1. Blackboard is rebooted weekly
on Sundays at 3am. Do not start an online
assessment unless it can be completed before 3am on Sunday. |
2. Blackboard maintenance is performed at 4:30am.
Do not take an assessment
between 4:30 and 5:00am Monday through Friday. |
3. Do not open an assessment
until you are ready to take it. Most online
tests are set to only allow access only once. |
4. Before starting an assessment, reboot your computer.
Rebooting frees up system resources and minimizes the likelihood of
browser problems. |
5. If your computer and telephone share the same telephone
line,
unplug your telephone while taking an assessment. If you have call
waiting,
be sure to disable it before connecting to the Internet.
Refer to your modem or Dial-up Settings documentation to learn how
to disable
call-waiting or other services that may cause interruption. |
6. Check Your Browser Options before the assessment to ensure
that it is not
set to disconnect after several minutes of inactivity. The location
of this
setting depends on your browser. For example, in Internet Explorer 5
& 6 it
is located under Tools>Internet Options>Connections>Settings>
Advanced.
If you have an Internet Service Provider that will break your
connection if
you don't visit a new site after a certain period of time, then keep
another
window open and occasionally visit it and load a new page or refresh
the other
site's page to keep your connection open. |
7. Don't use AOL browser. If you use AOL (or another internet
service that
provides a customized browser), you should install Netscape or IE,
minimize your AOL or other ISP application after connection, and
then use
Netscape, IE or Firefox for Blackboard. |
8. If an assessment is set to open in a new window, pop-up
blocker software
prevents a new window from "popping up."
- To temporarily override the pop-up blocker in Internet
Explorer, hold the
Ctrl key as you click on the assessment link.
- To disable pop-up blocker in Internet Explorer:
Select from the menu bar Tools > Pop-up Blocker > Turn Off
Pop-up Blocker
- To disable pop-up blocker in Mozilla Firefox:
Select Tools > Options > Web Features
Uncheck "Block Popup Windows"
- Instructions on disabling other pop-up blocking software
will vary.
|
9. While taking an online
assessment, do not do the following. These
actions will cause you to be kicked out of the exam and you will not
be
able to re-start the assessment without action being taken by your
instructor.
- Do not click the Back button in your browser.
- Do not click the Home, or Refresh/Reload buttons in your
browser.
- Do not enter new URLs in the Address or Location fields of
the browser.
- Do not select any pages from your Favorites/Bookmarks list
in the
assessment's browser window.
|
10.Understand the difference
between Save and Submit. The Save button does not submit
your answers for grading.
When you are done answering the questions, click the Submit button.
|
11.Save your work often.
On assessments that present all questions at once, scroll down to the
bottom
of the page and click the Save button. Do this every 15 minutes or so. |
12. When assessments present one question at a time,
click on the single right arrow (>) below each question to move onto the next question.
Do not click the double right arrows (>>). Doing so will take you to the last question of
the exam, skipping all remaining questions. |
13. Avoid losing your answers to essay questions. Work on
essay questions
offline using Notepad or a Word Processor such as Microsoft Word,
WordPad, etc.
Use the copy and paste feature to copy your essay answer to the
Blackboard
Assessment. |
14. When you have answered all the questions on an
assessment, make sure you
finish it by clicking the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the screen.
Click the
Submit Button ONLY ONCE! If your Internet connection is slow, you
may think
the test is not being sent. Wait at least 2-5 minutes for a
confirmation that
your assessment was received. |
15. If you get kicked offline or accidentally closed your
browser window and
try to log back in to the assessment you will get an error message saying that you have
already have
completed the
assessment
or that it is still in progress. Contact your instructor. |