LearnUCS Module Issue: Broken Links

We have become aware of an issue with a link that is present in all 2014/15 module areas in LearnUCS.

When a user clicks on the "Assignment Toolkit" link they are presented with an error page.

The issue is being looked at currently, in the mean time it is possible to access the Assignment Toolkit directly with the following link.

• Assignment Toolkit

Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused, the Elevate Team will update this blog as soon as it knows more.

LearnUCS and Java 7 Issues - Update

We have heard back from Blackboard, they are currently working on a patch to solve the Java 7 issues.

We will update once the patch has been installed.

LearnUCS and Java 7 Issues

We have become aware of an issue in LearnUCS that is causing issues with certain tool functionality.

The tools are:

• Multiple Files Upload
• Virtual Classroom

The issue concerns the use of Java, which is a software plugin that allows additional features to run in the browser.

Sun Microsystem has recently released an upgrade to Java, this update, "Java 7" now has additional security features as previous Java implementations have had security issues.  Java 7 now requires the websites that use it to have additional code to confirm that it is safe to run.

We believe that Blackboard are due to release a patch for the LearnUCS system to enable Java 7 to confirm the security checks soon.

The tools mentioned above still work if you have not upgraded your Java software from version 6.

We will update here once we here back from Blackboard.

LearnUCS SafeAssign - "Not Logged In" Error

We have received a few reports that staff are getting an error message when trying to access SafeAssign Reports.

SafeAssign is returning a "Not Logged In" error.  We believe this is due to local Cookie issues on some networked computer when using Internet Explorer.

Our advice is to use a different browser when accessing LearnUCS, networked computers will have either Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome installed as an alternative.

Blackboard Issues (16th Dec) Update 1

Following up from the earlier issues:

Resolved

• Inline Grading - Staff - The tool is now functioning as expected
• Text Box Editor - The tool is now functioning as expected

Testing

• Inline Grading - Students - We are continuing testing submissions

Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.  We will update when we know a timeframe.

If you have any questions, please email the Elevate Team (elevate@ucs.ac.uk)

Blackboard Issues (16th Dec): Update

We are aware people may be encountering a few issues with inline grading (assessments) and text edit boxes. We are sorting through the issues and starting discussions with Blackboard. We will rectify the situation in as quick as possible.

Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. I will update when we know a timeframe.

If you have any questions, please email the Elevate Team (elevate@ucs.ac.uk)

LearnUCS - Issue with accessing modules for some lecturers

The Elevate team have become aware of an issue for staff who are enrolled on more than 99 module/course areas.

The "My Modules" box can not display all areas and offers access via the Course Catalogue, unfortunately there is a software bug that prevents the Course Catalogue giving access to the remaining areas.

Below is the message we have received from Blackboard:

Our Product Development organization has verified this issue as a software defect. The next step in our process is to determine the target release for fixing this bug. Depending on the severity of this issue, it could take up to 30 days for us to make a determination. We will follow up with another email to let you know our plans for including the fix in an upcoming service pack.

Basically, the "My Courses" module no longer shows more than 99 courses and refers users to the course catalog to search for the courses.

Tier 3 are working on this problem at this moment. I have linked this case to the BUG report so you can receive updates about it as soon as they are available.

If you are enrolled over 99 modules and experience this problem, the Elevate team are able to run an internal work-around by removing any unwanted modules.  Too many modules become unmanageable and a number of staff will have hidden these modules and may have forgotten they have access.

The Elevate team will be looking at batch disabling the 2010/11 modules this week, which will hopefully help alleviate the issue.

We apologise for this inconvenience and will update once we hear from Blackboard.

Issue with long file names and uploading assignments in LearnUCS.

A recent issue has been raised when a student uploads a file into an assignment area with a file which has a very long file name on LearnUCS.

In uploading a file with a large file name a large red error will occur. The file does end up submitting, however lecturers can't view or do anything with the file. If this has happened to you, please contact your course admin team.

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Here is a bad example for a file name to upload:

This is my assignment for - the research i did for a certain topic including works by other authors and contributors - this is some more example text to show the length of the filename.doc

Here is a good example for a file name to upload:

Short Assignment Name.doc

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This is also affecting students retrieving feedback, but only for those who have uploaded previously long file names before the LearnUCS upgrade. If you are having issues viewing your feedback please contact your course admin team.

This has been raised with BlackBoard and we will be working with them for a solution.

Apologies for any inconvenience.