Blackboard Known Issues

Explanation of Issue:
When students try to submit HTML files that contain script tags, they will receive an error message that will not allow them to submit.

Explanation of Resolution:
Blackboard is functioning as designed. The filtering for tags inside the files is controlled by a filter class. The script tags inside the file uploads are not allowed, due to security fixes implemented into the codeline of the application.

Students can add these HTML files to a .zip folder and upload to Blackboard. For more information regarding .zip files, you may access .zip files for Windows or .zip files for Mac.

Explanation of Issue:
Some users on older or underpowered ChromeBooks and iOS devices (iPads and iPhones) may experience audio breaking up in their live Blackboard Collaborate Ultra session due to hardware configuration and CPU capabilities. This article provides several best practices to help keep the audio from breaking up.

While we do not have a complete list, the issue seems to be related to older or underpowered ChromeBook and iOS devices. However, older or underpowered Windows machines may also be effected. Examples: the Apple iPhone 6 or a ChromeBook with an Intel Celeron N4020 processor.

Explanation of Resolution:
Blackboard understands that in many cases these devices have been issued by schools and it is not possible to use another device. Since the audio breaking up is generally a result of high CPU usage on the device or computer we recommend the following measures be taken if at all possible:
-Be sure any unused applications on your computer or device are closed before starting your Collaborate Ultra session
-When in the Collaborate session, try not to open the Collaborate Panel located on the right side of your session. If you must open the Collaborate Panel to utilize the Chat feature, do NOT open the Participant tab.
-Do not turn on your web camera unless it is necessary.
-Instructor's with students having issue should upload Powerpoint slides to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra and try to avoid using Application Sharing unless it is necessary.

While the most immediate advice is to follow the practices listed above, we're also working on potential optimizations of Collaborate's use of CPU so that low performance devices can have a better experience.
Related Links and Resources:
Moderator Best Practices: https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Moderator/Moderate_Sessions/Session_Best_Practices

Explanation of Issue:
When using Mac OS "Big Sur" 11.0 or "Catalina" 10.15 and Safari 14 with Collaborate Ultra the audio a user hears is breaking up or cracking.

The issue seems to be related to a known issue with the Safari browser and happens with other browser based web conferencing platforms.

Explanation of Resolution:
If Safari 14 is installed on your computer, please plan on using either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox with Collaborate Ultra sessions.

You may download and try the Safari beta version with Collaborate Ultra, the audio issue is supposed to be resolved in the upcoming version of Safari: https://developer.apple.com/safari/technology-preview/

Since the "technology-preview" version of Safari is in beta, it should not be considered a supported version of Safari at this time.

Explanation of Issue:
When recording an Ultra session, and all are moved into a Breakout Group, the recording will stop without notification. Once users are moved back into the Main Room, the recording needs to be restarted by the moderator. This will generate separate recordings for the session.

Explanation of Resolution:
There is no workaround at this time. If you come out of a breakout group, please restart your recording. Unfortunately, this will create multiple recordings.

Explanation of Issue:
In the past, we have been able to record, stop the recording (to pause), restart the recording, then exit the session for the recording to process. It appears that now when we stop the recording (to pause), the recording will process even before we exit the session.

Explanation of Resolution:
The option to pause a recording during a Collaborate Ultra session is not available as it was in Collaborate Original (Web Conferencing 12.6) and right now if you stop a recording, the system will start processing as if the session was completed. However, after verification with our Collaborate Engineers, they do have the feature on the roadmap to be developed and released to the users in the future. At the moment there's no release date for it yet.

Unfortunately, there is not a workaround for this issue.

Explanation of Issue:
We have had several instances where users cannot join a session using the telephone option because they may receive a message stating the call cannot be completed as dialed or a busy signal.

Explanation of Resolution:
Blackboard Inc.'s exisiting telephony provider has a limitation in their inventory of phone ports, which is shared across North America. Blackboard Inc. has implemented a per-session dial-in limit of 25 dial-ins per session. However, when the total number of ports have been occupied, attendees will not be able to dial into their session.

Blackboard Inc. is in the process of transitioning to a new telephony provider, which will allow them to increase the number of ports. However, this will not be available until sometime in April. They are asking attendees to not use dial-in numbers, unless they are experiencing internet issues.

The workaround is to use a browser on your computer or mobile phone and use VoIP for audio in the Collaborate session.

Explanation of Issue:
Users attending a Collaborate Ultra sessions on some iOS devices cannot see edits made to the Collaborate Ultra Whiteboard.

Explanation of Resolution:
There is no workaround at this time. If you experience this issue using an iOS device, please switch to a PC or Mac. You can also try a different iOS device, if you have one available.

Explanation of Issue:
When copying an image from the web and pasting into the Blackboard content editor, users receive an error message.

Explanation of Resolution:
We have opened a support ticket with our vendor to see if they can remove this restriction. In the meantime, the workaround would be to save the image to your device then upload using Add Content tool.

-Find an image from the web.
-Save the image to your device (right click > Save As)
-Proceed to the Blackboard course to the location where you would like to add the image.
-From the Content Editor, select the + (Add Content) icon, which is the very last icon.
-Select Insert Local Files.
-Find and select the file on your device you saved earlier.
-Select Open.
-You will notice the image in the Content Editor textbox. Adjust the size as needed.

Explanation of Issue:
You may see issues when you copy and paste text from a Word document directly into the editor. Your original formatting may not appear as you want. You also may not be able to remove or add formatting after you paste the text into the editor. To avoid the formatting issues, you can remove the formatting and reformat it with the options in the editor.

Explanation of Resolution:
To remove the Word formatting after you paste the text in the editor, select all the text and select the Remove Formatting icon. Only use this option if you understand that all formatting will be removed. All bullets, numbered lists, indentations, line spacing, centered text, and font formatting and sizing will be removed. Remove text formatting

Or, before you add your text in the editor, you can paste it into an offline simple text editor, such as Notepad or TextEdit, and clear the formatting. Then, you can paste the text into the editor and format it as you want.

Explanation of Issue:
The Course Menu is not visible when the browser window becomes too small (under width of 1040 px). The tab appears to the far left of the screen and users must click the "Show/Hide Course Menu" tab each time the page reloads, or a new page is selected within a course.

Explanation of Resolution:
Blackboard is functioning as designed. The Course Menu is automatically hidden at low screen resolutions. Due to mobile responsive design, screen width of 1040px and lower will cause Course Menus to be automatically hidden. To be displayed, they have to be manually expanded. Enter a Blackboard course and click the button above where the course navigation menu would normally be. This will reopen the menu.
https://youtu.be/81zIluAVUaY

Explanation of Issue:
If an Assignment has multiple attempts and the user uses the Work Offline > Upload feature for marks and feedback, the student will still appear under Needs Grading in the Grade Center.

Explanation of Resolution:
This behavior is functioning as designed. Even manually, if a user puts in an override grade rather than grading the attempt, the attempt still appears as 'Needs Grading'. The challenge is that when a score is entered as an override and there are potentially many attempts for the student, it is impossible to know which attempt the instructor is targeting. When a grade doesn't have a relation to the attempt, it is stored as override; the code is designed to treat this in this manner purposefully.

Explanation of Issue:
Please note that this issue is for grades over 100 points that use decimals. When Students proceed to check their grades within the Blackboard Student app, the first grade (Grade Overview) they will see is rounded to the nearest whole number. When Students click on the Grade Overview to view more details about their grade, they will notice the correct decmial grade.

Explanation of Resolution:
Students will have to select the Course Overview grade in order to see their true current total score.

Explanation of Issue:
When using the Copy or Move function in a Content Area, the Browse window with the course menu links does not update with copies or moves that just took place. For more information regarding this issue, please view the video below.

Explanation of Resolution:
As a workaround, you may either click twice on the Expand All icon ("+") or log out of Blackboard and log back into the course to display all nested folders.

This issue has been verified as a software defect and will be reviewed by Blackboard Inc.'s Product Management to prioritize for a future release. There is not any further information on a resolution date at this time.

Explanation of Issue:
When using Microsoft Edge to open files within the Blackboard course, Blackboard displays a 404 error.

Steps to Replicate:
1. Access a course using Microsoft Edge
2. Open a file type, such as Word or PowerPoint
3. The 404 error displays

Explanation of Resolution:
Since this appears to be a bug with Microsoft Edge, you may switch to Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to successfully open the files. You may also: Open Edge settings > Select Downloads > set Open Office files in the Browser to Off. Screenshot below.

Explanation of Issue:
When using Chrome to view a multi-page PDF document in Blackboard Learn, only the first two pages can be viewed.

Steps to Replicate:
1. Access a Course
2. Create a Content Item in the Course with a multi-page PDF
3. Use the Preview User to view the PDF as a Student

Explanation of Resolution:
Since this appears to be a bug within Google Chrome, you may switch to Mozilla Firefox, or open in PDF viewer, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. You may also: Open Edge settings > Select Downloads > set Open Office files in the Browser to Off. Screenshot attached.

Explanation of Issue:
Please be advised that this entry is not related to a system issue, but is to show the cause of such incidents.

By selecting ‘Force Completion’, students must complete the exam in one sitting. A student may get kicked out and not be able to return to the test by accidentally closing the browser, accidentally navigating away from the test, accidentally refreshing the test page, experiencing a computer crash, experiencing internet issues, etc.

Explanation of Resolution:
Blackboard is functioning as designed. Force Completion is only recommended for proctored exams. We recommend Instructors leave the Force Completion option unchecked. If the student experiences technical issues with Force Completion unchecked, he/she would be able to return to the test and resume from their last saved entry.

Explanation of Issue:
Instructions in Test Availability Exceptions for a Test suggest that Force Completion must be turned On, which is not the case.

Click Add User or Group to search for course users and groups to add to the exception list. "Timer and force completion must be enabled in the previous test availability step to enable those settings for exceptions." If you choose to use groups, you must make the group unavailable if you do not want students to see group members. Click Remove all Exceptions to delete all exceptions for the test.

Explanation of Resolution:
Instructors should ignore "Timer and force completion must be enabled in the previous test availability step to enable those settings for exceptions." The instructions should not state that Force Completion is required.

Explanation of Issue:
When Instructors download Surveys from the Full Grade Center, questions and student responses contain HTML code in the text downloaded into Excel.

Explanation of Resolution:
This is a Known Issue that is planned to be fixed, but does not have a known release date.

Please contact GSU Blackboard Support to further assist.

Explanation of Issue:
When creating a VoiceThread in a Blackboard Content area, the VT link should be accessible to Instructors. This is true for Content Areas and within Content Folders. However, we did notice when adding a VoiceThread to a Learning Module, Instructors are not able to edit or access the link unless Edit Mode is OFF.

Explanation of Resolution:
The only workarounds at this time would be to build VoiceThreads inside of Content Folders, instead of Learning Modules or turn Edit Mode OFF. VoiceThread cannot determine your Edit Mode off. VoiceThread categorizes by email address, so even with Edit Mode OFF, Instructors will link into VoiceThread with their regular access.