Blackboard Version

Loyola is currently running Blackboard 9.1 Service Pack 6.

Browsers 

Important notice for taking tests in Blackboard:   Students are now directed to use the free Mozilla Firefox browser which is currently the only non-problematic web browser to use when taking online tests in Blackboard. Download Firefox for PC | Download Firefox for Mac

For a complete list of browsers supported by Blackboard 9, and answers to some common browser questions, visit this link: Blackboard 9 Browser Guide.

To determine the version of Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox you are using, click About Internet Explorer or About Mozilla Firefox in the Help menu of your browser.

Clearing the Browser Cache

Your browser's cache stores temporary internet files that have been picked up from your web browsing activities. By storing this information, caches allow your browser to display web pages that you have previously visited; however, it is important to clear your cache from time to time in order to free up space on your hard drive so that your computer can run more efficiently. For instructions on how to clear your browser's cache, visit this link: Clearing your Cache .

Blackboard Scheduled Maintenance

Blackboard Managed Hosting Services has designated scheduled maintenance windows on Fridays between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., and Sundays between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. Central Standard Time; there will be times when Blackboard will be unavailable during those windows. Please keep this in mind as you schedule course activities using Blackboard, e.g., due dates for assignments, online tests, etc.

The Blackboard @ Loyola Support Team will make every effort to notify the community of any upcoming unavailability through Blackboard Service Alerts.

Based on information in LOCUS, instructor assignments and student enrollmentsare updated daily.

If you run into any problems that you feel are associated with these processes, please contact us at blackboard@luc.edu or call the University Help Desk at (773) 508-4ITS.

Faculty

• Your course is not visible to students by default. Please be sure to make your course available when you are ready for your students to see and access the course in their Blackboard accounts.

• Please be sure to back up your Grade Center each time you enter new grades.
• You are responsible for keeping a copy of your own course materials. Using Export Course and saving a copy of the .ZIP file to a thumb drive or other portable storage device is a good way to create a personal backup of course content that can later be imported for use in a new course shell.
• Pop-up blockers can interfere with external links you post in your course. If you choose to have external links open in new windows, then warn your students to turn off the pop-up blocker software they may have installed on their home computers.
• Tell your students to use only alphanumeric characters (A-Z,a-z,1-9), "-" dash and "_" underscore for names of files they submit on Blackboard.  They should stay away from spaces, #, %,$, and any other characters that are not alphanumeric, File names should be 60 characters or less.

Students

• Many e-mail programs such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail and AOL may identify e-mail sent from Blackboard as spam. If you have re-routed your Loyola mail to one of these providers, be sure to check your bulk mail folder frequently. Open the message from your instructor that has been sent to the bulk mail folder and click on the “This is not Spam” or “This is not Bulk Mail” button that appears on the top of the message field. Future messages from your instructor will be sent to your Inbox.
• Many Blackboard courses require plug-ins and viewers to access course materials.  Make sure you have the right plug-ins and viewers installed on your computer.
• Blackboard sometimes uses pop-up windows, so it is best to turn off pop-up blockers while using Blackboard.  It is not uncommon to have more than one pop-up blocker enabled on your computer. Popup blockers can be found in these three categories:
  • browser toolbar add-ons (AIM toolbar, Google toolbar, Yahoo toolbar, etc.)
  • packaged with internet security applications (Norton, McAfee, etc.) 
  • within Internet browsers themselves (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, etc)