Submitting Tests and Assignments in Blackboard

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Starting in late January 2013, some students experienced problems when submitting tests or assignments in Blackboard. After investigation, it was determined that recently applied Blackboard security updates altered existing functionality of the Text Editor.

This means that students who turned their Text Editor OFF are unable to submit assignments or tests.

What to do?

Simple. Don't turn the Text Editor OFF.

The Text Editor tool can be toggled on and off in an Assignment. Noticed the circled buttons.

Assignment: Text Editor - ON

On an Assignment screen, the Text Editor is ON.

Assignment: Text Editor - OFF

On an Assignment screen, the Text Editor is OFF.

What students don't realize is that toggling this option (ON or OFF) in one course affects all courses and course areas in a student's account. For example, if you turn the Text Editor to OFF for an Assignment in Course A, you will find that it is also turned OFF in a Test in Course B. With the Text Editor OFF, students cannot submit assignments or tests that contain essay questions.

Additionally, while students can easy toggle the Text Editor ON or OFF in the Assignments area, there is no way to turn it on or off in a Test. In the two screen shots below, notice there is no Text Editor button available in a Test:

Test: Text Editor - ON

View of a text box in a Test. The text editor is ON, but there is no button to toggle the editor ON or OFF.

Test: Text Editor - OFF

View of a text box in a Test. The text editor is OFF, and the screen looks different, but there is no button to toggle the editor back ON.

Before taking a Test with essay questions, be sure that the Text Editor is ON. You can verify the setting in a few places:

On the My Institution tab, select Personal Information from the Tools module. Click Change Personal Settings and make sure the Text Editor settings in Section 1 is On.

Open an Assignment that has not been completed. If the Text Editor is OFF, toggle it ON. Do NOT submit the assignment. Click Cancel. The Text Editor will remain ON.

Open a Discussion thread. Click Reply. If the Text Editor is OFF, toggle it ON. Do NOT submit the reply. Click Cancel. The Text Editor will remain ON.

For now, the best advice is don't turn the Text Editor OFF.