Tag: Monthly updates

What’s new in Blackboard March 2025

WordPress User [ksg2] Blackboard, Blackboard Discussion Boards, E-submission, Marking, Monthly Update, Ultra Leave a comment

What’s new in Blackboard March 2025

In the March update, Blackboard has changed how release conditions work with due dates and included the ability to copy banners from one course to another. Other updates include enhancements to Tests, Assignments, & Gradebook, and Discussions.

Release conditions panel: due dates now included

When instructors customise release conditions for a content item, the due date for the item is now included with the date and time fields.

Image 1: The due date of a content item now displays after the date and time fields

The due date of a content item now displays after the date and time fields

.Release condition rules, with the date/time section highlighted to show the red warning text about dates

This means that due dates must be between the release conditions of Date/Time that have been applied.

Copy banners between courses

Instructors now have the option to copy banners between courses. Banners can be copied from Ultra or Original courses. 

Image 1: The Copy Items page now has the option to select the course banner under Settings

The Copy Items page now has the option to select the course banner under Settings

Follow the instructions on copying content for further information.

Tests, Assignments, and Gradebook

The following enhancements are grouped under tests, assignment, and gradebook activities.

New student submission review page for tests

A new and enhanced student-facing submission review page for tests has been developed.

The new layout means that all feedback is clearly laid out and easy for students to identify.

Image 1: The student view of the graded test submission includes a submission timestamp, submission receipt, and feedback for individual questions.

The student view of the graded test submission includes a submission timestamp, submission receipt, and feedback for individual questions.

If the test is visible and feedback has been posted, students can access the review page from:

  • The gradebook feedback button for the test
  • The small panel that displays when students access a test from the Course Content page

If a student submits multiple attempts, they can review each attempt on the submission review page. The instructor defines which attempt to grade in the test’s final grade calculation setting.

Please note that this does not affect online exams as we advise that the test is hidden from students to prevent them seeing their results.

Show/hide calculated columns in the gradebook

Instructors can now configure visibility for calculated columns from Items Management in the Gradebook by click on the associated calculation:

Image showing markable items in the Gradebook

Pop-out rubric with Blackboard Assignment

Grading rubrics on Blackboard Assignments can pop out into a separate window as part of the assignment workflow.

Image 1: Instructors can pop out the rubric by selecting the expand icon in the rubric panel.

Instructors can pop out the rubric by selecting the expand icon in the rubric panel.

When the pop-out rubric is open, the ability to add Overall Feedback and grade with the rubric in the main grading interface is inactive. This prevents an instructor from editing the same information in two separate places simultaneously.

We recommend using two screens with this enhancement.

Discussions

Usability improvements for Discussions

Several improvements have been made to Discussions:

  • Improved visibility: Posts now have a grey background to stand out better against the page.
  • Full post display: Long discussion posts are now fully visible without the need for scrolling, enhancing readability.

Image 1. A long discussion post displayed in its entirety with a grey background.

A long discussion post displayed in its entirety with a grey background.

We made several changes to enhance the accessibility of key features on the discussion home page.

  • Participation metrics: The number of posts and replies is now listed directly on the discussion home page, replacing the total response counter. This change makes important information more immediately available.
  • Direct edit option: The Edit button is now directly accessible from the post, saving instructors time.

Image 2. The changes made to the discussion home page included the addition of an Edit button and a count of posts and replies.

The changes made to the discussion home page included the addition of an Edit button and a count of posts and replies.

Hidden Discussions tab from student course view

The Discussions page will only be available to students if any of the below conditions are met:

  • Students have permission to create new discussions
  • The instructor has created a discussion or discussion folder on the course

Anonymous discussions: New privilege to reveal author

System administrators can now reveal the identity of the author of an anonymous discussion post or reply. If you are running an anonymous Discussion and need to de-anonymise a comment, contact elearning@aber.ac.uk outlining the course, discussion, and post, as well as the rationale for requesting it be de-anonymised.

If you have any enhancements to request from Blackboard, please get in touch with us via elearning@aber.ac.uk.

What’s new in Blackboard – February 2025

WordPress User [brr26] Blackboard, Monthly Update Leave a comment
, , , , , , ,

In the February update, Blackboard has improved the workflows for Assignments and Tests and further enhanced the AI Design Assistant. Additionally, there are new options for managing and creating content and some improved accuracy when uploading grades and feedback.

Assignments, Tests, Marking and Grades

Conversion of existing assignments to new assignment workflow

The Create Test and Create Assignment workflows used to share the same content settings, but the workflows have been separated since last August. This month’s update will run an automatic bulk conversion of any assignments created before August 2024 to ensure that all assignments past and present will benefit from this new workflow. See the August 2024 Blog for details on the workflow differences.

Assignments following the conversion: There will be no option to add questions to assignments and attempts will only be created with students interact with the assignment, such as submitting a file or adding content. Clicking on the assignment will not create an attempt.

Tests following the conversion: Tests with questions will remain the same. Any tests without questions will be set to Hidden from students. When you copy tests over from previous modules, they will also be set to Hidden from students. Some assignment-specific options have been removed from the test settings menu:

  • Collect submissions offline
  • Use grading rubric
  • Maximum points
  • 2 grades per student
  • Peer review

Additionally, the functionality for student visibility options and release conditions for tests have been updated. Now, instructors must add one or more questions to their test to make it visible to students or to add release conditions. This ensures that students only see assessments that they can actively engage with.

Image 1: Settings panel with assignment-specific options removed.

Settings panel with assignment-specific options removed

Masking access codes for Tests

In the past, when an exam invigilator entered an access code for an online exam using Blackboard Tests, the code was visible on the screen when entered. This compromised the security of the testing environment. Now, the code is masked (******) to ensure enhanced security. An option to view the code is available but the default state keeps it hidden which provides better privacy and protection during exams.
Image 2: Masked Access Code.

Screenshot of Masked Access Code

Improved accuracy when uploading grades and feedback

Instructors can now upload grades and feedback for assignments, journals, and discussions with improved accuracy. Previously, uploaded grades were always stored at the override level, which left any underlying attempts or submissions ungraded. This caused the Needs Grading and New Submission flags to remain visible, even when grading had been completed offline. Uploaded grades and feedback are now correctly mapped to the corresponding attempt or submission which reduces confusion and provides better clarity for instructors. See guidance on Working Offline with Grade Data for further information.

AI Design Assistant

More generated questions and Learning Modules

When using the AI Design Assistant, instructors can now set the number of questions generated for tests and question banks to a maximum of 20. The maximum number of learning modules that the AI Design Assistant generates also increased to 20. There is also an added option to exclude descriptions from learning modules generated by the AI Design Assistant. Instructors now have the option to write their own descriptions.

Image 3: The Auto-Generate Questions page displays a new maximum number of questions of 20.

Screenshot of the Auto-Generate Questions page displays a new maximum number of questions of 20.

For more information on the tools available with the AI Design Assistant see Blackboard AI Design Assistant Tools.

Managing and Creating Content

New image block on Document creator

Blackboard have added a new image block to Documents. Image blocks are used to upload your own images, use the AI Design Assistant to generate images, or select images from Unsplash. Image blocks can be moved throughout a Document, just like other block types. You have the option to resize images, set height, and maintain aspect ratios in image blocks.

Image 4: The new image block option in Documents.

A screenshot of the new image block option in Documents.

A dedicated image block makes adding images more apparent. Adding images via the image block also reduces white space around images and provides greater control over content design. For more information on using Documents in Blackboard see Enhancements to Documents.

Changing Folders to Learning Modules

Instructors can now change a folder to a learning module or a learning module to a folder. Benefits of changing a folder to a learning module include:

  • Thumbnail images: Learning modules come with thumbnail images, which provide a visually appealing course experience.
  • Forced sequencing: Instructors can force students to navigate learning modules in linear paths.
  • Progress bar: Learning modules have a progress bar for students that highlights the number of items that they need to complete and their progression on those items.
  • Previous and next navigation: Students can quickly navigate to the next or previous item in a learning module.

It is also possible to convert a learning module to a folder, though we would not recommend this, as it will remove the added benefits of using learning modules as listed above.

Image 5: The new option to change a folder to a learning module in the dropdown menu.

Screenshot of the new option to change a folder to a learning module in the dropdown menu.

Idea Exchange

This section aims to keep you updated on progress of enhancements requested on the Blackboard Anthology Idea Exchange. The following three items have changed their status to ‘Planning to implement’:

  • Support for a Dark Mode in Ultra Courses
  • Ability to add metadata to questions in tests and banks
  • Organising Pools

If you have any enhancements to request from Blackboard, please get in touch with the Digital Education Group.

What’s new in Blackboard – January 2025

WordPress User [brr26] Blackboard, Uncategorised Leave a comment
, , ,

In the January update, Blackboard has improved the AI Design Assistant by adding more languages and enhancing the Auto-generation features. Additionally, there are new features for Creating Documents and Release Conditions.

AI Design Assistant Outputs

Blackboard have improved the auto-generation features within the AI Design Assistant to have faster and more complex outputs. When auto-generating Learning Modules for example, all you need is a few sentences to describe the Modules, and the AI Design Assistant creates longer descriptions and deeper focus on the topic:

Image 1: Auto-generated Learning modules with latest improvements (see right) for comparison.

As well as learning modules, they include improvements for auto-generating: Assignments, Discussions, Journals, Test questions and AI Conversation avatars. See our webpages for further information on the AI Design Assistant and training sessions are also available to book here.

More languages in AI Design Assistant

The AI Design Assistant now includes expanded language outputs. AI workflows now work in Greek, Catalan, Croatian, Irish, and Slovenian. For a complete list of languages available for AI outputs, see Blackboard’s AI Design Assistant for Instructors page. See below for how to change the language:

Image 2. Changing the output language is available as an advanced option in the AI Design Assistant.

Direct grade entry from the Grid view

Instructors can now enter assignment grades directly in the Grid view (selected by choosing the Marks tab in the Gradebook) with improved accuracy and consistency.

Image 3: Screenshot of the Marks tab in the Gradebook.

Previously, grades entered in these views were stored at the override level, which caused confusion as underlying attempts remained ungraded and continued to display the Needs Grading and New Submission flags. This latest update ensures that grades entered this way are properly mapped to the underlying attempt or submission when applicable.

NOTE: This feature is only applicable in the Marks view, grades continue to be shown as override if you are in the Markable Items view. Also, grades entered via file upload continue to be stored as override grades.

Content blocks for designing Documents

Blackboard have improved the content designer when creating documents which makes it much easier to use. When instructors create or edit a document, the content block no longer closes when you collapse the menu in the editor. Also, the editor no longer closes when editing table setting

For more information on documents see: Blackboard Learn Ultra: Enhancements to Documents.

File uploads for Documents

This latest update has updated the default file option when instructors upload files to documents. The default file option is now View and Download file. Also, it is now possible to use the Undo and Redo functions for file uploads. This is very useful if you’ve uploaded an incorrect file to your document, you can just click the ‘undo’ feature.

Image 4: New ‘Undo’ and ‘Redo’ functions highlighted below.

Submission attempts for Release Conditions

You can now use item submission status for a release condition. For example, an instructor who wants students to access a document only after submitting a quiz would use a release condition. Students can access content items without needing to wait for a grade to be posted.

Image 5: The new Attempt submitted option is in the dropdown menu for a gradable item in the Release Conditions panel.