BlackBoard Question of the Week

Q. I noticed a new link on the Blackboard login page to Blackboard Service Alerts — what are they, and do I need to pay attention to them?

A. Loyola’s instance of Blackboard is hosted on Blackboard’s servers. Occasionally it is necessary for Blackboard to perform maintenance  on their network infrastructure, which may result in brief outages. This work is usually done at night or very early in the morning, when Blackboard assumes it will inconvenience the smallest number of users.

Blackboard Service Alerts is a blog from Information Technology Services that posts notices of scheduled outages. If you would like to know about planned Blackboard outages, you can click on the Blackboard Service Alerts link. 

If you subscribe to the feed using your Web browser or a Web-based feed reader such as Bloglines or Google Reader, you will get the most recent Service Alert delivered to you whenever it is posted. The benefit of subscribing is that you can receive the most up to date information without having to remember to visit the Service Alerts blog.

Q. Can I re-order discussion threads in a discussion forum?  For example, as discussion continues, I may want to add an additional thread, but want it to appear after an already posted thread.

 A. Discussion threads are always ordered by date with the most recent thread at the top. Anyone can reverse his or her view of the threads, i.e. display the oldest thread at the top, by clicking the arrowhead above the title “Thread,” but that does not change the view for anyone else. 

It’s also possible to display any group of threads by clicking in the box to the left of the threads to view and then clicking the Collect button  on the toolbar.

Q. I have created a test from a question pool. How do I get the test to show up in the course documents folder so that I can modify the settings of the exam (time settings, randomization of the test questions) and further modify the exam questions?

A. Once you have created a test you must deploy it to a content area for students to view and submit. If you do not place your test in a content area students will not be able to access it.

For instructions on deploying a test, visit Deploying a Test.

For instructions on modifying a test, visit Modifying Test Instructions tutorial.

Q. I followed the directions for setting up a Turnitin assignment, but when I looked in the list of assignments it was not there. Can you help?

A. You can find basic instructions for setting up a Turnitin assignment at Setting up a Turnitin Assignment.

When you create your Turnitin assignment, make sure that the dates you assign are in the following order:

1. The start date is the date that you would like the assignment to be visible to students.
2. The due date must fall after the start date.
3. The post date must fall after the due date; the post date is when the assignment will be graded and available for student viewing.

If you do not follow this order for dates, the Turnitin assignment will not be created. You do get an error message in a yellow box when you enter the post date incorrectly, but it is not very distinguishable.

More Turnitin Resources

Turnitin Instructor User Manual
Flash Video: Viewing an Originality Report