Tip #33: Helping students troubleshoot

Tip: You can help students to troubleshoot their Blackboard issues.

Here’s how to do it:
Consider posting a series of technical tips in Blackboard for your students. You might consider adding these tips to a Technical Support discussion board, allowing students and teaching assistants the chance to share concerns and solutions.

Students can follow a series of steps or procedures to troubleshoot their Blackboard issues. We recommend the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Log out of Blackboard and shutdown the computer. Restart the computer and re-log into Blackboard. Some issues may only require logging out and logging back in to Blackboard.
2. Clear out your browser cache. If you use Internet Explorer as your browser, click the Tools menu option on your browser. Click Internet Options and select the option to delete your browsing history, temporary files, and cookies. Click OK. Close the browser entirely and re-start the browser. Log in to Blackboard.
3. Try using another browser. Some issues may be caused by browser errors or incompatibility. Consider using another browser, such as Firefox or Safari (Mac users), to see if the issue persists in multiple browsers.
4. Try using another computer at a different location. Some problems that you experience may actually be related to your personal computer or to your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Make sure that the problem is occurring in more than one location and on one computer.
5. Turn off pop-up blockers while using Blackboard. Remember to enable them again once you’re done with Blackboard.
6. Check the Known Issues website to see if the issue you are having is a known issue. This webpage describes fixes or work-around for several known issues in Blackboard. http://www.twu.edu/blackboard/known_issues.asp

What to do if none of the troubleshooting steps work:
If the students’ issues persist after they have tried the troubleshooting steps, ask them to contact the TWU Help Desk. The Help Desk is available via phone, 940-898-9371 or via email, helpdesk@twu.edu. They also have a chat room in which students and faculty can discuss their Blackboard issues with Help Desk personnel. Students should be able to tell Help Desk their course information, instructor information, any troubleshooting steps they have tried, and as much detail as possible about what they do when the problem occurs, including any error message numbers.