My.UNL Downtime

MyUNL/Blackboard will be unavailable from 6:00 a.m. on December 27th, until Noon on January 3rd, 2010.

Your My.UNL team will use this time to upgrade our My.UNL system from Blackboard version 8.3 to Blackboard Learn, Version 9.

More information pertaining to students, faculty, and staff can be found at http://itg.unl.edu/MyUNLDowntime/

Once you log on to My.UNL.EDU, you can find more information about Blackboard 9 Training by clicking on the Blackboard 9 Training tab at the top of your My.UNL welcome page.

Diruption of Blackboard Service

My.UNL was unavailable from 8:20pm - 9:50pm CST on the evening of 11 November. UNL's Blackboard service was unable to respond to legitimate connections because it was flooded by traffic from an off-campus address. We apologize for any inconvenience to you and we are actively investigating the source of the DoS attack.

Spring 2010 Blackboard Courses Available

Your Spring 2010 courses are now available on http://my.unl.edu. If you are teaching a class that you do not see on Blackboard, please contact your department and have them make sure you are listed as the instructor of record for that course. Once Registration and Records has you listed as the instructor of record, the course will load into your Blackboard account.

None of your students have been enrolled in your Spring courses, we will be loading student data in a few weeks.

Blackboard Upgrade Coming Soon!

During the winter holiday break, http://my.unl.edu will be upgraded to Blackboard Learn, version 9. This change will bring a more customized learning environment for UNL students, and added functionality for instructors. Information Services offers face-to-face, and online training opportunities. Check them out! Once you log-in to My.UNL, click on the "Blackboard 9 Training" tab at the top of the page.

Blackboard Downtime

The My.UNL system will be unavailable Saturday October 17th for 2 hours, from 1:00 AM - 3:00 AM CDT, while we apply a license key to the system. We apologize for any inconvenience.

If you have technical questions about this process, please contact the Help Desk at 472-3970 (or if you're outside of Lincoln, toll free at 866-472-3970) or via email at helpdesk@unl.edu.

East Campus Blackboard 9 Preview

During the winter holiday break, http://my.unl.edu will be upgraded to Blackboard Learn, version 9. This change will bring a more customized learning environment for UNL students, and added functionality for instructors. Come see a preview of the system and gather information about training. Information Services offers face-to-face, and online training opportunities, join us to learn more.

Sept. 18 at Noon in the East Campus Union (Room will be posted)-- feel free to bring your lunch!
Oct. 1 at 9:00 in the East Campus Union (Room will be posted)-- feel free to bring your breakfast!

Thanks to John Markwell for setting up these sessions!

Please let me know if you have any questions, and have a great day!

Heath Tuttle
Online Learning Project Lead
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Rm 118D, 501 Building
501 Stadium Drive
PO Box 880203
Lincoln, NE 68588-0203

402-472-4267
heath@unl.edu

Blackboard 9 Training Coming Soon!

During the 2009 Holiday break, My.UNL.edu will upgrade to Blackboard Learn™ Version 9. This change will create a more personalized learning environment for UNL students and added functionality for faculty. Classroom training will begin September 21st. Check out http://itg.unl.edu/myunlupdate to get more information on training!

Blackboard Training

Be sure to check out our Blackboard Training at: http://www.itg.unl.edu/workshops/

Summer is a great time to learn new skills for your fall courses!

My.UNL/Blackboard Downtime

My.UNL/Blackboard will be unavailable from Noon on Saturday, May 16th until noon on Sunday, May 17th. Your My.UNL team will be using this time to perform server maintenance.

2009 Summer Courses Now Available For Instructors

Your 2009 Summer courses are now available on Blackboard. If you are teaching a summer class that does not show up on your Blackboard account, please contact your department and make sure they have listed you as the instructor of record with Records and Registration.

The Records and Registration data feed controls all instructor assignments in Blackboard; Blackboard does not control instructor assignments. Your department must communicate instructor assignment information to Records and Registration.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and have a great day.

Protect yourself from computer viruses, spyware, scams & spam

Computer viruses, spyware, and spam not only disrupt your work day with computer and network problems, but can result in identity theft. Check out the "Safe Computing Guidelines" from UNL Information Services at http://is.unl.edu/protectyourself/.

ALERT- UNL Email Phishing Scam!

An email notice that targets UNL users and asks them to update their UNL email accounts IS A SCAM. Go to UNL's Information Services web site for more information on this, and other phishing scams.

Can't Upload Files Into Blackboard?

If you are using the Firefox 3 browser, you may experience an error while trying to upload files to Blackboard. You can use a different browser, or try this work-around.

Avoid Special Characters and Unnecessary HTML Code

Avoid Special Characters and Unnecessary HTML Code
We have found that some special characters will cause problems in your Blackboard course if used in the title of items, discussion boards, forums, threads, posts, announcements, tests, etc. Do not use the following characters in the title/name of any item in your Blackboard course: , " ' % & # <> + * ^ @ =.

If you are copying and pasting text from a web page, or word processing document, into a text box editor in Blackboard, you may inadvertently copy unnecessary HTML code into your text box. This code may cause an error which will cause the information to display incorrectly. After you paste information into a text box, click the HTML <> button and delete all HTML code. Click on the <> button again and use the text box editor tools to format your message.

No Scrollbar in the Blackboard Grade Center?

If you are using Firefox on a PC, you may notice that there are no scroll bars when you view the new Blackboard Grade Center. This problem is related to the scroll bar settings in Windows XP and Windows Vista. Below are instructions on how to change the scroll bar settings:

Windows XP:
-Go Control Panel
-Click on Display Properties
-Click on the Appearance tab
-Select the Advanced button
-Select the Scroll Bar from the Item drop down list
-Change the setting to 19
-Submit

Windows Vista:
-Go to the Control Panel
-Click on Personalize
-Select the Window Color and Appearance option.
-Click the Open Classic Appearance link
-Click on the Advanced button
-Select the Scroll Bar from the Item drop down list
-Change the setting to 19
-Submit

Blackboard Version 8 Upgrade

Your My.UNL team upgraded the Blackboard software over the Holiday Closedown. Faculty may notice these changes:

The Gradebook is different. The new Grade Center allows faculty to enter scores more efficiently, freeze names for easier scrolling, and drop lowest/highest scores. Please go to http://training.unl.edu and look in the What's New area for more information and training opportunities.

The Digital Drop Box is gone. The Blackboard Assignment Manager tool is an improvement on the Drop Box. Faculty post assignments, and students upload their completed assignment directly back into Blackboard. Faculty can download student work, provide feedback, and enter their grade in the Grade Center.

To learn more about the Assignment Manager, go to http://itg.unl.edu/myunl/index.shtml, click on the Faculty/TA tab, and look for the Using Assignments tutorial under Blackboard Assessments.

If you have any questions,please contact the Help Desk at 472-3970 (outside of Lincoln, toll free at 866-472-3970), or via email at helpdesk@unl.edu