Online Testing Basics
If your online course requires you to take a test or quiz, this short video will introduce you to the basics of online testing at UDM.
Author Archives: Russell Davidson
Getting started with Knowledge (Blackboard)
This series of videos introduces the basics of using the University of Detroit Mercy’s Blackboard course site, which we refer to locally as Knowledge.
Your Computer: You’ll need a proper PC to complete most of your coursework. An iPad, Android Tablet, Windows RT device, or smart phone will be useful for many things, but to post content (online discussion, assignments, etc), take tests, or participate in live classroom sessions you will need a full PC. Mac computers (lap or desktop) are fine, as are Windows 8 devices (laptops, desktops, and hybrid devices like the Surface PRO or Lenovo Yoga line).
Web Browser: Your web browser is the software you use to view the internet. We recommend Firefox or Internet Explorer as a primary browser (Safari and Chrome generally work but are not officially supported and therefore occasionally have issues). Whatever browser you use, please stay up to date with the latest set of patches and updates.
There are a number of other video and text walkthroughs for both students and faculty on this site. To find help for a particular tool, please use the search or browse functions on the right hand side of this page.
You may also want to refer to our Knowledge Intro [PDF] handout for further assistance.
Manage your My Courses list
Your MY COURSES box lists all the courses you have access to on Knowledge. Because we plan to keep courses on the system for several years, you may quickly find this list becomes too long to navigate. Fortunately, you can show, hide and group entries by term to make this list easier to manage. The following video introduces the elements of the MY COURSES box and shows you how to edit its entries.
You may also want to look at Group My Courses by Term
Lecture videos not loading?
Some folks have reported a sporadic issue with lecture videos not loading. The problem appears to be related to cached files on the browser and seems to be more common in Internet Explorer than other browsers. This issue can be resolved by clearing your cache (Temporary Internet Files, in Internet Explorer).
In Firefox
1. Right click in the black space where the video should appear. You should see a menu as in the image below. (If you see a different menu, move your pointer to the outer edge of the black space and right-click again). In the menu, point to THIS FRAME, the hold the SHIFT KEY on your keyboard and click RELOAD FRAME.
You should now be able to click the lecture link and view the lecture normally.
In Internet Explorer
1. Back out of the lecture video.
2. Click the gear icon in the upper right corner of your browser, then select Internet Options
3. In the Internet Options window, you should see the General tab selected by default. Under the Browsing History heading, click DELETE. This opens the Delete Browsing History window.
4. Select TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES and COOKIES AND WEBSITE DATA. You may uncheck other boxes if they are selected by default. Then click the DELETE button at the bottom of this window.
5. This will bounce you back to the Internet Options window. Click APPLY at the bottom of this window.
You should now be able to click the lecture link and view the lecture normally.
Still having problems?
Email the Instructional Design Studio (ids@udmercy.edu). Indicate the browser you’re using (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, etc.), and the course and lecture that isn’t displaying.
Copyright Refresher
General Information
- Work published on or before December 31, 1922 is in the public domain.1
- Work published between January 1, 1923 and December 31, 1978 is protected for a term of 95 years from the date of publication.1
- Work published between 1923 and December 31, 1963 may or may not be in the public domain. You should check Stanford Determinator to determine renewal status.1
- After 1978, copyright runs for 70 years from the date the author dies, whether the work was published or not.1
Blackboard Course
- You may include in a course persistent links to electronic journal articles found in databases licensed by University of Detroit Mercy Libraries.
- You may NOT download electronic journal articles into your course from databases leased by University of Detroit Mercy Libraries.
- You may include citations to journal print articles in an online course or syllabus.
- You may NOT make digital copies of print journal articles to include in an online course or syllabus.
- You may download open source journal articles into a course provided you include the citation to the work.
- You may download U.S. Federal Government works into course, including, research, facts, and data.
Course Packs
- Downloading of full-text journal articles are normally not allowed under the UDM Libraries database licenses. To view all license privileges and restrictions go to http://research.udmercy.edu/find/databases/ and click on Show/Hide Database Details for each database.
- Chapters of books, plays, poetry may NOT be photocopied and placed in course packs without written permission.
Reserves
- UDM full copyright policy for reserve materials is found at: http://research.udmercy.edu/policies/integrity/
- One copy of a complete article may be placed on reserve, but may NOT be used from term-to-term.
- A maximum of one copy of a journal article per fifteen students may be placed on reserve, but may NOT be used from term-to-term.
- Photocopies of journal articles from licensed full-text databases may NOT be placed on reserved unless stipulated by vendor.
- University owned books, journals, and media (video, CD, DVD) may be placed on reserve on a term-by-term basis.
1 http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/copypol2.html — copyright crash course
