WebCT Good News/Bad News #5

These (sort of) daily “Good News/Bad News” messages are meant to inform you of what works and what doesn’t in CE 6.1.1. If you have comments, you’re invited to email me directly (jbacon@jccc.edu) or share on the dlfaculty@jccc.edu list.

CE 6.1.1 Good News: Miscellaneous Tools

1. (Discussions) A course instructor or teaching assistant can now lock and unlock a topic and still post in the Discussions tool.
2. (Glossary) When you create an export CE 4.1 file and then use that file to import an entire course into CE 6.1.1, 4.1 courses with a Glossary of 1000 or more items can now be imported properly (they didn’t in CE 6.0.2). However, with CE 6.1.1 the import will not work if the exported file is too large. The best work-around is to delete course backups before creating the 4.1 export file. With the export file "slimmed down" the import still appears to fail (the import progress bar never moves to the "finished state") but if you wait a few minutes and then jump to another tab, when you return you'll see that the Glossary entries have been imported and are available.
3. (File Manager) When uploading or downloading files the browser (Internet Explorer) does NOT freeze and require a reboot.
4. (File Manager) When using Safari 2.0.3, if you select the Get Files button in the File Manager, the My Computer icon appears and works.
5. (Folders) Any icon alignment changes made in folders does show correctly on the Build tab.
6. (Grade Book) The Histogram (under column statistics) displays all grade ranges.
7. (Grade Book) The default sort order (alphabetic) in the Grade Book is now correct.
8. (Grade Book) Rearranged columns (on the View All tab) are now reflected when viewing Column Settings for the Grade Book.
9. (HTML Creator) When loading the HTML Creator in Mail or Discussions, the tool does not grab control of the cursor, but leaves the cursor in the top field of the form.
10. (Course Import from 4.1) When importing a course from CE 4.1 to CE 6, the "Do not have permission to copy or move" error no longer appears.

CE 6.1.1 Bad News: Discussions

1. Discussion posts do not always update the Unread totals, so indicators of the number of Unread and Read messages may be incorrect.
   

If You Can't Post, Attach or Submit to CE 6

Students and faculty members continue to have problems:

• Posting messages in the Mail tool and the Discussions tool,
• Submitting files in the Assignments tool, and
• Attaching files to messages, postings and submissions, respectively, in the Mail, Discussions and Assignments tools in Campus Edition 6.

This document is meant to serve as a comprehensive guide to the steps we believe will cure most of these problems.

1. Run the browser check in WebCT to check for obvious errors. While not comprehensive, the Check Browser link checks for the obvious items (supported browser, cookies enabled, javascript enabled, pop-up window blocker for the Campus Edition server domain enabled, and Sun Microsystems Java installed and enabled).
2. You may have more than one pop-up blocker installed (Windows includes one as does the Google toolbar, MSN toolbar, Norton Security, Yahoo toolbar, Zone Alarm and others). Check to see if any of these extra pop-up blockers are installed and enabled on your computer. For details on how to disable pop-up blockers for webct.jccc.net, webct.jccc.edu and online.jccc.edu, read: http://students.jccc.net/documents/webct_common_issue.htm. Additional information on trusting pop-ups on the JCCC server sites is available at http://web.jccc.edu/edtech/notes/get.asp?DocumentID=126.
3. Until Blackboard certifies Internet Explorer 7, don't install it. It's not certified for use with JCCC's Campus Edition 6.0.2 (in use Fall 2006) but it is certified for use with CE 6.1.1 (anticipated version of Campus Edition for Spring 2007).
4. Make sure you have only one copy of Java 1.5.0_XX (on Windows systems) listed in the Control Panel (go to Start --> Control Panel --> Add-Remove Programs and look for listings that begin with "J2SE Runtime Environment"). There should only be a single entry. If you see multiple entries, follow the instructions at http://students.jccc.edu/documents/javauninstall.htm to uninstall all versions and then use the instructions at http://students.jccc.edu/documents/javainstall.htm to install a single version.
5. There are occasions when one of the Java applets used with Campus Edition becomes corrupt in cache (Windows will go to the cache to run the program, which speeds up the start-up, but that can also be a problem if the cache copy is corrupt). So if you've completed steps 1-4 and are still having problems, try clearing the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Cache. Instructions are available at
   http://java.com/en/download/help/5000020300.xml.
6. Finally, if all else fails, try clearing your web browser's cache. Instructions are available at http://java.com/en/download/help/5000020400.xml.
   
   Note the following sites list top issues and possible resolutions (and other useful aids) to fixing Java problems: http://www.java.com/en/download/help/ and
   http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/top_issues.xml

If you have other tips on how to configure the end-user's workstation to cure Blackboard Campus Edition problems, please share them (jbacon@jccc.edu).

Addendum: One JCCC faculty member (George Belzer) offered the following comment: "The problem many of you are reporting with your students sounds very similar to the problem I was having myself. I tried most of the steps Jonathan mentions but the problem remained. Then Jeff Kosko suggested I uninstall Java version 9 (latest version) and install the older version 6, available through the JCCC Students Support website (see http://students.jccc.edu/documents/javainstall.htm). The problem was immediately solved and now adding attachments and uploading files works fast and correctly. I then went into the Java control console (accessed from the Windows Control Panel) and turned off the automatic upgrade feature to prevent version 9 from uploading again."

WebCT Good News/Bad News #4: The Media Library Tool Problems

One of the major problems we’ve encountered with CE 6.1.1 is related to Media Library collections. If you use the Media Library tool, by default, your course includes a glossary collection, but you can add other collections too. Media Library collections can include simple text entries (e.g. a text only glossary) or collections of other types of items such as text with images, images only, PDF files, audio and/or video files.

During our testing of CE 6.1.1 we discovered that Media Library collections are instantly broken if any item in a collection includes an attached image (JPEG, GIF, PNG or TIF file). Specifically, you can have a fully functional collection with images in 6.0.2 and as soon as the server is upgraded to CE 6.1.1 (in late December) the collection will be broken. Further, if a new item is added to a collection and you attach a JPEG, PNG, GIF or TIF image, the tool will be immediately broken. By broken we mean all or some of the items in a collection (which includes even a single image) will not be visible to either the student, instructor or course designer. Because you cannot see the item, you can’t detach the image or otherwise edit the collection.

Collections of other types of items (PDF files, audio or video files) do not cause the problem.

Blackboard is working on a solution; they’ve replicated the problem, and plan to provide a late January hot fix. However, once received we’ll need to test the hot fix on our test server and make a determination regarding whether it is safe to install mid-semester.

Here’s what’s happening to cause the problem:

1. When a media library collection is viewed, CE 6.1.1 inspects each entry to see if it has an image link. If it has a link, CE 6.1.1 checks for a thumbnail. If the thumbnail isn't present, CE 6.1.1 attempts to generate one. If thumbnail generation fails, CE 6.1.1 leaves the entry in its original state, and will try to generate a thumbnail again the next time the collection is accessed. All entries are in this state initially.
2. When a media library entry with an image link is added, CE 6.1.1 attempts to immediately generate a thumbnail. If thumbnail generation fails, the entry is still added, but the thumbnail is omitted. This leaves the entry in the same state as #1 above.

The error occurs when a “poorly designed SQL query” tries to generate a thumbnail for an attached image, which causes a database spike that severely effects server performance.

After applying the future hot fix (now in development by Blackboard) these issues will no longer occur. While the Media Library tool could be disabled system-wide (to prevent the problem), that action would mean that all collections (whether they included images or not) would be unavailable. So we plan to leave the Media Library tool enabled system-wide.

Here’s what you need to know and do:

1. If you have Media Library collections that do not include any images, do nothing. You and your students have dodged the bullet.
2. If all or some of your Media Library collections include images, then you have several (not very satisfactory) options. You’ll need to chose some combination of the following:

• Disable/Hide the Media library tool and don’t use it until the hot fix is installed (could be February or not until after Spring 2007 semester).
• Hide the Media Library collections with images (you can hide specific collections, but not specific entries).
• Convert all your images to PDF files, which don’t break the tool.
• Temporarily delete all images (might work if your collection is a glossary and you can temporarily do without the images—but you’ll need to re-add the images later).
• Create a series of web pages (HTML) that include the images and text from your collection(s) and create a Learning Module that serves as the repository for the collection.

We’re trying to produce a report of all Media Library collections that will be adversely effected by this bug, but you may need to just check your course(s) yourself and select a course of action. If you have questions or need help with any of the above solutions, contact your Ed Tech Center Designer.

WebCT Good News/Bad News #3: Announcements & Media Library

These daily “Good News/Bad News” messages after meant to inform you of what works and what doesn’t in CE 6.1.1. Even though you may not have time to test, this should give you a sense of what the upgrade will “do to your course.” If you have comments, you’re invited to email me directly (jbacon@jccc.edu) or share on the dlfaculty@jccc.edu list.

CE 6.1.1 Good News: Announcements

1. You can now change pages when viewing lists of announcements that span multiple pages. However, if you change the Paging Preferences (accessed by clicking the three dog-eared sheets icon in the bottom right corner of the WebCT Announcements window) to increase the “Number of records per page” setting (10 is the default) the increase in visible announcements may not display immediately. You may need to jump to another tool or tab and then return to the Announcements tool for it to take effect.
2. Images in announcements now correctly display.
3. The Delete button now deletes Announcements (but only if you were the instructor who created the announcement)

CE 6.1.1 Bad News: Announcements & Media Library

1. When you create an announcement by default it goes to all students, instructors, auditors and teaching assistants. There’s a bug that prevents you from sending an announcement to just one of these groups of course participants.
2. Media Library collections (such as the Glossary) are broken if the imported collection includes an attached JPEG, GIF or TIF file. Further if a new JPEG, GIF or TIF image is added to a new or existing Media Library collection, the tool is broken. The only work-around is to not use JPEG, GIF and TIF images in the Media Library. Blackboard is working on a solution; they’ve replicated the problem, and are trying to provide a late January hot fix to address the issue.