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Getting Started With Blackboard

Your Blackboard Account

All Fort Berthold Community College  students and staff have an account on the FBCC Blackboard (Bb) system. Blackboard is a "Course Information Management" system that offers a single point of service for online instructional services that includes online discussion, chat, calendars, and course materials. The same system can be used for administrative purposes as well. Users with accounts on the FBCC Blackboard system can access it from any computer on the Internet: on campus, at home, or at your place of work. To access Blackboard, tell your browser to go to http://bb1.fbcc.bia.edu

When you reach the Blackboard home page you should click on the "Login" button to access the system. Your account name on the Blackboard system is the same as your FBCC email user ID. Initial passwords are normally the your student ID number.

Accessing Blackboard for the First Time

After logging into the system for the first time you will see the FBCC "portal." This interface screen allows you access to your two primary information areas: your personal information, and your online courses or work groups. The first time that you log into the Blackboard system there are a few changes that you will want to make to personalize your information. Please take a moment to do this when you first log in; it will also familiarize you with some of the system features.

Personal Information Tools

To access your personal settings, click "Personal Information" in the "Tools" box in the upper left corner of your screen. The first thing you'll want to do is change the default password you were given to something that is easy to remember. Do not continue to use the default password that you used to log in the first time: it is easily guessed by others and does not assure the security of your personal information. Click on the "Change Password" link and set a new password for your account. After you type in the password click the Submit button to put the change into effect.

Important note about passwords: Your Blackboard password is maintained separately from your passwords on other FBCC systems (such as the FBCC network and email), even though your user ID may be the same. If you change your password on those other systems, it will not automatically change your Blackboard password, and vice versa.

You can also change your privacy settings from the Personal Information screen. Your user profile in Blackboard will normally include only your first name, last name, and FBCC email address, with the other fields in your user profile left blank. This information will normally appear on course rosters, but you can choose to make this information publicly available if you wish. You can also set your profile to "unlisted" so that it will not appear in the general Blackboard users' directory. To change your privacy settings, click "Set Privacy Options." Click "Submit" when you have made your choices.

Important note about email addresses: Your email address in Blackboard is set to the e-mail address that you present during registration.  All communications from instructors and fellow students within Blackboard will be delivered to this address. If you prefer to use a different email address.

Other Tools

In addition to tools for modifying your personal information, there are other resources available on the main screen. Note that these tools are different from other information tools you may have access to from your computer (such as calendars and address books in Netscape, Outlook, Mozilla, or Eudora).

• Announcements: this tool displays all of the announcements that have been made in your Blackboard classes or work groups.
  
• Calendar: this tool shows your personal calendar, containing both personal items as well as calendar items from all the courses and groups that you are enrolled in.
  
• Tasks: this is your personal to do list, containing both personal items as well as all of the to do items from the courses and groups that you are enrolled in.
  
• My Grades: this tool allows you to access grade information in courses that are using the online assessment features of Blackboard. This feature does not provide access to the instructor’s actual grade book, but lets you review scores from quizzes and assignments completed online.
  
• Send E-Mail: this tool allows you to send e-mail to instructors, classes, or working groups for the courses or groups in which you are enrolled.
  
• User Directory: this allows you to look up students, faculty, and staff who are listed in the Blackboard online directory.
  
• Address Book: this tools allows you to store a list of your most frequent contacts to make it easier to get in touch with them through the Blackboard system.

The Blackboard Welcome Screen

Most of the space on the Blackboard screen is dedicated to presenting you with personal information about your courses and work groups as well as personal items that you have entered. The screen shows you announcements that have been made today in the classes or groups in which you are enrolled. Clicking the "more" link in the announcements box will allow you to review announcements made on previous days. The calendar box shows items scheduled for the current day. Clicking "more" allows you to access your full calendar. The task box shows both personal and course-related to do items that are marked as being due on the current day. Clicking the "more" link allows you to access all of your to do items.

Finally, the courses box shows the courses and groups in which you are enrolled or teaching. Note that this list does not reflect your full schedule, but only shows you those courses that are using the Blackboard system. To access a course or group, just click on the name and you will be taken to the main page. Note that if you enrolled close to the beginning of the term and do not see a Blackboard course listed, it may be that you have not yet been added to the course. Contact your instructor, who has the ability to add students to the course. Note also that faculty have a great deal of control over how each course configuration looks and works. Each course is different and is based on decisions about course design made by your instructor, who can provide you with more information on on how he or she intends to apply Blackboard in your class and in what ways you will expected to participate.

 

Need More Help?

Most of the features in the Blackboard system are self explanatory or explained on the screen. If you need additional assistance, click on the "help" button located in the frame across the top of the screen. With some classes or groups, the manual is available on line as an Acrobat PDF document: go to one of your course or group main pages, click the Tools button, and select Manual. Students working in the FBCC computer labs can get basic help in accessing Blackboard from the lab assistants. Finally, since faculty using Blackboard in their courses have undergone training, you should feel free to ask your instructor for assistance with any of the features that they are using in the teaching of their course.  If you need further assistance feel free to contact the Distance Education Coordinator.

The Fort Berthold Community College (FBCC) is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. FBCC is also a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, and a 1994 Land-Grant Institution.