Category: Ultra Updates

Ultra Update – October 2024

Posted on by peter.peasey

This release has new or updated features in the following areas:

  • Instructional design
  • Mastery learning and learner pathways
  • Tests and assignments
  • Communication and collaboration
  • Flexible grading
  • Gradebook

These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Below you will find our top highlights, and more detail of the most relevant updates.

Top Highlights

Auto-generate question banks

There is now the ability to automatically generate question banks when creating quizzes providing inspiration and saving time.

Please see the release notes for full details

Additional Updates:

Enhancements to student submission review page

The student submission review page makes it easier for students to access instructor feedback on their submissions.

  • When an instructor selects student preview, they can now access the student submission review page.
  • Students can now access offline submissions from this page.
  • Students now have a Read more option for overall and attempt feedback.

Email notifications for followed discussions

Blackboard have added functionality to discussions to include emails in the notifications for a followed discussion

Show unavailable students in the Gradebook

Now unavailable students appear in the Gradebook for their enrolled courses, but their avatar has a strikethrough to indicate the unavailable status.

For advanced users looking for a full list of all the updates, see the Blackboard Release Notes

Further help and support

For more guidance on using Blackboard Ultra please explore this site ‘Ultra Essential Guidance‘ via the site menu on the right.

Students can view an Ultra orientation and help on using Ultra from their ‘Help for Students’ sections (or equivalent) in your Blackboard course.

Ultra Update September 2024

Posted on by Suzanne Collins

September 2024 – 3900.100 Release 

To be released on the 5th September 2024

This release has new or updated features in the following areas: 

  • Instructional design; 
  • Tests and assignments;  
  • Flexible grading;  
  • Gradebook;  
  • Learner progression and personalized experience; 

These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. This release contains many small feature changes and updates. Below you will find our top highlights, and more detail of the most relevant updates. 

Top highlights

  • The course page has a new look, incorporating several visual enhancements. The most noticeable of these is that the page structure has changed, with the list of course tools now on the right of the screen. This will help to promote the learning and teaching content, and improve navigability. 

    Screenshot showing the new course home page
    Course Content page visual depth improvements
  • In a course Document you can now add a ‘Knowledge Check’ block which enhances the learning experience by allowing students to engage with content actively and receive immediate feedback on their understanding. This can also help instructors to check understanding for key topics. These are formative tests, and results do not appear in the Gradebook.

 

Additional Updates:

Course Content Page Enhancements 

As part of the continuous improvement of the Blackboard Ultra course view Blackboard have delivered several changes to improve the Course Content page.

The improvements include:

  • Greater visual depth
  • Improved page structure
  • Differentiation among course elements
  • An enhanced presentation of top-level and nested content

The new design incorporates:

  • Subtle gradients and softer edges
  • A more cohesive colour palette with inviting, warmer tones
  • More intuitive navigation, which reduces cognitive load and increases focus on the content

Flexible Grading

Exclude attempt when grading

There is now an option to help instructors remove submissions from the grading workflow without having to delete them.  Select Exclude Attempt to remove it from the Needs Grading workflow. If an attempt is excluded, the Excluded label appears above the attempt grade and in the attempt selector. Grade calculations ignore excluded attempts.

Screenshot of excluded attempt
Instructor view of the Exclude label above the grade and in the attempt selector

New Overview tab in the Gradebook

There is a new gradebook Overview tab which contains two sections: Needs Grading and Needs Posting.

Screenshot of overview tab in the Gradebook
Instructor view of the new Needs Grading count on the Gradebook tab and the Needs Grading section on the new Overview page

 

For advanced users looking for a full list of all the updates, see the Blackboard Release Notes.

Further help and support

For more guidance on using Blackboard Ultra please explore this site ‘Ultra Essential Guidance‘ via the site menu on the right.

Students can view an Ultra orientation and help on using Ultra from their ‘Help for Students’ sections (or equivalent) in your Blackboard course.