Student Blackboard Information Page

Using Blackboard for the First Time

You can access the Hollins University Blackboard site at this address: https://hollins.blackboard.com

Your login credentials for Blackboard should be the same as your regular Hollins University username and password. If you are unable to login to Blackboard, please contact Brad Oechslin at boechslin@hollins.edu or (540)362-6020.

The following is meant to serve as a brief tutorial for using Blackboard for the first time. There are many functions and features of Blackboard that won't be shown, but the basic navigation of all your courses within Blackborad will be very similar to what is shown here.

Logging In:



This is what you should see when you go to https://hollins.blackboard.com. You will login with your regular Hollins University username and password.

Accessing Your Courses:

When you login to Blackboard, the first page you'll see is your home page. Here you can get a summary view of all the courses in which you are enrolled and also all of your course announcements and other quick links to materials within your courses can be accessed from this page.



A. Tools - this section allows you to view course announcements, grades, etc. You can also change your password in this menu by clicking on 'Personal Information'.

B. My Announcements - here you will see all recent announcements from all of your courses in one area.

C. My Courses - this is where you actually get into the courses in which you are enrolled. All courses will be shown in this menu. To view a course's site in Blackboard, simply click on the course name here. Please note, if you are enrolled in a course that isn't showing up here, you should contact your professor to make sure that they are using Blackboard for that course. Not all courses have a Blackboard component and Blackboard is not an official record of course enrollment.

The Course Site:

Each course has its own separate site within Blackboard. When you first enter a course you'll be on the course's home page.



A. Content Areas - this section of your course page contains most of the content for your course. This is where you will access the course documents that your instructors upload. These could include syllabi, recommended readings, discussion boards, etc. Each content area will be labled and you just click on an area to enter it and view the content.

B. Announcements - here you can view all announcements for the course you're viewing.

C. Calendar, etc. - this shows your calendar, if your instructor has set specific deadlines for assignments within Blackboard they will show up on your calendar here.