WinZip
WinZip is a program that compresses either one file or many files together into one easily distributable file. Your instructor can use WinZip to easily allow you to easily download many files at one time.
This is a sample WinZip file you can try to download and open. It contains a single text file.
Sometimes your instructor may need to post documents into your course using WinZip, but then Blackboard will open the group of files and distribute them so that you can browse the files online. This may make Blackboard indicate that the name on the link is "somefilename.zip" but actually is not. .ZIP files will usually prompt you to save or open the file as they can not be opened inside of your web browser like a Word or PowerPoint file.
Watch this video about how to make a .ZIP file.
Windows XP and Mac OS X users may have the ability to open these files without a WinZip download.
Macintosh users will usually use a program called "Stuffit".
WinZip does not have anything to do with ZIP Disks. Zip Disks are portable disks that have higher capacity than standard floppies allowing you to carry files from one place to another. Portable flash drives are becoming more popular for this function.