Finalize Ultra gradebooks with new drop grades function
Much needed feature finally arrives to Ultra courses in May
An easier way to drop multiple grades from a category in the final grade calculation has been a frequent request from Ultra faculty for the Ultra course gradebook. With the May release, just in time for SP2021 final grades, instructors will be able to decide if they want to add additional rules to how their overall grade is calculated when using calculation by categories.
The new drop grades function allows Ultra faculty to drop as many grades as they want as long as there are more items inside the category than dropped items, or to choose just the lowest or highest grade to be considered for that category.
When rules are in place, students can gain access to their overall grade calculation details and see if some additional rules have been set by their instructors, which gives them clarity on how their grades are calculated and why their calculations might defer from the ones displayed in their gradebook.
Get a sneak peek at the new drop grades feature! Join our Ultra gradebook office hours on May 5 for an interactive session. Drop-in to ask questions regarding your Ultra gradebook settings, and Instructional Technology staff will be available to assist.
Also coming to the Blackboard dashboard navigation panel: A new message indicator to let you know when you receive messages from courses and organizations. Blackboard also announced its new proctoring framework to increase exam security, which is currently the only one to be fully certified using the very latest IMS Global Learning Consortium LTI Proctoring standard.
The next update to our test environment will take place on May 15, 2021. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should
open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
Conditional release of content is currently available based on date or grade. With the April update, instructors will be able to grant access to content based on group membership or individual user. These rules can be combined with date/time as well as performance (grades), matching near feature parity with adaptive release criteria in Original Blackboard courses.
Peer assessment is a practice becoming more common because it encourages development of students’ critical thinking abilities, gives them practice in critique of others in a professional manner, and allows for measurement of students’ analysis and communication skills. With the April release, qualitative peer review can be enabled for an Ultra assignment. Peer assessment features:
- Set different due dates for the initial assignment submission and the completion of peer review: Instructors can set how many reviews are expected from each student. Peers are assigned randomly and automatically.
- Late submitters and reviewers remain part of the task and can continue to participate: Instructors can clearly see who was late. This is a huge improvement over the implementation in Original Course View and superior to implementations found it other learning management systems where students who are late on anything can no longer participate.
- Tracking: Instructors can track students’ progress toward completion.
- Rubrics: Students can see the rubric that will optionally be used for the grade. Instructors can grade using a rubric.
- Complete, single view: When grading, the instructor can see all this information in a single view: the student’s submission, feedback provided by the students’ peers, and the feedback the current student gave to their peers.
- Anonymous mode for students: The identities of peers are hidden from students but viewable by instructors.
- Censoring: Instructors can hide reviews deemed inappropriate or harmful.
As this is a first release of the Peer Review option for Assignments, there are some relevant use cases that aren’t part of this development, but are planned as future improvements. Updates include quantitative reviews with rubrics, non-anonymous mode, group support, multiple-prompts with essay questions, and separate grades for submissions and reviews. Please
watch the FAQs and myUMBC for additional information.
April also brings improvements to the Ultra course text editor for paragraph formatting, allowing the creation of more rich and customizable pages. These include: Clear formatting, text alignment, line height, and undo. Text alignment includes right to left, which will support several language courses.
Finally, with this update, Blackboard improved the timeliness and performance of notifications for all users by no longer generating notifications for users with more than 500 enrollments. This includes emails, push notifications, and the Activity Stream. A user with a large volume of course enrollments will still have access to all course resources but won’t receive notifications regardless of their settings.
The next update to our test environment will take place on April 6, 2021. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should
open an RT ticket to request early access.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
]]>
In early April, a frequently requested feature finally comes to Ultra courses. Conditional release of content to groups or individual students allows faculty to create remedial paths to certain...
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology/posts/100299
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/100299/guest@my.umbc.edu/2ceddfdb7b0d11d9467a615d89723834/api/pixel
blackboard
ultra-experience
ultra-update
Instructional Technology
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/original.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/large.png?1446126703
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/medium.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/small.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxsmall.png?1446126703
Instructional Technology
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/299/79b4e254244fe629ebd642e00c255954/xxlarge.jpg?1617020378
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/299/79b4e254244fe629ebd642e00c255954/xlarge.jpg?1617020378
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/299/79b4e254244fe629ebd642e00c255954/large.jpg?1617020378
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/299/79b4e254244fe629ebd642e00c255954/medium.jpg?1617020378
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/299/79b4e254244fe629ebd642e00c255954/small.jpg?1617020378
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/299/79b4e254244fe629ebd642e00c255954/xsmall.jpg?1617020378
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/299/79b4e254244fe629ebd642e00c255954/xxsmall.jpg?1617020378
0
0
true
Mon, 29 Mar 2021 10:57:11 -0400
Wed, 21 Apr 2021 10:17:50 -0400
Coming Soon: Collaborate to Support 25 Videos Per Page
Increased engagement for moderators available in mid-SP2021
UPDATE #1: Gallery view is now available! Learn more in this FAQ.
UPDATE #2: Students and participants gain access to gallery view with the May update.
Spring will bring warm weather to the UMBC campus community… and an exciting update for our web conferencing tool, Collaborate! The first phase of increased video thumbnails is tentatively targeted for April 8, 2021, allowing moderators to see up to 25 videos per page.
Three options will be available:
The Gallery View displays up to 25 videos per page. The zoom function reduces the videos displayed. Up to 250 videos can be supported in a session using pagination to display the thumbnails.
The Speaker View centers the lead speaker on the screen with 7-8 video thumbnails tiled at the bottom.
The Tile View places the speaker on the left with 11-12 video thumbnails on the right.
Gallery view works best in Chrome and is not supported at all in Safari at this time.
By summer, Blackboard anticipates supporting a student view of 25 videos per page. Future development for Collaborate includes pinning videos and side-by-side display of content against a smaller gallery.
Over the last year, Blackboard conducted extensive research with faculty and student focus groups to ensure the new functionality is designed for teaching and learning rather than just deploying more thumbnails like any other web conferencing tool. Reducing
cognitive fatigue and
non-verbal overload, supporting instructor customization, and providing student privacy are all elements Blackboard researched and will incorporate into its design plan for Collaborate. Additional research is
posted to the Blackboard Community site, which requires a free account to access.
During SP2021, Collaborate also will also feature these updates:
- Session owners can tell at-a-glance if the recording is available to the public or to course members only.
- Some Collaborate error pages will provide chatbot support to attendees. The chatbot is also available on the Report an Issue panel.
Finally, to reduce impact on session resources, any session that lasts longer than 8 hours will be automatically disconnected from the Collaborate system. While sessions can be scheduled for any length of time including 24-hours and no end date, it is unusual that anyone stays in the session for more than 8 hours at a time. The system therefore will assume extended connection to a session is unintended and disconnect the user from the room. However, attendees can rejoin the session, if they need to access it again.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
]]>
UPDATE #1: Gallery view is now available! Learn more in this FAQ. UPDATE #2: Students and participants gain access to gallery view with the May update. Spring will bring warm weather to the UMBC...
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology/posts/99804
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/99804/guest@my.umbc.edu/e4a651752faa1b4dc0cc76e9d56a893c/api/pixel
collaborate
gallery-view
online-learning
ultra-update
Instructional Technology
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/original.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/large.png?1446126703
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/medium.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/small.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxsmall.png?1446126703
Instructional Technology
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/099/804/6d8e5be200a835beb77d899f00b890a5/xxlarge.jpg?1614963447
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/099/804/6d8e5be200a835beb77d899f00b890a5/xlarge.jpg?1614963447
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/099/804/6d8e5be200a835beb77d899f00b890a5/large.jpg?1614963447
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/099/804/6d8e5be200a835beb77d899f00b890a5/medium.jpg?1614963447
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/099/804/6d8e5be200a835beb77d899f00b890a5/small.jpg?1614963447
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/099/804/6d8e5be200a835beb77d899f00b890a5/xsmall.jpg?1614963447
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/099/804/6d8e5be200a835beb77d899f00b890a5/xxsmall.jpg?1614963447
4
0
true
Wed, 24 Mar 2021 08:00:17 -0400
Wed, 12 May 2021 13:00:06 -0400
Ultra enhances test feedback & journal grading for winter
Create HTML content & provide activity logs to support
Four exciting updates come to Ultra for winter courses. Grading enhancements for journals, test feedback release settings, an updated content editor, and support for HTML content are new features for Ultra courses.
Journals - Instructors can clearly see when students post new journals and comments, and can view a single submission. Instructors can also use Ultra’s grading tools, including feedback and rubrics, to create and post grades. Both participation and submission views link to the gradebook. By default, students will be allowed to delete and edit their journal entries and comments, but instructors can also now choose to disable this permission.
Tests - Instructors can enable more granular controls on when and what type of feedback is given to students when taking an assessment. Set up timed release to automated question feedback, correct answers, and question scores. Select when to show feedback: after submission, after due date, at a specific date, or after the assessment is graded. Students will see if and when feedback will be available for a specific assessment after they submit an attempt.
Gradebook - In the Student List View, instructors will receive additional search capabilities, column sorting options, and enhanced page controls for both large and small devices.
Formatting tools - Format content in a variety of different ways, including font colors, font sizes, and font style. A redesigned tool base provides a secondary bar that displays additional options, which is helpful on smaller screens. Students and faculty will see these changes everywhere they encounter the rich text editor in Ultra courses. (available January 7, 2021)
HTML Content Block in Ultra Documents -
Instructors can create, edit, and delete custom HTML/CSS code blocks in Ultra course documents. Instructors can select Add HTML when creating a document to add their own HTML and CSS and fully customize the appearance of their Ultra course documents. See example 1 and example 2. NOTE: Use of this feature requires 1) knowledge of HTML to create this type of content and 2) back-end creation on supporting systems, which are in development on UMBC's Blackboard site. We expect this functionality to be available for SP2021.
Finally, a new feature for support will deploy in early January, allowing users to provide critical information to DoIT staff in the event a technical issue must be escalated to Blackboard. Currently, there isn’t an easy way to capture what a user was doing at the time an issue occurred. With this update, users will now be able to capture their most recent session data -- the last 30 actions the taken in Blackboard -- and send it to DoIT staff, which can be used to identify root issues or escalate to Blackboard support. This feature will be available in the Support Panel as well as anywhere the “Oops! Your name is not on the list” message can occur.
Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should
open an RT ticket to request early access.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
In any online learning experience, it's important for students to be able to engage socially and collaboratively. Interactions with peers and instructors can lead to greater student success. Collaborate introduces two new features to its chat functionality to support increased engagement: chat mentions and formatted messaging.
With the December update, attendees can tag someone in a Collaborate chat when they mention them. Anyone tagged is notified so they don't miss it. Moderators are identified with a MOD label so they are easy to find. Collaborate also features a new text editor in the chat panel. This text editor is simple and features only bold, italics, and underline. One way to use this new formatting option is to highlight a chat announcement in bold to make a message more noticeable in a busy conversation.
Currently, Collaborate can support regular sessions of 250 attendees or supersized sessions up to 500 attendees. In preparation for WT/SP2021, faculty and community leaders can leverage Collaborate to support large scale sessions up to 1,000 attendees. There are limitations to supersized sessions, however:
- Webinar sessions can't be longer than 24 hours in length
- Guests must be assigned the participant role
- Participant permissions are turned off
- Breakout groups are not available
Learn more about configuring Collaborate to support a supersized session.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
]]>
In any online learning experience, it's important for students to be able to engage socially and collaboratively. Interactions with peers and instructors can lead to greater student success....
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology/posts/97787
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/97787/guest@my.umbc.edu/c2f008b9a36f3648c480d95fcc3924c2/api/pixel
collaborate
online-learning
ultra-update
Instructional Technology
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/original.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/large.png?1446126703
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/medium.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/small.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxsmall.png?1446126703
Instructional Technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/097/787/1c5808e6e3e4a86171a4ade5a172fb9c/xxlarge.jpg?1606856899
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/097/787/1c5808e6e3e4a86171a4ade5a172fb9c/xlarge.jpg?1606856899
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/097/787/1c5808e6e3e4a86171a4ade5a172fb9c/large.jpg?1606856899
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/097/787/1c5808e6e3e4a86171a4ade5a172fb9c/medium.jpg?1606856899
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/097/787/1c5808e6e3e4a86171a4ade5a172fb9c/small.jpg?1606856899
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/097/787/1c5808e6e3e4a86171a4ade5a172fb9c/xsmall.jpg?1606856899
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/097/787/1c5808e6e3e4a86171a4ade5a172fb9c/xxsmall.jpg?1606856899
0
0
true
Thu, 10 Dec 2020 09:40:24 -0500
Ultra enhances usability, gradebook, test timer in November
Flag student retention and other grade alerts in your stream
Usability and a few gradebook improvements come to Ultra in November. New, larger icons with thicker line strokes and blue backgrounds improve accessibility and better support quick scanning of the Ultra course content page.
The gradebook's student list view will feature three key enhancements:
- Send messages and add accommodations for a student within both the student list view and the grade details view
- Configure whether students’ usernames are visible if they need to differentiate students in their Ultra courses.
- Set up activity stream alerts about student inactivity and grade thresholds for themselves and their students.
- If your course contains enough activity and grading data, you can also see a detailed visualization of class performance.
The gradebook also receives
additional search capabilities, column sorting options, and enhanced page controls for both large and small devices. Instructors can also choose whether to show or hide the overall grade column to their students.
Additional enhancements include an update to the assessment countdown timer. Now students will know how much time they have left down to the last second when they take an Ultra assessment. The quiz timer will change from minutes to seconds when less than 1 minute remains.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
]]>
Usability and a few gradebook improvements come to Ultra in November. New, larger icons with thicker line strokes and blue backgrounds improve accessibility and better support quick scanning of...
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology/posts/96637
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/96637/guest@my.umbc.edu/25e2fde3dd6e1b83ce8018de76a47f80/api/pixel
blackboard
ultra-experience
ultra-update
Instructional Technology
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/original.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/large.png?1446126703
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/medium.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/small.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxsmall.png?1446126703
Instructional Technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/096/637/6b8c168290ec0dee53f7b27cfc3ad06c/xxlarge.jpg?1602704489
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/096/637/6b8c168290ec0dee53f7b27cfc3ad06c/xlarge.jpg?1602704489
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/096/637/6b8c168290ec0dee53f7b27cfc3ad06c/large.jpg?1602704489
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/096/637/6b8c168290ec0dee53f7b27cfc3ad06c/medium.jpg?1602704489
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/096/637/6b8c168290ec0dee53f7b27cfc3ad06c/small.jpg?1602704489
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/096/637/6b8c168290ec0dee53f7b27cfc3ad06c/xsmall.jpg?1602704489
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/096/637/6b8c168290ec0dee53f7b27cfc3ad06c/xxsmall.jpg?1602704489
3
0
true
Fri, 23 Oct 2020 12:29:45 -0400
Fri, 23 Oct 2020 12:30:48 -0400
New Batch Group Management Tool Available in Bb Ultra
Custom solution works in both Ultra & Original courses
Group management is one of the most important tools in a Blackboard course. For large courses, group management is a critical component of assigning students to groups and managing engagement or content. While conditional availability support for groups is currently in development, we are pleased to announce that the custom solution we've been working on with Blackboard is available for piloting!
This tool works like the Original version for
bulk creating groups and
enrolling students in those groups by using a CSV file. However, since it leverages Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standards, this tool works in both Ultra AND Original courses. Faculty who teach an Original course can use the default Groups tool or the new
Users Groups Workflow tool as both will serve the same function.
The Users Groups Workflow tool is available now in all courses. Please note:
- We are aware that the tool has some loading issues on Google Chrome Browser (v85) and, for some, Safari – a fix is in development. Please use Firefox instead.
- Faculty who teach Original courses can test the new tool as it works the same as Ultra courses.
- Faculty should NOT convert their live Original courses or previously taught Original courses to Ultra to test this tool. If you wish to try the tool specifically in Ultra, please open an RT to clone your course.
- This new tool only supports bulk creation and enrollments. It does NOT create any group spaces for students, control content delivery, or filter groups in the gradebook.
- Future development for conditional availability to release content to groups and smart views for groups in the gradebook is on the Ultra roadmap for SP/SU2021.
Instructional Technology staff continues to document faculty feedback and work with Ultra developers to improve the Ultra course experience. Please contact an Ultra Ambassador or open an RT ticket to share your feedback about the new groups tool.
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
]]>
Group management is one of the most important tools in a Blackboard course. For large courses, group management is a critical component of assigning students to groups and managing engagement or...
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology/posts/95869
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/95869/guest@my.umbc.edu/6edda56f01bb4a9c8803aa8259c3249f/api/pixel
blackboard
ultra-experience
ultra-update
Instructional Technology
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/original.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/large.png?1446126703
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/medium.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/small.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxsmall.png?1446126703
Instructional Technology
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/095/869/05389960731d6d110c65258c50688ca8/xxlarge.jpg?1600361387
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/095/869/05389960731d6d110c65258c50688ca8/xlarge.jpg?1600361387
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/095/869/05389960731d6d110c65258c50688ca8/large.jpg?1600361387
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/095/869/05389960731d6d110c65258c50688ca8/medium.jpg?1600361387
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/095/869/05389960731d6d110c65258c50688ca8/small.jpg?1600361387
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/095/869/05389960731d6d110c65258c50688ca8/xsmall.jpg?1600361387
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/095/869/05389960731d6d110c65258c50688ca8/xxsmall.jpg?1600361387
6
0
true
Fri, 18 Sep 2020 12:25:04 -0400
Fri, 18 Sep 2020 12:40:55 -0400
Password protection & automated test feedback come to Ultra
Enhancements to Collaborate, gradebook & announcement tools
Password protection and automated feedback are two assessment tools coming to Ultra in September. These valuable features enhance the instructor's ability to secure assessments and provide just-in-time feedback to students as they take and complete tests in a course.
In an Ultra course, instructors will be able to add a randomly-generated passcode to their test. Since students must enter the password each time they start or continue an assessment, faculty can leverage test settings and the passcode to hide answers and restrict access to tests. The passcode prevents students from taking or submitting assessments after a due date has passed, but allows them to view their grades and feedback.
Automated feedback allow faculty to enter feedback for correct and incorrect answers on auto-graded question types (such as True/False) on an Ultra test. Students will automatically receive the feedback when they submit the assessment. Feedback from Original tests will also convert to Ultra except when it involves images, files or web links. The first generation of automated feedback must be enabled question by question. Future work will support feedback at the individual answer choices.
Additional updates for Ultra in September include:
- Blackboard added the ability to send course announcements by email to the entire class roster. As with Original courses, scheduled announcements cannot be emailed.
- The new student view in the Ultra gradebook allows faculty to see a row for each student instead of a row for each gradebook item. Each row will include date of last access date and CampusID.
Finally, Collaborate's September update, which comes in mid-September, will include includes private recording links by default to provide additional security. Previously recorded sessions will remain public unless you make them private. Additionally, Collaborate will remind moderators to start recording the session.
The next Blackboard Learn update will be posted to our test site around September 8 and pushed to production around October 1, 2020. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access.
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
]]>
Password protection and automated feedback are two assessment tools coming to Ultra in September. These valuable features enhance the instructor's ability to secure assessments and provide...
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology/posts/94888
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/94888/guest@my.umbc.edu/6894a8506f117a7c63c42e0e2755784c/api/pixel
blackboard
ultra-experience
ultra-update
Instructional Technology
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/original.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/large.png?1446126703
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/medium.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/small.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxsmall.png?1446126703
Instructional Technology
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/888/b6b0ee58f31a7415a3b3b97a07bd5fa5/xxlarge.jpg?1597672370
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/888/b6b0ee58f31a7415a3b3b97a07bd5fa5/xlarge.jpg?1597672370
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/888/b6b0ee58f31a7415a3b3b97a07bd5fa5/large.jpg?1597672370
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/888/b6b0ee58f31a7415a3b3b97a07bd5fa5/medium.jpg?1597672370
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/888/b6b0ee58f31a7415a3b3b97a07bd5fa5/small.jpg?1597672370
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/888/b6b0ee58f31a7415a3b3b97a07bd5fa5/xsmall.jpg?1597672370
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/888/b6b0ee58f31a7415a3b3b97a07bd5fa5/xxsmall.jpg?1597672370
2
0
true
Mon, 31 Aug 2020 13:28:14 -0400
Content Editor Updates Enhance Announcements, Embedded Media
Ultra journals now included in course copy
The August Blackboard update introduces an enhanced text editor to the Ultra course announcement tool, allowing faculty to add and display more types of content, embed web links and media, and insert file attachments. A future update to this tool will support sending the announcement as an email to students.
The text editor also features another update across all areas where it is available. The
Insert Video function, indicated by a video icon, will now be called
Insert Media from Web. Users can add media from these sites: Panopto, VoiceThread, YouTube, Vimeo, Quizlet, and Soundcloud, among others. Please
check the FAQ for more supported sites and how-to steps.
Finally, Blackboard adds support for Ultra journals in the course copy and Original course conversion processes. Now, journals and their prompts can be copied from one course to another, regardless of the course view. Faculty can use Copy Content in an Ultra course to copy journals between Ultra courses. Journals can also be converted from an Original course to an Ultra course as part of the Ultra Course Preview. NOTE: These capabilities apply to journals prompt and entries only and do not include comments.
The next Blackboard Learn update will be posted to our test site around August 11 and pushed to production around September 3, 2020. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access.
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
]]>
The August Blackboard update introduces an enhanced text editor to the Ultra course announcement tool, allowing faculty to add and display more types of content, embed web links and media, and...
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology/posts/94496
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/94496/guest@my.umbc.edu/ebcdecca5aba74a456379ad0e5457b79/api/pixel
blackboard
ultra-experience
ultra-update
Instructional Technology
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/original.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/large.png?1446126703
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/medium.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/small.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxsmall.png?1446126703
Instructional Technology
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/496/c3c38bb0b4ba731e8843b8229f8b2457/xxlarge.jpg?1595937991
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/496/c3c38bb0b4ba731e8843b8229f8b2457/xlarge.jpg?1595937991
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/496/c3c38bb0b4ba731e8843b8229f8b2457/large.jpg?1595937991
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/496/c3c38bb0b4ba731e8843b8229f8b2457/medium.jpg?1595937991
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/496/c3c38bb0b4ba731e8843b8229f8b2457/small.jpg?1595937991
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/496/c3c38bb0b4ba731e8843b8229f8b2457/xsmall.jpg?1595937991
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/094/496/c3c38bb0b4ba731e8843b8229f8b2457/xxsmall.jpg?1595937991
3
2
true
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 11:43:14 -0400
Tue, 28 Jul 2020 11:43:45 -0400
Basic Journals Arrive to Ultra Courses in June
Tweaks include assessment feedback, course copy improvements
Next month's Blackboard update brings a frequently requested tool to Ultra courses: the Journal!
Journals are a personal space for students to communicate privately with instructors or to reflect on course-related content. Starting in early June, instructors can create a journal assignment on the Ultra Course Content page, add journals to learning modules, and use conditional availability to control access based on date or performance. Students and instructors can discuss the journal entry in comments.
Ultra Journal assignments can be ungraded or graded. PLEASE NOTE: The initial release includes a very basic grading workflow, where instructors enter grades manually in the gradebook. Although a rubric can be attached to a graded journal assignment, the first phase of the journal tool does not yet support grading with the rubric. Full grading functionality and support for course copy and conversion are expected later this year. Continued enhancements, such as searching and sorting by student, are also coming.
Additional updates to Ultra courses include a new feedback setting for tests and the ability to copy discussions from one Ultra course to another. As with Original courses, Ultra instructors can choose not to show Score per Question feedback to control whether students see the score they earned for each assessment question. The Copy Content tool now supports discussions, allowing instructors to bring a discussion from one Ultra course to another.
The next Blackboard Learn update will be posted to our test site around June 9th and pushed to production around July 2, 2020. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access.
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
]]>
Next month's Blackboard update brings a frequently requested tool to Ultra courses: the Journal! Journals are a personal space for students to communicate privately with instructors or to reflect...
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology/posts/93268
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/93268/guest@my.umbc.edu/7ed4a9b321a895d9a1af4026fe6d6a34/api/pixel
blackboard
ultra-experience
ultra-update
Instructional Technology
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/instructional-technology
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/original.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xlarge.png?1446126703
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/large.png?1446126703
https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/medium.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/small.png?1446126703
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xsmall.png?1446126703
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/164/dec3b026b81ee6d890a8f82f75c94a2e/xxsmall.png?1446126703
Instructional Technology
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/093/268/2a41aac8230b15ef2e30833dc410569c/xxlarge.jpg?1589912732
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/093/268/2a41aac8230b15ef2e30833dc410569c/xlarge.jpg?1589912732
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/093/268/2a41aac8230b15ef2e30833dc410569c/large.jpg?1589912732
https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/093/268/2a41aac8230b15ef2e30833dc410569c/medium.jpg?1589912732
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/093/268/2a41aac8230b15ef2e30833dc410569c/small.jpg?1589912732
https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/093/268/2a41aac8230b15ef2e30833dc410569c/xsmall.jpg?1589912732
https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/093/268/2a41aac8230b15ef2e30833dc410569c/xxsmall.jpg?1589912732
3
1
true
Fri, 29 May 2020 10:07:20 -0400
