If you do not find the answer to your question here, complete the Blackboard Assistance Request Form
or contact the Technology Help Desk via
e-mail (helpdesk@philau.edu) or phone (215-951-4648).
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Blackboard is Philadelphia University's online, web-based learning platform. It provides faculty and students an innovative way to share information and ideas and to communicate with each other outside of the classroom experience. |
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Blackboard is accessible by pointing your web browser to the following URL: http://bb.philau.edu Once you have logged in, you will notice a list of courses in which you are enrolled on the right hand side of the screen (My Courses). Click on the appropriate course to get started. |
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After logging in to Blackboard, click on Personal Information, under Tools on the left side of your screen. Select Change Password. Enter your new password twice and click Submit. A few words about passwords. Whether you are creating a password for Blackboard or your e-mail account, always try to create a password that is easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess. A few simple rules for creating a password:
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I forgot/lost my Password. How can I get it reset? If can' remember your Password or lost it, click on the Forgot Your Password? link on the Blackboard Login Screen. A new screen will appear prompting you for your First Name, Last Name and either your UserID or your e-mail address. Fill in the information for one of the two prompts.
After clicking on Submit, an e-mail will be sent to the e-mail account on file for you in Blackboard (your PhilaU e-mail account). Follow the directions in the e-mail to reset your Password and then login. If after following these directions, you are still unable to login or receive an error stating that your account does not exist click here. |
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What if I have problems logging in, accessing a course, etc.? If you can not access a course, please contact your professor to ensure that s/he is using Blackboard for that section and ask him/her to add you to Blackboard Course Roster. If you are having password issues or technical problems, please contact the Technology Help Desk via e-mail (helpdesk@philau.edu) or phone (215-951-4648). |
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If my professor sends e-mail through Blackboard, where does it go? By default, all Blackboard accounts are set up to send e-mail to your PhilaU account. For information on accessing your PhilaU e-mail account see the OIR page on Student E-mail access. |
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At the beginning of each school year, the Paul J. Gutman Library will hold Blackboard Orientation sessions. Please check the Library Workshop schedule or check at the Reference Desk for times and location. In addition, many faculty will provide a short orientation in class early in the semester. If you learn better by reading and/or hands-on exploration, you can download the Getting Started with Blackboard guide created by the folks at Blackboard. |
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How do I use the Assignment Tool? The Assignment Tool is a modified version of the Digital Drop Box. When an Instructor adds an assignment to his/her Blackboard course, you will see a link to the the assignment description and a place to enter responses and/or to upload files. Once the Instructor has graded the assignment, you can return to this link to view not only the grade for your assignment, but also any comments that the Instructor may have included. For a video tutorial on using the Assignment Tool, click here. (Courtesy of Blackboard Inc.) |
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How do I use the Digital Drop Box? Many faculty are using the Digital Drop Box for assignment submission. Click here for step-by-step text and video guides to using the Digital Drop Box. |
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How do I use the Discussion Board? Many faculty will augment their class by extending discussions outside of the classroom through Blackboard's built-in Discussion Board. Click here for a guide to understanding the Discussion Board layout and for learning how to add and respond to posts. The Discussion Board is also a way to share files with your classmates (e.g., peer reviews, group projects).
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What are Groups and what can I do there? When doing group projects, faculty will often allow students to use the Blackboard Group features. Each student group is given access to one of the Blackboard Course Group Spaces. From within this space, you can have discussions with your group members using a private discussion board; send e-mail to only members of the group; and share files. |
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How do I send an e-mail in Blackboard? There are two ways to send e-mail from within Blackboard. The first is through the Communication button on your Blackboard tool bar. Click on Communication and then select Send E-mail. You will be given the option to select to whom you wish to send the message. Select All Users, to send to the entire class; All Instructors, to send to your instructor; Select Users, to send to individual users, students or faculty. Enter the Subject of your e-mail and then the Message. Click Submit to send your e-mail. A receipt will appear after the message has been sent. The second way to send e-mail is through the Groups page. This method is very similar to the Communication button method, but the options for who will receive the message is more limited. |
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If your instructor is using the gradebook to keep track of your grades, you can easily check your progress. Begin by clicking on the Tools button (in some courses this button may read Student Tools or User Tools). Select View Grades. A page will appear with each assignment listed down the left side of the screen and your grade listed down the right side of the screen. At the top of the screen you will see your average and other statistics. WARNING!: Averages may not be accurate until the end of the semester depending on the gradebook options selected by your instructor. You can also check the grade on an individual assignment by returning to a given Assignment Tool link. Once you have submitted an assignment and it has been graded, the grade and any comments from your Instructor will appear. For more information, see How do I use the Assignment Tool? |
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I'm having problems reading/opening PowerPoint or Word files from my Blackboard course. What should I do? If you are using a computer with Microsoft Office
2003, you may need to upgrade your software. There is a known
issue with reading newer files from Microsoft Office 2007 or
2008 with older versions of the software. If you are experiencing other problems, or are using a different platform than mentioned here, please contact the Technology Help Desk (helpdesk@philau.edu or 215-951-4648) for further assistance. |
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How do I read the file that my Professor posted? Some Professors will post files other than Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint or Adobe Acrobat files. In some cases, you will need a specific piece of software to read these files (e.g., CAD software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Flash). If you do not have access to these programs on your personal computer, you will need to either download the file and take it to a computer lab or download the file in a computer lab where there are computers with this software. In other cases, you can download a browser plugin or a viewer program from the software manufacturer. Following is a list of the most common plugins and viewers available. If you need a plugin or viewer that is missing from this list, you should go to the web site of the software manufacturer to download the viewer. |
