Overview

Blackboard IM (Instant Messenger) is the College's official instant messaging application and it is freely available to all New River CTC students and employees. But it is far more than just text-based instant messaging. It also provides a shared whiteboard, audio calls, video calls, and application sharing. Here is a 7-minute video tutorial that describes Blackboard IM:

http://www.brainshark.com/blackboardinc/vu?pi=zHpz19ZyItz35Sgz0

And there are other support documents available too:

http://www.blackboard.com/platforms/collaborate/services/on-demand-learning-center/enterprise-instant-messaging.aspx

To begin using Blackbord IM, you must receive an email invitation. These are created automatically and sent to your New River CTC inbox. If you haven't yet received one, please contact the Help Desk (304-929-6725). Course-based groups are automatically created to correspond with current course and enrollment information. We've also created a "course" in Blackboard as a group for all New River employees (Employees of New River) to facilitate communication among employees across all locations.

Usage Guidelines

Like other New River online services, access to Blackboard IM is a privilege that can be revoked. Compliance with New River's Computer Use Policy is required for continued access to Blackboard IM. Protection of one's own credentials and respect for others are fundamental expectations. Your Blackboard IM account, unlike other New River CTC services, is not "owned" by the College. This means that if you leave the College you may continue using your Blackboard IM account, but we will unenroll you from any New River groups to which you've belonged.

Administrator Information

The steps needed for creating a Blackboard IM account are as follows:

1. Steve Garlow creates the Active Directory username and New River email account.
2. Steve Garlow then updates SPAIDEN to include the New River email address and he marks it as Preferred.
3. Dr. Ayersman then updates SIAINST using the current term to indicate that the employee is Active.
4. Dr. Ayersman then verifies that GOATPAD has the correct 3rd party ID (it must match the Active Directory username).
5. Dr. Ayersman then runs ICGORODM to update Blackboard Learn with the new account information.
6. In Blackboard Learn, an administrator (Dr. Ayersman) must enroll the new user in the course titled Employees of New River.
7. An administrator must then login to blackboardim.com and update the synchronization between Blackboard Learn and Blackboard IM. This final step creates the Blackboard IM account and it can take about 25 minutes. Once this step is completed, the email invitation is automatically sent to the new user with directions for creating and activating the account. We recommend using the same username and password as you use for the portal so you can easily remember it. If you forget it, we can't reset it for you. We can only guide you to use the Forgot Password link on the Blackboard IM account page (http://blackboardim.com).

NOTE: It is important to realize that when you create your Blackboard IM account, that the password is not integrated with other New River online services. This means that you might have a separate password for Blackboard IM. Our support staff won't know your password and we can't reset it, but we can guide you to use the Forgot Password link on the blackboardim.com page.