy access to all components of the course.
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Location of the Pieces in the Course
The basic way to navigate through the course is to use the buttons in the left hand column to access
each area. If you were using WebCT, think of these buttons as the replacement for the icons that were
on WebCT’s home page. Not all courses have all the same buttons.
Home Page – Entry page for the course and Announcements
Professor Bio – A short introduction of the professor for the course.
Syllabus – This is a PDF version of the syllabus.
Weekly Schedule – This is the schedule posted in a file folder by week.
Click on the file folder to access the content. For readings linked to the
library data bases or readings in PDF format, you will find them as links
below the schedule or in a file folder under Course Content.
Course Content – Under this area you will find the course rubrics and
resources. In some cases it is a mix of file folders and individual
document or website links.
Discussion Board – Each week has a Forum. Click on the Forum to
enter that week. The actual discussions (called Threads) are arranged
by topic. Specific directions are found further on in this document.
Chat – On the chat page you will find the weeks listed. Select the link
for the week and your assigned time. Specific directions are found
further on in this document.
Email – Blackboard 9 does not use an internal email client but relies on
external email. You will use the email to communicate directly with
the professor, turn in assignments, etc. Specific directions are found
further on in this document.
My Grades – This link will provide access to your grades in the course so you can monitor your
own progress.
Tools – These are alternate ways to get to some functions, plus some additional student
resources.
Help – Just what the name implies.
Preassignment – This link will appear if there is a preassignment for the course or the next one.
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Ways to Navigate the Course Site
The buttons on the left column are the simplest way to navigate to a section of the course. They are
visible most of the time when you are viewing parts of the program. One notable exception happens in
the viewing of some PDF documents. If you open a PDF and it takes up the entire window rather than
the content frame, you need to use the back arrow on your browser to return to the course.
One other convenient way to navigate within a section of the course is to use the “bread crumbs” links.
These appear right above the button list and content areas. Here is an example:
Right now you would be in Forum:Week 2 because it is shown in BOLD and is the last item in the string,
reading from left to right. If you wanted to see all the forums, click on the bread crumb just to the left
of the last item. In this case it would be Discussion Board. Each link moving right to left moves you back
one level. If you click on the title of the course, you will go back to the home page of the course.
As you work with this, you will find it quite helpful in some of the content areas and in some of the
discussion forums.
Announcements
Announcements are found on the home page of the course. Only the title of the announcement shows
in the box. Click on the title to read the full text of the announcement.
Using the Discussion Board
A. Click on the Discussion Board button.
B. The first page you see is the Forums area.
For CUAccelerate courses, Forums have been created by Week. Click on the Week you want to
see.
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C. The discussions themselves are called Threads. To read a thread, you need to navigate into the
Forum for the week. What you see on the screen should look similar to what you see below:
D. Click on the name of the thread. This will open the dialog box.
E. The thread will be listed by a number of links. The section at the bottom shows the posting. To
reply to a posting, click Reply, fill out the boxes and click submit.
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Using Chat
Blackboard 9 calls Chat Sessions Collaboration Sessions. For each CUAccelerate course, sessions will be
posted by week and time (if there is more than one chat group time scheduled each week). MAIS
courses generally do not use the Chat function.
A. Click on the Chat link.
B. Click on the appropriate session. This will open a separate chat window. This may take a little
time to happen. If it doesn’t connect, you most likely do not have the flavor of Java required.
There will be a link on the page to download and install it. Once you have done this, close
Firefox or Internet Explorer and re-enter Blackboard 9.
C. The Chat window has three main components:
In frame A you will find a list of participants. In frame B, Compose, is where you type in your
comments. You can either press enter on the keyboard or click on Send to post your
information. The information, along with the name of who posted it, will appear in frame C.
D. If the professor recorded the session, you will have access to the transcript after the session is
over and the transcript is posted. To access the transcript do the following:
a. Click on the Chat button.
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b. Next to the link for the chat session, you will see a gray box with two down arrows on it.
By clicking the down arrow you will see the option to view recordings.
c. From the list of recordings, click the one you wish to review.
Using Email
Blackboard 9 uses your regular email account to send messages rather than an internal system. The
email account that is used for you by default is your CUI Eagles email. You do have the ability to change
this to another account of your choice. This is done under the My Institution tab, Tools, Personal
Information.
Once you click on the Email button, you will see a list of the types of people you can email.
A. Click on Select Users
B. In the Email Information section, highlight the name of the student. Then click the right arrow
to add that name to the Selected Items box.
C. Fill in the subject and text boxes.
D. If you are doing an attachment, click on Attach a file. Browse to the file you wish to attach and
click Open. The location string will show in the box (ie, C:\Users\....). If you wish to attach
another file, click on Attach Another File and follow the same procedure.
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E. When you are ready to send the email, click Submit.
F. When the student receives the email, it will have the name of the course in the subject line
along with the subject you indicated.
G. The system does not automatically save a copy of what you sent. If you want to have a copy,
and we strongly suggest you do, add your name in step B above along with the name of the
student. It will then also come to your inbox.
My Grades
The My Grades button will show you only your grades as posted by the professor. This is a convenient
way to keep track of your progress.
Preassignment
Depending on the course, you may have a reading, a short paper, a form to fill out, etc. for either the
course you are starting or for the next course for which you are enrolled. This button will link you with
the appropriate materials.
Additional Content
For some courses we have video links, PowerPoint presentations, outside URLs, sample work from
previous course offerings, etc. Generally they can be found by clicking the Course Content button.
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