How to use the VCCS Student System

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 7 How to use the VCCS Student System How to Access your 1. Log onto Blackboard. 2. Click on the Student Connect tab. 3. Click on the View My link. 4. Your login name is your Blackboard login name, plus the For example: jdoe1234@ .vccs.edu (Don t forget to put in the number.) 5. Your password is your six digit birthday, just as in Blackboard (Note: For security reasons, you should change this password as soon as possible. See the instructions at the end of this lesson for changing your Blackboard/Student password). 6. You will see a listing of messages, with a box in front of each message. To read a message, click on what is highlighted in blue under Subject (See visual below). 7. To return to your inbox after reading a message, click the Inbox link. 8. To check for new , click the Check Mail link. 9. To exit Student , click on the Logout link. (Note: Always remember to Logout of Student when you are finished reading and sending messages).

2 Page 2 of 7 How to Reply to Messages 1. To reply to a message, click the Reply link in the message you are reading (See visual below). 2. A compose message screen will appear (see visual below). Note that the original message will appear below the area where you will compose your reply and that the To and Subject lines will be filled in for you automatically. 3. Compose your reply in the space indicated. 4. Always check your spelling before sending messages by clicking the Spelling button (See instructions for using the Check Spelling function later in this lesson). 5. Click the Send button to send the reply you have composed.

3 Page 3 of 7 How to Compose New Messages 1. From your Inbox, Click the Compose link (See Visual below). 2. A compose message screen will appear (see visual below). 3. Type the recipient s address in the To field. 4. Always type the subject of the in the Subject field. Do not leave this field blank. If you are sending a message to your instructor about a class, clearly indicate what the message is about. Messages with blank subject lines are often deleted. 5. Always include your name and the college class your message refers to at the end of your message. Remember that your instructors have many students and classes to keep track of. Your instructor needs to know who is sending the message and may not be able to tell that from your address. 6. Click the Spelling button to check your spelling before sending your message. 7. Click the Send button to send your message.

4 Page 4 of 7 How to Remove Messages from your Inbox To remove a message, click on the box in front of the message and click on Delete (See visual below). How to Use the Spelling Check feature College instructors will expect you to compose clear and correctly spelled messages. Always check your spelling in messages before you click the Send button. 1. Click the Spelling button at the top of the Compose Message window. 2. The check spelling feature will scan your message for possible misspellings. If any are found, a new window will appear (See visual below). 3. Misspelled words will be highlighted in red in your message and will appear next to the Check Word field. 4. The check spell feature will make a correct spelling suggestion beside the word Suggestions: 5. If the suggested spelling is not the correct word, click the arrow beside the suggested word to see more suggestions. 6. Click on the correct spelling suggestion.

5 Page 5 of 7 7. Click the Accept button to accept the suggestion. The Spelling feature will then replace your misspelled word with the correct spelling and will continue to scan your messages for more misspellings. 8. Click the Done button to complete the check spelling function and return to your message (See figure 7 on previous page). If the Spelling function does not make any correct spelling suggestions or offers no suggestions, you can type a correct spelling in the Spelling feature by following these instructions. 1. Type the correct spelling of the word in the field next to Replace With: 2. Click the Replace button. 3. Click the Done button when you have completed checking your spelling to return to your message. How to Add a Signature to your Messages You should always include your name and the college class your message refers to at the end of your message. You can set a preference in the student system so that your signature will appear automatically on all messages sent. To automatically include your signature in all your messages, follow these instructions. 1. Click the Preferences link in the blue field on the left of Student Type your name in the Signature field (See visual next page). 3. Click the in the Yes check box.

6 Page 6 of 7 4. Click the OK button at the bottom of the preferences window. How to Create Folders to Save your Messages It is always a good idea to save messages that your instructors send to you so that you can refer to them later if necessary. However, leaving these messages in your Inbox will clutter your inbox and make it more difficult to keep track of your messages. To create folders for storing your messages, follow these instructions. 1. Click the Folders link in the blue field on the left of Student A list of your current folders will appear (See visual to right). 3. Type the name of the new folder you wish to add in the field beside Folder: Note: Create folders for all the classes you are taking this semester. 4. Click the Add button. 5. Click the Inbox link in the blue field on the left to return to your Inbox.

7 Page 7 of 7 How to Move Messages to your Folders 1. From the inbox, click the check box(es) beside the message(s) you want to move to a folder (See visual below). 2. Click the arrow beside the folder field to view your folder options. (Note: Inbox is the default option. You will need to change this to move a message out of your inbox.) 3. Click on the correct folder to select it. 4. Click the Move button to move the message to the selected folder. Always remember to Logout of Student when you are finished using it. How to Change your Blackboard/Student Password 1. Go to the Blackboard Login screen. 2. Click the link go to the Change Password page 3. Login with your user name and current password. 4. Follow the on-screen instructions. (Note: your password must be 6-10 characters. Change it to something that you can remember easily.) Developers: Rhoda Bliese Jim Burns September 2005