Blackboard Learning System CE 6.0

Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth uses the Blackboard Learning System CE version 6.2, formerly known as WebCT, to deliver it’s web-based courses.

Students and teachers need a computer with internet access.  The computer must then be properly configured to work in Blackboard.  Visit www2.blackboard.com/tuneup or follow the steps below to ensure local issues are resolved before using Blackboard for the first time.

1. At the login page, http://webct.merlin.mb.ca/, check your browser settings before logging in.
1. Your browser has to be validated
2. Cookies have to be enabled
3. Javascript has to be enabled
4. Pop-up blocker has to be turned off
5. JavaTM Runtime Environment has to be installed

If the tool “Check Browser” reports errors, instructions are described in the same page to change the configurations above.

For more information and help, see http://www.webct.com/tuneup

Students on school computers and networks may have to get help from their local computer technician in order to change the settings.

Other than the browser settings, the following may also affect the operation of Blackboard:

2. Firewall settings and filters
3. Antivirus and other security software settings
4. Router configurations and settings
5. Network and proxy server settings
6. Local network traffic
7. General internet traffic and bandwidth available
8. Age of computer/hardware

 

Blackboard Shutdowns

Any scheduled shutdown for fixes/updates will be globally broadcast by Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth via the Announcements tool in Blackboard.

Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth will correct problems in their master courses as issues are discovered and identified. Teachers can then make a request for a new course section using the WBC Request System or make the corrections themselves.

Please report issues about Blackboard to the Distance Learning Unit.

 

Blackboard Learning System CE Version 6.0 Known Issues

Issue	Description/Cause	Solution
Slow performance	General slow-down of WebCT, especially in the afternoons	Blackboard and MECY have resolved the issues
Parsing error	Certain pages in certain courses might not display and the error message is "General Parsing Error" The cause is usually a space in the path to a file for a document or image	Users comfortable with HTML can "Edit Properties" of the problematic file and remove the space
Chat tool does not work or is flaky	Chat tool does not work or stops working after some use Appears related to version of Java installed	Blackboard recommends Java Runtime Environment (JRE) v. 1.5.0_04 rather than 2.0 Remember to uninstall other versions of JRE
Cannot overwrite test items	When attempting to edit test questions - the error message says the test title must be changed Problem applied to courses with premade assessment imported from WebCT 4.1 to Blackboard 6.0	Delete existing assessment(s) and create assessments using questions from the question database
Broken links in assignment attachments	In the Assignment tool, links on attached pages may not work and produce an error	Blackboard and MECY are working to resolve the issue
Broken internal links	Certain links to documents might produce an error message because their migration utility did not manage the link properly	Locate the file in the File Manager Tool, download it, and provide it to students via an attachment to discussion message, using the Discussions Tool

 

Course Specific Issues

Course	Description	Solution
Grade 11 Applied Math 30S	Javascript image link used to explain spreadsheet functions might not open properly Course content is centered on all pages	Image references embedded in javascript have been corrected in the master section; please request replacement section Remove the <DIV align="centre"> tag near beginning in HTML of every content page; or request replacement section
Grade 11 Chemistry 30S	Images don't display in tests The installer for Graphical Analysis does not download properly	Edit questions to correct path to images in test Get replacement section with this issue corrected Graphical Analysis was sent to all high schools requesting it. If your school has a copy, then it may be given to students in WBC. If your school does not have a copy, contact Howard Griffith to arrange to get one
Grade 11 Consumer Math 30S	Many images do not display (in sections set up prior to September 21, 2006)	Has been corrected in the master course - request replacement
Grade 12 Accounting 40S	Links in references might not display	With the Build tab selected, Edit the Action Menu and then maintain Resource - open each resource by Edit in the ActionLink, and then save the resource again Resources have been fixed in the Master section
Grade 12 Applied Math 40S	Javascript image link used to explain spreadsheet functions might not open properly	For affected pages, edit properties of page. The text “_COURSEID_” needs to be replaced with “webct/RelativeResourceManager/Template”. Please note that the forward slashes immediately preceding and following the text need to be left in place. The “only show what is to be replaced – don’t include the quotation marks in the replacement.
Grade 12 Consumer Math 40S	Many images do not display (in sections set up prior to September 21, 2006)	Has been corrected in the master course - request replacement
Grade 12 ELA Literary 40S	Sequence 2, text "The Dragon and the Drygoods Princess" is not available at the link given	Text available from Howard Griffith on request Text has been added to Master section
Grade 12 Physics 40S	Assignments show HTML and are not formatted correctly	In Build Tab, Edit Properties of each assignment and check "Use HTML" in the box below the instructions field; or request replacement
Grade 12 World Issues 40S	Some test questions are of "short answer" type when they should be "paragraph" type. The space to enter the answer is too small	Have students answer the questions off line, then manually adjust the mark Remake the questions as "paragraph type" (copy and paste text) and set the number of lines for the answer Questions will be fixed in the master section