The 6.1 and 6.1.5 releases of Blackboard have introduced even more new features that make using the courseware more exciting than ever. Here is a partial list of the new features introduced in 6.1 and 6.1.5. If you missed any of the new features and functionality added in version 6 of the product please click here for a comprehensive list.

1 - What you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) HTML editor for IE users

For users of MS Internet Explorer on Windows, Blackboard now contains a WYSIWYG editor in content areas, discussion board postings, quizzes, and announcements. This WYSIWYG editor makes it easy to embed images, tables, and perform other advanced formatting directly in your blackboard site content and message postings. The tool itself can be enabled or disabled on the "My UIC" tab by clicking on the link labeled "Personal Information" and then clicking on the link labeled "Set Text Box Editor Options".

2 - Spell Checker

Blackboard 6.1 includes a button within content areas that will perform spell checks on any text that you input into text boxes. Works on all/most browsers.

3 - Quick Edit Mode

When logged in as an instructor you now have access to a "Quick Edit" link in the upper right hand corner of the main Blackboard display frame. This allows you to walk through your site and view content from the student perspective and quickly and easily modify any item via two clicks that take you into edit mode. Quick Edit mode is available when browsing any of the content items of your site by clicking on the text link labeled "Edit View" in the top right corner.

4 - Internal Messaging

Want to send your students class-related messages and keep a copy within Blackboard? Want to get rid of the horrible dropbox and receive homework submissions directly to you within Blackboard? Want to communicate better with your TAs, staff, and co-instructors? The new "internal messages" feature is just what the doctor ordered. It only allows sending to members of the current site (to avoid spamming), supports attachments and folders, and doesn't require any email accounts/clients/servers.

5 - Glossary of terms

A Glossary Manager has been added to the control panel that allows you to define a glossary of terms for your site. You can also export/import glossaries (and we will of course copy/preserve them between semesters). Students access the Glossary from their "Tools" menu.

6 - My Courses module now standard

The module "Courses: QuickView" on the "My UIC" page has been replaced in the default layout with the "My Courses" module. This one is customizable, so you can actually decide which courses you want to see (Note: customization is currently broken for courses in which you are TA). Of course you can still choose to use "Courses: QuickView" instead via the "Contents" and "Layout" buttons at top right of the "My UIC" page.

7 - Student Report Card

This new module on the "My UIC" page lets students see at one glance all their grade totals for all classes. Note that they may need to turn it on for themselves via the "Contents" and "Layout" buttons on the "My UIC" page.

8 - Library Resources

Each new course site now contains for easier access a menu entry linking to various resources offered by the UIC Library for teaching, study, and research. Please contact the library (or the ITL) for help with these. They include "Ask a Librarian", a realtime help system; "Refworks" online reference manager; "Docutek eRes", an e-Reserves module with copyright clearance managed for you by the library; Research Guides, and more.

9 - Better Course Copying Options

When copying courses, we can now better retain your existing setup. Gradebook columns are being preserved, as well as any forums and groups you may have. The forums will be empty, and groups won't have members yet, but at least you save the effort of re-creating the shells. We also copy the new glossary, of course.

10 - Improved Blackboard Quizzes

A number of changes have been made to improve the workflow of quizzes. These are not new to 6.1, but you may not have noticed them yet. These improvements include:

• A new availability option, "Force Completion", has been added. If this option is selected by the instructor students will be forced to complete the quiz after the first time they launch it. They will not be able to exit the quiz and work on it at a later date. The status of "Force Completion" will be displayed to students after logging in to the assessment.
• The status of "multiple attempts" is now displayed to students while they are taking the quiz.
• The "submit" and "save" buttons will now be displayed for assessments that have the "reveal questions all at once" option checked, as well as for "reveal questions one at a time".
• If a student leaves questions blank they will receive a warning message stating that those questions have not been answered after they click submit.
• Navigational arrows will now appear for quizzes set to display questions one at a time (unless backtracking is prohibited.)

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