Blackboard Basics
Fall 2013
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Hello. My name is Susan Gilden. I am the Technology Manager at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Harbor East Campus. I am going to talk to you today about the Basics of the Blackboard system. Blackboard is the course management system that we use at Carey. It allows instructors to share their course syllabi, assignments, documents and other course materials with their students. Blackboard also allows interaction between the students and instructors through the discussion board and e-mail.
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There are two ways to access Blackboard:
- Go directly to You will then be prompted to enter your JHED ID and password.
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- Go to You will be prompted to enter your JHED ID and password and this will take you to your main JHU portal and from here, you can access blackboard from the icon on the left-hand side of the screen.
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Once you are logged into Blackboard, you will see a module called “My Courses Plus” (on the right hand side of the screen). This lists all of the courses that you are enrolled in. You can access a course by clicking on the name of the course. This will open the course site.
PLEASE NOTE THE TOLL-FREE NUMBER FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT UNDER CAREY BLACKBOARD SUPPORT. YOU CAN ALSO E-MAIL: , IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS.
Course Availability
Registering for a Blackboard course happens automatically. Once you register for a course in ISIS, you will be automatically enrolled in that course's Blackboard site.
Please note: If you have registered for a course in ISIS, but do not see it on your Blackboard menu, it likely means that the instructor has not yet made this course available to the students. Once the instructor makes the course available, you will see it on your menu. The instructor should make the course site available 2 weeks prior to the class start date.
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To access your course syllabus, click on your course, then click on the syllabus item on the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. You can then click on the syllabus to open the document.
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To access your course documents, click on your course, then click on the course documents item on the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. You can then click on the document to open it.
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You may have to write a paper, provide answers to a case study, submit a presentation or other learning activity. Blackboard has a tool to submit these assignments which help your instructor collect your assignments in one place and provide you with prompt feedback.
When you are asked to submit an assignment through Blackboard, Click on Assignments on the left menu.
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Click on the title next to the icon to submit your assignment. Before submitting, read your instructor's directions carefully. Directions may include the due date and the file types (e.g., Word, PDF, RTF) you may use to submit you’re your assignment. To attach your paper, click Browse My Computer.
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NOTE: After attaching your file, you will only be able to submit ONE time. You can attach multiple files. When you are sure you are ready to send the assignment to the instructor, click the Submit button. NOTE: The Save as Draft button does not send the assignment to the instructor.
If you send the wrong file by mistake, send an e-mail to the instructor or TA asking them to "clear your attempt" so you can resubmit your assignment. It is recommended that you attach the correct document in that e-mail so you are sure they receive it in time.
Submit all files required for an assignment at one time. Sending files at different times can confuse your instructor or mentor.
When using the Assignment tool, make sure that you do not use a # symbol in the file name. A # symbol is a special symbol that gets interpreted as HTML code and using the # in your file name will keep your instructor or leader from being able to open your file. Instead of naming your files something like "Chapter #1 homework" use file names like "Chapter_1_Homework" instead.
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Using the Discussion Board
To start, click on the Discussion Board link on the left-hand menu of your course.
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Click on the Forum that you would like to participate in, and then click on the Create Thread to create a new post.
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To reply to another student’s post, click on the title of their post (thread) and click on Reply.
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Sending E-mail through Blackboard
To send an e-mail through Blackboard, click on Email on the left-hand menu of your course.You will then have a choice to send an e-mail to all users, all groups, all student users, all instructors, single/select users or single/select groups.
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When you are finished typing the message, click on the Submit button at the bottom or the top of the page.
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EVALUATION KIT
EvaluationKit is the tool that is used for course evaluations. It is administered through Blackboard. Students will fill out the survey on the second to last class session of the semester, and will have two days to complete it before it closes. This tool can be accessed by clicking on the Evaluation tab at the top of the Blackboard window. Students will receive an e-mail one day before the start of their evaluations reminding them to fill it out.
Grade Suppression
As an additional incentive to keeping the course evaluation response rate high, we have implemented grade suppression. This means that, for courses in which you have not submitted an evaluation, you will not be able to access your grades for 14 days, either through the Registrar’s office or via the web.
Step-by-step instructions for filling out the course evaluations are available at: