There are a lot of clever ways to keep from losing those little USB drives, but they invariably end up missing or damaged or you just have too many to keep track of them all. Now you can forget about those flash or thumb drives and try a “cloud drive” instead, which you can access with most internet enabled devices with a browser. Clark eLearning support techs have tested such free services and although there are many with great usefulness, we prefer one called Dropbox for its ease of use, student-centric features, and compatibility with Blackboard. There is some risk of confusion between the Digital Dropbox within Blackboard and the Dropbox in the cloud, but once you experience both, the differences should be clear. We only have this warning… View Full Article »
Category: General Tips
Although Smart Penguin provides the solutions to, or the prevention of, most technical issues that Clark College Blackboard users may experience, things may still go awry. To help you get back to your online coursework more quickly, the tech support team in the eLearning Department now provides a new system, called Tech Ticket, which can be used to submit the details of a technical issue. In a series of short questions about your computing environment, you can quickly convey some of the important keys needed for an accurate diagnosis, which helps speed resolution. You can find the link to file a Tech Ticket in the sidebar here on Smart Penguin’s main post page, among our links at the bottom of the page, or just click the underlined link above or the name image below.
Clark College will no longer be communicating with students via paper mail, but will be using free Google Gmail for correspondence instead. So that you don’t miss out on important registration notices and other information, be sure to activate your pre-assigned Clark student email account using the link below. If you prefer to get your email at another address, just go ahead and activate your Clark Gmail account (which will look like: yourusername@students.clark.edu) and set it to forward to your preferred address. eLearning at Clark doesn’t set up email accounts, so if you need help you should contact the people in IT Services who do by either visiting the library computer lab technicians (in the upstairs lab) or emailing Gmail Support. The website linked to below also has a support phone number you may use, plus tutorials and instructions.
Our returning visitors will notice that Smart Penguin has undergone a molt! Take a look around and feel free to use our new feedback form to let us know if there are any changes you would like to see, as we continue to preen and tweak our new look… Happy New Year to all of our fellow Smart Penguins!
A low-tech penciled test can be stressful enough, but when you add technology to the mix, it’s even more important to be well prepared. Check out our Blackboard Test Taking Tips page to make sure technology is a neutral force when you show what you know!
There are many students new to Blackboard who are augmenting their education by developing important computer skills. Knowing how to open, create and submit appropriate file types for various documents can be a marketable asset worth learning. Instructors will usually specify what file types they can accept, which you must adhere to when submitting your work. Some common file examples for documents would be .doc or .docx, .pdf, and .rtf.
Using the right program is the first key to achieving the correct file type… The second key is clicking File and Save As (not Save) and selecting the specified file type before naming your file. View Full Article »
Many Blackboard users have experienced problems when submitting and viewing text that has been pasted directly from Microsoft Word into Blackboard. The cause of this issue is the accompanying word processor formatting code that is included when using the copy/paste feature. These codes should be removed prior to pasting into a Blackboard text box.
One trick is to copy and paste your text from Word into NotePad first, which strips out the fancy formatting. Then copy and paste that more compatible NotePad text into the Blackboard text box editor and use the formatting tools available in Blackboard to style your text. Some will just attach a Word document to their post, however, there are many students that don’t have Word and they will not be able to view your attachment. A few users have reported success when saving the Word text as HTML (website) code, but that isn’t recommended for beginners.
A very smart move is to change your Blackboard password from the default first assigned to you, to something more secure and that you’ll remember. Also, when you’re using a public computer – such as in a campus computer lab or library, be sure to log yourself out of Blackboard, because it won’t do that for you automatically. Otherwise, your classes, contributions, and hard work will be left for the next person to ponder.
Here’s how to change your password… View Full Article »
Going through your “Personal Information” profile in Blackboard and making sure that your email address is correct, is an important early step as a student. Even if you’re not signed up for an online course, that simple action will help you reset your Blackboard password if you forget it later.
For fully online classes, email can be a major form of communication between instructors and their students. To avoid missing something significant from your instructor, be sure that the email address field in your Blackboard profile is correct when classes begin.
How would you like to give a test instead of taking one? Even if you have blazing fast internet service, wouldn’t it be nice to know just how fast your connection is to our Blackboard servers in Washington, DC? The truth is, Blackboard can be troublesome for users on dial-up and nearly impossible for those with internet service via satellite provider. For those with satellite service, the latency created by the distance between the earth and your host’s satellite (~23,000 miles) causes the problem, and much like its issue with online gaming, there is no consistent solution. Dial-up can create an issue with Blackboard because of slow response time, as well. Some have reported success by waiting until off peak hours to access their class. Others might travel closer to town where they can find a faster connection, such as their local library, college computer lab, or other public locations. Whatever your resources, you may find this speed checker helpful…
There is a problem with special characters… No, not your Uncle Floyd, but those unique characters that you might use in a file name (like # or &, etc.). In Blackboard, some of these special characters are reserved by the system as operator commands and are considered illegal characters for users. If you attempt to submit a file (like an assignment) using one of these illegal characters in the file name, you’ll likely receive an error message and your assignment will not be submitted. The illegal characters you should NOT use include #, &, $, @, /, \, !, ?, %, ^, *… you get the idea (the list is long and includes most special characters).
As the Clark College eLearning Systems Administrator, I often come across interesting and useful information, ideas, and resources that may assist you in your elearning endeavors. I will use this site to post my discoveries so check back now and then, feel free to comment or ask questions about Blackboard, and sign up for the rss feed or email subscription.
