Blackboard Outage May 8-11 to Pave the Way for New Online Learning Tools

Faculty, staff and students using Blackboard will enjoy new functions this summer after the system is upgraded from our current version of 6.3 to 7.2 in May. To allow for this upgrade, the Blackboard system will be unavailable from 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8 through 6:00 a.m. on Friday, May 11. During this time, all Blackboard content will be unavailable. Services normally accessed via myMiami, including e-mail, BannerWeb, Kronos and others, will be provided via a special web page that will display when users attempt to access myMiami.

Faculty members who keep their grades within Blackboard are reminded that they will be unable to access those grades, or any other course content, during the outage.  If you feel you may wish to review your grade book during the outage window, it is suggested that you print a copy prior to the beginning of the outage. Grades are due to the Registrar no later than noon on Tuesday, May 8 and will be available for students to view Friday, May 11.

The new version of Blackboard includes updated discussion forums and a range of new assessment features.  The Blackboard Visual Textbox editor is now compatible with the Macintosh platform and the Firefox browser and includes an integrated spell check.  For detailed information on the new features, go to the Blackboard support site, www.muohio.edu/blackboard, or contact Advanced Learning Technologies at 513 529-6068 or alt@muohio.edu.