Blackboard FAQs

You must enter your UAFS user ID and password to log in to online courses. Make sure your capitalization is correct as passwords are case-sensitive.

• If you are an admitted student and do not have a UAFS user ID and password, go to the Service Desk in the Gardner building to request them.
• If you enter the user ID and password correctly and still cannot log in, contact the Service Desk at 479-788-7460.

You account will become inactive in your Blackboard courses a full semester after you have taken the course. At that point those courses will no longer appear on your Courses list.

If you cannot find your online course on the Blackboard Courses page, one of the following things may have happened:

• Your instructor may have temporarily hidden the course shell while making final preparations.
• Your instructor may have not yet copied the course content into the course shell.

Your online courses should be available no later than a day or two after the semester starts (the first day of the semester for full online courses). If the semester has started and you still cannot see your online course on the Courses page, please contact your instructor as soon as possible.

If testing in a proctored environment, the live proctor or the online proctoring service will add the password for you. When testing in a classroom lab, your instructor or their designated proctor will provide the password for you to type.

• If you use a low bandwidth internet connection, you will encounter this problem regularly. The solution to this problem is to subscribe to a high-speed internet connection or use a computer in any lab on campus or at any public library.

• Your browser cache stores files from websites that you have visited to speed up the browser when you revisit them. Sometimes your browser cache has too many files to work effectively. More commonly, sometimes the cache files have an error that prevents the page from loading normally. You can fix these errors by clearing your browser cache.
• Here are instructions for clearing the cache in several browsers including the ones on your smartphone. You can also clear Java cache. Be sure you are logged out of Blackboard when you clear the cache.

• Sometimes a temporary file on your computer will cause an error that affects Blackboard or another website. To fix this error, you need to clear the computer memory by performing a Shut Down of the computer. (Do not do a Restart as that will not clear all of the temporary memory.)
  Shut down the computer for at least 30 seconds without power before starting it up again.

• Occasionally your connection with Blackboard may produce an error page. To resolve this, log out of Blackboard and log back in again.

• You may have attached a shortcut of the file to your assignment. Make sure the file you attach to an assignment has the correct file extension: e.g. a Word document has the extension ".doc" or ".docx"; a PowerPoint file has the extension ".ppt" or “.pptx.”
• You may have attached a version of the file that had not been saved yet. Be sure to save all changes to your file before attaching the file to an assignment. Make sure you are attaching the correct file and not a temporary version.

Your web browser must be compatible with Blackboard. Click here to review all the web browsers that are compatible with Blackboard.

You need to allow pop-ups in your computer Web browsers. The following are instructions for how to do this in commonly used browsers:

• Google Chrome
  1. Click the Customize and Control button (with the three dots) on the top right.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click Privacy and Security on the left.
  4. Click Site settings.
  5. Click Pop-ups and Redirects.
  6. Click the option button for Sites can send pop-ups and use redirects
  OR
  7. Alternately, you can click the Add button, under Allowed to send pop-ups and use redirects, and then type “blackboard.cellphonejoys.com” and click Add.
   
• Mozilla Firefox
  1. Click Open Application Menu (the button with three lines on the top right).
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click Privacy and Security.
  4. Under Permissions, clear the check box for Block Pop-up Windows
  OR
  5. Click Exceptions.
  6. In the text box for Address of Website, type “blackboard.cellphonejoys.com.”
  7. Click Save Changes.
•  
  Microsoft Edge
  1. Click the “Settings and More” button (…) on the top right.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click Cookies and Site Permissions.
  4. Click Pop-ups and Redirects.
  5. Turn off Block
  OR
  6. In the Allow area, click Add.
  7. Type “blackboard.cellphonejoys.com.”
  8. Click Add.

Yes, wireless access is available in every building on the campus including student housing. You can also connect to the internet anywhere on campus if you are not too far away from a building or if you are close to a wireless hot spot.

• For more details on connecting to the UAFS wireless network on campus, see the IT Services Knowledgebase for information on configuring Windows PCs, Macs, and mobile devices.

1. Click the Apple menu.
2. Click System Settings.
3. Click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
4. Click Screen & System Audio Recording.
5. Turn the recording on for Google Chrome and any other apps you need to use. (Chrome is the browser that SmarterProctoring requires.)