Online Learning and technology tools and consulting services, includes Blackboard, Medial, Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor.
As of January 2025, the Medial building block integration in Blackboard has been officially retired as part of a mandatory system wide update initiated by Blackboard. Existing Medial videos added via the mashup tool are no longer functional and redirect users back to the course dashboard when clicked. To ensure your video content remains accessible, you will need to manually re-embed videos into your Blackboard courses using embed codes from the Medial platform.
VoiceThread's LTI 1.3 integration only performs a course copy once, when a VT link is first clicked in a new Blackboard shell. Any VoiceThread links added after that point — even if copied from another course — won’t carry over or function correctly. This affects all VT links created using Build Content → VoiceThread, including assignments and non-graded links. To prevent issues, rebuild VT links in each new course shell after copying.
CCRI is upgrading Medial to v9.1 on Wed 1/14/26 at 7:00 AM. New recordings will auto-caption automatically (captions can be edited). Existing videos won’t auto-caption—faculty must use Request Captioning, which now triggers auto-captioning (no admin approval). The recorder is now web-only by default; AI/quiz features are included with vendor docs linked.
Blackboard has recently changed how merged courses handle availability and course dates. As a result, students and instructors may see missing or closed courses after a merge even when enrollment is correct. This article explains how merged courses work, what changed, and what faculty need to do to ensure student access.
This guide shows CCRI faculty how to record a lecture in Medial using the browser-based (web) recorder—including selecting screen/webcam options, granting mic/camera permissions, finishing and uploading the recording, and locating/editing captions before sharing or embedding the video in Blackboard.
Add a Manual Column in the Blackboard Grade Center
Add a Tool Link to the Course Menu
Faculty can now easily link or embed research guides from the CCRI Library’s LibGuides system directly in their Blackboard courses.
Add Users to Your Blackboard Course
Archiving and Downloading Your Course
Blackboard - Students FAQs Tests and Exams
This article outlines the manual Blackboard course merge request process, required CRN information, and limitations of the Banner–Blackboard integration.
How to login to your blackboard account.
Blackboard Service Status
This article highlights the Student Preview feature in Blackboard, allowing instructors to experience the course as students. Instructors can use this feature for testing, grade center evaluation, previewing group activities, and checking content availability. The article provides step-by-step guidance on accessing, using, and exiting the Student Preview mode, offering flexibility in retaining or removing the preview account from the course.
Blackboard provides a variety of short video tutorials... these videos are organized by topic into playlists on YouTube.
Access Blackboard on Your Smart Phone
Your personal information in Blackboard is based on the information you provide to the college
CCRI has completed the migration from the legacy Cengage Building Block (B2) tool to the new Cengage LTI 1.3 Advantage integration in Blackboard, in response to Blackboard's mandatory B2 deprecation by June 2025. This updated integration offers enhanced security, improved grade syncing, and a more reliable connection between Cengage content and Blackboard. Faculty teaching Summer 2025 and beyond must now use the Cengage Content LTI 1.3 tool under the Build Content menu to deploy new links.
Change the Course Entry Page of your Blackboard Course
Steps to check/monitor Blackboard course quotas
Copy a Course in Blackboard
This guide provides updated instructions for using Microsoft Stream to record, edit, and share lecture videos at CCRI. It includes new AI-driven editing features, detailed steps for ensuring student access across separate Microsoft tenants, and instructions for posting videos in Blackboard using either a direct link or embed code.
Creating a Collaborate Session in Blackboard
Creating a Content Area & Uploading a File in Blackboard
This article explains how to create narrated PowerPoint presentations in VoiceThread by uploading slides (preferably as PDFs) and recording audio directly within the platform slide by slide using the comment tool. It also includes tips, tool comparisons, and support resources.
Creating Audio and Video Feedback in Blackboard
Learn how to quickly create Blackboard Ultra tests by uploading questions from a Word document using Ultra’s built-in tools—without using Respondus Test Generator. This method is faster, fully supported, and ideal for time-sensitive situations.
Download Respondus LockDown Browser
Export/Import a Single Test Into Your Blackboard Course
Exporting and Downloading Your Course
Course menus in some courses are not visible. This is due to the background color defaulting to white with white text. Here is a workaround. Instructors can apply the workaround to any of their courses that are affected.
Grading Assignments in blackboard
Hide/Show Columns in the Blackboard Grade Center
Hide/Show Users in the Blackboard Grade Center
How to make your course available to students ?
How do I enable pop-up windows in my browser for Blackboard to work properly?
How can I get help with Blackboard?
Your Blackboard username and password are the same as your MyCCRI username and password.
How to view your grades in Blackboard
Currently the integrated Starfish link in Blackboard is not functioning. A work-around to this is to use the Starfish link located on www.ccri.edu under Login OR Faculty can manually add the Starfish link to their Blackboard course.
How to remove addresses from your email's auto-complete list. This issue is known to cause the 'do-not-reply' error message. This can occur when the first email received from a instructor is sent from Blackboard. What this does is cache the do-not-reply email for the instructor whenever an email is sent to them.
Send an Email from Blackboard
Can't log into Blackboard
Blackboard Student Course Enrollment:
Blackboard student previous semesters
Blackboard - Students FAQs Blackboard Navigation
Joining a Collaborate Session via a Guest Link
Last Course Access in Blackboard - If you want to see when the last time your students have accessed your course.
MacMillan Support Resouces
Making your course available to your students in Blackboard
Managing your course files in your Blackboard course
The integration of Blackboard with McGraw Hill Connect® and McGraw Hill GO has been updated to include a single access point. For the upcoming term, instructors will encounter a new landing page with various McGraw Hill platforms when course sections are created. It is advised to exclude previous McGraw Hill items during the course copy process for the new term. Instructors should contact their McGraw Hill representative to learn how to prevent copying old McGraw Hill items into the new course
Technical Support Contact for McGraw Hill
Navigating Your Blackboard Course
Pearson's Support Center for Blackboard Integration with MyLab/Modified Mastering - Student
Preparing an Exam for Use with Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor
Banner to Blackboard uploads run every three hours, 24/7. Allow up to 24 hours for your account to be updated and your course to be available.
Reorder Columns in the Blackboard Grade Center
How to request a preferred first name
Respondus Monitor Quick Start Guide
Respondus Monitor builds upon the power of LockDown Browser, using a student’s webcam and industry-leading video analytics to prevent cheating during non-proctored exams. It’s the most cost-effective, scalable, and student-friendly system for online proctoring.
Sage Vantage is an LTI 1.3–integrated publisher platform available in Blackboard that provides interactive e-textbooks, auto-graded assignments, multimedia learning activities, and grade passback. Faculty can use Sage Vantage through single sign-on and deep linking from their course content. For setup and troubleshooting, faculty should follow the Sage deep-linking guide and contact Sage Technical Support as needed.
Some students will require accommodations for extended time on Blackboard assessments. There are various ways to meet such accommodations in Blackboard assessments by configuring extra time in test option settings.
This article explains how instructors can temporarily reopen an unavailable Blackboard Original course to allow a student to complete an Incomplete, including limiting course access to that student and extending assignment access using Adaptive Release.
The article helps CCRI faculty use Microsoft Stream for storing and sharing existing, pre-recorded lecture videos with students in the Blackboard. By leveraging OneDrive + Stream, and setting proper student view permissions, faculty can ensure secure student access, automatic captioning, and WCAG 2.1 compliance while simplifying Blackboard integration.
Using Your Phone for Audio in Collaborate
Why am I getting an error message when trying to attach a file to an assignment in Blackboard?
Overview of CCRI’s review process for third-party Blackboard tools to ensure instructional value, security, and compliance.
CCRI has launched a new integration with OpenStax Assignable, allowing instructors to link OpenStax textbook content, practice questions, and assignments directly in Blackboard. This tool supports grade syncing and assignment creation within supported OpenStax textbooks. This article provides an overview, setup instructions, and key resources to help faculty get started.