Blackboard: Paste from Word Mashup

Have you ever been asked to submit an answer to a question using Blackboard's large text box? It is easy to type in the box directly, but many times you may want to compose in a word processing application like Microsoft Word first. Or you may find a quote from an article on the Internet and want to paste it in the text box.

Please don't.

Instead, use the Paste from Word mashup tool. The mashup tool converts the pasted text to standards-based HTML that Blackboard is able to use. If you directly copy and paste text from outside Blackboard, you may not be able to submit homework assignments or complete tests with essay questions.

Here's how to Paste from Word

Copy the information that you want to use. Go to Blackboard and open the assignment or exam question. Instead of pasting your Word content directly into the large text box, you will first open the Paste from Word mashup tool in the Blackboard textbox editor.

For Assignments, the last button in the second row of the textbox editor contains the Paste From Word mashup.

For Essay Exams, you may only see one row of tools in the large text box and can't see the Paste from Word mashup. You will need to display the row where it appears. Click the black triangle to show the second row.

 

Then choose Paste from Word from the menu.

NOTE: With either Exams or Assignments, the Text Editor must be ON.

Once you have clicked Paste from Word, paste your text from MS Word (or other application) into the window that opens.

Click Submit.

While you may not notice any difference, the extraneous code has been removed behind the scenes and you have saved yourself from possible problems.

For more information

• Watch Paste directly from MS Word into Blackboard VS. using the Paste from Word mashup (1:44 minutes - no audio)