Archived CE 6, CE 8, and Vista - Course Design

Releasing student scores without being able to copy/paste them - CE 8

Didier Hernandez — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 23:55:26 GMT

Greetings,

I am helping an instructor with a question about releasing student scores and still preventing them from copying or printing their exam results. To the best of my knowledge I don't think this is simple, or even possible. Have you dealt with this situation? If so, what are some of your responses to instructors asking about this?

I appreciate all the help.

Didier Hernandez (UTEP)

Importing a .bak file in another LMS

Phil Ventura — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:01:03 GMT

My college has recently stopped using BlackBoard. They archived courses as .bak files. I have the .bak file which appears to be encrpyted. I would like to know how I can either decrypt it and/or import the information into another LMS.

Gradebook and multiple Assessment attempts

Christina Drabik — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 00:30:29 GMT

Hi,

I'm confused how it works when a student has multiple attempts to complete an assessment. Does the gradebook change whenever there is a new attempt? Is the highest grade attempt recorded or is the last attempt recorded? I found in testing that nothing was recorded when the assessment was set for multiple attempts so i'm wondering if anything is even recorded at all.

Thanks,

Christina

Is it possible to retroactively match survey responses with student IDs?

Paul Sevigny — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 08:08:50 GMT

We have Blackboard 6.2 and are really hoping to find someone who can help us unlock an administrator technique for matching survey responses to the student who gave those responses. Yes, we shouldn't have used survey function, but for part of a research project, it would be very beneficial to be able to unscramble the survey results so that we can track longer term changes in attitudes. Surely someone knows how the code works. Is it really randomized, or do responses go in alphabetical order by username or something? Thanks for any help you can give!

Paul Sevigny,

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

sevignyp@apu.ac.jp

Importing Questions into Blackboard

GlenHarvey — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT

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I have been trying to find a simple solution to importing questions into blackboard. I wanted to create an access database to store questions and then export the information in the format required. It is very confusing from everything I have read. Apparently you have to upload a type of zip file (unix probably) which looks like it can be created using exam view. However I want to import into examview or something else a text file which can be delimited however it needs to be. I am hoping there is a straight forward document that can give me the format I will need and the steps to do it.

I am trying to save faculty headaches by creating a turnkey solution that will allow them to create a large question back indexed by maybe ESO which can then have a query run to give the questions for the weeks lab which can then be uploaded to blackboard for student access during lab....

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Vista 8 and Captivate

Carrie Bishop — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:37:18 GMT

Good morning,

I'm working on importing a Captivate module (SCORM package) into our Blackboard Vista 8 LMS. I have a few questions about how it's working. I've gotten it uploaded using the SCORM module upload, and it's available on my home page, but a few things:

-When I click on the content link, the window says "The selected item does not contain any content. If the table of contents and/or Previous and Next icons are available to you, please navigate to another item". Then the student has to click on another link (in the TOC) to get to the module. Is there a way to skip this first screen and go straight to the content?

-When I exit the module and then open it again, it is not remembering where I was in the module. I've uploaded this same SCORM package to Moodle and it does remember the resume data, so I'm thinking there might be a setting in Blackboard that I'm missing?

thanks for any help!

Carrie Bishop
University of Georgia

How to remove HTML characters from downloaded assessment reports in CSV/Excel format?

Ian Calder — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:15:05 GMT

Hi all,

When downloading quiz assessment reports and opening up in Excel as a CSV file, it renders HTML characters that were included in the answer submission (e.g. in the case of Paragraph question types) - even the 'Printable View' report type shows the HTML characters.

Probably something of a long shot, but does anyone know of a simple way of how to remove HTML characters from these downloaded CSV report files or a setting that can be made prior to download that will prevent the HTML formatting coming across?

All the best,
Ian

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Ian Calder
Senior e-Learning Content Developer
IT Services
King's College London

Email ian.calder@kcl.ac.uk

Attempting to upload files while on Linux

Katrina Adams — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:23:20 GMT

Good morning. I have a professor who is working with Linux (version info below), and he is very frequently having trouble uploading files into his class. I know that Linux, any flavor, is not supported; however, I have a prof using it, and I wanted to see if anyone has suggestions.

Any time he needs to upload a file, he gets to the browse window, and as expected, he does not see the My Computer icon. He will hover his mouse around the side (a known work-around) and he'll be able to click and get the individual-upload interface. He'll click one (or more) of the Browse buttons, find his file, and then he has to scroll through a list of 100+ browse buttons to the [ok] button at the bottom of the screen. He'll then very frequently get an error:

------

An unexpected system exception has occurred.

A system exception has occurred during the processing of your last request. You may attempt to return to the My Blackboard page. If further problems occur, try logging out of the system, then logging back in.

SessionID: P6z7PmGp2Z71ZGPryLKK335jR2gZ2Kwt3S1wZcSQ0Lyy2ZvRChGb!2119260775!plms2b.utdallas.edu!80!-1!-452573789!plms2c.utdallas.edu!80!-1!1327941374964, Node Name: pLMS2b

Return to My Blackboard.

------

As mentioned earlier, he is running Firefox on a Linux machine. Below is the version info:

: popeil ~; lsb_release -a
LSB Version:      :core-3.1-amd64:core-3.1-noarch:graphics-3.1-amd64:graphics-3.1-noarch
Distributor ID:   Fedora
Description:      Fedora release 9 (Sulphur)
Release:    9
Codename:   Sulphur
: popeil ~; java -version
java version "1.6.0"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0-b09) OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 1.6.0-b09, mixed mode)

Any ideas on what he can do to solve this issue would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks,
Katrina

Dreamweaver Put and Synch Operations Fail

Larry West — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:42:48 GMT

I am using Dreamweaver CS5 (v. 11) and connecting to Blackboard using WebDAV. I am connecting from two different computers, one with Win 7.0 Professional and the other with Vista Home Premium. Our University uses Blackboard Vista 8.0 Service Pack 6. I maintain my content on a portable USB drive which I can move between computers.

About twice a month I will encounter a problem where either an individual file put or a multi-file or folder synchronization operation to upload files from my local content to the web site will appear to work properly but when I check the content on the web the upload was not successful. I.e., the old file version is still avtive. I also encounter the problem with new files in which case the new file will not appear in the BB file manager nor be available for inclusion in a module or linking on a page.

Other symptoms:

1. If I do another synchronization DW will not report any files needing synchronization. That is, DW reports that all files are up to date even though it is an older file version that I see on BB.

2. If I change either a local copy or a remote copy snychronization will recognize the out of synch files but attempting to upload (I never need to download) results in the same issue--apparent success but the old file version remains active.

3. Once I encounter this problem it persists until I fix it (see below).

4. I can make the problem go away by deleting the site from the Dreamweaver Manage Sites capability and then recreating it (and pointing to the same WebDAV address and local content source I have been using).

5. If I encounter the problem on one computer I have never seen it on the other. That is, if Computer A misbehaves Computer B will be operating correctly. But I have seen the problem on both computers, just not at the same time.

6. The problem is course-specific. I usually have more than one course active and I can encounter the problem on Course X but Course Z behaves properly, even on the same computer where Course X is having trouble.

7. The problem does not appear to be browser cache related. I often author on one computer but keep BB open on another (not one of the two on which I author). Neither computer will show the new file version.

The problem is insidious because unless I check (which I now do regularly) I won't know there was a problem. Again, DW gives no error message.

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere. I did a couple of searches but the responses were overwhelming and not really on target.

Thanks for any insights.

Larry

Assignment - attachments

allan.martin — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

--- Server: CE 6/Vista 4(?) | Client: ?(?) ---

This was received from one of our faculty. I do not see a way of removing the attachment once submitted. Any suggestions?

"I was posting a graded assignment last night, and added an attachment (a course from last term). I accidentally attached the wrong document and didn't notice it until after I had graded the assignment. The result is not posted, yet, so the students cannot see the result. Is there a way of removing the attachment?"

How do i create formulas for creating subtotals and totals in the gradebook

sigmatwo — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:00:00 GMT

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I need to create formulas for subtotals and totals in the grade book. How do I create the formulas?

Displaying and tracking SCORM in Learning Modules

kennfj — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

--- Server: Bb Learning System Release 6.0-6.2(WIN) | Client: IE7.x(WIN) ---

I have two related questions:

1. Can the Table of Contents in my SCORM object be turned into the Learning Module Table of Contents (as happens when you import an IMS package)? (i.e. without having to do it manually)

2. If not, and the SCORM object is added as a single page to a Learning Module (so that you end up with a LM Table of Contents and a SCORM Table of Contents) will Blackboard track a student's progress through each page of the SCORM object or only the one page in the Learning Module that links to the SCORM object?

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks

Ken

Selective Release Criteria

Evette Tillery — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:10:49 GMT

Is there a way to set selective release criteria for the following in Bb CE8:

The selective release criteria begins with a date
AND end of module survey with a value of "Not blank"
AND end of module assessment with a value of "greater than or equal to 60"

The above criteria is working for all students. When I attempted to add an OR criteria to the above is when the problem began.

The CIO and Provost are enrolled in the course as students and want to be able to view all content without satisfying the release criteria. I created a Provost and CIO group, added the two members, and tried to add the group to the selective release criteria using the OR boolean operator. Upon doing so, it prevented the participating students that had already satisifed the criteria from accessing the module.

Is there a way to achieve this:
Module opening date with unlimited end date
AND end of module survey with a value of "Not blank"
AND end of module assessment with a value of "greater than or equal to 60"
OR Provost and CIO group

Any feedback and input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Evette Tillery

Can I access/alter Grade Book data from a regular content (html) page?

Christopher Cassity — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:42:28 GMT

Hi,

I'm using Vista 8.

Is there any way that I can access/alter Grade Book data without having to use assessments, etc.? For example, could I use JavaScript in an html content page?

I don't have grades to keep track of. All I want is to record that a student completed Module X.

Then, on the course home page, I want to be able to show that Module X is now complete, again hopefully by making a simple function call to see the state of Module X in Grade Book.

(I've searched a lot on this, but I can't seem to find something that doesn't require me make it into a SCORM module.)

Thanks for your help!

Chris

Selective Release upon completion of a survey and end of module assessment

Evette Tillery — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:28:56 GMT

I want to set selective release criteria on two criteria and have it open a module based on the (1) completion of a survey and an (2) end of module assessment in the previous module. The end of module assessment is worth 100 points. Since there are no points tied to the survey and only shows whether the survey was "completed" or "not completed" in the gradebook, is it possible to include selective release criteria based on completion of the survey??

Thanks,

Evette Tillery

Remediation on CE 6 & 8 and Vista courses

Ranjith Ramachandran — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:54:26 GMT

Hi,

Is there any way we can do remediation on Blackboard CE 6 & 8 and Vista courses? I am looking for options similar like 'Adaptive Release' feature in Blackboard Learn.

Regards,

Ranjith.

How can a submitted assignment also be a missed assignment?

aastra — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

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Can somebody please explain what happened in this instance?

A student claims that she submitted her assignment document prior to the assignment's due date.

In the Assignment Dropbox, under the "Submitted" tab, the "Submitted Date" column is blank for this student. In the "Due Date" column, I see "Missed" in bold letters beside the due date.

In the Assignment Dropbox, under the "All" tab, the "Status" column shows "Submitted". But the "Due Date" column shows "Missed" in bold letters just as it does under the "Submitted" tab.

In the Assignment Dropbox, under the "Not Submitted" tab, I see this message: "There are currently no Submissions for this view."

If I attempt to review the student's submission, I see "Status: Missed" near the top of the page, whereas further down under "Submission" I see "Attachments None".

However, if I go into "Tracking" and generate a report for this particular student, I see that she accessed the Assignments tool prior to the assignment's due date. The action for that event is "Assignment Read".

The very next event in the tracking report involved the File Manager tool. The action is "File uploaded". I can see the file's name in the "Item" column; it was the student's assignment document.

There is no "Assignment submitted" event for this student. This would seem to be the problem, since there is an "Assignment Submitted" event for every other student.

Thus, I have many questions:

What happened?
When the student went to submit her assignment, did she click "Add Attachment" but forget to click "Submit"? Did she click "Save as Draft"? (she believes she did everything correctly)

Where did the student's assignment document go?
If it was uploaded, then where is it? Can I access it? Can the student?

Why does the student's status show as both "missed" and "submitted" depending on where I look?
This is very confusing to me.

Problem with links in the discussion tool webCT vista 8

Jon Jack — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:42:54 GMT

Hi, does anyone know if there is a problem with the type of link a student can embed. for example http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/Professionals/Professionals_UCM_308581_SubHomePage.jsp this gives a "forbidden content error". is it the .jsp that's the problem? and if so what can I do about it.

Thanks

Jon

trying to get the id of a course (ejb error)

Jorge Lopez — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 17:01:58 GMT

Hello,

I'm trying to get the id of a course.

Add the library (Vista8_sdk_client.jar) to my code, but when I try to create an instance of ContextSDK (class library) to get the id with one of its methods (com.webct.platform.sdk.context.client.ContextSDK.getLearningContextIdBySourcedId(String arg0, String arg1) throws RemoteException, ContextException)

I get this error: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/ejb/EJBHome.

I think the mistake is because I use tomcat and is not compatible with ejb (and this class uses ejb methods), because is not an application server.

Could you help me.

Thank you very much.

Assignments and "perpetual due date"

SGVancouver — Thu, 31 May 2007 04:00:00 GMT

--- Server: CE 6/Vista 4(SUN) | Client: IE6.x(WIN) ---

A faculty member posed the following interesting question,

"I want to set up an assignment that will act as a weekly entry ticket to lectures. I would like students to submit a summary of the reading by 5pm the day before lecture, which means setting up a weekly, perpetual due date rather than a one-time-only due date. Can I do this, and if so how? "

Any ideas, suggestions?

Thanks, Susan

Generic Exception - Fail to create content page

Colin Schickedanz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 03:02:07 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to add Powerpoint (.pptx) files to a Lecture Notes folder in Course Content. When I browse my computer to upload the files, it brings up the error "Generic Exception - Fail to create content page". This happens in multiple courses, and also with PDF files. This is my first time trying to upload something. Let me know what I could possibly be doing wrong.

Thanks

Colin

Linked SCORM Supported Files

Holly Shipclark — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:27:56 GMT

Hello,

I'm pretty lost! I had the misfortune of developing a bunch of new Course Material in Captivate 5.5 before my administrator was able to turn on SCORM in our Blackboard (CE 8).

We now have SCORM (yay), but I'm afraid that I may have developed a pile of useless material!

I am new to both SCORM and Captivate 5.5 so I was making a lot of assumptions because the information provided in manuals for Captivate and Blackboard is pretty basic. (Excuses, I know)

This is the approach that I took. All my courses are split into modules. I want the course participant to be able to access each module individually BUT I also would like them to be able to go from start to finsih without having to go back to an index. To enable this, I made a seperate project for each module and provided link buttons to the previous and next modules on the first and last page of each.

I have also created the tests as sepereate projects (rather than providing one test at the end of the course material, I have provided individual test questions that are hidden throughout the projects.

So what I ended up with after publishing each project, unzipping each package and recreating a new zipped folder containing the SWF and HTM files for each module and test as well as all the supporting material.

I have had success adding the HTML files to my course contest page. They have played beautifully inside Blackboard and the inter-project links have been flawless.

Now that I actually have SCORM turned on, I think this approach may have been bad!

Now I see that uploading SCORM files is a whole different process and doesn't allow me to have links between project. WHICH IS NO FUN!

Any ideas? Thanks a bunch!

WebDAV on Windows 7

Gene Shwalb — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:19:55 GMT

Nobody has asked about this for years, so I wonder if there's been any progress on the ability to use WebDAV with Windows 7. It was so easy with Windows XP and it's still so easy on the Mac (see our doc at http://howto.wikispaces.umb.edu/Using+WebDav+Folders+on+a+Mac).

Thanks!

Font size on Learning Modules

Susan Richards — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 02:28:30 GMT

I have created Learning Modules in my Bb CE8 course, but the font size for all items is WAY too small for me! It's not obvious to me how to enlarge the font size - anyone ever succeed at this?

Grading Schema Problems

lwalker701 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

--- Server: Bb Learning System Release 6.3-7.x(??) | Client: Other(WIN) ---

Attached is the Grading Schema I used. The grading schema is set to
compute grades using a 0-50 scale.

Also attached is the grade center display after I'd entered the quiz grades.

Here are the problems:
1) Bb converted all the quiz grades to A+.
2) Bb displayed the scores on a 0-100 scale instead of a 0-50 scale.
3) Bb rounded certain grade schema entries incorrectly such as 49.062 which
should have been 49.063.

I verified these results on both Firefox and IE.

How do I fix this?

Lawrence