Related FAQ - Where is my summer course after the Ultra Experience upgrade?
Blackboard's navigation to courses will be upgraded on Friday, May 25, 2018 beginning at 3 PM EST as part of DoIT’s routine Blackboard maintenance. This upgrade will modernize the overall dashboard with the new Ultra Experience base navigation.
Important: Courses will NOT change in appearance or functionality.
No downtime is expected, but the login page located at blackboard.umbc.edu will be temporarily unavailable while it is also updated by DoIT. Faculty, staff, and students can still log into Blackboard by clicking on the Blackboard icon via myUMBC or going to my.umbc.edu/go/blackboard.
Once the Blackboard upgrade is complete, please clear your Internet browser cache and cookies before logging in using these step-by-step instructions.
How does the Ultra Experience change Blackboard for faculty & students?
Faculty and students should expect no other changes to their courses at this time. However, the Ultra Experience is an innovative, learner-centric redesign of Blackboard and UMBC recognizes the change in course interface will take some time to get used to. Training and course redesign support will be available to faculty until the projected final rollover to Ultra in FA2019.
Term |
Key Activity |
|
SU2017 |
Migrate infrastructure from managed hosting to Bb cloud |
|
FA2017 |
Participate in 8-week Ultra Cohort program to prepare for Ultra pilot and full deployment |
|
Between FA/WT |
Apply responsive theme to Blackboard system Train Ultra pilot faculty |
|
WT2018 |
Redesign Ultra pilot courses |
|
SP2018 |
Coordinate Ultra pilot (enroll students, meet with faculty, etc.) |
|
Between SP/SU |
Enable Ultra Experience (UX) base navigation |
|
SU2018 |
Phase 1 – Opt-in UX, course redesigns ⚯ ⁂ |
|
FA2018 |
Phase 2 – Opt-in UX, course redesigns ⚯ ☊ ⁂ ☎︎ |
|
WT2019 |
Phase 3 – Opt-in UX, course redesigns ⚯ ☊ ⁂ ☉ ☎︎ |
|
SP2019 |
Phase 4 – Opt-in UX, course redesigns ⚯ ☊ ⁂ ☎︎ |
|
SU2019 |
Soft Launch: All SU2019 courses use Ultra Experience ⚯ ☊ ⁂ ☉ ☎︎ |
|
FA2019 |
GO LIVE: All courses use Ultra Experience ⚯ ☊ ⁂ ☎︎ |
|
⚯ – Self-Paced Workshops
☊ – Webinars
⁂ – Boot Camp
☉ – Alternate Delivery Program
☎︎ – Consult an Instructional Technology specialist
For more information about the Ultra Experience, please review the following information:
- Our projected timeline and migration plan
- Our collection of Ultra Experience FAQs or the general project FAQ
- Additional information is available online at my.umbc.edu/go/ultra
As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:
- Check our extensive FAQ collection
- Open a ticket via RT
- Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups
- Request a consult with instructional technology staff
If our Blackboard site experiences technical issues due to unforeseen circumstances, updates will be posted to this news article. We appreciate your patience as we continue to improve our systems to bring you a better Blackboard experience.
