Office of Technology Support (OTS)

Blackboard Faculty FAQs

Who is allowed to use Blackboard?

Only CEHD instructors and students are authorized to use Blackboard. The annual license is purchased each year by CEHD and is not a university provided software. CEHD instructors also have the option of using WebCT.

Logging In to Blackboard

To access Blackboard go to http://blackboard.gmu.edu. Your user name is typically the same as the user name for your Mason email account. For example, if your Mason email is jsmith99@gmu.edu, your Blackboard user name is probably jsmith99. The Blackboard administrator creates your user name for you. If you do not yet have a user name, or if you have forgotten your user name, contact OTS.

Passwords

Your password may or may not be the same as your GMU email password. The person who created your account should have provided the new password to you. You can change the password given to you by clicking on Personal Information in the lower left hand menu, then select the link to change your password. If you have forgotten your password, contact OTS.

Problems with Blackboard

Please refer all Blackboard problems to OTS.

Setting up a course in Blackboard

To request a course to be setup in Blackboard. You will need to provide the information below to OTS

  • Instructor's name
  • Instructor's GMU email
  • Official course name
  • Department and course number
  • Section
  • Semester
  • Year
  • Blackboard ID and name of course to copy (only if you want to copy the structure and materials of a previous course)

Naming Conventions

The Blackboard course ID for all courses must follow this format:

EDUC888.001.Sp07

The first part is the department and course number. The second part is the section number. The third part is the abbreviated semester (F, Sp, Su) and 2-digit year. Each part is separated by a period.

Setting course duration

Once the course is created, log into Blackboard, click on the appropriate course, then set the course duration here:

Control Panel > Course Options, Settings > Course Duration

Copying a course to use it again

Contact OTS with this request

Adding students to a course

Enrolling existing Blackboard users

Once the course is created, log into Blackboard, click on the appropriate course, then enroll students here:

Control Panel > User Management, Enroll User

You will need to look up the student by last name, username, or email address, and click on "Search". You will see a list of Blackboard users that match your search criteria. Select the box under the "Add" column, next to the name of the student you want to add. Scroll to the bottom and click "Submit".

If you see more than one user name for the same student, select the user name that matches their GMU email. For example, if Jeremiah Smithson, whose email is jsmith99@gmu.edu, has three user names (jsmith99, jeremiahsmithson, and jsmithson), choose jsmith99 because it matches his email username.

If you can't find the student, try searching by all three methods: last name, user name, and email address. You can find the email address in their roster of students, available through http://patriotweb.gmu.edu/. If you still can't find the student, you will need to create an account for that student, as explained below.

Creating new Blackboard user accounts for students

Once the course is created, log into Blackboard, click on the appropriate course, then create student Blackboard accounts here:

Control Panel > User Management, Create User

Choose a user name that matches the student's GMU email user name. For example, if the student's GMU email is jsmith99@gmu.edu, the user name must be jsmith99.

Customizing the course environment and tools

The course menu

Control Panel > Course Options, Manage Course Menu

Collaboration tools

Control Panel > Course Tools, Collaboration

Groups

Control Panel > User Management, Manage Groups

Discussion board

Control Panel > Course Tools, Discussion Board

Calendar

If you want to use the Blackboard tool for assignments, you can find it at:

Control Panel > Course Tools, Course Calendar

Adding instructional content to the course

Syllabus

If you want to use the Blackboard tool for assignments, you can find it at:

Control Panel > Course Tools, Syllabus

Assignments

If you want to use the Blackboard tool for assignments, you can find it at:

Control Panel > Course Tools, Assignments

Announcements

Control Panel > Course Tools, Announcements

Creating tests and assessments

Tests

Control Panel > Assessment > Test Manager

Surveys

Control Panel > Assessment > Survey Manager

Grades

Submitting official grades into the Banner system

Log into http://partriotweb.gmu.edu/ and submit the grades there. Unfortunately, there is no way to automatically transfer grades from the Blackboard gradebook to the official campus grading system.