How it Works

Logging into Blackboard
Click here to link to Southeastern’s Blackboard login page. For “User name” type “online.” And for “Password,” type “testdrive.” After you press enter, Blackboard will take you to the main Blackboard screen you’ll see as an online student at Southeastern.  (The main screen will read “Welcome, (your name)” once you’re admitted into Southeastern and are issued a Blackboard user name and password.)

Blackboard’s main page
From this welcome page you can access four main areas, which are displayed in horizontal rectangles in the center of the screen. They are as follows: My Announcements, My Courses, My Tasks, and My Calendar. In the left side of the screen, you can see a vertical, rectangular box labeled “Tools.” In this box there are links to “Announcements” (takes you to My Announcements), “Calendar” (takes you to “My Calendar”), and “Tasks” (takes you to My Tasks). In addition to these links, there are links that allow you to view your grades from your online courses and send e-mail to professors and other online students. Using other links in this Tools box, you can look up contact information for professors and students in the Southeastern Blackboard User Directory or an electronic address book you create. Through the last, Personal Information link in this Tools box you can add contact and personal information (place of employment, job title, etc.) that other online students and professors can view in the Southeastern Blackboard User Directory.

My Announcements, My Courses, My Tasks, and My Calendar
The My Announcements rectangle will display announcements from the professors of your different courses. Each announcement is listed under the course to which the announcement pertains. For example, in the Test Drive, under the course “SAMPLE COURSE,” there is one announcement that reads “Welcome.”

The My Courses rectangle lists the online courses for which you are registered. Clicking on the name of a course will take you to the Blackboard pages where you’ll find the content, assignments, resources, and discussion boards you’ll need to complete the online class. Click on “SAMPLE COURSE” in the My Courses rectangle to view the links that Southeastern online courses usually feature.

My Tasks lists any reminders that you’ve entered that may relate to assignments that professors have given you. To enter a new task click “more…” in the lower right of the My Tasks rectangle. From the screen labeled “Tasks,” click the “Add Task” button on the left side of the screen. From the Add Task screen, you can enter the name of a new task, a description of it, how urgent it is, and its due date. Click the submit button to have it added to you’re My Tasks list that displays on the main Blackboard page you see after you log in.

Digging into your courses
The information above describes the big picture you’ll have of all the online courses you are taking at Southeastern. To dig into the content of your specific courses, simply click on the name of your course in the My Courses rectangle in the right side of the main Blackboard screen. In the Test Drive, click on “SAMPLE COURSE” to explore the information you could have access to in each of your courses. The SAMPLE COURSE main screen will show a welcome message. To the left of the welcome message you’ll see a menu that lists “Welcome,” “Announcements,” “Course Info,” “Syllabus,” “Faculty Info,” “Assignments,” “Discussion Board,” “Tools,” and “Resources.” These links also are listed below the welcome message on the SAMPLE COURSE main screen. Click on each of these menu links from the SAMPLE COURSE main screen to read about the kind of information you could access as an online student at Southeastern.

Welcome
Many Southeastern professors will post a welcome message to all of the students in their online class under this link.

Announcements
Here’s where you’ll find class announcements and reminders, such as the reading assignments for the week, when the next project will be due, and any change to the course syllabus.

Course Info
In the Course Info section, you’ll find an overview of the course for which you’re enrolled, as well as crucial documents and other materials for your class, including lecture notes, PowerPoint slides, and articles.

Syllabus
You professor will post your syllabus for the course under this link, which includes a list of course topics, readings, assignments, and due dates.

Faculty Info
This link will take you to contact information for your professor. Many professors also will post biographical information and recent pictures of themselves to help students get a feel for them as teachers.

Assignments
Here you will find assignments, online tests, and quizzes from your professors.

Discussion Board
Here is where you’ll have virtual class discussions. Click on Discussion Board to view the titles of topics that the professor has posted. In the Test Drive the titles are simply “Welcome,” “Week 1,” and “Week 2.” In an actual online course you’d click on a topic title to read the comments of other students or to “add a new thread,” which means to comment upon the topic yourself.

Tools
Under this link you’ll find tools, including an electronic address book that you can create yourself, the Digital Dropbox—through which you, other students, and the professors can share documents and other computer files, and a My Grades link—through which you can view your grades for the course. By clicking the Tools link you’ll also be able to enter personal contact information and choose which of it you want shared through Southeastern’s Blackboard User Directory and discussion boards. You’ll also be able to view tasks that your professor has assigned and peruse Blackboard’s user manual.

Resources
If you click the Resources link, you’ll be taken to reference sources your professor has posted to help you complete assignments. In the Test Drive, you will find a link to Southeastern’s library, which gives online students access to databases and electronic books they can use from home. Professors also post Web site links under Blackboard’s Resources link. These Web sites provide students with other reference sources for class research.

Logging out
To log out of Blackboard click on the third icon labeled “Logout” at the top of any Blackboard screen.

Note on Blackboard menu link names
The links used in actual online courses may differ from the ones used in the Test Drive. Professors have the ability to change the names of links they use in their courses hosted by Blackboard. In their courses, professors also have the ability to not display some of the features described in this Test Drive.

Other how-to-use Blackboard resources
Want to know more about what you can do in Blackboard as an online student? Check out animated tutorials on individual topics through Blackboard’s support link. Click here to link to Southeastern’s Blackboard login/support page. Beneath the “Bb” logo on Blackboard’s login/support page, you’ll see three long, gray, button icons that read “Login,” Support,” and “Reset Password.” Click on the second button, which reads “Support.” Once on the support page, scroll down to “Animated Tutorials.” From that screen, click on whatever topic that interests you. Click “more…” to view more topics. For more information about how you can use Blackboard in online courses at Southeastern, call the university’s Coordinator of Distributed Learning at (863) 667-5269.