Using Blackboard Connect
Blackboard Connect, or Connect, is the software that lets us manage our courses
at UBC. Once you are registered, you should be able to log in and browse your
courses. For many courses, your professors will use Connect for assignment
submissions and grade posting. For this course, we will use Connect for:
- assignment and lab submissions
- a discussion forum public to the entire class (but closed to others)
- grade viewing and posting
- mass emails to everyone in the class (available to the instructor only)
(this is how the instructor sends you emails!)
For This Course
If this is the first time you are using Connect, you may want to refer to the
online guide to get started:
Once you have successfully logged in, click on the link for COSC 111. You
should then see something like this:
This page is kept to a minimum so it's easier to find what you need!
On the left hand side, you will see several links. First, we will click on the
link for the discussion forum. This is where we will centralize our questions
when issues come up with things that aren't clear from class, or questions that
you might have regarding the assignments, labs, and midterms.
Click on Course Discussions in the centre of the page. You will see something
like this:
This screen shows an example of three TAs introducing themselves to the class.
From here, you can browse other people's posts or create your own. Before you
post your own questions, be sure to check in other posts to see if that
question has been answered or not.
Now, let's go back to the beginning. You will recall that there were other
links. If instead of the discussion forum you had clicked on Submit
Assignments, you will see something like this:
Currently, only two assignments are posted. When new assignments become
available, they will appear in this list. Likewise, when an assignment's due
date has past, it will disappear from this list and you can no longer submit to
it. This is the stringent side of technology -- so please respect the due dates!
Let's say we want to submit A0. Click on AO, and you will be brought to the
following page:
When you scroll down this page, you will see other items. The important part is
shown on this screenshot - the due date, number of points that it is worth, and
the place where you can attach a file to include in your submission.
For example, if you have a Word document you'd like to submit for the
assignment, click on the Browse My Computer button, and a window will pop up
that lets you browse your computer and to upload the file. Once you are done,
click on Submit.
Don't worry if you clicked the wrong file or want to change your answers after
you submit it, you can repeat the process to resubmit the correct version as
many times as you like (up until the deadline).
A similar process is used for submitting labs. Follow the links and you should
see very similar steps that are required.
Additional Resources
When you go to Connect at http://connect.ubc.ca, you will find more
information that will help you do what you need with Connect.