Accessing and Setting Your Blackboard Interface Preferences

Transcription

1 Accessing and Setting Your Blackboard Interface Preferences Version Francis Tuttle Technology Center elearning Department

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Purpose and Objectives Formatting Conventions Ensure the Computer Meets Minimum Requirements Log in to Blackboard Set up the User s Preferred Interface to Blackboard Change the Content of Your Page Change the Layout of Your Page Last updated: 11/1/2005 2

3 Purpose and Objectives This document is designed to show Francis Tuttle instructors how to access Blackboard and set individual interface preferences, including how to: Ensure the computer meets minimum requirements Log in to Francis Tuttle s Blackboard system Change the content and layout of your Blackboard interface Formatting Conventions Throughout this document you ll see various symbols and specially formatted text. Here s what it all means: General instructions and hands-on activities are laid out in numbered lists, like this: 1. Log into the Blackboard system. 2. Click on the Control Panel button. 3. and so on Menu commands are written in the form, Menu > Submenu > Submenu. For example, the instructions choose Edit > Copy would be the equivalent of the following if put into a numbered (step) list: 1. Choose Edit from the menu bar. 2. Choose Copy from the drop-down menu that opens. Important words or phrases are formatted in bold text. Text formatted in a different font is text that you need to type. In some of the hands-on activities, you may be asked to type a URL in the address bar of a browser, or to type a passage into a text box. For example, the following instructs you to type the word appreciate into the box provided: Type appreciate into the box provided. Folder and file names, as well as options you may choose to select from a menu are formatted in italics. Last updated: 11/1/2005 3

4 Ensure the Computer Meets Minimum Requirements In order to determine whether your computer meets the minimum technical requirements to access and run Blackboard, complete the following steps: 1. Open the Internet Explorer web browser and go to this web page: 2. In each section (Operating System, Web Browser, etc.), look at the right column labeled Diagnostics, and verify that the statement there indicates whether or not your system meets the minimum requirements. 3. If one area of your system does not meet minimum requirements, there will be an icon and link next to that Diagnostics result area to help you upgrade your computer to meet the minimum requirements. Select the icon or link and follow the instructions for running the update. (In the following graphic, you can see the link to add the Adobe PDF reader to the computer that was tested.) Last updated: 10/13/05 4

5 Log in to Blackboard Whether you are a Francis Tuttle student enrolled in a Blackboard course or an instructor teaching a Blackboard course, the basic log-in process is the same. Before you log in, however, you need to make certain the computer you are using meets the minimum system requirements. To log into Blackboard, complete the following steps: 1. Open an instance of the Internet Explorer web browser. 2. Type the following into the Address line: 3. When the Login Here box opens, type in your USERNAME and PASSWORD. 4. Click the Login button. Set up the User s Preferred Interface to Blackboard Whether you are a Francis Tuttle student enrolled in a Blackboard course or an instructor, you can modify the look of the interface that is presented to you once you log in to the website. Change the Content of Your Page To customize the interface page (your personal portal page), you can change both the content and the layout. To change the content, log in to Blackboard, and then complete the following steps: 1. Click the Modify Content button on the upper right corner. Last updated: 10/13/05 5

6 2. Check those modules from the list provided in the Select Modules section that you want to have added to your page, or uncheck those you want to have removed. (The following graphic shows only some of the available modules.) 3. Scroll to the bottom of the page, click Submit, and then click OK when The page has been successfully customized message appears. Your page should now display all of the options you chose. Change the Layout of Your Page To change the layout of your personal portal page, complete the following steps: 1. Click the Modify Layout button on the upper right corner. 2. Under the Personalize Page Layout section, follow the instructions to move the items that display on the page within their column, delete items from being displayed, or add items. NOTE: In the following graphic, the instructions have been highlighted to help you better understand how to personalize the layout of your Blackboard page. Last updated: 10/13/05 6

7 3. Under the Personalize Theme section, click on the color scheme you want to use for your page. NOTE: Not all options are shown in the following graphic, which shows Menu Column as the chosen theme. 4. Click Submit, and when the message that says, The page has been successfully customized, is displayed, click OK. Your page theme has now been changed. Last updated: 10/13/05 7