Blackboard Ultra Upgrade Project

Blackboard Ultra Course View Conversion Is Approaching!

Blackboard Fall 2024 course shells were released on May 4th in Ultra Course View for your convenience. Faculty are not required to convert courses. Your next steps are to copy content from your previous course into the new shell and format content tabs. Also, please review the Fall Term Ultra Checklist and other helpful resources posted below.

Finally, first-time Ultra Course instructors are encouraged to complete the self-paced orientation training course. Log into Blackboard, locate LTE: Learn Teaching Essentials for Ultra in the course catalog, and self-enroll. Thanks for your attention and best wishes with your fall courses.

Please submit any questions to Tech Connect/Report an issue.    

1. Watch a recording of the Blackboard Ultra Course Overview session recorded on November 9, 2023.
2. An Ultra Orientation Training Course is available. Faculty are strongly encouraged to become more familiar with Ultra ahead of the spring semester. Follow the steps listed below to self-enroll in the orientation course.
   
   • Log into Blackboard.
   • Use Course Catalog to locate "LTE_23 Learn Teaching Essentials for Ultra."
   • Click the drop-down arrow to Self-Enroll.
3. Download a checklist with instructions for copying your edited Ultra template to your Fall 2024 course.

Consults

TLC Consultants are available to address questions after the course has been converted. You can request a consult here.

Information about Blackboard Ultra

Project Overview

Downloadable PDF: A Better Blackboard Learn: Blackboard Learn with the Ultra Experience

Ultra Overview, Part I (64 minutes)
Ultra Overview, Part II (60 minutes)

Ultra Base Navigation Introduction

Downloadable PDF: A Better Way to Navigate Blackboard Learn

Blackboard’s List of Key Ultra Features

Modern, intuitive user experience

• • • The user experience will be simpler, more intuitive, and engaging.  

Works well on mobile devices

• • • Blackboard Ultra is designed to work well on all of your devices.

Aggregates important information 

• • • All course and organization information is consolidated into one global view.

Activity Stream 

• • • Activity streams gives an organized list of everything that's happened in courses.

One click away 

• • • Click on a tab to be taken directly there, minimizing clicks, and saving time.

Ultra Course View

 

In Ultra Course View, you have simplified workflows, a modern look and feel, and a fully responsive interface on all devices. On the Course Content page, select the plus sign wherever you want to create content. 

All of your course content appears in the main part of the page. You can always see the left navigation area that peeks from behind layers. Most content items, such as folders and assignments, have a menu with options. When you open a piece of content, it slides out in a layer on top of the Course Content page. Close layers to go back to a previous spot in your course.

1. 1. 1. Navigation bar: Open frequently used tools in one step. Select a tab to check the course calendar, respond to class discussions, access the course gradebook, and send a message.
      2. Details & Actions: Manage your course and create/manage groups, rosters, course availability and other set features.
      3. Add content: Select the plus sign wherever you want to add content. If you want to copy or import content, open the menu on the right side above the content list.
      4. New activity: If you've enabled conversations on content, activity icons appear for new conversation activity. 

Faculty Testimonial

Jacqueline Rosenjack Burchum, DNSc, FNP-BC, CNE Associate Professor
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Nursing

I teach using Blackboard Ultra because all didactic courses in the College of Nursing’s (CON) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program are online and housed in this learning management system (LMS). (Dr. Ken Hohmeier provides an excellent synopsis on uses of Blackboard at https://www.uthsc.edu/tlc/whos-using-it.php)

After Blackboard’s merger with Anthology, a new product, Blackboard Ultra, was introduced as the replacement for Blackboard. The CON had been using the original Blackboard LMS since the early 2000s. It was familiar and predictable. Ultra was vastly different both operationally and in layout. Add to this that earlier versions of Ultra were, as yet, incomplete. (In fact, improvements are ongoing with monthly updates made available to users.) I was one of the first faculty members to make the transition. During that time, I am relatively certain that no one complained about this transition more than I did. That being said, I am now an ardent supporter of Blackboard Ultra and you couldn’t pay me to go back to the original Blackboard!

So, how did I go from resigned transitioner to enthusiastic supporter? Here are my tips.

1. I took advantage of classes and webinars offered to teach how to design and set up courses in Ultra. (See https://www.anthology.com/webinar/learn-ultra-course-seminar-start-preparing-your-courses-in-the-ultra-course-view)
2. I completed Anthology’s Exemplary Course Program (ECP) webinar series. The ECP recognizes excellence in course design demonstrated by faculty and designers. (See https://learn.anthology.com/exemplary-course-program)
3. I became an ECP course reviewer. This volunteer position not only benefited the ECP, but also it exposed me to a variety of creative designs employed by faculty at other universities. (Register to see recordings of the most recent webinar at https://learn.anthology.com/join?event=58516861)
4. Perhaps most importantly, when issues developed that I could not resolve, I turned to the Teaching and Learning Center’s Product Manager, Jennifer Stewart. She was almost always able to guide me to a successful solution and, if one did not exist, she ensured that the Ultra developers would address it in an upcoming innovation. (In fact, many of the improvements can be traced directly to her interventions!)

Blackboard Help Site Link:

Blackboard Help: Where do I Start?