March streamlines multiple-attempts for ease of grading
New functionality enhances Ultra courses in time for SP2023
The March update to Ultra streamlines the grading interface for multiple attempts in a student's submission. This update reduces the number of clicks and pages, allowing instructors to quickly navigate between submissions. When switching, Ultra will display important information such as the attempt number, time and date of submission, file size, grade (if available) and a late indicator (if applicable). This update applies to both tests and assignments.
Image 1: Example of multiple attempts on submission page
In addition
to the January update where discussion posts may be deactivated based on due date, this month's update provides faculty with an option to modify a discussion and manually turn off student editing and commenting. Increased control over discussion activity provides faculty with more options to choose when and how discussions start and end in a course.
Another feature released in March is the ability to reschedule announcements with a new notification alert for students within the course. Some instructors were recreating announcements from scratch to generate the pop-up to help students see an announcement. With this update, instructors can now reschedule announcements by changing the show on and hide after fields to a future date.
Additional updates to Ultra for March include:
- A PDF version of the SafeAssign originality report, including clickable sources. Additionally, infrastructure improvements were made to support peak usage.
- Sorting controls in the Student List view, allowing instructors to sort by grade (low to high / high to low) in the Overall Grade column.
- Sorting controls on the Anonymous Submissions page for an assessment to sort by grade (low to high / high to low) in the grade column for that assessment.
- Improvements to the Course Activity page, accessed from the Analytics tab, helps helps instructors easily identify students who might be falling behind, select and message students.
The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on March 7, 2023. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Additionally, our Ultra feature tracker is updated and now includes a filter for functional category (e.g., assessment, course management, grading) so you can sort only those items you might be interested in tracking the status. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
Blackboard/Anthology is looking for presenters to share their experiences with faculty, lecturers, academic technologists, and instructional designers at the
Spring 2023 Digital Teaching Symposium, a fully-online, one-day conference.
Examples of topics include:
Innovations in Teaching and Learning - AI/VR/Metaverse
- Digital citizenship
- Teaching tools
- Practical strategies to motivate and retain online learners to increase retention and graduations rates
- Low-cost (or free) apps/platforms to enhance teaching
- Data & Analytics
- DEI/Accessibility
Digital Teaching Strategies - Student engagement
- Faculty Training
- Discipline specific strategies (science, math, psychology)
- Applications for student clubs and organizations
- Assignments, alternative assessments, course design
- Pedagogy
- Evaluation & feedback
Teaching in Ultra - Transitioning to Ultra
- How to organize information in Ultra
- Built-in tools such as journals, quizzes, discussions, etc.
If you are interested in presenting, please
fill out the online form to submit your proposal. The deadline is Tuesday, March 14 at 5 p.m. ET.
Instructional Technology is pleased to offer the following Ultra workshops in March:
March 2 (12 PM) - Ultra Essentials IV - Tests & Assignments
March 7 (12 PM) Ultra Essentials V - Grading & the Gradebook
March 13 (12 PM) - Ultra Course Orientation for Faculty, TAs & Course Builders
March 17 (12 PM) - Deliver Effective Assessments with Ultra Question Banks
March 29 (12 PM) - Ultra Design Clinic
All Ultra workshops except the drop-in design clinic are recorded with at least 2 participants in attendance.
---
UMBC is committed to providing a consistent learning experience for everyone. The last day we will support Blackboard Original is December 31, 2024. Please check out our training and support: umbc.edu/go/ultra
Note: This self-paced course has been retired due to changes in available resources from Blackboard. We encourage faculty interested in Ultra training to access the following resources:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In support of the final completion of the Ultra migration by SP2025, Instructional Technology is pleased to offer a self-paced course, Ultra for Instructors.
This course is designed to introduce instructors to Blackboard Ultra, including general navigation, content management and creation processes, assessment creation and settings options, and gradebook management. Ultra for Instructors should provide a starting point to help you design your courses in Blackboard Ultra and offers opportunities to apply what you're learning as you navigate the course.
The course includes reference materials, links to resources, videos, and "Try It" activities to apply in your own Ultra courses. Depending on faculty interests, available time, and needs, the course can be approached in one of the following ways:
Complete all modules, beginning with the Welcome and sequentially completing Modules 1-7.
Complete certain modules of interest.
Complete selected units within particular modules.
Refer to the course as a reference guide, as needed.
]]>
Note: This self-paced course has been retired due to changes in available resources from Blackboard. We encourage faculty interested in Ultra training to access the following resources: Attend...
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Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:57:51 -0500
UMBC to Complete Bb Ultra Migration by Start of SP2025
FA2024 to be last term DoIT supports Bb Original
In support of a common learning experience for students and faculty, and in consultation with the Faculty Senate Computer Policy Committee (CPC) last semester, UMBC will complete the Blackboard Ultra migration by the start of the Spring 2025 term. Since Winter and Spring courses are typically auto-created by early December, this means Fall 2024 will be the last term in which DoIT plans to support Blackboard Original.
Also, given its current Ultra adoption of 70%, the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) has agreed to migrate all courses by the start of Fall 2024. DoIT will also seek feedback on our "last mile" Ultra migration efforts from CoEIT and CNMS (for Spring 2025). The Erickson School is already using Ultra. But migrating our remaining Bb courses will give all students the same learning management system (LMS) since our first Ultra pilot in Spring 2018, a common request from student surveys in the past (see below).
Increasingly, as Ultra is used by more UMBC Blackboard courses (50% as of Fall 2022), this two-year plan is based on four criteria:
1. Students should have a common learning experience.
Currently, students must juggle two separate course views: Ultra and Original, depending on what their instructors have selected. Ultra also provides a mobile friendly and accessible course environment for students as well as better tools to track their progress while fostering self-expression with name pronunciation. Ultra provides tools to support diverse pedagogical and assessment practices, which supports the student learning experience.
2. Students like and want more Ultra courses.
In three separate surveys, students said they were satisfied with Ultra and indicated a preference for Ultra courses (FA2022, SP2021, FA2019). Students consistently praise Ultra's clean interface, aggregated calendar of due dates, and easy discovery of graded activities. Increased exposure to Ultra through IHU and ENGL 100 courses provides students with a strong foundation in using the platform. Also, combined with Ally, Ultra is designed to improve accessibility.
3. Ultra is compatible with Original in key areas.
Within the last year, more than 150 updates brought Ultra up to feature parity with additional updates expected to reach up to 95% by the end of SP2023. A deep focus on assessment and grading aligned to UMBC faculty needs, addressing key areas in assessment & grading, engagement & content, and user & course management. Ultra now supports extensive gradebook tools and rubrics, question banks, robust groups management, with exclusive features not available in Original. Still, for faculty who tried Ultra before the Pandemic and found it missing key features, DoIT is eager and willing to consult on any questions or concerns.
4. Original courses will be retired eventually by the vendor.
Anthology, the parent company that now owns Blackboard, has already retired Original courses in self-hosted and managed hosted environments. All major development occurs for Ultra courses, not Original, in part because Anthology has invested three times the resources for Ultra. Original may receive minor tweaks and patches, but it is an aging platform.
Training & Support
To complete the migration to Ultra, DoIT is available to work with each college to tailor our training and support plan. However, DoIT's Instructional Technology team already provides Ultra training from an extensive catalog and updates Ultra support documentation frequently. Monthly drop-in support sessions will be provided, and DoIT staff will offer instructional design training and support for departments through workshops and Design Clinics throughout the academic year.
Finally, to promote effective practices, identify areas for improved resources, strengthen opportunities for professional development, and partner in outreach and support for faculty and students, DoIT will announce ways faculty can offer feedback or request help, including a survey and/or virtual town halls.
Sincerely,
Mariann Hawken
Director, Instructional Technology
John Fritz
Associate Vice President
Instructional Technology & New Media
]]>
In support of a common learning experience for students and faculty, and in consultation with the Faculty Senate Computer Policy Committee (CPC) last semester, UMBC will complete the Blackboard...
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Sat, 18 Feb 2023 10:18:48 -0500
Six month roadmap previewed for Ultra courses
Focus on assessment, grading, content, learner analytics
Over the last year, Ultra received more than 150 enhancements and new features to strengthen and improve the new course for faculty and students. At the first quarter roadmap for 2023, the Ultra developers presented extensive plans for the next six months, focusing on grading and assessment, engagement and collaboration, content and course organization, and learner analytics.
In March, Ultra courses will receive improvements to multiple submissions, allowing faculty to quickly shift between student attempts for grading and comparison, as well as a downloadable PDF version of the SafeAssign report. More information about the March release is available on the What's New in Ultra FAQ with a forthcoming update expected to myUMBC before the Blackboard site is updated early March.
In April, we expect to see two improvements requested by UMBC faculty and one new feature:
Multiple grading schema: Create more than one grading schema in your Ultra course including pass/fail or complete/incomplete.
Import questions into Question Banks: Abandon those messy gradebook columns from unused tests and create question banks instead!
Search course content: Quickly find course content by searching title and description. This feature will be available to students and faculty. Exclusive to Ultra courses.
These are not the only enhancements expected in April, but the most exciting to share.
Although Anthology also offered a roadmap for Original, the majority of development continues to center in usability, accessibility, security, and storage management. Most development described during the Q1 2023 Original roadmap centered on system admin tools, base navigation (e.g., the Blackboard dashboard), or global changes impacting both Ultra and Original courses such as tool integration and Bb Annotate. A few enhancements focus on usability such as streamlining the assignment submission process for students with a few improvements slated for long term development (e.g., more than six months).
The Instructional Technology team tracks and shares monthly updates to its myUMBC group and presents a What's New in Ultra for Teaching & Learning webinar every semester. Blackboard's quarterly roadmaps are open to the public.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology, please consider the following options:
~ by Mariann Hawken
Multiple dates are offered throughout spring and into mid-summer. Register for one or more sessions.
Blackboard Learn Basics Ultra
This webinar is designed to provide you easy step-by-step instructions on how to upload course content, create discussion boards for students to engage, and provide an overview on the types of online assessments available in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View.
- February 8 @ 11 AM
- March 22 @ 11 AM
- May 10 @ 11 AM
- June 20 @ 11 AM
Grading and Managing the Gradebook in an Ultra Course
This intermediate session will provide a deeper dive into setting up grading criteria for assessments, utilizing different types of assessments, and creating gradable assignments in Blackboard Learn Ultra Courses.
- February 14 @ 11 AM
- March 28 @ 11 AM
- May 16 @ 11 AM
- June 21 @ 11 AM
Creating Assessments in an Ultra Course
In this session, we will focus on creating different assessments and assignments in Blackboard Learn Ultra courses. We will outline the steps to create an assessment or an assignment, including selecting different options in grade settings.
- February 16 @ 11 AM
- March 30 @ 11 AM
- May 18 @ 11 AM
- June 22 @ 11 AM
Improving Student Engagement Ultra
Discover how utilizing tools within Learn Ultra can encourage meaningful engagement among students. between your students and you, and with the content itself! In this session, we'll examine how to effectively use discussion boards, class conversations, interactive lectures, and other Learn Ultra tools to foster student engagement in your course. We will also explore different ways to promote communication and collaboration among your students to get them involved and to keep them engaged in online classes.
- February 22 @ 11 AM
- April 12 @ 11 AM
- May 24 @ 11 AM
- June 27 @ 11 AM
Using Groups in Blackboard Learn Ultra
Collaborative learning offers many benefits over traditional instruction. Studies show that when students work as a team, they develop positive attitudes, solve problems more effectively, and experience a greater sense of accomplishment. This intermediate session will show you how to use the Groups tool in Blackboard Learn Ultra to facilitate student collaboration and enhance student engagement in your course.
- February 28 @ 11 AM
- April 18 @ 11 AM
- May 30 @ 11 AM
- June 28 @ 11 AM
Ultra Advantage -- Converting Original to Ultra
It's time for a little Spring clean-up! Let's look at suggestions on how to effectively clean-up, reorganize, and sort through the content in your Learn Original course before bringing all the content over to the Learn Ultra course. This webinar is designed to provide tips and tricks on streamlining the conversion over to the Learn Ultra courses.
- March 2 @ 11 AM
- April 20 @ 11 AM
- June 1 @ 11 AM
- June 29 @ 11 AM
Blackboard Learn Ultra Best Practices
Now that we know the buttons to click to create and setup many of the online learning tools, let's take a step back and determine what are the features of each of the tools and what are some of the best practices to use them in facilitating our online courses. These sessions will take on more of a pedagogical nature to assist in readying your course and yourself to enhancing the teaching and learning of your students. The sessions will coalesce around the lifecycle of each tool including instructor creation and considerations, student completion, instructor grading, and finally the student accessing their grade. Think broadly in terms of groups, assignments, assessments, journals, and discussion boards -- how can I make these more effective for me and for my students.
- March 8 @ 11 AM
- April 26 @ 11 AM
- June 7 @ 11 AM
- July 5 @ 11 AM
Using Data in Ultra
This webinar will focus on data and analytics available throughout the Ultra Course. We will guide instructors through the assignment analytics, student progress analytics, and course data accessible throughout Ultra.
- March 16 @ 11 AM
- May 4 @ 11 AM
- June 15 @ 11 AM
All webinars will be recorded and emailed to you after the session. Even if you can't attend live, please register for a Live Webinar so you can receive the recording.
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The Bb Instructor Webinar Series offers free 45-minute webinars designed for instructors who are getting started with teaching using Blackboard Ultra. Topics include getting started, creating...
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Fri, 03 Feb 2023 10:51:18 -0500
Extra credit & exemptions come to Ultra assessments in Feb
New functionality enhances Ultra courses in time for SP2023
In early February, instructors will have the option to help students showcase their knowledge on assessments with
the new extra credit setting. With this feature, instructors can assign one or more extra credit questions to their assessments, giving students the opportunity to earn a higher score. If students chose not to answer, or get the answer wrong, they won't be penalized. Moreover, students can see how many extra credit points are available on the assessment before they begin.
Image 1: Example of extra credit (student view)
Exemptions are another exciting update to Ultra courses.
Exempting students from a graded activity can be used for a variety of reasons including earlier demonstration of prior knowledge, late entry into the course, and other special circumstances. Exemptions may also support flexible and inclusive learning experiences.
Image 2: Example of exemption within an assignment
Hotspot questions were
introduced to Ultra last year, providing multiple ways to create robust image-based assessment questions. With this update, instructors can use the polygon selector to draw more complex shapes. Additionally, keyboard controls help instructors create and place hotspot shapes on the image via keyboard rather than using a pointer and mouse.
Additional updates to Ultra for February include:
- A new sorting option in the gradebook list view, allowing faculty to easily identify items that need grading
- Options for students to sort graded items in their view of the gradebook -- for example, by due date or grades
- Clear information about group membership in group sets (e.g., more than one group created at the same time) to easily identify which students are in specific groups
- To better visualize students' progress with course content, instructors can change the progress tracking view to display a student's progress against all course content or only content that is visible to them. Additionally, any time a student views an Ally alternative format, the progress tracker will count that as viewed or completed.
The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on February 7, 2023. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Additionally, our Ultra feature tracker is updated and now includes a filter for functional category (e.g., assessment, course management, grading) so you can sort only those items you might be interested in tracking the status. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
In a recent survey of Ultra users last semester, faculty and students expressed satisfaction with Ultra. During the Fall 2022 semester, faculty increased their use of Ultra in greater numbers. The top five departments with the highest Ultra adoption included:
Theatre - 100%
Emergency Health Services - 95.45%
Modern Languages, Linguistics & Intercultural Communication - 86.76%
Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering - 81.25%
Education - 80%
Additionally, several programs including freshman composition and IHU courses have leveraged Ultra templates to deploy content across multiple course sections. Departments interested in using a customized Ultra template or receiving the UMBC Ultra template should open an RT ticket to consult with an Instructional Technology Specialist. Our staff will work with you to determine the next steps and design an appropriate timeline for your department to make the transition.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology, please consider the following options:
~ by Mariann Hawken
In a recent survey of faculty who used Ultra during the FA2022 semester, 86.5% of faculty who responded said they would use Ultra again, citing its ease of use and consistent experience for students.
"It's easier to use in general," said one instructor, "and I find that I can prep and roll out my course faster and faster each semester as I learn more and adapt to the tools." Another instructor noted, "I'm anxious for ALL classes to be on Ultra so students can have a more consistent experience."
Likewise, 87.45% students are also satisfied with Ultra, also noting ease of use as well as its clean interface and tools to track course progress. The response is consistent with previous student surveys (SP2021, FA2019).
Well organized Ultra courses were also praised by students. "Ultra shows all relevant content right away," said one student. "It's tuned for a better learning environment." Another student agreed, "It's my favorite course to log into because I love the interface."
For more information about Ultra, please visit umbc.edu/go/ultra.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology, please consider the following options:
~ by Mariann Hawken
