Blackboard

About Blackboard

What Blackboard Is

Blackboard is the learning management system used by Texas Woman's University to deliver online courses and online course components for face-to-face classes. Blackboard is Internet based, meaning if you have access to the Internet, you have access to your class. With Blackboard students can see course content such as notes, links to articles, assignments, quizzes and tests. It also has communication tools such as email, live chat and a discussion board. Some online classes even incorporate blogs and wikis. Below are video tutorials and instructions for how to use some of these tools.

What Blackboard Is Not

Blackboard is not the official communication system of TWU. The Pioneer Portal is. You must use the Portal to register for your courses, see your official schedule and see your final grades. Pioneer Portal, rather than Blackboard is also the tool you will use to send and receive university emails. If you would like to forward your Portal email to a personal account you can do that from the Pioneer Portal home screen. Log-in to Pioneer Portal and under Important Links, "Forwarding" will be listed under the Email heading.

How to Access Blackboard and your Online Courses

The URL for the Blackboard Log-in page is http://online.twu.edu. You can also find a link to it in the upper, right-hand corner of any page on the TWU website, as well as at the lower, left-hand side of the TWU Homepage. Next, on the log-in page, you will enter your Pioneer Portal UserName and Password in the log-in fields.

Once you are logged-in you will see the courses you are enrolled in listed in the My Courses module on the Blackboard home page and on the Courses tab.

To enter the course, click on the course link. Professors have to make the course available in order for you to enter it. They should do this no later than the first day of class; however, some will make the course available a day or two before classes start. Don't panic if you can't get into your course when you first see it listed, and certainly contact the professor if he or she hasn't made the course available by the first day of classes.

An Important Note About Your Privacy in Blackboard

Please note that your access to specific pages in Blackboard is recorded on an individual basis, and course instructors can view these individual access statistics.

Blackboard Sample Course

Would you like to see what a Blackboard course looks like? Visit the Blackboard Sample Course. Use the word "online" as both the username and password. This will give you a sample of what an online course could look like. Please keep in mind that every course looks a little different based on the preferences and set-up of the professor.

Blackboard Video Demos

Below are some video demonstrations of important aspects of Blackboard. This is information you will need to know in order to successfully navigate and communicate within Blackboard. Interaction is so important in the online classroom, so become familiar with these tools and concepts so that you can interact to the fullest! Each video can be paused. Or, if you prefer to read about the features of Blackboard, read the Blackboard 9 Student Help Index.

Logging-In (2:49)

Navigation Tabs (4:26)

Entry Page Options (2:36)

Assignment Feature (2:02)

Emails in Blackboard (1:20)

The Tools Module (4:53)