Students should not attempt to submit assignments or take tests or quizzes on a mobile device; instead, they should use a non-mobile Web browser for those purposes.

Before starting a quiz/test or test on Blackboard:

1. Do not take the quiz/test until you are ready.

2. Close down any other programs you may have running.

3. Do not wait until the last second to take the quiz/test. If something goes wrong there won’t be enough time to resolve the issues and allow you to take the quiz/test. If you have a problem accessing the test please contact your instructor.

4. Check the browsers supported by Blackboard to make sure you are using a browser that is compatible with Blackboard 9.1. Important notice for taking tests in Blackboard:  Students are now directed to use the Firefox browser which is currently the only non-problematic web browser to use when taking online tests in Blackboard.

5. If you are working on a dial-up connection make sure your ISP time-out settings are set to the maximum allowed time.

6. Do not resize or refresh your screen after loading the quiz/test. Make sure the screen is the size you want before going into the quiz/test. Most browsers refresh the page when you resize the screen so the browser will try to reload the quiz/test if you resize/refresh.

While loading and taking the test or quiz/test:

1. When entering the quiz/test, only click the link once. Sometimes it will take a while to load the quiz/test (wait at least a full minute). If, after clicking once and waiting the full minute, nothing happens contact your instructor or test proctor immediately. Do not contact blackboard@luc.edu or the IT Helpdesk as support staff cannot intervene in a test-taking process.

2. Do not keep clicking on the quiz/test/test link. If you click twice on the quiz/test link you will receive a message saying you already took the quiz/test and you will be prevented from accessing the quiz/test again. If something goes wrong contact your instructor or test proctor immediately. Your instructor or test proctor should be available by e-mail or telephone during the duration of the quiz/test if the quiz/test is “high stakes”, e.g., any quiz/test that counts toward your grade and is a one-time only exercise.

3. Do not use the back and forward buttons on the Internet browser to move to and from the quiz/test or between pages of the quiz/test. Instead use the Previous or Next buttons located at the bottom of each page of the quiz/test to navigate through the quiz/test.

4. Blackboard is case sensitive which means that for questions in which you enter text answers, e.g., short answer, fill-in-the-blank, your answer must match one of the answer variations provided to Blackboard by your instructor as s/he create the questions. For instance, if you entered the answer “Physics”, or “fhysics” for a fill-in-the-blank question in which your instructor had only allowed a single correct response of “physics”, Blackboard would score your answer as incorrect. Your instructor should be aware of this feature and allow for capitalization and other correct variations of the answer or misspellings within reason. Consult your instructor when you suspect Blackboard failed to credit a correct answer.

5. Click on the Save button at regular intervals as you are taking a quiz/test. In that way at least some of the questions you have answered will be saved if for some reason you lose your connection to the test.

6. If your instructor has allowed back-tracking (the ability to go back and change an answer for a question) in a question-by-question quiz/test presentation click on the Save button when you have finished answering a question. In that way Blackboard saves answers to all completed questions as you finish them. You can always go back and change an answer even if you have saved it.

7. Do not click on the Submit button until you are either finished with the quiz/test or you have run out of time.

8. Click on the Submit button when you have finished the quiz/test. Clicking on the Submit button guarantees that everything you have answered up to that point will be recorded by Blackboard.

This document is based on information from Northern Illinois University’s, Quick Guide for Students (http://www.its.niu.edu/its/blackboard/student_guide.pdf).