Orientation to Blackboard and Online Learning at MSCC

MSCC wants all students to be successful. That is why this orientation to Blackboard and Online Learning was created.  Blackboard is a Learning Management System that offers secure access to course leaning materials via the Internet. The presentations and tutorials below should help new students get comfortable with using this valuable online resource fairly quickly.

Students enrolled in online or hybrid courses should complete this orientation within the first two days of the new semester.  Please review  ALL  material on this page.  When you have finished, answer the orientation questions, and email them to your online or hybrid course instructor(s). You can email directly from your course site(s). 

Please review all the FAQ's and all the Presentation Tutorials below.  When finished, online and hybrid students need to answer the orientation questions and send copies of your answers to all your online instructors.  Students enrolled in face-to-face classes should complete this orientation to learn how to use the Blackboard features but are not required to answer the orientation questions. If you are running Windows Vista please click here. If you are running Microsoft Office 2007 please click here.

Quick Answers to FAQ's

Presentations and Tutorials

Q. I am running Microsoft Office 2007 at home. Do I have to do anything special before I turn in my homework to the digital dropbox?
A. Yes. You will need to save your documents to the previous version. Click here for instructions.

Q. I am running Windows Vista at home and can not reply to the discussion board threads or start new threads. Do I need to do anything special before I can respond?
A. Yes. You will also need to change a setting in Blackboard in order to be able to respond to Discussion Board forums. Since you are using Vista the Visual Text Box Editor must be turned off in order for you to be able to post to the Discussion Board. Use the steps below to disable it.
1. Log on to Blackboard
2. On the My Institution page, select Personal Information.
3. Select Set Visual Text Box Editor Options.
4. Click the Unavailable radio button.
5. Click Submit.

Q. Does it matter what operating system and web browser I use to access Blackboard?   
We highly recommend that all MSCC students run Microsoft Windows 2000 or higher and the most recent version of Internet Explorer or Netscape.  To view the Blackboard end user configuration guide as of 10/25/2005 click here.

A. How do I  access my Blackboard courses?
From the MSCC homepage, use the drop-down menu to find and click on "Blackboard."  Log-on the same way you log on to the network on campus, with the user ID and password that was assigned to you.  You will see a link to any courses you are enrolled in. View a simulation.

Q. What is my user ID and password?
You can click this link to use WebAdvisor to find out your correct user id. Your user ID and password for the MSCC network, e-mail and Blackboard should all be the same.  Your user ID is most likely your first initial+middle initial plus last name.  Example:  If your name is John Matthew Smith, your User ID is probably jmsmith

• If you don't have a middle name, then that initial will be skipped.  John’s ID would therefore probably be this:  jsmith
• If there are duplications, a number will be added to the end of your ID. 
• Your Password is the four letter year of your birth plus the last 4 numbers of your SSN

What is a web-enhanced course?
A face-to-face course, that has a companion web site or course site containing helpful course materials. Many of the face-to-face courses offered at MSCC are "web enhanced" with Blackboard. That simply means that assignment calendars, syllabi, grade books and supporting course material are available to enrolled students via Blackboard.

What is a hybrid course?
A hybrid course meets face-to-face about one-half the usual time.  The remainder of the course is delivered online.

What is an online course?
An online course rarely meets face-to-face, but rather is delivered totally online.

Why can't I open the Syllabi and Assignment Calendars from Blackboard?  Typically, the syllabi and assignment calendars in Black board are PDF files.  You need the free Acrobat Reader to view these files.  There are many PDF documents in the Blackboard course sites.  If you do not already have Acrobat reader, please click here to download it now.

How do I access MSCC student email?
Click here for instructions (If you are a student, then your domain is students. MSCC employees type MSCC for domain.)

How often should I check my MSCC student email?
Online and hybrid course students should check their MSCC email daily.  This is the primary method of instructor/student communication.  Home email addresses cannot be used.

How do I attach a file to MSCC email?
Click here for instructions

Online course attendance policy
Online instructors can check course statistics for their course sites.  They can tell if a student has ever accessed the course site and how many times each student has entered the course site.  If a student does not enter the course site by the 11th day of classes, that student will be considered a "no show" and will be dropped from the course.

What if I cannot view or hear the lecture presentations in my Blackboard course site?
There are two possible reasons:  One - you have pop-up blocker software installed on your computer that is preventing the lecture presentations to open in a new window and play.  Two - You do not have the Java plug-in installed on your computer.  Check for pop-up blocker software first.  If you find that you do have a pop-up blocker installed, uninstall it, then try launching a presentation in Blackboard again.  It will not play, you most likely do not have the Java plug-in running on your computer.  If this is the case, you may be prompted to install it from the presentation.  You can either follow the prompt to install it or go to this link:  http://java.com/en/index.jsp.

When I click on a link in Blackboard, nothing happens.  what would cause this?
Please read the Known Issues information at the bottom  of this page.  You most likely have a pop-up blocker installed.  Either uninstall it or turn it off.

Technical Problems
Please take the time to review the known issues below.  If you are not able to resolve your technical problems after reviewing the documentation, contact ITECH@midsouthcc.edu or scobb@midsouthcc.edu.

Please enable your sound before clicking on the links below.

How do I log on to Blackboard?

What is expected of you in a totally online or hybrid course?

Getting started with a totally online or hybrid course

How to check your grades

Do you need to download plug-ins for your course?

Discussion Board Participation

Make sure you review the Discussion Board Grading Rubric for your class so that you know exactly what is expected of you. The tutorials below will assist you in becoming proficient using the Discussion Board in Blackboard.

The Discussion Board: How to get to it

The Discussion Board: How to read and reply

The Discussion Board: How to add a new thread

The Discussion Board: How to attach a file

The Discussion Board: How to edit a response

Digital Drop-box

How to deposit assignments into the digital drop-box

Email

How to send an email to your instructor via Blackboard

How to send an email to the entire class via Blackboard

How to send an email to selected class participants via Blackboard

You will need to check your MSCC email at least every other day. Following are the steps to check your MSCC email from off campus.

• Open any Web browser
• Go to www.midsouthcc.edu
• Click the Email Access link
• Click on the Check E-Mail link
• Click into the Domain\user name input box
• Type students\your user name
• Click into the Password input box
• Type your password
• Click the Log On button
• Your email will load.

Working with AIM for online Virtual Office Hours

If you are enrolled in a hybrid or totally online class, your instructor will post virtual office hours via AIM and his or her AIM screen name. During those posted virtual office hours or anytime you see your instructor is logged on to AIM you can chat live. Be sure to add your instructors to your AIM buddy list. Instructions for using AIM are below.

• Getting and downloading AIM
• Getting an AIM screen name
• Creating a group and adding your classmates
• AIM is not installed on campus computers in the labs or LSC. You can use AIM Express from the www.aim.com site. See below for the instructions:

AIM Express : This alternative runs in the web browser and does NOT have to be installed. If you ever need to access AIM from a computer that does not have it installed, you may wish to use AIM Express.  Here is the link:

  http://www.aim.com/get_aim/express/aim_expr.adp?aolp
or you can just go to http://www.aim.com and click the icon for AIM Express.

Problems installing AIM? If you get a Publisher Unknown warning when installing AIM:  The Publisher Unknown is a warning that started with XP service pack 2. There should be 2 options available RUN and CANCEL.  If you choose RUN the application should install ok. If there is no RUN option the security settings are too high in Internet Explorer and can be change to allow the AOL web site as a trusted site.

Required Orientation Questions

Online and hybrid course students: Please answer the orientation questions and email them to your instructors.

Optional Helpful Self-Tests

Are you ready for online or hybrid learning?  Take this self evaluation survey.
Student Readiness Survey

What are your learning styles?
Visit:  http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html and take a 44 question online survey.  A report will tell you all about YOUR learning styles and what you can do to help yourself learn better.

Known Issues

  If you are unable to view and hear the presentations on this page, you may need to install the Java plug-in. Get if free from this link: http://java.com/en/index.jsp. Also, please be advised that pop-up blocker software often interferes with Blackboard content and the presentations.  We recommend that you do not install pop-up blocker software and that you uninstall it if you already have it running on your computer. Additionally, if you are running Windows as your operating system, we strongly advise that you stay current with all Windows updates.  There is an issue with Windows service pack 2, in that it automatically blocks pop-ups.  This is a problem because most content in Blackboard is set to open in a new window, which is essentially a pop-up.  If you have installed windows update service pack 2, you will need to add *.midsouthcc.edu to your trusted sites list.  To do this, click on Tools / Internet options / Security / Sites.  Type *.midsouthcc.edu then click Add.

This link will assist you in finding and installing the latest updates for your version of Windows: http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

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