Using Blackboard

This webpage will help introduce SAO students to the University's online learning system Blackboard. We strongly recommend that all SAO students read this page carefully, even those of you who are re-enrolling students.

Swinburne uses Blackboard. The last major update was in Jan 2014.

Getting Started

• Login
  How to login to the Blackboard system
• Changing your password
  The first time you log in to Blackboard you should change your password
• Swinburne email and email forwarding
  All SAO students receive a Swinburne email account which they can read through the Swinburne mail reader, or forward to their normal email address
• Blackboard Navigation
  Introduction to SAO's Blackboard menus and how to access your unit information
• Blackboard student resources
  A list of Bb resources for students from Information Technology Services (ITS)

Blackboard and web browser compatibility

Students should use certified or compatible operating system and browser configurations to fully access the capabilities of Blackboard. The current supported technology browsers and operating systems are listed in your Blackboard "Support" page (see section "Browser and Operating System Support"). The 'Support' link will be at the top, right of your Blackboard page.

Accessing the Newsgroups

• Using the newsgroup
  General information about the SAO newsgroups under Blackboard
• Browser mode
  Accessing the newsgroups with the Blackboard browser interface
• Image attachments
  Please note that when attaching a file, apostrophes should not be used in the filename.

Assignment Submission and Viewing Grades

• Assignment Submission
  Blackboard allows you to submit some assessment tasks (e.g. essays and newsgroup submissions) online
• My Grades
  The Blackboard Gradebook allows you to see your progressive grades and associated feedback on assessment items.

Extra Help

• Blackboard Student Resources
  A collection of screencasts about Blackboard
• SAO Blackboard 9.1 screencasts
  A collection of SAO screencasts about using Blackboard 9.1
• SAO FAQ of Blackboard problems
  SAO Frequently Asked Questions of Blackboard problems
• Help Desk
  Contacting the ITS Blackboard Helpdesk