Andrea Lea Session

 

How DID I do that?

Navigate Blackboard

 

What is Blackboard?

 

Blackboard, or the Penn courseweb, is a secure website where a Penn student can log in and find out everything that is going on with the courses in which he or she is enrolled.  On this sight, for each course in which a student is currently enrolled, a student will find the syllabus, assignments, announcements posted by the professor, and a communication forum between the students in a respective class.  It is a way for a student to access information regarding his or her courses from any computer with an internet connection

 

Where can Blackboard be found?

 

The url for Penn’s Blackboard is https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu

 

How is the site entered?

 

  1. The above listed url will bring a student to a preliminary log-in page.  On that page, the student is to select the “Penn Login” button
  2. Selecting that button will bring the student to the log-in page.  On that page the student will type in his or her PennKey and PennKey password in their respective fields and then select the “log-in” button.  For example, I would type “asession” in the PennKey field and my PennKey password in the password field and not my Mail.SAS password. IMPORTANT - If a student’s PennKey password and Mail.SAS password are different, the student should be sure to enter the correct password
  3. This will bring the student to his or her home page on Blackboard where there will be a welcome to student and a number of boxes where he or she can view the courses in which he or she is enrolled, the announcements, calendar events,  and tasks for each course, and the tools that can be used on the Blackboard

 

How do I go about viewing the available information and using the provided tools?

 

  1. Upon entering Penn’s Blackboard, the student is on his or her Penn Courseweb page.  There the available information is laid out.  Any announcements, tasks, or calendar events are in plain view.  The student can choose where he or she would like to go from this page
  2. The student also has the ability to customize the colors and layout of the page by selecting the “Modify Content” or “Modify Layout” buttons toward the top of the Penn Courseweb page
  3. Selecting a course in which he or she is enrolled on the Penn Courseweb page of Penn’s Blackboard will bring the student to the Courses page. On that page the student may either once again select a course in which he or she is enrolled or browse Penn’s course catalog
  4. Upon selecting a course on the Courses page, the student is open to choose from a plethora of options for that selected course.  These options are listed as a group of burgundy buttons on the left side of the page

·         Announcements:  Any announcements posted at anytime during the semester can be viewed

·         Course Information: Important information, like the course syllabus, can be viewed

·         Staff Information: The contact information of any professor, teacher’s assistant, or other staff member can be viewed.  This information may be limited to an email address or may also include a phone number, an office location, and office hours

·         Course Documents:  Pertinent information, like course schedule and directions for the use of software, can be viewed

·         Assignments:  Any posted assignment can be viewed

·         Communication:  Selecting this button will bring the student to a page that provides many different facets for receiving communication from both students and staff and communicating with both students and staff.  These options include but are not limited to the following:

o       Announcements:  Selecting this option will bring the student to the previously mention Announcements page

o       Discussion Board:  Selecting this will bring the student to different forums where he or she can read and reply to existing messages or post new messages.  The messages are readable to all who are enrolled in the course and can be posted anonymously

·         External Links:  Links to other websites in which the student may be interested can be viewed.  Included may be links to Penn’s library, available library and IT resources, and necessary software.  In many of these links taking the student outside the website for the course, another window opens.  This way, the student will not forget to log out of Penn’s Blackboard

·         Tools:  All the tools of the Blackboard available to the student can be viewed.  These tools include a Calendar, a Course Journal, the Digital Dropbox, a Glossary, the Homepage, the student’s Grades, the student’s Personal Information, a means for conducting a Search, Tasks, Teams Site, The Electronic Blackboard, the TurningPoint Registration Tool, and a User Manual

·         Digital Dropbox:  This is where the student can upload and submit to the professor electronic documents for the course

  1. When the option is available, the student can return to the previously viewed page by selecting the “OK” button in the bottom right corner of the current page.  The student can choose how far back he or she would like regress on Penn’s Blackboard by picking the desired page from a list of succession displayed on every page
  2. At anytime, the student can return to the preliminary log-in page by selecting “Home”, solicit assistance by selecting “Help”, or end his or her current session in Blackboard  by selecting “Logout”

 

How do I post a message on the Chemistry 502 Discussion Board?

 

  1. Upon entering Penn’s Blackboard, the student is on his or her Penn Courseweb page.  From there, the student is to select Chemistry 502 in the box labeled “My Courses”
  2. Selecting Chemistry 502 will bring the student to the Course page for Chemistry 502.  There the student can view the list of options open to him or her, one of which is Discussion Board.  There the student is to select Discussion Board
  3. Selecting Discussion Board will bring the student to the three different forums available for Chemistry 502: the General Discussion Forum, the Laboratory Discussion Board, and the Electronic Resources Forum.  The student can select any one of the three forums
  4. If there are messages in the selected forum, the student can read any posted message and its respective replies by selecting the title of the message or reply.  The student can also post a new message by selecting the “Add New Message”
  5. Upon entering a message page, regardless of whether the student is replying to a message or posting a new message, the student can type a message and attach a document by selecting the “Browse” button.  When the student is finished typing a message and/or attaching a document, he or she can post the message by selecting the “Submit” button in the bottom right corner of the page