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Adobe PDF Technical list of list of recommended hardware and software to run Blackboard (PDF, 99kb)

Frequently asked questions about Blackboard for students at ACU National

I'm trying to login to Blackboard, but it's not working - what can I do?

To login to Blackboard you need to have your browser properly configured. You need to have:

  • A supported web browser
  • Popup windows enabled
  • Cookies enabled
  • Javascript and Java enabled

The best way to make sure you have all of these, is to click the 'Browser Check' link on the Blackboard login page (you may need to scroll down to see it).

If when you try and login you get a message saying "You have entered an incorrect user name or password", then please read the login help page.

What is my Blackboard password?

Your Blackboard password is your NETWORK password. This is your Student number. Use this number for yhour user name. Your initial password is your date of birth (8 digits) in the form DDMMYYYY - for example if your birthday is 2 Jan 1985, your password would be 02011985. Remember to change your password as a matter of security

When will my units be available in Blackboard?

Providing that your lecturers are using Blackboard (not all units are in Blackboard), your units will most likely be available 1 week prior to the start of semester. Lecturers can choose when they release units, so it is best to check with them.

I'm enrolled in a unit but so why is it not listed when I bring up My Blackboard?

A unit you are enrolled in may not be listed for a number of reasons:

  • Your lecturer has not yet made their unit available to students
  • There is an enrolment problem or you have changed your enrolment recently

In most cases, if your unit does not appear, it is best to check with your lecturer. If your lecturer indicates that their unit is in Blackboard, then you should contact the Student Centre and have them check your enrolment.

I would like to know how to use the tools in Blackboard like Discussions and Assessments. Where can I find help on these?

When you login to Blackboard there is a unit called 'Student ELearning Tutorial'. This unit contains a number of interactive tutorials on using Discussions, Chat, Mail, Assignments and Assessments.

I've withdrawn from a unit but it's still showing on My Blackboard. What can I do?

You should be automatically removed from Blackboard units once you are unenroled. Sometimes lecturers request extended access to units for students. Please contact the ACUonline Blackboard Helpdesk at blackboard.support@acu.edu.au if your units continue to show in Blackboard even when you are no longer enrolled.

Which browsers do you recommend I use for Blackboard?

For Microsoft Windows:

  • Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 and SP2 (XP SP2)
  • Firefox 1.0.7

Note that Firefox 1.5, and Netscape 8 are not supported.

For Mac:Safari 2.0 is recommended but Firefox 1.0 is also supported. Mac OS 9 is not supported.

A full list of validated browsers is available here. (ACU is using Blackboard CE 6.2)

How do I enable Pop-up windows?

The most current versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox contain built in pop-up blockers. You need to configure your browser to allow pop-ups from blackboard.acu.edu.au since many features in Blackboard use pop-ups.To make sure you have pop-ups allowed for Blackboard, follow the steps below for your particular browser. Please note that there are other pop-up blockers from third party vendors and Internet Service Providers.

Internet Explorer: In Internet Explorer (IE) when you log into Blackboard, you may see the Information Bar which is a pale yellow bar just above the web page content and below the toolbars. This bar may warn you that a pop-up has been blocked. Click on this bar and choose Always Allow Pop-ups from This Site to configure IE to allow pop-ups. To check your pop-up settings manually:

  • Open Internet Explorer and click Tools > Internet Options.
  • Click the Privacy tab at the top of the window and then the Settings button at the bottom of the Pop-up Blocker section.
  • Make sure blackboard.acu.edu.au is in the allowed sites list. If it is not:
    • Enter blackboard.acu.edu.au in the Address of Web site to allow box.
    • Click the Add button.
    • Click Close and then OK to go back to the Internet Explorer main window.

Firefox: In Firefox when you log into Blackboard, you may see an information bar which is a pale yellow bar just above the web page content and below the toolbars. This bar may warn you that a pop-up has been blocked. Click on this bar and choose Allow popups for blackboard.acu.edu.au to configure Firefox to allow pop-ups.Make sure blackboard.acu.edu.au is in the allowed sites list. If it is not, check your pop-up settings manually:

  • Open Firefox and click Tools > Options.
  • Click the Web Features icon to the left.
  • Next to Block Popup Windows, click the Allowed Sites button.
  • Make sure blackboard.acu.edu.au is in the allowed sites list. If it is not:
    • Enter blackboard.acu.edu.au in the Address of web site box.
    • Click the Allow button.
    • Click OK and then OK to go back to the Firefox main window.

I don't know much about computers or the internet. Where can I get some beginner friendly information on these topics?

A good resource is available here.

I am having trouble opening documents in Blackboard what should I do?

In Internet Explorer when you try to download files in Blackboard, you may see the Information Bar which is a pale yellow bar just above the web page content and below the toolbars. This bar may warn you that a file has been blocked from downloading.

To allow IE to download documents from Blackboard, add Blackboard as a trusted site:

  • Open Internet Explorer and click Tools > Internet Options.
  • Click the Security tab at the top of the window, select the Trusted Sites image then click the Sites button.
  • Make sure http://blackboard.acu.edu.au is in the Web Sites list. If it is not:
    • Enter http://blackboard.acu.edu.au in the 'Add this Web site to the zone' box. (ensure 'Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone' is not checked)
    • Click the Add button.
    • Click OK and you are taken back to the Internet Options Screen.
  • Select the Trusted Sites image then click Custom Level
  • Scroll down to the Downloads section, for the setting 'Automatic prompting for file downloads' select Enable
  • Click OK, and click YES to the warning
  • Click OK to go back to the Internet Explorer main window.

When typing a long discussion board posting why does my session time out?

When typing a very long discussion board posting, sometimes students are timed out of Blackboard when they click the submit button to post. The session timeout length is 90 minutes. This limit was chosen to provide the best balance between usability and security. We recommend students use the "Save Draft" option or do long discussion postings and replies in NotePad, WordPad or Word first, saving as they go along and then copy-paste their work to a discussion message. The same advice applies to assessments.

Why can't I open mail messages. When I click on a mail message or 'Create Message' nothing happens.

If you have Norton Internet security installed make sure the pop-up blocking feature is turned off. To do this:

  1. Double click Norton Internet Security icon at the bottom rights of screen in the system tray.
  2. Double click 'Norton AntiSpam'
  3. Click 'Pop-up Blocking' and click 'Turn Off'
  4. In web browser, click again on the 'Mail' tool then try clicking on a message or 'Create Message'

My Computer icon is missing.

If you are receiving an 'application digital error' or 'trust the signed applet' message when logging in click 'Always accept'.

Other possible causes are:

  1. Wrong version of Java (see below for recommended version).
  2. Multiple versions of Java installed. Remove all versions but one.
  3. Internet security software and software based firewalls have very high settings. Relax all settings to medium.

What version of Java do you recommend?

Java is required for some Blackboard tools such as Chat and the File Manager. It is important to check the following items and ensure the correct version of Java is installed

Having more than one version of Java on your computer will cause problems in Blackboard. You should remove any versions of Java other than Java 1.5_7. To do this Click on the Start button, then press Control Panel. Double-click Add or Remove Programs and delete any previous versions of Java.

NOTE: Java version 6 (1.6) has been released but it has not been validated for use with Blackboard. It is important that you do not download this version, and that you have turned off automatic Java updates as follows:

  • from the Start menu, click Control Panel
  • double-click Java (or Java Plug-in)
  • click the Update tab
  • make sure the checkbox next to Check for Updates Automatically is unchecked
  • click Apply
  • click the "X" to close the Java Plug-in Control Panel window

Blackboard requires J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 7 (sometimes referred to as Java 1.5_7). If you do not have the recommended version, download a free copy of J2SE.

Note: The Mac OS X operating system comes with the correct version of Java installed. For MAC OS 9 and earlier, download and install the MRJ 2.2.5

Once you have installed the recommended version of Java and removed other versions, you must make sure that Java and JavaScript are enabled.