FAQs - General

1. How do I access my members list?
2. How do I add more instructors and TAs to a course?
3. How do I see a list of students in my class?
4. How do I enable the Roster Tool?
5. How do I see the course as a student?
6. How can students upload files?
7. How do students get/use the Mobile Apps?
8. How do I properly insert YouTube MashUps so they display properly on a Mobile app?
9. How can I use the Equation Editor?
10. How can I gather statistics in my course and generate reports?
11. How do I enable Guest Access?
12. How do I turn on more tools?
13. How do I use the new content editor?
14. How do I use ShareStream to add Videos to a Course?

1. How do I access my members list?

The Member List course tool replicates the member list functionality of the old PAWS Course Tools and allows for the export of a course list compatible with SiRIUS.
  1. Under the "Course Management" menu, select "Course Tools"
  2. Select "Members List"
  3. Select your desired file format (Excel, Comma Separated Text, or HTML)
  4. Select "Download" from the drop down beside the chosen format.

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2. How do I add more instructors and TAs to a course?

  1. Under the "Course Management" menu, select "Course Tools"
  2. Select "Add User by Role"
  3. Enter, or browse, to find the user by NSID

NOTE: Once you have added a USER by ROLE, you will NOT be able to remove that user. Contact help.desk@usask.ca if required.


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3. How do I see a list of students in my class?

If you only want to see a list of students, you can use the Grade Center
  1. Under the Control Panel in the bottom left of the window, select "Grade Center"
  2. Under Grade Center, select "Registered Users". This will give you a list of all students enrolled in your class
NOTE: If you do not see any students in this list, then the SiRIUS system has not populated your class yet. Contact your college SiRIUS Administrator/Course Builder if this problem occurs. 

To see all users in your class, you must use Users and Groups
  1. Under the "Course Management" menu, select "Users and Groups"
  2. Under "Users and Groups", select "Users"
  3. When the "Users" page opens, select the "Show All" button at the very bottom right corner of the page. You will now see every user in the class, including instructors and teaching assistants.

NOTE: If you do not see any students in this list, then the SiRIUS system has not populated your class yet. Contact your college SiRIUS Administrator/Course Builder if this problem occurs.


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4. How do I enable the Roster Tool?

  1. From the Course Management Control Panel, select Customization > Tool Availability
  2. Scroll through the list of tools until you find the Roster Tool.  Ensure all boxes associated with the tool are checked.
  3. Click the Submit button.
  4. The Roster Tool now appears in the Tools area, accessible from the left side menu.

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5. How do I see the course as a student?

To quickly view course as a student, turn "Edit Mode" in the top right hand corner to off. To see full functionality, including "My Grades"
  1. Under the "Course Management" menu, select "Course Tools"
  2. Select "Add Test Student"
  3. Enter a password.

In a separate browser

  1. Navigate to bblearn.usask.ca
  2. Select "Non-NSID Login"
  3. Enter your NSID, followed by _s (e.g. abc123_s), and the test password

OR in your current browser window

  1. Click "Logout" in the top right hand corner of the window
  2. Select "Non-NSID Login"
  3. Enter your NSID, followed by _s (e.g. abc123_s), and the test password

NOTE: To see BOTH the instructor view AND the student view at the same time, you must login to ONE supported browser window (ie Firefox) as the instructor AND ANOTHER supported browser (ie Safari) as the student. Check the online documentation for supported browsers.


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6. How can students upload files?

There are various locations where students can upload files, but the most common is by submitting the file in an assignment.
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7. How do students get/use the Mobile Apps?

Students may access a course on certain mobile devices. As of June, 2011, supported devices are iPod, iPad, Blackberry and Android. Watch the movies to find out more...

Mobile apps overview may be found here...


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8. How do I properly insert YouTube MashUps so they display properly on a Mobile app?

Some mobile devices do not display Flash. In order to ensure that the YouTube Mashup you have chosen will display properly on mobile devices, do the following:

1. Select the YouTube content and within the Mashup Options, choose TEXT LINK WITH PLAYER.

2. Select the SHOW YOUTUBE URL radio button


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9. How can I use the Equation Editor?

The Equation Editor included in the text editor is accessible by clicking the √x button. However, certain browsers are know to have issues with this editor. The recommended browsers (by platform) are:

Windows
Internet Explorer (7 or higher), Mozilla FireFox (3.5 or higher), Apple Safari, Google Chrome.
If the editor is not functional, perform a Java update by visiting www.java.com.

Mac
Apple Safari (5.0 or greater recommended), Mozilla FireFox (3.5 or higher).
If the editor is not functional, ensure that you have the latest Java update from Apple by selecting the Apple in the top, left-hand corner of your screen and  selecting "Software Update...".
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10. How can I gather statistics in my course and generate reports?

One of the easiest ways to track usage in BBLearn is through "Statistics Tracking". Statistics tracking needs to be enabled for each piece of content that you would like to monitor.

This feature is enabled in the following manner:
  1. Click the drop down chevron beside the title of a piece of content
  2. Select Statistics Tracking (On/Off)
  3. Select a radio button "On".
  4. Click the Submit button. You will see "Enabled: Statistics Tracking" under the title of the content item when enabled)
To gather statistics data / run report:
  1. Click on the chevron beside the title of a preferred piece of content and select "View Statistics Report"
  2. Click the chevron beside Content Usage Statistics and choose"Run"
  3. Choose the preferred options and select Submit
  4. Click the chevron beside the selection that meets the parameters of your needed report and select "Run".
  5. On the page titled "Run Reports", choose your preferred options and select Submit. This will run the report operation and deliver it in the format chosen.
More generalized reports may be accessed in the Course Management Control Panel > Evaluation >Course Reports.
  1. Go to Evaluation>Course Reports.
  2. Click the chevron beside the selection that meets the parameters of your needed report and click "Run".  
  3. Choose your preferred options from the Run Reports page that appears and hit Submit.  This will run the report and deliver it in the format chosen.

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11. How do I enable Guest Access?

Three ways to enable Guest Access for a course:
  1. Add a user with the guest role. You can use "guest" in role of "guest" which means that ANYONE can get in without even logging into Blackboard. (go to BBLearn, instead of logging in, select "Preview as a guest"). Or you can add an NSID with role of guest.
  2. Enable guests in your course. Go to Control Panel > Customization > Guest and Observer Access and turn on Allow Guests.
  3. Go to each and every section that you want to allow guests into, use the chevron and select "Permit Guests". Note that you will never be able to allow guests into anything to do with students (gradebook, forums, discussions, wiki, chat, etc.)

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12. How do I turn on more tools?

  1. Under the "Course Management" menu, select "Customization"
  2. Select "Tool Availability"
  3. Select the check box beside the tool that you would like to enable
NOTE ***
Ensure that if there is more than one check box, that all are selected.
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13. How do I use the new content editor?

The content or text editor in the latest version of BBLearn has changed in look and functionality. The HTML editor has been improved.

Help Documentation from BBLearn is available.


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14. How do I use ShareStream to add Videos to a Course?

Follow the instructions in the ShareStream document.
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