ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS 1B (AIS252S)
BLACKBOARD AND SOFTWARE GUIDE 2025
1. Using the Blackboard learner management system ............................................................................... 2
2. Using Office 365: Excel ........................................................................................................................... 8
3. How to install Office applications from your Office 365 account ......................................................... 12
4. How to master the outcomes of this subject via remote teaching and learning .................................. 13
1. Using the Blackboard learner management system
Access to the Blackboard learner management system requires the use of a web browser. It is recommended that
you use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to be able to optimally use Blackboard, particularly when writing an
online assessment. Both web browsers can be downloaded free of charge.
The following steps should be followed to access the relevant resources on Blackboard for this subject (note that the
design of the course content will be different for your respective subjects, and thus these guidelines will only apply
to this subject:
1.1. Launch your web browsing software.
1.2. Type myclassroom.cput.ac.za in the address bar and press enter.
1.3. The following login screen will appear. Select the student login option and log in with your CPUT email login
credentials.
1.4. Once logged in, you should see a list of subjects for which you are registered on Blackboard. Select the link
for the relevant subject to access the content.
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1.5. Within the subject link, the Course content area provides the following content links:
The General, Formal tests, Tutorials, Test memoranda, and Support services links are folders that can be
opened by clicking on the name of the folder. The following is an overview of what can be found within
each folder (Note that subfolders are also opened by clicking on the folder name):
General: Here you will find general documentation, including a Broken link report to provide feedback on
any faulty content within the module such as broken or unresponsive links, contact details of the lecturers
(Click on the picture to view the contact details), Important documentation including the Subject
guide, the Subject guide declaration link, the AIS 1B Blackboard & software guide, Student handbook, and
Faculty calendar. You will also find folders to access the Student evaluation survey, Assessment timetables
and Class timetables when these become available.
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Weblinks such as the survey link, broken link reporting, and the learner acknowledgement, will look like the
following:
Click on the link name to open it. The link will open in a new browser window.
Under this folder you can also access the Qwickly attendance tool, which your lecturer can use to take
attendance during a face-to-face lesson. A pin will be provided to you during the lesson:
Formal tests: The link to a formal test will be accessible under this folder at the start of your test time and
will become inactive at the end of your test time. All test files are accessible under this link and all test
submissions are made under this link. Test folders are only available during scheduled test times.
Tutorials: Resources that must be used for tutorial classes will be posted here. You can download the files
and use them in the tutorial.
Test memoranda: After a test is written the memorandum of that test can be accessed under this folder.
Mock test memoranda can also be accessed within this folder.
Support services: This folder can be used to access links to library resources, research support resources,
and student counselling videos.
1.6. Within the Course content area, you will find learning modules. A Learning module looks like the following:
Before consulting the content under the respective learning modules, it is important to first read the
Content schedule which will appear before the first learning module:
Click on the name of the document to determine which Blackboard content must be consulted within each
academic week, and the exercise due for submission in preparation for the next week.
NOTE: The content within a Learning module is presented in the
order that it must be addressed.
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The content that can be found within a Learning module is as follows:
A folder will look like the following:
A folder can contain notes or an exercise Question, Skeleton file and Memorandum. The memorandum only
becomes available at 16:00 on the Friday after the exercise is submitted.
A YouTube video or Weblink will looking like the following:
YouTube videos provide explanations relevant to the unit of learning and constitute the introductory
content that must be consulted at the beginning of the unit of learning. Helper videos are provided in cases
where a unit of learning requires the use of concepts not explicitly addressed under that unit of learning,
but which helps to achieve the outcomes of that unit of learning (for example using absolute and relative
cell referencing when using lookup and referencing functions). Click on a YouTube video link to view it. The
video will open in a new browser window.
An assignment link to submit an exercise will look like the following:
The due date of the exercise submission is stated below the assignment link, and you can obtain an
overview of all exercises due by consulting the Calendar tool.
There is an exercise that must be submitted by 23:59 each Sunday. An outline of the exercises due can also
be found in your subject guide and the Content schedule mentioned above.
To submit via the assignment link, click on the link name. The assignment will open to the right of the
Course content. Click on
You will be required to drag and drop a file for submission in the following area:
After uploading, you will be required to save the upload as follows:
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After the uploaded file loads fully, click on
Alternatively, you can save your upload and submit at a later stage by clicking on
If you want to go back to your upload, click on the assignment link again (provided that the due date has not
passed).
If you wish to remove the previous upload, click on the delete icon next to the file name:
Then, click on
A pre-recorded lesson video will look like the following:
These videos are a recording of the completion of a full exercise pitched at the assessment level. The
corresponding exercise question file, skeleton file and solution can be found below the recorded
lesson(s). Click on the video name to watch it. The length of the video will be displayed at the bottom-left of
the video window.
1.7. Above the Course content area to the left, you will see additional tool links as follows:
The module will always open the Content area by default. In order to view all homework due dates and test
dates, you can use the Calendar tool.
To view all announcements posted, click on the Announcements tool.
There are discussion threads created for each Unit of learning. To post a question about a specific unit of
learning, you can click on the Discussions tool. Then click on one of the topics listed as follows:
Click in the following area:
Type your question and submit using Respond:
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To view your progress marks, select the Gradebook link.
1.8. On the right of the Course content area, you will see the following tool links:
Use Attendance to view your attendance percentage to date.
Use Class collaborate to join an online lesson. A specific link will be created for your group by your class
lecturer. To access a specific lesson link, click on the drop-down arrow next to Join session, and select the
relevant lesson name:
To view online class recordings, click on the ellipses on the right of Class collaborate and click on View all
recordings:
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2. Using Office 365: Excel
2.1. Launch your web browsing software.
2.2. Type outlook.com in the address bar and press enter.
2.3. The following webpage will be displayed. Select sign in.
2.4. Type your CPUT email address as your username, and in the screen following this one, enter your password.
2.5. From your mailbox, locate the Outlook apps (applications) button.
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2.6. The following apps list will appear, select Excel.
2.7. The following window will appear. You will have to upload a file that you have download to your computer
from Blackboard. To do this, locate the Upload and open button on the bottom right of the screen. If you
are accessing a file that you already uploaded, locate the file from the Recent list at the bottom of the
window, and click on the title of the file to open it.
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2.8. The following dialogue box will appear. Use it to locate the file and select it. Click on open to upload.
2.9. The following message will appear to show that the file is uploading to Office 365.
2.10. The file will open in your browser, and you will gain access to MS Excel tools as you would while using a
locally installed program. To save the changes to your file and/ or to download a copy of the file, click on
the menu. File
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2.11. The following menu will appear. You can either save the copy online or choose to download a copy of the
file. If you intend to submit the file as an assignment submission, download a copy of the file to your
computer first. Upload the file to Blackboard as per the assignment submission instructions provided under
the Blackboard learner management system section of this guide.
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3. How to install Office applications from your Office 365 account
Should you want to install the MS Office applications on your personal computer, instead of using the web‐
based resources, perform the same steps outlined from the previous section from 2.1 to 2.4. After you have
accessed your Outlook mailbox according to these instructions, access the following link:
Click on the drop‐down option to install the Office applications:
For subsequent steps, watch the video on the following website:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/install-office-apps-from-office-365-dcf2d841-dac7-455b-9a77-
fc8f7ee92702
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4. How to master the outcomes of this subject via remote teaching and learning
The learning modules provided on Blackboard provides a systematic approach to a unit of learning. Follow the
suggested approach below to achieve the outcomes of the units of learning within this subject:
1. Read the Introductory description of the unit of learning to understand what the topic is about, and why it is
important for you to learn the content set out in the unit of learning.
2. Read the outcomes for the unit of learning to understand what is expected from you at the end of the unit of
learning. Knowing what is expected from you when starting a unit of learning will help you to focus on the
outcomes, what you are intended to achieve, and how this will be measured. You can find the outcomes in
your subject guide.
3. Work through the notes/ tutorials and videos of the unit of learning. These videos and notes provide the
introduction to the relevant concepts and integrate concepts that you have learned about. These resources
must be consulted in the order that they appear. Tutorials are hands-on activities that comprise of notes and
an activity that help you to understand a concept in a step-by-step manner. These will require you to download
the corresponding data files to perform the tutorial.
4. YouTube videos are provided as suggested additional reading/ watching. It is always good to obtain
information about a concept from more than one source. This will help you to assimilate the necessary
information for understanding the concepts better. Watch these videos to deepen your understanding of the
concepts. The notes provide a theoretical foundation for a concept. You will still be required to practically
apply the concepts by using MS Excel. The YouTube videos provide hands-on demonstrations of the concepts
that underpin a unit of learning. Watch each compulsory video before embarking on the exercises. It is like a
demonstration that would be performed in a class setting, but the scenarios used are not the same as your
exercises. If you understand how and why, you can transfer those skills to the exercises, thereby enabling
transferability of the skill from one context to another. The concepts can be applied in any problem or
scenario, provided you understand principally what it can be used for and the problems that these tools can
help you to solve.
5. Once you have watched all the compulsory videos, you must attempt all the exercises. For some exercises the
solutions are already available. Thus, when you try the exercise, compare your answer to the solution. This
constitutes a formative assessment where you have tried it out, consulted the exercise solution, and learned
where you went wrong, or whether you performed the work correctly. Where an exercise is required to be
submitted, your submission must be uploaded for the lecturer to evaluate. Subsequently, the lecturer will work
through the exercise that was required for submission in class.
6. Note all your questions that pertain to the notes, YouTube videos or exercises while working through the unit
of learning. You can post these questions on the discussion tool link. The lecturers will monitor the discussion
board for your questions. A student or a lecturer can post a response. A response can either be provided in a
written format, or a short screen capture video, depending on the most suitable way to address the question.
You can post a question at any point of the unit of learning.
7. All the units of learning will be assessed by means of a summative assessment. Consult the subject guide for
this subject on the planned summative assessment format, schedule, and other relevant information.
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