Web & Collaboration

Blackboard at GW is an online course management system based on the Blackboard Learning System. It enables users to access course syllabi, course-related materials, assignments, assessments and communication features provided by instructors. Blackboard at GW is an authenticated system, so GW community members can only gain access to the online content for courses for which they are registered.

To login to Blackboard, use your UserID and corresponding password. Please note that you will be able to log in to Blackboard approximately 24 hours after you first claim your GW Identity.

GW Information Technology Support Center is the first point of contact for Blackboard support. The IT Support Center is available Monday - Friday, 7:00am - 10:00pm by phone at 202-994-4948 and press option 2 or by email at [email protected]. You can also submit a web request support ticket. 

After hours, weekend and holiday support is also available through Blackboard Learn Support which can be contacted via the same number 202-994-4948 option 2 when the IT Support Center is closed. 

Access Blackboard

Resources
Blackboard FAQs
Blackboard Course Management  
Blackboard Workshops

GW Blogs is a WordPress-based, self-service platform available to current students to create websites or blogs for personal or course-related use.

Students wishing to use the service can immediately create an Unofficial Blog website by syncing your UserID to the platform. The website address will be blogs.gwu.edu/”yourUserID”

With GW Blogs you can:

• Set up a blog with a news feed and the ability for comments, or a traditional website with multiple static pages
• Manage your site via a web-based interface (no need for knowledge of HTML or FTP)
• Customize the layout of your homepage and interior pages via widgets
• Grant other users access to edit your site
• Use Wordpress plugins to extend your site’s functionality
• Choose from multiple template options in GW’s official color palette

Create your Unofficial Blog Website

Visit the GW Blogs Support section for detailed instructions about how to choose your theme and create web pages and blog posts.

GW Mobile provides instant access to information on key university resources from a web-enabled mobile device. The app is available for iOS, Android and Mobile Web. Students can use GW Mobile to find out course availability, schedules and instructor information, access campus maps, access GW directory services, read about university news, find campus shuttle information, access GW email and more. 

GW Mobile FAQs

Features

• Medical Portal
  Retrieve Clearance Badge, schedule Covid-19 appointments and view Covid-19 testing result. Upload and view vaccination card.

• Onward GW
  Find most up to date information on Return to Campus and the Classroom.

• Courses
  Find out course availability, schedules and instructor information. View your personal class schedule.

• Maps
  Locate emergency Blue Light locations, campus buildings, parking, shuttle stops, dining locations and more. Live GPS walking directions available.

• Library
  Search the library catalog, reserve a study room, renew borrowed items, ask questions, and more.

• Directory
  Search the GW Directory, call Directory Assistance or use the "Quick Contacts" feature to access university departments and services.

• GW Today
  Read GW's flagship publication with breaking news and in-depth articles about academic programs, research initiatives and the GW community.

• Schools
  View the most recent blogs, events, news and social networks from all of GW's schools.

• Shuttle
  Track the Vern Express and VSTC shuttle. View the Vern Express and VSTC news feed to find out about delays.

• Safe Ride
  Reserve Safe Ride pick-up and set notifications from your phone.

• GW Email
  Access your GW email account from anywhere. Easily use all of the Google apps, including Calendar and Drive.

• Alumni
  View GW's support services for alumni.

• Athletics
  View top news, schedules and information about men's, women's and co-ed sports at GW.

• Calendar
  Browse GW events, the academic calendar and the alumni and athletics calendars.

• Emergency Info
  View campus alerts as well as contact information for Haven, Colonial Health Center, Campus Advisory and Sexual Assault Response, the University Police Department and more.

• Give
  Donate a gift to the George Washington University.

• Hatchet
  Read the GW Hatchet, an independent student newspaper, for campus and DC news, opinions, culture and entertainment.

• Registrar
  Sign in to Mobile GWeb to view courses, weekly schedules, academic holds, and academic records and search the course catalog.

• Social
  Follow GW on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

• Feedback
  Email us your feedback on the GW Mobile app.

• Dining/ Dining Budgeting
  Helping students to manage their dining dollars by showing them the remaining balance, some future planning and past 6 months transactions.

• Virtual Tour
  Virtual 3D illustrations of campus buildings.

• Commencement
  Seasonal module to show resources of the commencement ceremony.

• GW Engage
  A portal for GW events and organizations for students.

• COVID-19 Resources
  All resources about COVID-19 physical and mental health resources for students, staff and faculty. Contains Campus policy, FAQs, Hotlines and University updates.

• Health Resources
  Mental and physical appointments, Colonial Health Center, Lerner Health and Wellness Center, GW Listens and CARE referral.

• Push Notifications
  Sending push notifications to the users of the app.

• Orientation Agenda
  Dynamic events listing for different tracks, with the ability to build a personalized schedule from different events, filter, favorite, and add favorite events to the calendar.

• Martha
  GW's “Virtual Agent,” is an easy-to-use channel that gives you access to the information and instructions for the services you want, when and how it is convenient for you.

New Students and Family Persona

available only first two weeks of the semester

What Does it contain?

• A communication channel
  Featuring push notifications to welcome and update the incoming students.
  One stop-shop for all campus resources that new students should be aware of (Virtual Tour, Safety & Security, COVID-19, Transportation, Campus Maps, CARE Referral, Fixit, Martha Chat, Directory and more)

• The Orientation Schedules
  Dynamic events listing for different tracks, with the ability to build a personalized schedule from different events, filter, favorite, and add favorite events to the calendar.

• Move-In / On-Campus living
  Contains the personal move-in information for each student (Time, Date, New Address, Map, and building image) with a reference to e-services where students can check-in and the Move-in e-Guide.

• IT Support
  A reference to the IT Support resources for the Back to School event.

Webex, a Colonial Connect service, is available to all GW students, faculty and staff. Webex is a collaborative meeting tool that allows for real-time video meetings and sharing of computer content over the web. Features include multi-point video conferencing and desktop share to meet for a group project, catch up with friends or make a video call home.

Students can host Webex meetings for free using a computer, smart phone or tablet and a headset or speakers to participate in the audio portion of the meeting. Student hosted meetings can support up to 1,000 attendees. Students may attend WebEx meetings hosted by faculty and staff for free; any fees will be charged to the meeting host. Fee-based Webex hosting with long distance or toll-free calling service is not available for students.

Faculty, staff, students and guests of the university may all be invited to and attend Webex meetings on either the faculty and staff domain or the student domain. If you are hosting, simply invite your attendees by email address in the Webex tool. To begin using your Webex account, login to gwstudent.webex.com with your UserID and corresponding password.

In May, Webex Meetings users will start receiving prompts to update to the latest version of the Webex Client. For more information, please see "Switching from Webex Meetings Client to the new Webex Client".

Webex Best Practices

Monitoring - Due to circumstances resulting from COVID-19 (coronavirus disease), a historic number of employees are rapidly transitioning to remote work. Webex meetings have never been more vital for staying connected. This is also putting a tremendous strain on regional internet service providers and telephony providers which may result in telephony incidents or service degradation at certain peak times.

Here are a few tips to get the best meeting experience in any situation:

• Disconnect from your VPN: GW provides a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service that allows you to access the University network while working remotely. You can use Webex Meetings outside of VPN for the best experience.
• Choose audio over video: Webex will suggest or automatically lower your resolution and may eventually turn off your video to adapt to your network quality. You can choose to do this yourself at any time. Learn more about improving your experience by eliminating video here.
• Build in breaks: You can get a faster join experience by joining 5 minutes early or, better yet, schedule meetings on the 15th or 45th minute of the hour.
• Switch to call-in audio: If your internet audio and video experience or call me/call back does not work, you can keep collaborating. Call in using the dial-in numbers in your meeting invitation to join via your cell phone or landline. If the primary phone number that is provided is temporarily unavailable, the invitation includes a long list of other global call-in numbers you can try. Learn more about opting for call-in audio here.
• Hosting a meeting: Although Personal Meeting Rooms (PMR) are convenient, they do so at the expense of having a more secure access path to the room unless specifically addressed by the user. Learn more about scenarios and features that can be used by hosts to secure meeting rooms.

Other Helpful Links for Webex

Best Practices Guide

Getting Started with Webex

Webex Troubleshooting 

Webex Video Overview

Installing Webex Application

Installing Webex Mobile App

Show or Hide Automated Closed Captions During a Webex Meeting or Webinar