Tag Archives: Teams

Blackboard best practice 2 – Troubleshooting common issues

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This is a short guide focusing on four common Blackboard issues that we often get asked about in the TILE Hub. Each has a fairly simple solution, so you can save time by knowing the fix for each issue…

1.      My module keeps disappearing

This is something we come across a lot in the TILE Hub, and the solution isn’t always immediately clear.

The hallmark sign of this error is when you make your module available in Blackboard, but every day it reverts to being “private” again, so your students can’t access it.

The Solution

To solve this issue, you just need to log in to the Blackboard Management Tool (BBMT). Search for your module using the search box on the left and then select “Make Available”. This may take up to 24 hours to go through but can be as quick as 30 minutes. We have a video guide to help you with this below:

2.      I’ve setup the MS Teams integration but it keeps giving me an error

Since the departure of Blackboard Collaborate in November 2023, more staff are using Microsoft Teams for their online delivery.

When adding the Teams integration in their Blackboard modules, people have reported experiencing one of two issues, caused by:

  • Adding the Teams integration via the Content Market (don’t do it this way)
  • Adding it via the menu on the left (which is the right way), however, they have previously used the “Student Preview” feature, causing a preview user to be on the module. This can cause an issue with the Teams integration as it searches for a user that doesn’t exist.

The Solution

The fix for this is rather quick and easy. Open the Class Register in the Blackboard module, find the “PreviewUser” (there may be more than one), click the three dots next to them and choose “Edit member information”, then remove them from the module with the small bin icon.

Screenshot from the "Edit member information" panel in the Class Register of a Blackboard module, showing the name Robin Ray Preview User and a small bin icon next to it.

Once you have done that, add the Teams integration again using the link at the bottom of the left hand menu and it should work fine:

Screenshot from Blackboard module with the text Microsoft Teams, the Teams icon and a hyperlink to Enable Microsoft Teams

If you are still experiencing issues, there may be something else causing a problem so it is worth contacting Digital Services at CallDesk@staffs.ac.uk

3.      The Gradebook view isn’t what I’m used to / isn’t very useful

If you’re still relatively new to the Blackboard Ultra Gradebook, having previously used Blackboard Original, then the default view might feel rather strange.

By default, the Gradebook will display all of your assessments and assignments in a list. You can click on each one to go into it and view the individual students’ submissions.

The Solution

However, if you want to see a view more akin to Blackboard Original, that can be achieved by clicking the grid icon in the top right of the Gradebook:

Screenshot from the Gradebook of a Blackboard Ultra module. Near the top left, an arrow is pointing to a grid icon next to a list icon to show how to toggle between the two views.

This will give a view a lot more similar to the one in Blackboard Original.

4.      I want to see when students last accessed Blackboard and how much time they’ve spent on the module

A wonderful part of Blackboard Ultra is that a lot of the functionality of Blackboard Original is still available – it’s just the user interface that has changed. So familiar features might be in a different place than you’re used to.

This is true for the student activity data. This is now available in the “Analytics” tab on the toolbar across the top of the module.

The Solution

By selecting the three horizontal lines under “Course Activity” in the Analytics tab, you can see the students’ overall marks and how many days its been since they’ve last accessed your module:

Screenshot from a Blackboard Ultra module with "Analytics" underlined in purple across the top to show it is selected, and underneath "Course Activity", the first of three options, is also underlined to show it's selected. Further down and on the left, an arrow is pointing to a small icon showing three horizontal lines, next to a scatter graph icon, to indicate the button to press for a student list view.

However, clicking on a student’s name and selecting “Student Activity” in the grey bar across the top will allow you to see a more individual look at the student’s activity. Here you can also select the graph icon in the top left to view the student’s activity compared to the module average.

As always, you can get in touch with the TILE Hub if you need any support with using Blackboard Ultra, either by emailing TILEHub@staffs.ac.uk, or by posting on our dedicated “Blackboard” Teams channel.

TILE Hub presents the SUMEC (Staffordshire University MIE Expert Coaching) Teams community channel

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TILE Hub on Teams

Hopefully you’re familiar with the TILE Hub Teams site – a community of practice facilitated by the TILE team. It’s a space for the staff at Staffs to ask questions about teaching and learning tech, share their experiences, support each other, attend drop-in sessions and find out about training and workshops. Although many people find it a helpful way to consult TILE for tech support, we encourage all members to participate in helping and inspiring each other to use digital tools to enhance their teaching.

Within the Teams site there are a number of topic-specific channels to contribute to. For example, in the “Ask a question” channel, you can do just that, and get a response from anyone in the community. In the “Blackboard” channel, colleagues support each other and share good practice around the Blackboard VLE, and any Blackboard-specific training is advertised here too.

Introducing the new SUMEC channel

This month, we’re adding a new channel specifically for sharing innovative practice using Microsoft software. Although it will be hosted on the TILE Hub site, the new “SUMEC” channel will be curated by Francesca Brown-Cornwall and other talented MIE Expert colleagues from Staffordshire University. But most importantly, EVERYONE can share their innovative uses of Microsoft tools.

Maybe you’ve created escape rooms with Sway or OneNote, maybe you’ve had some epic successes with Minecraft or Word. No matter what the context, this channel is a space to showcase fabulous Microsoft ideas. It is not intended to be a troubleshooting channel (you should still post in “Ask for Help” if you need help), but a space to see and share best practice with Microsoft education tools.

The aims of the channel are as follows:

  • To focus on how Microsoft Technologies can be used to develop teaching and learning practice.
  • To enable staff to become leaders and advocates of Microsoft Technology to enhance teaching and learning by developing digital skills.
  • To showcase the innovation and quality of Microsoft facilitated teaching and learning at Staffordshire University.
  • To facilitate accreditation, achievement and recognition of skills, such as through the MIE Expert status application.

What is an MIE Expert?

MIE stands for “Microsoft Innovative Educator”, and MIE Experts are a community of educators across the world and at all levels, not just HE. They are passionate about teaching and learning, creative, resourceful and collaborative. And, as the name suggests, they have expertise in using Microsoft tools for teaching and learning that they want to share with others.

MIE Experts need to have completed extensive online training provided by Microsoft (three of the Microsoft Learn learning paths) before they can apply to be part of the program. Self-nominations are only open once a year (maybe twice if we’re lucky), and nominees need to provide evidence of their expertise to a regional Microsoft representative in order to be accepted into the community.     

You can find out more about the process of becoming an MIE Expert here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/educator-center/programs/microsoft-educator/expert

Where did SUMEC come from?

SUMEC MIE Expert logo

The SUMEC programme was a SCoLPP (Staffordshire Centre of Learning and Pedagogic Practice) innovators project, which you can read more about in this SCoLPP blog post. We are delighted that the legacy of this project means we have colleagues keen to share their expertise and experiences with others through the new TILE Hub channel. Hopefully, this will also inspire more staff to achieve MIE Expert status and disseminate their fantastic work with Microsoft software. We look forward to this growing community taking shape in this new Teams channel, and can’t wait to see the amazing practice facilitating high quality student experiences with Microsoft tools.