Is there any way to check whether the my breadboard or arduino board is defective?
Although I managed to get the light on the board to blink, I have been unsuccesful in getting the first project involving the breadboard to work 
Any suggestions...any help at all would be appreciated...feeling a little dissapointed...
Welcome to the forum.
The biggest first step is making the led blink. The rest should be fun 8)
You could make a photo of it, and tell us which sketch you have running. So we can check everything.
You can upload a photo with the "Additional Options...", that is at the lower-left when you are writing a post.
Here's my favorite video about breadboards:
is the orientation of the switch or should it be rotated 90 degrees?
Try turning the led 180 degrees, or try a new led.
I can't see where the voltage (red and black wire) is coming from. Do you have a multimeter to measure the voltage on the breadboard ?