General Blackboard Information
What is Blackboard?
I am having problems opening my teachers' documents. (Microsoft Office 2007)
Submitting documents or files to your instructor (file name format)
If MocsNet is not working (down), will UTC Online still work?
What do I do if I can not see my class on UTC Online?
Why can I see a course on UTC Online that I know I have dropped?
How do I bring a course back to UTC Online after I have removed it from my course list?
Choosing a good password
When is a bad time to use UTC Online?
How can I print a document in UTC Online?
What is Blackboard Sync?
How do I clear the web browsing cache on my computer?
What is Blackboard?
Blackboard is the software tool that provides online course delivery for UTC Online. The software and its support is funded by the UTC Student Technology Fees and by state funds.
I am having problems opening my teachers' documents. (Microsoft Office 2007)
It could be because they are using Microsoft Office 2007. A saved file using Microsoft Office 2007 will have an "x" as part of the file extension. For example, a Word document extension would be .docx. Download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack if you are not using Microsoft Office 2007 so you can open and save these types of files.
Compatibility Pack for Windows (Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Work, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats)
Compatibility Pack for Mac (Microsoft Open Office XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.2.1)
Submitting documents or files to your instructor (file name format)
Blackboard allows files with illegal characters in the filename to be submitted to the instructor; however, the instructor often cannot access such files. The fix in this case is for the student to rename the file without the illegal character(s) and resubmit it. Allowed characters in filenames are A-Z, a-z, 1-9, a "-" (dash), and an "_" (underscore) Do not use filenames containing the #, %, or & characters; it is highly recommended that filenames with spaces, $, @, etc., not be submitted.
If MocsNet is not working (down), will UTC Online still work?
Yes. Login to UTC Online at this address: http://utconline.utc.edu/
You do not have to login to MocsNet to get into UTC Online.
What do I do if I can not see my class on UTC Online?
If you do not see your class on UTC Online, your instructor may not be using UTC Online. Ask your instructor if s/he is using UTC Online for your class. If s/he is, ask if the course has been made available for students to view it. A class is not available to students unless the instructor has changed a setting to make it available for students to see.
Why can I see a course on UTC Online that I know I have dropped?
You will not be automatically removed from the corresponding class in UTC Online when you drop a class. You can contact that instructor to have you removed from the class on UTC Online.
Another option is to modify your course list in UTC Online. To do this, log into UTC Online. Click on the pencil in the top, right corner of the My Courses window. Uncheck any boxes in Section 1 - Modify Courses List and click Submit.
How do I bring a course back to UTC Online after I have removed it from my course list?
If you are trying to bring a course back after you have removed it from your course list, log into UTC Online. Click on the pencil in the top, right corner of the My Courses window. Check any boxes for that class in Section 1 - Modify Courses List, and click Submit.
Choosing a good password
A good password should be easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess. Here are some password DOs and DON'Ts.
DON'T:
- Use any form of your name or your initials
- Use the name of a girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse, or child
- Use your full Social Security Number
- Use your UTC ID username
- Use something that you can remember without writing it down
- Use at least 6 characters, with at least one of them being a number
- Try substituting a zero for the letter 'O' or the number one for the letter 'L'
- Use upper and lower-case letters (passwords are case-sensitive).
- Try using an acronym as a password. Think of a poem or song phrase that you like and can remember, then use the first letter of each word in the phrase as the password.
When is a bad time to use UTC Online?
Regular maintenance occurs nightly from 3:45 am to 4:15 am. The UTC login process depends on multiple servers to provide you with access to the UTC Online content. From time to time, these services may go down for system maintenance. When this occurs there may be a brief period of no access. If the service goes down during a time that is not designated as maintenance, call the IT Support Desk at (423) 425-4000 for more information.
How can I print a document in UTC Online?
Once the document is open, go to File, then Save As, and designate the location for saving. Now you can open the document on your computer and print it.
What is Blackboard Sync?
Blackboard Sync is a Facebook application that connects students with their Blackboard classes. UTC Online has decided to opt out of Blackboard Sync because we believe it compromises our users' login data. Because of the way Blackboard Sync works, UTC users' authentication credentials are handled outside of our servers through Facebook and Blackboard Sync. This is something we are very cautious about giving permission to since doing so would provide one more point of contact that login information could potentially be compromised.
UTC Online is also concerned with the class roster ("Classmate Network") aspect of Blackboard Sync in relation to FERPA and security issues. Blackboard Sync pulls class roster data out of Blackboard and pushes it into Facebook which is a FERPA concern. Facebook's level of security is also an issue to consider (see this BBC News article).
Other reports of Blackboard Sync highly discourage integration. It has been reported that Blackboard Sync makes courses that are unavailable within Blackboard visible within Facebook and that you can access the content areas of such "unavailable" courses. There are also reports of Blackboard Sync forcing users to reset their login passwords, which would be a further technical hurdle for our users and yet another troubleshooting issue for our help desk. Furthermore, there have been reports of Blackboard Sync actually crashing Blackboard web servers due to high activity.
Thus, we have decided to opt out of Blackboard Sync integration with UTC Online's Blackboard servers.
If you do attempt to set up Blackboard Sync with UTC Online (http://bb3.utc.edu) on Facebook, the current error message you will receive is misleading: "Your Blackboard system is not configured for use with Blackboard Sync. Your Blackboard system administrator may need to adjust the Blackboard Sync configuration settings on your Blackboard system." This error message is misleading in that it makes it seem there's a configuration problem rather than the fact UTC Online has chosen to opt out. UTC Online has filed a trouble ticket with Blackboard about this error message, but until it is fixed by Blackboard, please direct UTC users who have questions about Blackboard Sync and UTC Online to this documentation.
How do I clear the web browsing cache on my computer?
If you are having problems viewing the login page for Blackboard, try clearing the web browsing cache on your computer. Step-by-step directions can be found on Google support pages. You will need to know which web browser you are using (i.e., Internet Explorer, Firefox).
