You
will use the webcampus system throughout the semester to read
course material, send email, submit assignments, and engage in
threaded discussions with your classmates and instructor.
When
people at the university refer to webcampus, they are really talking
about a computer. This computer is running a "course management
software" package called Blackboard.
This
manual will use both the term "webcampus" and "Blackboard"
to refer to the same thing - the location of your course.
Accessing
your Course:
First,
you will need to connect to the Internet. After doing so, direct
your web browser to webcampus.fdu.edu.
When
the webcampus login screen appears, click on the "Login"
button. Enter your username and password. (Note - this
is identical to your FDU Webmail information. If you do not have
a webmail account, you will need to create one at webmail.fdu.edu.)
You
will first access the webcampus "portal page." Eventually,
you will be able to use this page to access a wide variety of
University resources - such as accessing the library services,
sending e-mail, and checking the University calendar.
Look
for the section on the portal page called "My Courses".
Click on the link for your course.
That's
it. You have now accessed your course's main page. From here,
you will be able to check the course announcements, readings,
assignments, discussions, and submit assignments.
Course
Navigation:
Students
will discover that all courses running in webcampus have similar
navigation. On the left-hand side of your screen, you will see
a column of navigational buttons that allow you to access different
areas of the course.
The
area on the right is where information will appear. For instance,
when you click on the "Announcements" button on the
left, then the instructors announcements will appear in the window
on the right.
Other
navigational buttons that might be available to you include:
- Course
Information
- Faculty
Information
- Course
Materials
- Assignments
- see "Self-Tests"
for more information
- Communication
- Discussion
Board
- Groups
- see "Working in Teams"
for more information
- External
Links
- Tools
