Missing Text Box in Discussion Board

Symptoms:
When using the the Discussion Board in the Blackboard Learning System, users are unable to reply to a message.  When clicking on the thread, and then clicking on reply a user will be be prompted with a reply screen.  However, the area in which you would type the message is missing from the screen.

Unexpected Behavior is that the text area is missing. If the student hits send (even though he is not sending anything since there's a message), the error message appears: "You must supply a message".

Resolution:
This means that the student has disabled ActiveX controls and thus cannot use the "Text Box Editor" control (also known as the WYSIWYG editor). Several possibilities are available to solve this problem:

1. In Internet Explorer's security settings, make sure the setting for "Run ActiveX Controls and Plugins" is set to enable for the Internet zone.
2. Alternatively, add the Blackboard site to the "Trusted Sites" zone. The trusted site configuration should have ActiveX enabled by default, and would allow you to enable this for only the Blackboard site.
3. If you do not wish to use the Text box editor, you can disable it through Personal Information from the My Institution page (the page seen after logging in). This will use the smart text entry box that was used in previous Blackboard versions.

"Insert Microsoft Office CD" Error Message

User is prompted to install a Microsoft Office feature by inserting the Microsoft Office CD.

Symptoms:
When accessing areas within the the Blackboard Learning System  the user is prompted to install a Microsoft Office feature by inserting the Microsoft Office CD. One area where this may arise is within the Text Box Editor.

Resolution:
The user is asked to insert the Microsoft Office CD so he or she may access the Dynamic HTML Edit control. This issue is related to the options selected when MS Office was installed on the computer. During an installation of Office 2000, the HTML Source Editing feature is set to Install on First Use . If the user browses to a Web page that uses the DHTML Edit control, or runs a program that uses the DHTML Edit control (such as a custom Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications program), the Windows Installer starts to install the HTML Source Editing feature. This is because the DHTML Edit control uses the Triedit.dll file, which is part of the Office 2000 HTML Source Editing feature. When the program calls the Triedit.dll file, the Windows Installer is started in order to perform the "install on demand" installation for the HTML Source Editing feature.

Microsoft has published the following article detailing this issue and the resolution:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304107

Setting the Course Environment
The Control Panel has the following features available in the NVCC version:

• To set the colors and to add banners, use Course Design .
• To select the features you want available in your course, or to allow or restrict guest access, use Settings.
• To recycle or archive a course, use Course Options .

Setting the Course Entry Point
You can set the course entry point to any area in the course instead of the Announcements area, which is the default. To set the entry point, in the Control Panel select Course Options—>Settings—>Set Course Entry Point. Select the area of your choice.

Creating Button Names
In Blackboard 6.2, you can customize the wording on buttons. For example, you may want to change “Course Information” to “Syllabus.” To change button titles, in the Control Panel select Course Options—>Manage Course Menu .

Logging on to a Different Course
You can log off and log back on to a different account without closing your browser. Click log off and log back into Blackboard using the username and password of the second account.

If you want to test your course from the students' perspective, use the generic Joe Schmoe student account for testing. (Click on Enroll User, enter “Schmoe” and search by last name. Click Add. The password is jschmoe.)

Creating Discussion Forums
To add a discussion forum, use Control Panel—>Discussion Board or go to the Course View by selecting Communication—>Discussion Board.

Creating Internal Links
For instructions on creating links to other areas inside of your Blackboard course, go to the Add An Item page.

Creating Assessments
To create an exam or quiz go to Control Panel—>Test Manager and click on Add Test. For detailed instructions on creating tests, go to the Test page.

Using the Blackboard Gradebook
For detailed instructions on using the Blackboard 6.2 Gradebook, go to the Gradebook page. It is possible to hide Gradebook items from students. To hide a Gradebook item, go to Gradebook—>Manage Items—>Modify. Scroll to the Options section and select either Yes or No for Make Item Available to Users.

Displaying Announcements and Calendars
Announcements default to “View Last 7 Days.” When posting an announcement, you can select “Always show this announcement on the course's main page.”

System wide announcements are now possible. A VCCS or College Blackboard Administrator can add these announcements. Contact either Michelle Gee, the Blackboard Administrator, with system-wide announcements that you think should be included.

The calendar is now displayed by day, week, month, and year. Faculty can add course items to the students' calendars through the Control Panel “Course Tools/Course Calendar.”

Using Email in Blackboard
To make the student's email address available on the Student Roster, you have to tell students to do the following: Select “Student Tools” on the Navigation bar, select “Personal Information,” and then check email under “Set Privacy Options.”

There is a major problem with using the email function in Blackboard, though. The system does not tell you if the email was not delivered. We recommend that you use your campus Outlook email to email your students.

Accessing Your Student Blackboard Web Pages
To locate your students' web pages in Blackboard, be sure you have enabled the Communication button. Click on Communication and select  Roster. Next, when the Search box appears, click List All on the top bar and then click List All again located, in the bottom right hand corner. A list of the names of all the students in your course should appear. When you click on the names of the students, you will link to their Blackboard web pages if they completed one.

Using Publisher Course Cartridges
If you plan to use a Course Cartridge in your Blackboard course, be sure to read the two important notes below:

• Publisher's course cartridges should be downloaded into a Blackboard course prior to any personal instructor's content because we cannot control what information from the cartridge gets loaded into a course.
• When existing Blackboard courses are copied to new versions for other sections or for a new semester, any publisher's content loaded via a cartridge does not copy to the new course. A new cartridge download key will need to be requested from the publisher so that the content can be reloaded into the new copy of the course.