Frequently Asked Questions - Students
- How do I login to Blackboard?
- Why can't I open an attachment?
- Why do only the navigation buttons print when I try to print a Blackboard screen?
- I spent a long time on a post in the discussion area and lost it. What can I do?
- Why are some of my courses not listed in Blackboard?
- I don’t want my email and other personal information visible to other students?
How do I login to Blackboard?
You can access your courses in Blackboard by first going to your MyWestern home page. Once you have logged in to MyWestern, ya list of all of the classes which you are currently enrolled in that have Blackboard sites will be displayed. Use the following directions to log into Blackboard:
- Go to the MyWestern Home Page and log into your account using your universal user name and password:
http://www.mywestern.wwu.edu - Once you have logged into MyWestern, you will see a list of all of your Blackboard courses. Select on the course you wish to access.
- You will be directed to an additional login page to verify access into Blackboard. Enter in your universal user name and password (the same user name and password you used to log into MyWestern).
- Select Login. You will be directed to your Blackboard courses page, which lists all of the current Blackboard courses that you are instructor for. To access one of these courses, simply click on the link to that course.
Why can't I open an attachment?
This may happen because you either don't have the right software program to open the file, or the version of the software you have is too old.
If the file is Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, you can download a free viewer that will allow you to open, print, and download documents, but not edit.
- Windows - http://office.microsoft.com
- Macintosh - http://mactopia.com
- Unix users - will need to download and install a software package such as AbiWord, KOffice, or StarOffice.
You may need a plug-in for your browser, particularly for sound, movie, or Adobe Acrobat files. It is a good idea to install the most recent versions of Flash Player, Quicktime, Windows Media Player, Real One Player, and Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer.
Attachments may not open if the file name uses special characters. When sending attachments through Blackboard, it is important to avoid using characters such as #, $,%, &, and *. These characters when used in file names can create problems when trying to download them from Blackboard.
Why do only the navigation buttons print when I try to print a Blackboard screen?
Blackboard uses frames for the layout of its screens. Within the Blackboard course area three frames are used - the general navigation buttons (including home, help and logout) appear at the top within one frame; the frame on the left includes the course navigation buttons (announcements, discussion board, communication, etc), with the right hand frame used for displaying the content of selections.
Only one frame is active at a time, and this is the frame that is printed. In order to print the main Blackboard frame where the content is located at, simply select something in that frame with your cursor. This will establish that frame as the active frame and allow you to print the contents.
I spent a long time on a post in the discussion area and lost it. What can I do?
It is always a good idea to write any text that is long or takes a lot of time to reflect on in a word processing program. This way, you will always have a backup copy for your records should anything happen to the posting in Blackboard.
First, write your text in a word processing program, then do one of the following:
- do a simple copy of the document and then paste into the text box of Blackboard.
- save it after using the spellcheck feature, and then use Blackboard's "browse" function to attach the document.
Why are some of my courses not listed in Blackboard?
Not all classroom courses at WWU have Blackboard courses associated with them. It is up to the individual instructor whether or not they use Blackboard or not for their course. Therefore, some of your classes might use Blackboard, and some might not.
I don’t want my email and other personal information visible to other students?
Email visibility for other students is controlled through a your PERSONAL INFORMATION settings. You can access this area from the TOOLS section of any course. Select SET PRIVACY OPTIONS. Select from the list the information you want visible to your classmates.
Note: To send communication to other students through email, use the COMMUNICATIONS options and send your email through the web browser. Even though an email may be made private, the course settings will allow the user to send messages to the email students have on record.