Blackboard Course Management System
Faculty FAQs
FAQ Index
  1. Access to Blackboard and Course Sites
    1. What do I need to access Blackboard?
    2. I cannot log in to Blackboard. What should I do?
    3. How do I create my course site in Blackboard?
    4. I am teaching a course, but it is not listed in my Blackboard course list. What should I do?
    5. Student enrollment information is currently not in Blackboard for my course. How can I send an email to the students in my course?
  2. Course Availability
    1. When are student enrollments added to my course site?
    2. How do I make my course site available to my students?
    3. When do course sites become unavailable to students?
    4. How do I remove course sites from my Blackboard course list?
  3. Course Content and Appearance
    1. Can I copy content from my old course site to my current course site?
    2. How do I add content to my course site?
    3. When adding text, what is the difference between Plain Text, Smart Text, and HTML?
    4. How do I turn on my Visual Text Box Editor?
    5. Students cannot open files I posted on Blackboard? How can they access them?
    6. If you are working with Microsoft Office 2007, please be aware of the following issues.
    7. Can I change the button menu in the left sidebar of the course site window?
    8. Can I move documents from one area of my course site to another?
    9. What is the size limit for course sites?
    10. How do I check the quota on my course site?
    11. What is the size limit for individual files?
    12. Can students notify their instructor when they have reviewed content items?
    13. Can I control who sees what material and when they can see it?
  4. Combining Course Sections/Sites
    1. How do I combine all sections of a course into one Blackboard site?
    2. How do I combine select sections of a course into one Blackboard site?
    3. Can I have one course site for two cross-listed courses?
    4. I need a combined course site but also a way for instructors/TAs in each section to communicate with their students. What can I do?
  5. Student Access
    1. My students do not see my course site on their Blackboard Desktop. What do I do?
    2. A student in my course cannot log in to Blackboard. What should he/she do?
    3. A student in my course is not receiving my Blackboard emails. What is wrong?
    4. A student lost access to my course site and I have been unable to add him/her back into the course roster. What do I do?
    5. Can Consortium students access Blackboard?
    6. Do students have access to Blackboard after they leave Georgetown?
  6. Managing Users
    1. How do I add a student to my course site?
    2. How do I add another instructor to my course site?
    3. How do I add a teaching assistant (TA) to my course site?
    4. How do I allow guests (non-Georgetown users) to access my course site?
    5. How do I remove a user from my course site?
    6. How do I create student groups?
    7. What are the differences between the various course roles in Blackboard?
  7. Tests and Surveys
    1. What do I need to know before creating or deploying a Blackboard test?
    2. What should I tell my students before taking a test?
    3. Can I create a test in Blackboard?
    4. How do I create a test?
    5. How do I deploy my test and make it available to my students?
    6. Are students able to save their tests in Blackboard so as not to lose their answers in the event of a lost connection?
    7. Can I allow students to take a test multiple times while preserving the score of each attempt?
    8. Can I set a time limit on a test?
    9. How can I add extra credit questions to a test without penalizing students who don't answer them?
    10. Can I modify a test after I make it available?
    11. Can students view a test after they have taken it?
    12. Can I use Blackboard to conduct a survey?
    13. How do I view survey results?
    14. Can I move questions from an existing test into a general pool?
    15. How can I create a test using questions from a pool?
    16. How do I create a test that is composed of a random block of questions drawn from a pool of questions?
  8. Grades and Discussions
    1. How do I add items to the Gradebook?
    2. How do I enter grades in the Gradebook?
    3. How do students access their grades in Blackboard?
    4. The Gradebook shows a lock symbol instead of a student's grade. What does this mean? How can I resolve this?
    5. Can I use the Blackboard Gradebook as a replacement for my paper gradebook?
    6. How do I download grades and back up my Blackboard Gradebook?
    7. Is the Blackboard Gradebook related to the Faculty Access+ grade book?
    8. Can I upload my spreadsheet gradebook into Blackboard?
    9. Can I weight grades in the Blackboard Gradebook?
    10. Can I exclude ungraded items from the total and weighted total calculations?
    11. How do I turn off the weight grades tool?
    12. Can extra credit be added into the Gradebook?
    13. Is there a tool that keeps track of student progress?
  9. Assignment Manager
    1. What happened to the Digital Drop Box?
    2. How do I use the Assignment Manager?
    3. How can I view completed assignents students have submitted?
    4. My student has reportedly submitted an assignment, but the Gradebook displays a padlock icon and there is no file to download. What should I do?
    5. Can I download multiple assignments at once?
  10. Blackboard Organizations
    1. How can I request a Blackboard organization?
    2. I don't see my organization on my Blackboard Desktop. How do I access it?
  11. Help
    1. Where can I go for more help with Blackboard?
Georgetown University • 3520 Prospect St. NW #314 • Washington, DC 20057
202.687.0625 • 202.687.8367 (fax) • cndls@georgetown.edu