Our Digital Education training programme is now available for staff to book onto on the staff booking page
Our training is split across 3 levels:
E-learning Essentials:
Our E-learning Essentials sessions provide a practical introduction to the University’s core digital learning technologies and the policies that support their use. These sessions are ideal for colleagues who are new to a tool, taking on a new teaching role, or looking to refresh their knowledge.
You will gain confidence in using technologies such as Blackboard, Turnitin, Panopto, Microsoft Copilot, and Vevox, as well as learn about key processes that support learning, teaching, and assessment.
Sessions available:
Become a Document Pro
Introduction to Blackboard Ally
Introduction to Blackboard Ultra
Introduction to Component Marks Transfer
Introduction to Microsoft Copilot for Learning and Teaching Activities
Introduction to Panopto Lecture Capture and Teaching Room Equipment (bilingual)
Introduction to Turnitin (bilingual)
Introduction to Vevox Polling Software
E-learning Enhanced:
OurE-learning Enhancedsessions focus on designing and creating engaging learning activities using digital tools within your own teaching context.
These hands-on workshops will help you explore innovative approaches to learning design, assessment, accessibility, and student engagement, enabling you to make more effective use of the University’s digital learning environment.
Sessions available:
Becoming an Alternative Text Pro
Design Interactive Online Learning Activities Using Blackboard Discussions and Journals
Designing Blackboard Tests
Designing Learning and Teaching Activities Using Vevox
Introduction to the Blackboard AI Design Assistant
Measuring and Increasing Engagement Using Blackboard Tools
Peer Assessment with Turnitin
Preparing for Your Blackboard Exam
Using the Advanced Features of Panopto
E-learning Excellence:
Our E-learning Excellence programmeis designed for colleagues who want to create outstanding digital learning experiences and align their courses with recognised best practice.
Based on theBlackboard Exemplary Course Award rubric, these sessions explore the key elements of high-quality course design and effective digital pedagogy. While the sessions are designed as a complementary four-part series, you are welcome to attend individual sessions according to your interests and needs.
Sessions available:
Exemplary Assessment Design
Exemplary Course Design
Exemplary Interaction and Collaboration
Exemplary Learner Support
Submitting an Exemplary Course Award
We are committed to making our training as accessible and inclusive as possible. If you are unable to attend a session but would like access to the training materials, or if you would like to discuss any aspect of the session format or accessibility requirements, please contact the Digital Education Group at elearning@aber.ac.uk.
We look forward to seeing you at a forthcoming session.
In the August update, we want to draw your attention to the following Blackboard enhancements:
Manage group membership with drag and drop
Create multiple groups at once
Make notifications more accurate and reliable
Add sorting controls for users in Discussions
Restructured Gradebook grid view (Instructors)
Export question banks (Instructors)
Display answer-level feedback for selected options only (Instructors and Students)
Navigate courses faster with an improved user interface
Set release conditions based on journal submissions
Manage group membership with drag and drop
Managing groups is now quicker thanks to new drag-and-drop functionality.
Instructors
From the Groups management area, instructors can now:
Drag students directly from the unassigned list into a group.
Remove individual students from a group without having to clear all members.
Continue using existing assignment methods alongside drag and drop.
This makes it much easier to create and adjust groups, particularly when making small changes to membership or balancing students across several groups.
Image 1: Instructors can drag and drop students to assign them to a group.
Image 2: Instructors can remove individual students from a group instead of removing them all at once.
Create multiple groups at once
Setting up groups has also become much more efficient.
Instructors
Instead of creating groups one by one, instructors can now create multiple groups in a single action. Anywhere from two to 5,000 groups can be generated at once, making setup much faster for large modules.
After groups are created, members can be added manually, imported, or assigned automatically.
A few things to note:
When using Automatically assign, Blackboard creates the required number of groups based on your chosen group size.
When using Self-enrol, three groups are created automatically. Any additional groups created through the bulk creation option are added to those existing groups.
This update significantly reduces the amount of repetitive setup required when preparing collaborative activities.
Image 1: Instructors can now create multiple groups at once instead of adding them one at a time.
Image 2: Instructors can indicate how many groups to create at once, with the minimum 2 and the maximum 5,000.
Make notifications more accurate and reliable
Blackboard has improved the reliability of its notification system by fixing several issues that previously caused missing, duplicated, or mistimed notifications.
Instructors and Students
Improvements include:
Students only receive due and overdue notifications for groups they are actually assigned to.
Duplicate notifications for copied Group Discussions have been removed.
Notifications for discussions, blogs, journals, and wikis now work correctly after course content is copied.
Digest emails now include information about grade updates and cleared grades.
Failed digest emails are no longer incorrectly marked as delivered.
Announcement emails are sent only after their configured start date, ensuring students do not receive messages before content becomes available.
These changes should reduce unnecessary notification traffic while increasing confidence that alerts reflect what is happening in a course.
Add sorting controls for users in Discussions
Discussion areas now include sorting controls to help users navigate long conversations more easily.
Instructors and Students
Users can now:
Sort posts by Newest first or Oldest first.
Return to discussions and find them displayed in the same order they previously selected.
Sorting applies throughout the discussion, including reply threads, and works consistently on mobile devices.
This makes it easier to follow active discussions, review contributions, and find recent activity.
Restructured Gradebook grid view
The Gradebook Grid View has been reorganised to provide a more streamlined grading experience for instructors.
Question banks can now be exported directly from Blackboard.
Instructors
From the question bank management page, instructors can export a question bank as a file and save it locally.
This allows staff to:
Create backups of assessment content.
Share question banks with colleagues.
Reuse content across multiple courses.
The export process gives instructors greater flexibility when managing and preserving assessment materials.
Display answer-level feedback for selected options only
Blackboard has changed how feedback is displayed for multiple-choice questions.
Instructors
There are no changes to the way feedback is created. Staff can continue adding feedback to individual answer options using the existing workflow.
Students
After submitting an assessment attempt, students now only see feedback for the answer options they selected.
Previously, students could see feedback for all options. The new approach provides more focused guidance while preventing students from viewing feedback linked to answers they did not choose.
This allows feedback to remain targeted and relevant to individual responses.
Navigate courses faster with an improved user interface
Blackboard has continued its work to improve navigation and overall user experience.
These changes are intended to:
Make it easier to understand where you are within a course.
Reduce accidental navigation mistakes.
Improve consistency and performance.
Help students stay focused during assessments.
Importantly, course structures and content remain unchanged, so instructors do not need to redesign anything.
Full-page content navigation
Learning modules, folders, documents, assessments, media, and other content items now open as full pages rather than in overlay panels.
Opening content in a dedicated page creates a more consistent experience and makes it easier to move back through course materials without losing your place.
Image 1: Content now opens as a full page with consistent headers and navigation, rather than as stacked overlay panels.
Breadcrumbs for contextual clarity
Content pages now include breadcrumb navigation.
Breadcrumbs show where an item sits within a course structure and provide quick access back to parent folders and modules. They are automatically generated and require no setup from instructors.
This additional context helps users keep track of their location within a course and move around more efficiently.
Image 2: Breadcrumbs on a content page show the user’s location and allow quick movement back through modules and folders.
Clearer, intentional exit from content
The purple “X” previously used to leave content has been replaced with a clearly labelled exit option in the navigation area.
Making the exit control more visible and deliberate helps reduce accidental page closures and makes navigation more predictable.
Image 3: The exit option now sits within the navigation banner, reducing accidental exits.
Focus state for tests and assignments (Students)
When students open a test or assignment, Blackboard automatically switches to a focus state.
This view reduces visual distractions by minimising non-essential navigation elements and presenting a cleaner assessment screen.
The feature:
Helps students concentrate on assessments.
Does not affect grading or functionality.
Still allows students to navigate elsewhere if needed.
Requires no action from instructors.
Focus state is enabled automatically and cannot be switched off.
Image 4: In focus state, nonessential navigation is minimized so students can concentrate on completing an assessment.
Set release conditions based on journal submissions
Release conditions can now be linked to journal submissions.
Instructors
When configuring release conditions, instructors can choose journal submission status as a requirement. Once a student submits the required journal entry, the associated content becomes available automatically.
Importantly, instructors do not need to grade the journal before content is released. Blackboard records the submission as complete within progress tracking and uses that status to trigger content release.
This provides greater flexibility when designing structured learning pathways and prerequisite activities.
Image 1: Instructors select Engagement as the activity requirement for a journal.
Students
Students automatically gain access to new content once they submit the journal entry linked to a release condition.
There is no need to wait for marking or instructor approval before progressing, creating a smoother learning experience and reducing delays between activities.
Merging courses is an effective way of dealing with separate courses with the same content so you don’t have to upload materials to two or more different courses.
This process makes one course the Primary (previously parent), whilst the other course(s) becomes Secondary (previously child). There’s no limit on how many secondary courses you can make but there can only be one primary.
Examples from Aberystwyth
Many members of staff are currently using the merge course facility across the institution. Some examples are:
Modules are taught the same content but there’s a module available for different years.
Modules that bring together different degree schemes and have different module IDs, e.g. dissertation modules.
Essentially, any module/course that shares the same content is ideal for Merging courses.
What do students see?
Students will see the name of the course that they are enrolled on (even if it’s the secondary course) when they log into Blackboard but they will see all the content placed in the primary course. Instructors will not be able to place content in the secondary course.
Things to consider
Now, before the start of term and whilst course content is being built, is the perfect time for linking your courses. Whilst the linking of courses does save time in the loading of materials, here are some points to consider:
All content can be viewed as soon as the courses are merged (as long as students are enrolled on the course). In addition to PowerPoints and lecture materials, this also includes Announcements and other interactive tools on your primary course.
Historical student interactions on a secondary course (such as using blogs or posting in discussion boards) won’t be available once the courses have been merged.
Any submission points created on a secondary module before the merge takes place will no longer be able to be viewed. We would advise creating these again in the primary course.
How do I control content so that it is only viewable to a module cohort?
Whilst all content is automatically visible once the courses are merged, you can use groups and adaptive release if you only want the content to be visible to a specific module cohort. This might be useful, for example, if you have merged a 2nd year and 3rd year course but your students on the different courses have separate assignments. You can use groups – 1 for the 2nd year students and one for 3rd year students and limit who can see the assignment information and submission point. See our guidance on Creating Groups and Release Conditions.
Merging Courses and the Grade Book
Once the merging takes place, all students will appear in the Grade Book of the primary course. It is possible to filter the gradebook using Merged Modules so that you only see the information for students on the relevant modules.
Click the filter button highlighted below and choose from the dropdown for merged courses:
If you’d like further information on this process or have any questions, please contact us on elearning@aber.ac.uk.
In just over a week’s time, the August Blackboard update will be released. This includes an overhaul of the Gradebook. Please see below for further information.
The monthly August Blackboard release has a new user interface for the Gradebook.
Given the nature of this update, we have a separate blogpost dedicated to it.
If you have any questions about the updated Gradebook or grading, please contact the Digital Education Team (elearning@aber.ac.uk).
Every course has the Gradebook, which is used to manage all aspects of the administration of marks. It can be accessed via the top menu of Blackboard courses.
As part of this update, the following processes are not changing:
Grades, calculations, and overall grade configuration
Grade schemas and grading settings
Course-level accommodations
The List View
All existing grades and submission history
The component marks transfer process also remains unchanged.
Change 1: Default view
The default view of the Gradebook is now the grid view
You can swap between the grid view and the list view by clicking between the views:
Change 2: To do list
The Gradebook Overview is now called the To Do List which is available in grid and list views:
From here, you can see what work there is to mark and post:
A reminder that marks need to be posted in order to be included in the marks transfer.
Change 3: Entering Grades
The ways to enter grades into columns has changed.
Click on the pencil icon to change and enter the grade:
You can then post the marks from this screen by clicking on the post icon:
You can also leave feedback from this view by clicking on the mark
If you want to mark and leave feedback on all Blackboard marked items, click on this icon:
This will then open the assignment mark screen.
Change 4: Updating and editing columns
Editing columns now take place via the list view.
Change 5: Filtering by merged module
It is possible to filter the gradebook using Merged Modules so that you only see the information for students on the relevant modules.
Click the filter button highlighted below and choose from the dropdown for merged courses:
Change 6: File upload and download gradebook
The functionality for downloading and uploading to the gradebook has moved.
Click on the settings cog:
Choose Download marks or Upload marks depending on what you want to do.
Change 7: Checking the visibility of a column
The visibility status of columns can no longer be seen in the grid view.
To check the visibility of the column, navigate to the list view:
You can amend the visibility of the column by clicking on the ….
We are now working to update our guidance to reflect the changes in the Gradebook.
If you need any further information or have any questions, please contact us on elearning@aber.ac.uk.
To support students who are resitting in August we are asking all module coordinators to add the new Resit ready item into the Assessment and Feedback area in Blackboard courses.
Resit ready contains resources to support students who are resitting coursework or exams in the supplementary exam period. Once it has been added to courses, colleagues can add then any module or department specific information into the Assessment and Feedback area.
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..
If you use Blackboard Assignment for your assessment, you may be interested in our latest update. Staff can now use the functionality of Blackboard Assignment whiles also getting a Similarity Report from Turnitin.
This is particularly useful for multi-part assignments and assignment files that are too big to use Turnitin. Like other elements of Blackboard, Assignment is available in Welsh for both staff and students. It also means that you get the benefits of Blackboard Assignment (such as an electronic receipt for students) as well as being able to use the same Similarity Report as other colleagues.
If you already make use of Blackboard Assignment, then we encourage you to try out the new Turnitin feature. Our Guide contains all the information to help you get started. Submission and marking stay the same, but you get the additional Similarity Report alongside your marking.
We’d also be interested in your feedback – during the year, we’ll contact you for feedback on using this new Turnitin integration.
In the June update, we want to draw your attention to the following Blackboard enhancements:
Grading with rubric
Student engagement with announcements
Changes to grading with rubric
To improve rubric usability, instructors can now edit the rubric grade directly. Changes to the rubric component grades will also update the overall grade immediately.
Image 1: Improved rubric usability when adding or adjusting grades.
In the past, instructors would have been blocked from changing the overall grade via the rubric. Now, the locking mechanism that previously prevented instructors from using the rubric to override a grade has been removed. Otherwise, grades entered into the rubric grade components will update the overall grade immediately.
The update also includes some changes in wording, such as updating the rubric score box label from “Submission” to “Rubric Score”, in order to improve consistency with the Flexible Grading page.
Student engagement with announcements
Instructors can now check which announcements a student has read or not read on the new ‘Announcements’ tab of the Student Overview page.
To access this feature, instructors should go to the ‘Class register’ under the ‘Details & Actions’ items on the right-hand side of a course landing page. After selecting a student, a log of whether or not a student has accessed an announcement will be visible for instructors under the new ‘Announcements’ tab of the Student Overview page.
Image 2: The Announcements tab on the Student Overview page shows when an Announcement was posted and when it was read.
If you have any enhancements to request from Blackboard, please get in touch with us via elearning@aber.ac.uk.
All courses for 2026-27 have been created and are available to staff in Blackboard.
All AU Blackboard course sites use an agreed template with areas for core information along with agreed content for university-level policies.
The course template is agreed by the Quality and Standards Committee annually. Module Coordinators have responsibility for the organisation of materials in their courses. Staff should not delete template content.
