Blackboard is a LMS that permits teachers to release announcements to the entire class. In the Southern Connecticut State University instance of Blackboard, those announcements are sent as an email. However, because the email comes from a Blackboard-generated address, many student email browsers send the email to the junk folder. Alternatively, the email gets buried in the inbox.
Purpose:
SCSU Students should prioritize these announcements to increase their course success. These instructions will help SCSU students ensure the email goes to the inbox and set a level of high importance to the email.
The following instructions use pictures from the Outlook email browser.
Create a Rule
1. Whether in the Outlook application or the Outlook email browser, select an email announcement from Blackboard. If the email is not in the inbox then students need to search the junk folder.
NOTE: Blackboard sends announcements to the email registered with SCSU. Students can change their registered email in the SCSU Banner system.
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2. Locate the "..." button to open a drop down menu of extra email options.
3. Click on the Create Rule option in the drop down menu.
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This is the interface screen to create rules. Microsoft Office browser anticipates the rules you want to set up automatically.
4. To reduce the instructions for a rule, delete any automated rules, with the exception of it includes these words in the subject.
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5. Click on the link: ENG-304-S70-Summer_2018: mid-week 1 update.
This link happens to be the subject line for the email I selected for these instructions. The words before the colon are standard, whereas the words after the colon always match whatever heading is in the email.
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Because the words after the colon are not standard, only the standard words should be included in the rule.
6. Click on the pencil icon to Edit the words for the rule.
7. Delete the words after the colon so that all that is left is ENG-304-S70-Summer_2018.
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7. With the words edited to match the standard words in Blackboard announcements, click the OK button.
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This rule will send all messages with the specified subject words to the inbox.
8. To send the announcements to the inbox, look further down on the interface and select Move the message to folder if it is not already automatically selected.
9. Click Select one to select the inbox as the destination location.
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10. Microsoft Office highlights the inbox by default. If it is not highlighted, then click on the Inbox.
11. Click OK.
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In addition to moving the message to the inbox, the rule can also instruct the email browser to mark the email with greater importance. This will make it easy to identify announcements in the inbox.
12. Click Add action.
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13. Open the drop down menu.
14. Click on Mark the message.
15. Click with importance.
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A dialog box will open.
16. Select High from the drop down menu.
17. Click OK.
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The settings are ready on the interface screen. At the top of the screen is the final step.
18. Click OK.
The rule is now set up.
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WARNING!
Students should not opt to unsubscribe from the Blackboard announcements. The option is located at the bottom of all Blackboard announcement emails.
Do not unsubscribe.
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If students unsubscribe, Microsoft Office will create a block.
To reverse an unsubscribe, students will have to use their Microsoft email browser because the block is not registered with Blackboard.
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1. Click on the gear icon.
2. Click on the Mail option under the Your app settings heading.
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3. Click on Block or Allow.
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4. Click on the trashcan to delete the Blackboard announcement email from the Blocked Senders.
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All instructions and documentation written by:
Dr. Jason Lawrence, M.S., Ph.D.
Theory and Practice of Professional Communication
Artificial Intelligence writers, Internal Documentation, and Emergent Texts
Visit my Official Blog or my Web Page.
