Computing & Information Services is upgrading Blackboard (Bb) from 6.3 to 7.3 on Monday, July 21st. For information on improvements and additions to Bb features, please go to http://cis.unh.edu/idc/bb73features. The following will alert you to two critical dates in the upgrade process and provide answers to questions CIS anticipates from the UNH Bb community.

Critical dates for the Blackboard Upgrade

Sunday morning, JUNE 29th

A “snapshot” of all Bb 6.3 data (courses, organizations, modules, etc.) will be taken early on the morning of June 29. Changes made in Bb 6.3 AFTER June 28th, will NOT be copied to Bb 7.3. This means, for example, if the leader of a Bb organization adds a person or uploads a Word document between June 29th and July 20th, that work will be not be reflected in Bb 7.3. CIS recommends that you make as few additions/changes as possible to Bb organizations, modules, etc. between June 29 and July 20.

Please go to http://unh.edu/idc/first/tips/blackboard/BbQT065.pdf. Staff from the Instructional Development Center will also contact faculty with summer courses at the end of the summer to ask if they need or want help with this process.

MONDAY, JULY 21st

Blackboard 7.3 comes on-line July 21st. It should be used for all activities EXCEPT SUMMER COURSES. Instructors building courses for fall 2008, and faculty, students, and staff accessing Webcat, Webmail, Parent Portal, Directed Communication and other applications through Bb (MyUNH) will be directed to use Bb 7.3.

Blackboard 6.3 will continue to be available FOR SUMMER COURSES ONLY until September 1st. At the end of the summer session, all summer courses automatically will be transferred to Blackboard 7.3.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why will Blackboard 6.3 and 7.3 overlap?

This summer we will migrate from Blackboard version 6.3 to 7.3. Part of the upgrade involves converting all of the text data within the database to support multiple languages. This is a very time consuming process as over 500,000,000 bytes of data must be rewritten. To avoid an extended period when Blackboard would be unavailable, 6.3 will remain available to support summer sessions. 7.3 will become availableon July 21^st for routine use exclusive of summer session course work.

What if I’m taking or teaching a summer course when the upgrade happens?

Instructors using Bb in summer courses, and students enrolled in those courses, will use Bb 6.3 for the duration of the course. All UNH summer courses will use Bb 6.3 and will NOT need to switch to Bb 7.3 when it becomes available.

What about using Webmail, Webcat, the Parent Portal, Directed Communication, the Student Directory, or Housing applications?

On July 21st, those accessing these applications will be directed to Bb 7.3. However, Webmail will continue to be available in Bb 6.3 AND Bb 7.3, for the convenience of those taking or teaching summer courses.

This sounds confusing. How will I know whether I should use Bb 6.3 or Bb 7.3?

If you are not taking or teaching a summer course, you should use Bb 7.3. When you go to blackboard.unh.edu or myunh.edu, you will see an “intercept page” that lets you choose where you want to go. The “intercept page” will have two links – one to Bb 6.3 and one to Bb 7.3 – with explanations about which link you should choose.

How long will Bb 6.3 continue to be available?

Bb 6.3 (for summer courses) will continue to be available until Setpember 1, 2008. After 9/1/08, only Bb 7.3 will be available. Content from your Summer 2008 courses will automatically be transferred to Bb 7.3 during the month of September. If you have questions or need help, contact the Instructional Development Center at http://remedy.unh.edu/blackboard.

How will the upgrade affect me if I am using SafeAssignment?

SafeAssignment will be unavailable during the upgrade process. Spring courses using SafeAssignment will not be impacted. Summer courses will not have access to the SafeAssignment tool. SafeAssign, the new and improved Blackboard building block, will be available in all Blackboard courses in 7.3 before the start of classes in September. For more information on the improved SafeAssign tool in Blackboard 7.3, go to the IDC FIRST support Web site at http://cis.unh.edu/idc/first.

Will I still be able to access the submissions I have already made to SafeAssignment?

All UNH materials submitted to the SafeAssignment server will be available through Blackboard 6.3 until May 30th. Those materials will be unavailable over the summer, but will be migrated to the new SafeAssign application inside Blackboard 7.3 and available to you before the first day of classes. SafeAssign’s feature set is the same as that of SafeAssignment.

How will the upgrade affect me if I am using eInstruction?

eInstruction will be unavailable during the upgrade process. Spring courses using eInstruction will not be impacted. Summer courses will not have access to the eInstruction tool. A new version of eInstruction will be available in Blackboard 7.3 before the first day of classes. For more information on the new version of eInstruction, go to the IDC FIRST support Web site at http://cis.unh.edu/idc/first.
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What will happen to my eInstruction lessons and reports that were created in the old version?

You will still be able to access all your eInstruction lessons and reports through your existing CPS database. You will be able to import all the eInstruction lessons you created in the old version of eInstruction into the new version. eInstruction will function inside Blackboard 7.3 just the way it did inside Blackboard 6.3.

What is happening with spring courses?

Spring courses will be 'locked down' in Bb6.3 during our 3 week upgrade to ensure that we are able to talk individually with anyone who needs to use these courses. We will disable them but you may contact us to get them disabled. We discourage changes to these spring courses but understand sometimes that is not possible. We would like the opportunity to talk to you about how you plan to use these spring courses to ensure you do not lose valuable data.

What about using Webmail, Webcat

Who can I talk to about my questions?

Send inquiries to bb.admin@unh.edu, contact the Instructional Development Center at remedy.unh.edu/blackboard, or call CIS Academic Technology at 862-7039.