Blackboard @ Loyola
- Welcome to Blackboard
- Documentation for Faculty
- Documentation for Students
- Getting Help
- Important Downloads and Plug-ins
Welcome to Blackboard, Loyola University's online course management system. At Loyola, Blackboard acts as an electronic extension of classroom teaching. With it, faculty post course materials online, facilitate discussion between students via electronic message boards, and administer tests and quizzes remotely. An instructor can post as much or as little of her course on Blackboard as she wants, from a simple syllabus and course outline to multiple discussion boards, exams, and an electronic grade book.
You can find Loyola's instance of Blackboard at blackboard.luc.edu on any computer with an Internet connection. Because Blackboard is available to faculty, staff, and students 24 hours a day, coursework may be completed when and where it is most convenient. Students may download course materials or upload assignments to their instructors from home or from the residence hall at any time of day or night.
Faculty: Please direct any questions to blackboard@luc.edu.
Please note: Not all instructors use Blackboard to supplement their in-class teaching. If you do not see a course in your Blackboard account, ask your professor if he or she is using Blackboard.
Documentation for Faculty
The following documents are in .pdf format; some are also available in Flash video. If you need to download the free Acrobat Reader, click here. If you need to download the free Adobe Flash Player, click here.
- The Essentials: Building a Course in Blackboard - getting started with your new course in Blackboard; add files and folders, set up discussions, print the class roster, use the assignment tool, add items to the grade book, and much, much more.
- How to Make Your Course Available to Students - students cannot see their course titles on their “My Blackboard” page until you manually make the course available in the course options settings in the control panel.
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Communication Tools
Announcements PDF | Flash Video
Collaboration Tools
Discussion Boards
E-Mail PDF | Flash Video
Student Homepages - Gradebook and Testing
Learning to Use Gradebook Effectively
Modifying the Letter Grade Scale in Blackboard
Keep Track of Your Questions With Pool Manager
Using Survey Manager to Get Feedback
Creating Tests in Blackboard
- Backing up/Copying Course and Course Materials
Backing up your Blackboard Course PDF | Flash Video - The Export/Import Course option allows you to make a backup of your course content and then import the content into your new course.
Backing up your Discussion Board - copy your Discussion Board Forum(s) to a Microsoft Word file.
Backing up your Gradebook - This is a procedure that should be performed several times each semester while the course is active and is especially important at the end of the term; this download procedure ensures that the faculty member has an accurate record of all students' grades.
Course Copy PDF | Flash Video - copy selected materials from one course directly into another.
- Managing Users
Creating Student Groups PDF | Flash Video
- Multimedia
Audio and Video Files in Blackboard
Creating a Podcast in Blackboard - instructions on how to create a podcast for your course using the OSCELOT podcaster in Blackboard.
Tips on Managing File Size in Blackboard - a guide with helpful tips on how to reduce file size, and recommended limits for files in Blackboard.
Digital Media Room (DMR) - faculty may schedule time in the DMR to use multimedia equipment and software.
- Narrating and Posting Powerpoint
Narrate and Publish Your Powerpoint Slides with Articulate PDF | Flash Video - Use Articulate to add narration to Powerpoint and to convert your presentations to Flash to make them easier for students to use.
- Manuals, FAQ
Blackboard Student Quickstart - we recommend you give this quickstart to all your students on the first day of class.
Blackboard Instructor Manual
Frequently Asked Questions - check here for answers to common questions about Blackboard at Loyola.
Documentation for Students
The following documents are in .pdf format. All Loyola-networked computers have Acrobat Reader, but if you need to download the free Acrobat Reader to a non-Loyola-networked computer, click here.
- Blackboard Student Quickstart - everything you need to know to get started with Blackboard at Loyola.
- Submitting an Assignment - learn how to submit work to Blackboard using the Assignment Tool
- Working with Files - learn how to download files from Blackboard, and print out PowerPoint files.
- Viewers, Plug-ins, and Browsers - visit this page to download important viewers, plugins, and browsers you'll need to optimize your Blackboard experience.
- Creating a Course Homepage - introduce yourself to your classmates by creating a course homepage; post an image of yourself and link to your favorite websites through Blackboard.
- Configuring Blackboard's Visual Text Box Editor for Internet Explorer 7
- Disabling Blackboard's Visual Text Box Editor
- Official Blackboard Quickstart - Blackboard offers a getting started document for students. Click this link for an introduction to Blackboard course features.
- Discussion Board for Students
- Guidelines for Taking Tests and Quizzes in Blackboard 7.3
- Subscribing to a Blackboard Podcast
Getting Help
- If you forgot your password or if it has expired, contact the Technology Support Center at 4-4444 (on campus) or 773-508-7190 (off campus). If you have set up personal identifiers, you can use Loyola's Personal Account Manager to reset your password.
- All other problems, questions, and suggestions about the Blackboard system should be directed to blackboard@luc.edu. Blackboard staff members routinely monitor Blackboard emails from 8:00 A.M. - 11:00 P.M. everyday and will respond to your request within 24 hours. In order to expedite your request, please provide your UVID and course ID information in your email.
- For information about technical help with Horizon Wimba, click Horizon Wimba Technical Support.
- Blackboard Support Chat Room