Blackboard
Version 8.0.375.9
StudentUser
Guide
Table of Contents
CHAPTER
1-MYMTECH
What is MyMtech
1
System Requirements
2
How to Log in to MyMtech
4
Inside MyMtech
6
MyMtech Tab
Blackboard Courses &
Announcements
7
Policies & Procedures
8
Weather
8
Email Access
8
Orediggerweb
9
Support Tab
9
Courses Tab
10
CHAPTER
YOUR
2 -
MODIFYI NG
MYMTECH
LAYOUT
Customizing Your Portal
CHAPTER
12
3– BLACKBOARD
What is Blackboard
14
Entering Blackboard
15
Course Menu
16
Help
Course Information
16
External Links
17
Staff Information
17
Communication
18
Tools
23
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M Y M T E C H
What is Blackboard?
B
lackboard is a web-based course management tool designed to enhance teaching and learning. This
system can be used to supplement the face-to-face curriculum or can be used for classes that are taught
strictly online. How much or how little Blackboard is used is left to the instructor’s discretion.
The course management tool has many features. The special assignment feature for students to upload files,
assessment tools, area to review your grades, as well as seamless integration with Wimba (virtual classroom), are
just a few. In the following pages, we will explain how to use these features and more.
The content of each course is determined by the individual instructors. Students must wait 24 hours after
registering for classes before the classes are listed on MyMTech.
1
System Requirements
The minimum requirements for running Blackboard are as follows…
Computer/Processor
Computer with Intel/AMD 500 Mhz Processor or greater, Macintosh G3 or greater
Operating System
Windows XP, Windows Vista Desktop, Mac OS 10.3
Computer Programs
A basic word processor and internet browser are required.
If a word processor is not available, Microsoft offers a free MS Viewer to view office
documents
Suggestion: Ask Network Services to download a basic Windows package on your
computer for free (if you are a local Tech student)
Internet Platform
Internet Explorer 6+
Internet Explorer 8 is compatible but has not been fully tested.
If you experience problems using Explorer 8, changing to “Compatibility View”
should solve the problem.
Netscape Navigator 7.1+
Firefox 2.0 +
Note: Blackboard does not support the AOL, Juno, NetZero, or PeoplePC browsers.
After using one of these to connect to the internet, open one of the browsers listed
above.
Make sure your internet provider does not have pop-up blocking software and
that your browser pop-up blockers are off.
2
Internet Connection
A minimum of 56k dial up. Blackboard recommends DSL or Cable internet connections
for best performance.
Display
Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor with 256 colors. 1024 x 768 or
higher is recommended when applicable.
Peripherals
Microsoft compatible mouse and keyboard.
3
How to Log in to Blackboard
Before you can login to Blackboard, you need a Montana Tech campus account. This is generally
created 24 hours after you have registered for classes.
Open your web browser to http://mymtech.mtech.edu
Step 1. The password you will use to log into MyMtech is initially found by
clicking “New user? Start here.
You will be prompted for your last name and student id. If you do not have
your student id, you can find it on your Diggercard, admissions acceptance
letter or by calling the Office of Enrollment Services at (496-4256). If you
have difficulty retrieving your username and password, please contact our help desk at
bbsupport@mtech.edu, or call 496-4244.
You may change your password at anytime by using CTRL-ALT-DEL -> change
password on any campus computer. The change takes approx. 15 minutes to take effect.
If a campus computer is not available to you, you may have your password changed by
contacting our help desk (496-4244).
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Step 2. Once you have your username and password, you are ready to login.
The next screen you will see is our Central Authentication Service (CAS) screen. CAS is our single
sign on solution that allows you to seamlessly access MyMtech and Blackboard without reentering your username and password.
Your login credentials remain active throughout your browser session so it is imperative
that when you wish to log out that you close your browser completely.
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MyMTech
Once you are inside MyMTech you will see several smaller windows called portlets within
each tab. For more information on MyMTech please review the User’s Guide to
MyMTECH.
For our purposes in this manual, we will only look at the Blackboard Courses and
Announcements portlet.
Blackboard Courses & Announcements
This portlet is used to access Blackboard. Clicking on the course or the announcement for that
course will bring you into Blackboard, our Course Management System.
By clicking the
icon in the upper right hand toolbar of the portlet you can choose which
courses and announcements you would like to see.
EDIT the courses
and
announcements
you would
like to see
Number of courses
you have chosen to
hide using the EDIT
button
6
EDIT View
7
Entering Blackboard
Blackboard is entered by clicking the course you wish to work in from within the Blackboard
Courses & Announcements portlet inside MyMTech. The first screen you typically see contains
the Announcements for that particular course.
The most current announcements will be shown. By using the tabs at the top you can look at
announcements posted today, in the last 30 days or all announcements at once.
We will now explore the rest of the course menu.
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Course Menu
The Course Menu is determined by your instructor and therefore may be unique to your course.
Listed below are some of the more commonly used options.
Course Information, Course Documents, Assignments, Quizzes, Exams
These areas contain documents, readings, presentations, homework assignments, tests and
quizzes for the course. An instructor can choose to keep or remove any of these sections, adding
content to them in any way they see fit.
Within each area, the instructor can add folders, external links, links to other areas in the course
and tests.
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Test Taking Tips
When taking a test or quiz it is possible to become “locked out” of
your test, preventing you from completing it. The following will lock
your test.
1. Using browser buttons (back, forward, refresh)
2. Automatic internet disconnection
Open your Internet Option in your Control Panel.
Make sure your computer does not automatically
disconnect after a set number of minutes.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Opening email
Surfing the internet
Opening other computer programs
Internet speed is too low
Students may have problems with internets speeds lower
than 56K. MT Tech computer labs are always available.
Resolution: If the test is set up to allow multiple attempts you can
restart your test. If the test is not set up to allow multiple attempts
will need to contact your instructor or the help desk.
Whether or not to unlock the test is at the sole discretion of the
instructor.
External Links
This area contains links that will take you to another site outside of Blackboard. These are posted
by your instructor and will be useful during your course. Some of them may open into a new
window, thus requiring that your pop-up blocker be turned off.
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Staff Information
This section will provide information about your instructor.
Communication
11

Announcements
Announcements are the entry point for the course and display the instructor’s
announcements as discussed previously.

Collaboration
12
The tools found here allow you to actively participate in your course along with your
classmates in a “real-time” environment. The instructor will post an announcement regarding
the time you will join the session and indicate whether it will be a chat or a virtual classroom
session.
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Virtual Classroom contains three primary components.
Menu Bar
Virtual Whiteboard
Classroom
Toolbox These
tools can only
be used if the
instructor
makes them
available to
you
Chat
Menu Bar
Used by the instructor to record sessions, manage participation, manage breakout sessions.
Chat
Conversation area of the classroom. Students can send private messages or discuss the current
topic with their fellow classmates and instructor.
Classroom Toolbox
Students can ask questions in an orderly fashion, search for other web sites to view, utilize the
whiteboard and access the course map.
While the other features are fairly intuitive, the classroom toolbox requires a little explanation.
The classroom toolbox contains the following….



Course map allows users to browse the course menu while in the Virtual Classroom.
Whiteboard is used much like a whiteboard in a traditional classroom. Pictures, diagrams,
equations and any other items a person can think of can be drawn here. The instructor has
the ability to grant or take away access to these tools so you may not have access to use them.
Group Browser allows the class to collaboratively browse the web.
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

Ask Question allows the students to ask questions without them being immediately viewed in
the chat area.
Question Inbox allows users to answer questions that have been posted in the Ask Question
area. Once the question is answered it is posted to the chat area with the answer, unless of
course the answer was marked “private”.
The Java Runtime Environment (version 1.5) or greater is required to use both Chat and
Virtual Classroom. If your computer does not already have it installed, you will be prompted
to install it the first time you use one of these tools.
Note: In order to use the Virtual Classroom, you also need to be sure your
cookies are enabled and your pop-up blocking software is disabled
Chat is the same as is in the Virtual Whiteboard, but is used alone without the
Classroom Toolbox, or the Menu Bar.

Discussion Board
This area allows you to communicate with the rest of your class anytime. The instructor
begins the discussion by adding a Forum.
The student will
click on the
appropriate link to
access that forum.
The students can then post or reply to a thread, adding to the ongoing conversation.
New in Blackboard 7.1 is the ability for instructors to grade the discussion board based on the
forum or the thread. To find out if the discussion board will be part of your overall grade, ask
your instructor.
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Note: Be sure your
Visual Text Box Editor
Option (pg. 23) is
“Off” when using the
Discussion Board.
Some users have
experienced issues
with posting or adding
a thread when it has
been “On”.

Group Pages
This area provides a place to communicate with your group. Depending on the options
your instructor has chosen for your group, you may be able to use the Discussion Board,
Virtual Classroom, File Exchange or Email facilities.

Messages
The messages area holds all of the messages you have sent and will also display the
messages being sent to you that were originated in Blackboard.

Roster
The roster provides a list of your classmates along with their email if they wish it to be
available. Setting the email to be available is done in the Personal Information Area (pg.
21)

Send Email
This area allows you to email your entire class, group, teaching assistants, instructors at
one time or you may choose to send email to select users. Email sent via this method
uses the Blackboard interface and will be sent to the email address the user has entered
within Blackboard. Changing your email address is done in the Personal Information

Wimba Classroom
Beginning in Fall 2009 Wimba Classroom is available for your courses. Wimba is similar
to Blackboard’s Collaboration tools, but is a separately hosted system that is integrated
with Blackboard. Wimba is more powerful and provides a larger virtual whiteboard,
better response time, video with “follow the speaker” technology and chat as well as
the ability to share a desktop or a desktop application.
To enter Wimba, click on Wimba Classroom, and then the name of the room
specified by your instructor.
After choosing the room, click the Setup Wizard. This only needs to be done the first
time you use Wimba on your computer.
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To successfully complete the wizard you will need…

Java installed on your computer. You can download this from
http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp at no cost.

Pop up Blocker must be disabled. Instructions for the two most common
browsers are as follows:
Internet Explorer
In Internet Explorer, go to the “Tools” menu followed by “Internet
Options,” then click on the “Privacy” tab and uncheck the box marked
“Turn on pop-up blocker.”
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox users will need to click on “Tools”, then “Options” and uncheck
“Block pop-up windows” under the “Content” tab.
Simply follow the directions as the setup wizard runs. After the first couple of check
marks, you will be given directions on how to complete the wizard and be
required to click “Next” in order to continue.
Once the setup is successful you are ready to “Enter the Room”
For detailed information on how to use Wimba, please refer to
http://webhelp.wimba.com/WC/v5_3/Participant_Guide/
Tools

Address Book
Users can enter contact information in the address book. In order to enter the
information, the user must enter a profile first.

Digital Dropbox
The Digital Dropbox allows you to send assignments to your instructor without emailing
them. Remember once you “Add File”, you need to “Send File” in order for your
instructor to get the document. A copy of your document will be saved in your Digital
Dropbox.

Glossary
Your instructor can add terms to the Glossary that you may need for the course.
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
My Grades
The area will display each item that helps determine your final grade along with the grade
received, date the assignment was submitted, points possible, average score, and weight.

Personal Information

Edit Personal Information
The bare minimum of your personal information will have been previously filled out
when your account was created. You can complete or change this information as you
wish. You may wish to change your email to the address that you use most often.

Change Password
DO NOT use this method to change your password. As mentioned in the “How to
Login to MyMtech” (pg. 8) section of this document, we use the CAS system and
therefore a separate password for Blackboard is not used.

Set CD-ROM Drive
In order to add documents to the Digital Dropbox from your CD-ROM Drive, you
may need to indicate which drive letter those documents exist on. This is where you
can set that information.

Set Privacy Options
Your privacy options default to “do not display”. In order to have any of your
personal information display in the roster or other public areas, you will need to check
that specific piece of information, Email Address, Address, Work Information or
Additional Contact Information.

Set Visual Text Box Editor Options
The visual text box editor allows you to see the formatting that you are typing. For
example if you use a bold tag in your text, your text will appear bold. However, the
visual text box editor should not be used when working with the Discussion Board as
it is a known issue with BB 7.1.
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
Tasks
If your instructor has created tasks for you, they will be listed here.

User Manual
The user manual displays the Blackboard version of the student manual for the
Blackboard version we are currently using. More information on the topics within this
document, and others not mentioned may be found here.
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
WebAssign
WebAssign provides problems, questions and automated grading capabilities associated
with popular textbooks pertaining to

Accounting

Astronomy

Biology

Chemistry

Engineering

Geoscience

Mathematics

Physics

Social Studies

Statistics
Your instructor will enroll in the WebAssign information. If you have questions
concerning WebAssign, please consult your instructor.
Help
Manual
Follow the course menu (Tools -> User Manual) for the Blackboard Version of Student
User Manual.
For further assistance please contact our Help Desk.
Help Desk
ph. 496-4244
bbsupport@mtech.edu
MG 107
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