This December Blackboard has made it easier to see new posts in Discussions and late submissions in Blackboard Assignments (not Turnitin). Additionally, we highlight the release of AI Conversations in Blackboard and the Online Mini Conference on 18 December.
Blackboard have added a “New” indicator that displays next to posts and replies that a user has not yet accessed. This helps direct engagement by making new discussion activity easier to find and access.
Image 1. The “New” indicator alongside a post and a reply
To help instructors quickly identify late submissions in the attempt banner, late submissions now have a Late indicator. Blackboard also updated the wording from Submitted late <date> to Submitted <date>.
Also of note this month:
We released the AI Conversations in Blackboard which is a chat bot for students to interact with and test their knowledge as part of a learning activity which Instructors can give a persona. It uses both Socratic questioning and role play.
The latest AI Design Assistant feature has been enabled in Blackboard.
AI Conversations provides a chat bot for students to interact with as part of a learning activity.
There are two AI Conversation options:
Socratic questioning
This encourages students to think critically through continuous questioning prompts
Role play
This allows students to play out a scenario with the AI persona designed and created by the instructor
Once set up, students can engage in these activities to further their knowledge and understanding of the topic.
Students type a response to the questions posed by the AI chat bot. At the end of the activity, students respond to a reflective question to outline how the conversation helped with their understanding of the topic.
We will be showcasing AI Conversations at our online Mini Conference on Wednesday 18 December. Further information is available on our blogpost.
Our E-learning Enhanced: Introduction to the AI Design Assistant training has also been updated to include AI Conversations. You can book your place on the course on the Events and Training booking system.
Instructors can now print tests that include questions from Question Pools. An answer key will also be printed with the corresponding test. This ensures that Instructors always have an answer key that matches the test. Blackboard generates the answer key and prints it ahead of the test. The answer key is also clearly labelled to ensure awareness.
The system generates a different version of the answer key and test each time a test is printed when the test:
Randomizes questions or answer options
Includes Question Pools
Instructors can use the print option to save the answer key and test as a PDF.
To help with resizing blocks that are vertically tall, Blackboard have modified the resize handle. Now, instructors can resize a block by selecting the vertical edge of a block. It is not necessary to place the mouse directly over the handle.
“Change dates to a specific date and/or time” is the most popular option used in Batch Edit to change dates in a batch, so it is now the default option. This change simplifies the process for users and helps instructors to prepare courses for teaching and learning even faster.
Creating questions is time consuming. Instructors now have the option to generate questions in a question bank. Generating question banks from course materials provides inspiration and saves time.
To generate a question bank, select the Auto-generate option from the + on the Question Banks page.
Image 1. Auto-generate a question bank
From the menu, instructors can select content items. These content items provide context for the questions. Instructors can further refine the questions they ask by entering a description of the learning objectives or topic.
Image 2. The context picker for creating new questions
Instructors can select the type of question to generate, such as multiple choice or fill in the blank. The complexity of the questions can also be adjusted. Instructors choose which questions to include in the question bank.
To encourage participation in discussions, Blackboard have expanded notifications to include email. Emails are sent when users opt for Email me right away notifications.
Key Enhancements:
User Notification Settings: New notification options allow users to manage their emails for discussions they follow. To help with consistency, these settings align with the user’s settings for their activity stream.
Activity on my responses
Activity on responses I have replied to
Responses from instructors
Responses for followed discussions
Replies for followed discussions
How to access your Email notification settings:
In Blackboard go into your Profile
Under Global Notification Settings click on Email notifications
Email notifications highlighted under Global Notification settings
Adjust your settings as you prefer
Image 2. An example of an email for discussion activity
The September Blackboard update includes enhancements to the Course Content Page, introduces Knowledge Checks in Documents, changes to assessments, feedback & grades hidden using Release Conditions, and an Overview tab in the Grade book to aid grading.
Course Content Page enhancements
The September update to Blackboard sees enhancements to the course content page.
The enhancements include:
Greater visual depth
Changed Content Page layout
Differentiation among course elements
Greater visual depth
The new design incorporates:
Subtle gradients and softer edges
A more cohesive colour palette with inviting, warmer tones
More intuitive navigation, which reduces cognitive load and increases focus on the content
We’re the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit. Based in Information Services, we work with staff across the university to support and develop learning and teaching. We run a wide range of activities to do this.
Each module has its own dedicated course in Blackboard. These courses contain online content, such as reading lists, and teaching staff details. This is the main point of information for your students for any given module, including access to lecture recordings and assignment submission. The University has a Blackboard Required Minimum Presence policy for all modules. Please see our staff guide for further information.
Lecture Capture: Panopto
When teaching in person, be aware that all lectures (that is, teaching where the focus is on information being transmitted from staff to students) should be recorded using Panopto, our Lecture Capture software. See details of our Lecture Capture Policy.
E-submission: Turnitin and Blackboard Assignment
At Aberystwyth University, students must submit all text-based and word-processed work electronically as outlined in the University’s E-submission policy. For this, we use our e-submission tools: Turnitin andBlackboard Assignment. Turnitin provides an automatic text matching functionality.
Polling tool: Vevox
Vevox is Aberystwyth University’s polling tool. Polling can be used in learning and teaching activities as well as meetings to make the session interactive and collaborative with many different possibilities for use.
Resources and further help
We have a number of Guides and FAQs to help you use our software.
Training Provision
To support all staff with their teaching, the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit runs a series of training sessions. These include:
practical sessions to familiarise staff with the different elements of the VLE,
the Active Learning agenda,
assessment and feedback,
accessibility,
presentation skills, and more.
artificial intelligence
We also offer a range of events and training programmes. You can find details of our annual CPD programme and book your place to attend via our Book a Course page. We deliver some sessions ourselves, while others are delivered by university staff whose teaching features good practice in those areas. Look for (L&T) in the session title.
Events
The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit runs a range of events, including the Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, Mini-Conferences, Mini-Fests, and Academy Forums. All of these are great opportunities to meet people from across the university and discuss Learning and Teaching issues and developments.
The August Blackboard Learn Ultra update includes enhancements to Ultra Documents, Forms, Release Conditions and Discussions.
Enhancements to Blackboard Learn Ultra Documents
The Blackboard Learn Ultra August update included enhancements to the creating and editing functionality of Blackboard Learn Ultra Documents.
For those unfamiliar with Documents, they are an easy way to create content in Ultra, ensuring compatibility with mobile devices and Blackboard Ally. As this update to Documents is a significant change to content organisation, we have written a separate blog post which can be found here.
Anonymous student responses for Forms
Anonymous responses in forms encourage honest and candid feedback from students and help participants feel safe and secure knowing their identities are protected. Anonymity leads to more genuine responses that convey the respondents’ true opinions and experiences. Additionally, it increases participation rates and the overall quality of the results.
Instructors can now collect anonymous submissions in Forms. The new Anonymous submissions option appears in the Grading & Submissions section of Form Settings.
Image 1. Anonymous submissions option
When you select Anonymous submissions, these settings are enabled by default:
Due date
Prohibit late submissions
Prohibit new attempts after due date
Complete/incomplete is selected as the grading schema for non-graded forms
When grading, the submission earns the points assigned; you can’t edit or override the points earned
Additional important details to note:
Anonymous forms cannot be administered to groups.
Class conversations are not supported when Anonymous submissions is selected.
To ensure anonymity, student activity, exceptions, exemptions and accommodations are not supported.
To ensure anonymity, student progress/statistics are not captured.
Modifications to form questions and settings are not permitted if the form has submissions and the due date has passed.
From the Submissions tab for a form, you can view an anonymized list of students participants along with this information and options:
Student submission status
Grading status and grade – At submission, the grading status is set to Complete and the grade is marked (for example., 5/5)
Post — Graded forms post automatically
Download all – You can download all form submissions
To view responses, select an anonymous student from the list. You can enter overall feedback for their submission.
For ungraded forms, the text “Submitted” or “Not submitted”
For graded forms, the grade
From the Gradebook, before the due date for an anonymous form, “Anonymous” appears in the cell for each student. After the due date, the cells display:
From the Grades tab, you can select Download Gradebook to download responses to forms with anonymous submissions.
Blackboard has taken care to ensure students know when their submission to a form is anonymous. The Anonymous icon and label appears on:
the Content Page
the Form panel where they start the attempt and view their submission
the Details & Information section that appears while responding to the form
Image 2. The Student view of the Anonymous label and icon for a form
Improvements to creating assignments (not Turnitin)
Instructors need robust, easy to use tools when creating their assessments.
To create a better experience, the new Assignment page includes these improvements:
A new Instructions box where instructors can use the full content editor to craft assignment instructions.
There are no options to add questions to an assignment.
The Settings panel now includes only options relevant to assignments.
Blank attempts are no longer created when students view assignment instructions. The system only creates an attempt when students add content to the file drop zone / content editor. Note: Group or timed and proctored assignments continue to create attempts when students view the instructions.
Image 1. Instructor view of the New Assignment page with the new Instructions box
Image 2. Instructor view of adding instructions to an assignment
Image 3. Students view of the new Assignment Information panel and the View Instructions option
Image 4. Student view of the assignment instructions
Multiple rules for release conditions
Instructors need to release course content based on performance criteria to sequence students on learning paths correctly. Sometimes they also need to release content to different groups using different criteria. To support this needed flexibility, instructors can now create multiple rules for release conditions.
You can create rules for release conditions based on these criteria: date, time, and grade range performance criteria. You can also create rules for specific individual learners, groups, or for all members.
Image 1. The new Release Conditions page
Ability to ‘Follow’ Discussions for Enhanced Engagement
Discussions are an important part of the course experience, allowing for easy collaboration between all course members. The ability to engage and re-engage with discussions ensures that collaboration is active and lively. Users can re-engage when they know there are new posts by following the discussion.
Key Enhancements:
Follow Discussions: Users can follow select discussions and receive notifications for new contributions from peers or instructors.
User Notification Settings: New notification options for the Activity Stream settings allow users to manage notification types for discussions:
Activity on my responses
Activity on responses I have replied to
Responses from instructors
Responses for followed discussions
Replies for followed discussions
Image 1. New ‘Follow’ option inside a discussion
Image 2. New user notification options for the Activity Stream
Image 3. Notifications being delivered to the Activity Stream
Now that the 2024-25 modules are available to teaching staff, we can link them together at the module co-ordinator’s request. This process is called merging courses (previously known as parent-childing) and works with courses in Blackboard Ultra. Linking courses together 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.
If you’d like to merge any courses, we invite module coordinators to contact elearning@aber.ac.uk indicating the module codes for the primary and every secondary course.
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 (previously ‘adaptive relesease’ in Blackboard Original).
Merging Courses and the Grade Book
Once the merging takes place, all students will appear in the Grade Book of the primary course. You can, however, determine whether they are enrolled on the parent course as this information displays against the student in the Grade Book columns.
If you’d like further information on this process or have any questions, please contact us on elearning@aber.ac.uk.
Instructors can now print assessments. Printing provides a convenient solution for a variety of use cases:
Accommodating students with specific needs or limited technology access
Providing a printed assessment for testing in designated locations
Backup and record keeping
Conducting offline assessment
Documentation and compliance
Maintaining security and integrity
The print option is available in Forms, Tests, and Assignments with questions. Printing also provides the option to save as PDF.
To print an assessment, from Content and Settings, select Print.
Note: Blackboard plan to support printing answer keys and question pools in upcoming releases.
Image below: Print option from a test
Image below: Select desired print options
Filter out graded responses when grading by question
The Needs Grading filter now filters out graded student responses by default. Filtering this way helps instructors to focus on any remaining ungraded responses for a given question. It also provides instructors with an improved view of their outstanding grading workload. If instructors want to include graded responses, they can select Show graded responses. This selection preference is now stored per course and it persists across assessments in each course.
Image below: Grading by question option with the grading status of Needs Grading filter selected
Image below: Grading by question view with the grading status filter of Needs Grading and Show graded responses options selected
Post immediately when creating announcements
Instructors can now post announcements as part of the drafting and editing processes. This makes the process of creating and posting announcements simpler.
Instructors can still post from the announcements page.
Image below: When creating or editing an announcement, there is now an option to post
