In the July update, we want to draw your attention to the following Blackboard enhancements:
- Add supplemental content to Learning Object Repository folders and learning modules
- Add descriptions to Discussions and Journals
- Run a Rubric Evaluation Report for graded activities
- Control AI Conversation duration with time limits
- Find your favourite courses faster with Course Switcher
Add supplemental content to Learning Object Repository folders and learning modules
Instructors can now add their own content to folders and learning modules pulled from the LOR. Before, these were locked—you could view them but couldn’t add anything. Now, you can add in your own course-specific materials while the original LOR content stays locked and still updates across courses. Your additions work like normal course content, so you can edit, update, or remove them anytime without affecting other courses. LOR content will always stay at the top, and anything you add appears underneath—it can’t be moved around within the original LOR materials.
Image 1: The Course Content page will show a learning module added from the LOR, with an instructor document at the bottom. LOR-owned items have the label “This item is managed by your institution.”
Add descriptions to Discussions and Journals
Discussions and Journals now have a Description field, just like other course content, which makes everything on the Course Content page more consistent and easier to scan. Instructors can use this optional field to give quick context or set expectations before students start an activity, while keeping the actual prompt focused on the task or question. The prompt itself no longer shows on the main content page. For students, this means they’ll see a clear, simple overview of what each Discussion or Journal is about before opening it, making it easier to understand what’s coming next.
Image 2: Instructors can add a description in the Description field for a Discussion.
Run a Rubric Evaluation Report for graded activities
Instructors can now run a Rubric Evaluation Report straight from the gradebook for any graded activity that uses a rubric. It pulls together data from all student submissions, giving a quick, clear view of how students are doing against each criterion.
To use it, open the gradebook, find a column with a rubric, and launch the report from the menu in either Grid or Gradable Items view. You can download it as a PDF or CSV.
Marks need to already have been posted in order to view the report. If there aren’t enough posted grading data yet, you’ll see a message letting you know.
The report includes an overview of the assignment, overall average scores, a visual breakdown comparing possible vs achieved points, and a detailed table showing how students performed across criteria, including stats like average, median, and standard deviation.
Control AI Conversation duration with time limits
Instructors can now control how long AI Conversations last by adding time limits, making things a bit more structured and easier to manage. There are two different ways to do this, depending on what you want to time — the whole activity or just the conversation part.
An AI Conversation has two parts: the chat itself and a reflection question that follows. You can either set a time limit for the entire assessment (which includes both parts) or just for the conversation. The full assessment timer already existed — if time runs out, it either auto-submits or gives students extra time, depending on your settings. The new option is a conversation-only timer, which stops the chat after a set time but does not limit students’ time on the reflection question afterward.
You can’t use both timers at once — it’s one or the other. If you turn one on, the other is automatically disabled.
Within the conversation constraints, you’ll also now see two controls: a message limit (how many replies students can send) and the new time limit. You can use either, both, or neither. Just note: once a student starts, the time limit is locked in.
Image 3: You can now set a time limit for either a student’s AI conversation, or their written reflection after the chat.
For students, a visible countdown helps them keep track of time. Where it shows up depends on the timer you picked — either inside the chat or at the top of the whole assessment. If only the conversation is timed, they can still complete the reflection question without time pressure.
Image 4: Depending on the instructor’s settings, the timer is shown when students are completing their chat or during their reflection.
Overall, this makes expectations clearer, supports accessibility needs, and gives instructors more flexibility when designing AI-based activities.
Find your favourite courses faster with Course Switcher
Finding your favourite courses is now easier with the updated Course Switcher. You can now see all your favourited courses right there, so there’s no need to keep jumping back to the Courses page. This builds on recent updates like search and recent courses, making it quicker to move around.
There’s a new Favourites tab that automatically shows what courses you have chosen as your favourites on the main Courses page. It sits alongside Recent and Search, so everything’s in one place. Overall, it’s a simpler, faster way to jump between courses and stay focused without the extra clicks.
Image 5: The Course Switcher now has a Favourites tab, allowing you to add a personalized list of frequently used courses..
