Ask Dr. Online

Recently there have been several well-publicized security vulnerabilities associated with the Java browser plug-in. These vulnerabilities have all revolved around bypassing Java security mechanisms designed to restrict what “unsigned” applets or applications are able to do.

It is important to note that in these cases, Blackboard Collaborate applications themselves were not vulnerable to security threats. However, users who had Java enabled in their browser and browsed malicious websites, were.

Blackboard Collaborate recommends that all Mac OS X users should stay up-to-date with the latest versions of Mac OS X and Java in order to continue to access Blackboard Collaborate services. Although Apple blocked older versions of Java due to security concerns, the latest versions of Java have corrected the concerns and are no longer blocked by Apple. In addition to security benefits, users on the latest versions of Mac OS X and Java will be able to launch web conferencing sessions.

Web conferencing users with the latest version of Java may have difficulty quitting the web conferencing application. Users can use Force Quit. For more information on how to Force Quit an application please review Knowledge Base Article 2788.

This issue was caused by an Apple update on 1/31/2013. This issue will prevent users from opening any Java based application including Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing, SAS, Blackboard Collaborate Voice Authoring, and Wimba Classroom. Oracle Java has since released an update to resolve this issue.

Solution: Users running Java version 6 or Java version 7 update 11 and below:

Users should update their Java version to the latest version of Java 7 available at http://java.com. From the java.com website, install Java 7 update 13

Users running Mac OS 10.7.2 or lower:

Users can install a Java release provided by Apple. From the Apple menu, select Software Update… When prompted, install Java Update 12 (1.6.0_39).

Additional Notes:

After installing the most recent Java updates, Blackboard Collaborate has identified issues with Web Conferencing closing properly. Blackboard Collaborate is currently investigating this issue. If users are unable to exit properly from Web Conferencing sessions, they should force quit their application.

If you have any questions, please give me, Cheryl Thompson, Kelly Restad, or Patti Heisler a call.

Randy Wald, Learning Technologies Specialist

Advanced Learning Technologies, North Dakota University System

Fargo: 701-231-6223, Grand Forks: 701-777-2053

randy.wald@ndus.edu

What to update your Java, see the attached PDF on updating to Java 7, version 11.  JAVA Security Update PDF

Blackboard Collaborate Support is recommending that users update their version of Java to address potential security risk with the Java 1.7 release:  http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index-jsp-138363.html (Java SE 7u11 for Java 7 users and Java SE 6u38 for Java 6 users).

Bb is doing server maintenance today, Thursday, January 31, 2013 at noon CST.  Plan accordingly.

Online Programs Among Best

The U.S. News &World Report announced Jan. 15 Minot State University’s College of Business online graduate programs and MSU undergraduate online programs rank among the country’s best online education programs. Recognizing the growing significance of online education in the university experience and the unique, numerous factors involved in making online degree programs successful, U.S. News released its annual “Top Online Education Programs” rankings.

Among universities reporting their graduate business program practices, the CoB’s online Master of Science in management and Master of Science in information systems ranked sixth in the nation (86.8 points) for “Student Services and Technology.” They also ranked 25th (82.3 points) for “Admissions Selectivity,” 47th (68.8 points) for “Faculty Credentials and Training” and 57th (61.4 points) for “Student Engagement and Accreditation.”

“Online delivery of our graduate programs is important to the College of Business. We are thrilled to rank so well among our national peers. Our faculty have been committed to online education for over a decade, and our best feedback comes from our students. It’s very gratifying, however, to see that we compare well with other universities,” said JoAnn Linrud,

College of Business dean. “MSU’s Center for Extended Learning and instructional technology staff are incredibly dedicated to making online education work for our students.” For the overall performance of its online undergraduate programs, MSU ranked 17th (65.0 points) for “Student Engagement and Assessment” and 41^st (76.8 points) for “Student Services and Technology.” MSU’s online bachelor’s degree programs include management, management information systems,  marketing, international business, nursing for registered nurses, general studies, applied management and applied business information technology.

According to Linrud, about 16 percent of CoB students take their major business program completely online, while approximately 80 percent take at least one course online. “When you consider that a majority of our students take some portion of their programs online, we strive to make courses available to them and pay attention to their needs. Our high rankings are attributable to our dedicated faculty and staff. As a pioneer in online education, MSU has fine-tuned its offerings and procedures,” Linrud said.

U.S. News ranked online bachelor’s degree programs and online master’s degree programs in business, engineering, nursing, education and computer information technology. Programs needed to have at least 80 percent of their course content available online. For questions, contact Linrud at 858-3110 or joann.linrud@minotstateu.edu.

Over the weekend apple disabled all java on mac’s due to the recent exploit found in java as reported by the federal government. So unless your computer has a newer version than java 7 update 10, it will not work with Respondus. Today oracle released Java 7 Update 11 which fixes the exploit and turns back on the java browser plugin on macs.

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/14/oracle-updates-java-7-to-address-security-vulnerability/

If your MSU Online courses have a requirement for using the Respondus Lockdown Browser for assessments, select the Minot State University BB Learn 9 option in the Select Server dropdown menu when it appears.

The Blackboard Learn server shut down at 8:40am CST for approximately 13 minutes on Tuesday, January 8. We apologize for the inconvenience.

 If your using a Mac computer and your online or blended course contains PDF, you must download the Adobe Reader for Mac.  The regular Adobe Reader download will NOT work on a Mac.  If you are using a Mobile device, there is a separate download availabe for those devices as well.