|
Get Started with Blackboard
Digitize your Classes with Online Courseware
The Blackboard Working Group
This is the first article in a series on Blackboard online courseware. The next issue of E-Notes will feature an article on Blackboard tips and tricks.
Start using Blackboard
As every new semester starts, more faculty adopt Blackboard as an instructional tool. Faculty who have not yet adopted Blackboard may do so at any time. Following are the initial steps to get going with Blackboard.
1. Learn your NetID.
Your NetID is a unique electronic identifier that will serve as your user name for many of Georgetown University's online systems and services, Blackboard among them.
As soon as a faculty or staff member completes all of the paperwork required by the federal government for employment, a record for that individual is created in the University's human resources system. NetIDs are then automatically created by the end of the next business day.
You can look up your NetID by looking up your record in the Georgetown University online directory.
For help with NetIDs, contact the NetID Office at netid@georgetown.edu or (202) 687-5128.
2. Set your permanent NetID password.
To obtain a temporary NetID password, you must either present a valid photo ID (such as a GOCard) at the UIS Service Desk or fax a photocopy of the ID, along with your contact information, to the UIS Help Desk at (202) 687-1162. The temporary password will expire in 72 hours unless you set a permanent strong password. To do so, visit https://netid-mgmt.georgetown.edu/ and click on the Password Change link. You will be prompted to log in to the online password change utility with your NetID and temporary NetID password.
Password-cracking applications allow hackers to compromise computer accounts by systematically trying each word in a dictionary as the account's password until the account is breached. To foil these applications, NetID passwords are required to have the following characteristics:
- Be at least eight characters in length.
- Contain at least one uppercase or lowercase alphabetic character.
- Contain at least one number.
- Contain at least one punctuation or symbol character (! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + | ~ - = \ ` { } [ ] : " ; ' < > ? , . / , etc.).
- Not be derived from a dictionary word or simple pattern such as abcdefgh.
Helpful tips for formulating a secure but easily remembered password may be found at http://security.georgetown.edu/passwords.html. Also on that page are Guidelines for Protecting Your Passwords. Please adhere to these guidelines at all times.
If your temporary NetID password has expired or you have forgotten your NetID password, instructions may be found on the Don't know your NetID password? page. You can also contact the University Information Services (UIS) HelpDesk for assistance at (202) 687-4949 or help@georgetown.edu.
3. Set your e-mail routing.
Unless you set up your Georgetown University e-mail (GUMail) account, e-mail sent to you through Blackboard will have nowhere to go. To set your routing, go to http://uis.georgetown.edu/netid and click on the Review or change your e-mail routing link. You will be prompted to log in to the e-mail routing page with your NetID and NetID password.
The e-mail routing page allows you to choose where your e-mail will go. E-mail sent to your GUMail address can go to as many different accounts as you like. You must set a primary delivery address; any additional addresses you want to add are up to you. These additional addresses will automatically receive copies of e-mail sent to your GUMail address.
An extensive explanation of e-mail routing may be found on the Web page Learn About GUMail Delivery Options. For additional help, call the UIS Help Desk at (202) 687-4949 or write to help@georgetown.edu.
4. Log in.
Once you have set your e-mail routing, you will be an active user in the Blackboard system by the following morning. To log on to the Blackboard system, visit Georgetown University's Blackboard site at http://campus.georgetown.edu. Click the Log in to Blackboard 5 link. You will be prompted to log in with your NetID and NetID password.
Learning Blackboard
The Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS) offers Blackboard orientation sessions to Georgetown faculty and staff. The following topics will be covered:
- Blackboard Basics: learn to set up a course, upload documents, and link to external Web sites.
- Blackboard Communications: learn to use Blackboard e-mail, discussion boards, chat, and student groups.
- Blackboard Documents and Content: learn to upload documents or create content in Blackboard.
- Blackboard Assessments: learn to create online quizzes and surveys, use the online grade book, and use the digital drop box for online submission of assignments.
- Blackboard Assessments & Online Grade Book: learn to use the online grade book and create your own self-correcting assignments that students complete online.
Browse through the courses or register at the Training at Georgetown Web site. You will register using your NetID.
Troubleshooting Blackboard
If you cannot log in to Blackboard or any other NetID-enabled system, make sure that Caps Lock is not turned on when you type your password. If not, contact the NetID office at netid@georgetown.edu or (202) 687-5128.
If you cannot log in to Blackboard only, contact Blackboard Help at bbhelp@georgetown.edu for the Main Campus or at bbmedhelp@georgetown.edu for the Medical Center and the School of Nursing and Health Studies.
If you log in to Blackboard but can't see your courses, contact the Office of the University Registrar at univregistrar@georgetown.edu or (202) 687-4020. Student enrollment data for Main Campus Spring 2004 will be uploaded into Blackboard on January 9.
If you would like assistance with using Blackboard features, please contact Blackboard Help at bbhelp@georgetown.edu for the Main Campus or at bbmedhelp@georgetown.edu for the Medical Center and the School of Nursing and Health Studies. |
