Welcome to the self-guided Orientation to Online Learning. You will be using Blackboard, which is the online course tool used at NTC to put courses or portions of courses online. A course that has an online component but still meets face to face is called a web-enhanced course. Online courses are those that are fully online with no face-to-face meetings.

As a student in an online course, you will use Blackboard to access course information, instructor policies, and learning plans. Depending on the particular course and instructor, you may also submit documents, participate in class discussion, or use other features of Blackboard. Most of the courses at NTC that use Blackboard will have a similar look as the Orientation to Online Learning.

You might want to print this page for reference information for logging in to the orientation as well as important information about the "My Institution" page that will be helpful as you begin the orientation.

Let's get started with Blackboard!

Logging Into Blackboard
NTC courses in Blackboard are password-protected—that is, only those individuals who have been given access by NTC will be able to enter and participate in a course. For your regular online course, your instructor will e-mail you information and access directions on or shortly before the start date of your course. For the orientation, a generic username and password has been set up. To enter the orientation course, use the following information just as it appears here (all lowercase):

Username: ntclearner

Password: password

Follow the steps below to login to Blackboard:

1. Access the Blackboard login page at http://elearn.ntc.edu.
2. Click the Login button.
3. Enter your Username and Password as described above; click Login. (NOTE: If you have problems accessing Blackboard, repeat the login process, taking special care to make sure you are entering the correct username and password as specified above. If you continue to experience problems, use the link below to send an e-mail to the orientation facilitator.)
4. You will be on a page called "My Institution."

"My Institution"
Whenever you login to Blackboard, the "My Institution" page will be the first screen you see. The screen is customized according to your login information. Notice that four of the boxes begin with "My" - My Announcements, My Calendar, My Courses, and My Tasks. We'll talk a little more about them later.

First, notice the Tools section on the left side. The only links you might use in this section are "My Grades" and "Personal Information." "My Grades" will give you access to your grades for each of the courses you are taking in Blackboard (providing your instructor is using the grading component of Blackboard). "Personal Information" is where you can change your password or update your e-mail address once you start accessing your regular courses. Please do not change any personal information when you log in to do the orientation. This causes problems for other learners taking the orientation. "Announcements," "Calendar," and "Tasks" take you to the same place as "more" in the "My" boxes. The remaining links only will work depending on the setup of the computer you are using to access the course.

Let's take a look at the "My" boxes:

"My Announcements" - This box will show you any collegewide announcements put in by the system administrator such as advanced notice of technical issues like scheduled downtime for system maintenance. The box will also show you announcements from any of the courses in which you are enrolled.

"My Calendar" - This box shows any calendar entries pertaining to NTC as a whole and any calendar entries put in your courses by the instructor. In addition, you can customize this calendar for yourself by clicking on the "more" link and then clicking "Add Event." The items you add to the calendar are visible only to you.

"My Tasks" - This area works the same as the Calendar. You can also add your own tasks that are visible just to you.

The last area to look at is the "My Courses" area. When you are given access to the online course(s) in which you are enrolled, the link will appear here. In Blackboard, you can now click on the link to access the Orientation to Online Learning.

If you have questions or need assistance as you work through the orientation, please contact the NTC Student Help Desk via e-mail at studenthelpdesk@ntc.edu or call 715-675-3331 or 1-888-682-7144, Ext. 1660.