On 1 and 2 March, LTEU met with Departmental Directors of Learning and Teaching to update on the Blackboard Ultra project and discuss our plans for training, ways in which we can address challenges, and the support required for the Ultra project.

The slides from the session can be downloaded from this link.

The slides include an update on the project timeline, what academic colleagues will have to do, and an overview of our training approach.

Summary of discussions

• Support contact – if you are having any difficulties with using e-learning tools then do contact elearning@aber.ac.uk and we will be happy to help you out.
• Adding Reading List and Panopto Link – Staff members will have to add links to these in their modules. There is currently no way of doing this automatically, but we will continue to investigate ways of doing so.
• Departments will be able to choose whether they have an in-person training session or an online training session.
• LTEU will continue training on using Ultra over the summer and into the new academic year
• Academic colleagues will be able to access and copy materials from historical modules – the current retention period is 5 years + current year.
• Where possible, colleagues should use Blackboard text editor features to ensure that their content is as accessible as possible.
• A checklist will be produced so that colleagues can check that they’ve done everything required in building their modules.
• Colleagues would like a consistent message from Information Services about the project.
• Training sessions will be offered to all Registry teams as well as external examiners and franchise campuses.
• Communications and approach will include the benefits of the move to Ultra and a list of new features.
• Where possible, video materials will be created.

If you have any questions, concerns, or want to speak to us about something specific in your course, then contact us on elearning@aber.ac.uk.

Now that the templates have been confirmed we have created an individual Ultra Practice Course for all staff members.

This practice course is private to you and has no students enrolled on it. You can use this course to create content and try out the new Ultra course interface.

You will find your practice course by going to Organisations on the left-hand side menu:

The course has been created with the bilingual AU course template. For further information on course templates, see our previous blogpost. They will be named your name Cwrs Ymarfer Ultra / Ultra Practice Course.  

To help prepare you for Ultra courses next academic year, try the following:

1. Create an announcement
2. Create a folder to organise material
3. Create / upload a document
4. Post a link to a website
5. Copy material from one of your modules into your Ultra practice course

You’ll notice that you can drag and drop content much more easily in Ultra.  Additionally, you can choose where you add content (without newly created content defaulting to the bottom of the page).

As Ultra is much more fluid than Blackboard original, your approach to content organisation is essential to help students navigate the module. Make sure that you use the preview features so that you can get an idea of how the content looks to students:

It might be that you want to discuss content organisation with colleagues to see if there’s departmental approach that you want to take.

We will be using these practice organisations for training purposes over the coming months. Keep an eye on our blog and webpages for additional information as further guidance is produced.

We’ll be blogging additional tasks over the coming months for you to try in your Ultra practice course. In our next blogpost of this nature, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the Grade Book, Assignments, Turnitin, and Blackboard tests.

If you’ve got any questions about the move to Blackboard Ultra, please contact the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit (elearning@aber.ac.uk).