Earlier this week the Provost and Deans agreed to a DoIT proposal to go forward with a broad investment in instructional technology support staff, software tools and training stipends for faculty. As part of this effort, DoIT will also be delaying the date for moving all courses to Blackboard Ultra, originally announced and planned for the start of Fall 2019, and extending to Fall 2021.

Specifically, DoIT and the Division of Professional Studies (DPS) are investing in four instructional technology positions to be on board by the start of summer, and recently purchased Blackboard’s Ally software for improving accessibility. Also, DoIT will increase the number of Blackboard Ultra ambassadors from 15 to 32, and provide more opportunities for on-site and online training workshops, including “lessons learned” from colleagues who’ve already switched. Finally, DoIT and the Provost’s Office are partnering to offer one-time, $100 stipends to all faculty who 1) attend or participate in any Ultra training, and 2) complete the process of migrating their existing course(s) by the new phased rollout summarized below, based on the “Blackboard Use by College” report (requires myUMBC login with ad\ before username):

To be clear, any faculty member from any college, school, department or division can switch to Ultra now -- as 145 courses have done this term already and since we piloted Ultra in Spring 2018. But within each organization above, DoIT will also focus on supporting each instructor based on a course’s “archetype” of prior Blackboard usage at UMBC, which we’ve seen is different from most institutions Blackboard hosts on its “cloud” or Software as a Service (SaaS) system. Note: UMBC moved to the Blackboard cloud in 2017.

“The move to Blackboard Ultra presents a real opportunity for DoIT to work with faculty to improve overall course design, accessibility and effective practice,” says Jack Suess, Vice President for IT and Chief Information Officer. “In some departments, this is working with faculty to provide training to develop online or hybrid courses, especially in collaboration with applied graduate programs. In other departments, faculty may be interested in deepening student engagement or outcomes.”

As part of the broader e-Learning strategy, DoIT will continue or expand support for the following:

Course Design: DoIT first introduced Quality Matters and online/blended teaching workshops to the campus through the DPS-supported Alternate Delivery Program (ADP) for summer & winter programs. Drawing on more than a dozen years of experience working with over 75 faculty, DoIT refined the ADP model in 2015 to include skill builder, course designer and quality booster workshops (and stipends) to participating faculty teaching in Fall and Spring courses, too.

Accessibility: DoIT is now supporting Ally, a new tool by Blackboard designed to identify and help address inaccessible course content. Currently, it is only available for Ultra courses.

Assessment & Academic Integrity: We’ll continue to offer training and support in effective practices with Adaptive Release, which DoIT has found is associated with higher use of course content by students, as well as SafeAssign and Respondus Lockdown Browser.

Learning Analytics & Student Success: We’ll continue to leverage analytics to help identify historically high-enrollment courses that have also reduced high DFW rates, to perhaps reverse-engineer effective practices that could be used in other courses.

Academic Continuity: We’ll encourage all faculty to become familiar with and use core Bb functions (e.g., announcements, gradebook, discussions, Collaborate video conferencing) that can support academic continuity in the event campus is closed for an extended period of time.

While there have been delays in some functionality not yet available in Blackboard Ultra (e.g., group management, specific publisher integrations, some gradebook calculation options, etc.), recent reviews by UMBC faculty also suggest Blackboard is heading in the right direction overall. For many reasons, including a more streamlined user interface, responsive design to support mobile device usage, and enhancements to improve content accessibility, Ultra is an improvement over the core 9.1 version release of Blackboard we’ve been using since 2012.

DoIT appreciates all of the good will and effort by faculty who have switched to Ultra as well as the feedback we’ve received over the last year. In addition to contacting anyone on the DoIT Instructional Technology staff, if there are questions, concerns or suggestions, we encourage people to also contact UMBC’s Bb Ultra Ambassadors, the Bb Faculty Advisory Group or Faculty Senate Computer Policy Committee (CPC).

To support UMBC’s ongoing commitment to a more inclusive campus, DoIT is pleased to introduce a new tool called Ally into Ultra courses to help improve the accessibility of course content in Blackboard.

Ally automatically scans course content and performs a series of steps to make that content more accessible. Faculty who use Ultra courses will notice color gauges next to course files. Click on the Ally indicator to read detailed feedback about what the accessibility issues are with the file, why they matter, and how to fix them. Ally will not change how anything works in an existing course, and it won’t affect any course files. These Ally indicators are not visible to students.

Improving the accessibility of your course content will not only help ensure students with different abilities can access your materials, but it will also improve the learning experience for students who use mobile devices as well as those who want to engage with the material in a different way. Ally automatically generates alternative formats of your course files, and makes them available to you and your students. The alternative formats do not affect your original file, but they do allow students to access an HTML version for their phone, an ePub version for their tablet, an MP3 version for audio, and electronic braille for braille readers.

Both Instructional Technology staff and the Office of Accessibility & Disability Services (ADS) staff have been trained to support Ally questions. ADS is also available to assist in document remediation and other accessibility questions. Finally, the Ally FAQ collection is available for reference.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

• Check our extensive FAQ collection

• New Features | Known Issues | Updates & Fixes

• About the Ultra Experience | What’s new in Ultra?

• Open a ticket via RT

• Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups

• Request a consult with instructional technology staff

Early adoption is growing at UMBC as more than 100 faculty opted to use the new Ultra Course View during the SP2019 semester. An additional 25 faculty tried Ultra using the sandbox shells created for exploring the new course interface.

DoIT believes faculty are important partners and will play an essential role during the Ultra migration. The new Blackboard course interface is significantly different from the Original course we’ve had for the last fifteen years, marking a notable change for UMBC faculty. All faculty will need time and support to prepare their courses for the proposed migration timeline.

Since recommendations and feedback from peer leaders can be helpful during change, 15 faculty have agreed to be Ultra Faculty Ambassadors:

UMBC Blackboard Update is provided by the Division of Information Technology for students, faculty and staff. If you have questions or need help, please consult the Blackboard Help FAQs or directly at www.umbc.edu/blackboard/help.  You can also contact the Technology Support Center at 410.455.3838 or submit an RT (Request Tracker) ticket via the myUMBC Help Menu or directly at my.umbc.edu/help.

HEADLINES

Blackboard: Preparing for the Ultra Experience (umbc.edu/go/ultra)

• Ultra Experience Training Webinars (SP2019)

• Ultra Essentials self-paced course (requires Bb login)

• Monthly Ultra Experience Orientation Sessions

• WT/SP 2019 Courses Created in Blackboard on Nov. 29

• UMBC Blackboard Use Differs From Most Schools

Instructional Technology Updates & Events

• Panopto replaces TechSmith Relay

• TechFest & Provost’s Symposium 2019 - Save the Date!: Friday, March 1, 2019

• Hybrid / Online Course Designer Workshop - Jan. 15-17, 2019

• All Upcoming Instructional Technology Events

Other DoIT News

• Learning and Leading in DoIT: Sherri Braxton

• From Student Worker to Nationally Recognized IT Leader

• REMINDER: Employees with PS Access Required to Use 2 Factor Login

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

• Check our extensive FAQ collection

• Known Issues | Updates & Fixes

• Ultra Experience  | What’s new in Ultra? | Ultra Course Adoption Center

• Open a ticket via RT

• Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups

• Request a consult with instructional technology staff

Keep up with Ultra: umbc.edu/go/ultra

Earlier this year, Blackboard released a “course archetype” system administrator’s tool that allows institutions to see how the company’s Learning Management System (LMS) software is being used across campus. The “course archetype” tool was informed by Blackboard’s 2016 research on clients it hosts, including UMBC (since 2014). The primary reason DoIT was interested in the “course archetype” tool was to get a better understanding of the depth and complexity of our current Bb usage, as we gauge the work to be done to move to our Ultra migration in Fall 2019 (see umbc.edu/go/ultra).

A few observations are worth noting:

1. Blackboard’s course archetype research initially focused on more than 3M students, in 70k courses from 927 institutions hosted by Blackboard in Spring 2016. After extensive filtering for courses between 10 and 500 students, at least average student use of 60 minutes, and faculty use of the grade book, the resulting data set for analysis “included 601,544 learners (16.25%) in 18,810 (26.87%) courses” (p.2 of the study). When DoIT ran the course archetype tool on our 1,469 active FA18 Bb courses, only 464 (31%) did not meet the same enrollment size and usage criteria compared with 51,190 (73%) of the 70k courses hosted by Blackboard, but also filtered off for the study.
2. Blackboard found the vast majority of courses it studied were "supplemental" (content-heavy, low interaction) or "complementary" (1-way, instructor-led, minimal communication) courses, or 53% and 24%, respectively (77% total). By contrast, DoIT found nearly 40% of UMBC’s remaining 991 FA18 courses are characterized at the top end of Blackboard's course design archetype: "evaluative" (heavy use of assessments) and "holistic" (high LMS activity with balanced use of assessments, content and discussion), or 21% and 18%, respectively (or 39% total).
3. Except for students checking grades, Blackboard found that other high student LMS activity wasn't necessarily associated with better student outcomes. We've not looked at how our UMBC students' activity is associated with outcomes (yet), because the term isn't over, but we'll do so after Fall 2018 grades are submitted in early January. 

Special thanks to Mariann Hawken, DoIT’s Coordinator of eLearning and certified Blackboard MVP, and Tom Penniston, our Analytics Specialist in Instructional Technology, for this analysis.

DoIT needs to explore our own data further, but UMBC's Blackboard courses appear to represent a significantly different profile compared to most Bb client institutions hosted by the company. We’ve always had high adoption -- typically 95% of all students, 87% of all instructors and 82% of all PeopleSoft sections use Bb during any given term. But when we first started our own learning analytics research in 2007, just over 40% of all our Bb courses used the grade book, even though the annual "Undergraduates and IT" Educause national study has frequently found that students value checking grades more than any other LMS function. Typically, about 73% of all active UMBC Blackboard courses now use the grade book, a characteristic common to many of our most active Bb courses.

“DoIT has always wanted to use analytics to help inform and grow the depth and sophistication of our Bb LMS usage,” says John Fritz, Assoc. Vice President for Instructional Technology, who profiled UMBC's course design experience in a 2017 Educause article that also referenced Bb's course archetype research. “Our institutional Blackboard usage suggests UMBC may be helping higher ed better understand how good LMS course design could be one of the most scalable student success interventions any institution can pursue.”

Training and support are essential components of a successful transition to the Ultra Experience. This past summer, about 30 faculty and staff attended the Ultra Experience Boot Camp, one of several training solutions available to the campus community. This semester, about 30% of the UMBC faculty who attended the boot camps opted to teach with Ultra. Their fourteen courses include traditional, hybrid, and fully online formats with more than 500 students.

The FA2018 pilot faculty are not the only instructors with access to the Ultra Experience! All FA2018 faculty now have access to an Ultra Course Preview sandbox... do you know what to do with it?

• First, look over the FAQ and video about the Ultra Course Preview. The Ultra Course Adoption Center also has useful information.

• Next, check out the Ultra Learn Essentials self-paced resources. All FA2018 faculty were enrolled in this self-paced course.

• If you have questions, plan to attend an Ultra orientation, stop by a walk-in clinic, or open an RT ticket to make an appointment to speak to instructional technology staff.

Self-paced training and boot camps are not the only options. We are also prepared to offer:

Department Training

Instructional Technology staff are available for department training and orientation requests. These workshops may be scheduled in 45-minute, 90-minute, half-day, or full-day sessions on pre-packaged topics or mix & match themes. Please open an RT ticket to schedule this training.

Ultra Experience Essentials Boot Camp (3-5 hours)

This fast-paced program is intended for advanced Blackboard users who are very comfortable with the existing system. By the end of the workshop, participants should be able create and upload content to an Ultra course, create and grade assignments, configure the gradebook, and create, monitor, and grade discussions.

Webinars (ITNM & Bb)

Virtual trainings (45 minutes) provided by Instructional Technology staff and Blackboard offer flexible solutions for faculty training. Topics include Skill Builder workshops, Blackboard Innovative Teaching Series, Best of Bb World, course development, flipped classrooms, best practices, what’s new updates, or other customizable sessions.

Ultra Experience Redesign Workshop (2-day)

Focusing less on “button-ology” of using Ultra, this program is a 2-day workshop designed to support faculty as they redesign and redevelop their existing Blackboard courses for the Ultra Experience. Faculty will compare conversion vs. redesign options when migrating to UX, prepare Original courses for conversion to the Ultra Experience, and check courses for quality.

TA Training / Course Design Boot Camp (2 hours)

Instructional Technology staff are available to deliver a 2-hour workshop for Teaching Assistants on the effective use of Bb’s Ultra Experience specifically for teaching assistants. Please open an RT ticket to schedule this training.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

• Check our extensive FAQ collection

• About the Ultra Experience | What’s new in Ultra?

• Open a ticket via RT

• Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups

• Request a consult with instructional technology staff

During the FA2018 semester, UMBC faculty are invited to explore how their current (or “Original”) courses will convert to the Ultra Experience.

The Ultra Course Preview conversion tool allows you to convert an existing Original course and see what it looks like in the Ultra Experience. Blackboard provides a conversion log with a list of Original features and functions that change in Ultra or those that won't carry forward if you choose to convert the course to Ultra. All faculty who are teaching a Blackboard course during the FA2018 semester will receive an Ultra Course Preview course shell, which can be used as a sandbox to import or copy an existing Original course.

Where is my Ultra Course Preview shell?

The Ultra Course Preview shell is located on the main Courses page under the Assorted Dates section toward the bottom. The name of the Ultra Course Preview shell is username’s Ultra Course Preview Sandbox.

• Related FAQ: How do I preview my course as an Ultra course?

Since the Ultra Course Preview is intended to explore rather than build, any changes you made to your imported course in the Ultra Course Preview mode are lost if you switch back to the Original Course View. Faculty may request the Ultra Course Preview to be enabled on any previously delivered course as long as the course is unavailable to students. Please open an RT ticket and request “Ultra Course Preview” in the subject.

Five steps to planning your Ultra roadmap

1. Learn about the Ultra Experience and how it changes your course

Attend one of our monthly Ultra Experience orientation sessions. Learn about about training opportunities, course conversion, and other features exclusive to the Ultra Experience.

2. Review your course & determine if it is current ready for Ultra

Use our course inventory form to assess the type and frequency of Original tools you use most often. This tool will help Instructional Technology staff align your course needs with the current features and functionality of the Ultra Course View.

3. Discuss your Ultra adoption roadmap with instructional technology staff

Stop by one of our walk-in walk-in support clinics or schedule an appointment with our staff (via RT) to review your course inventory.

4. Select & attend training that best fits your schedule or personal preference

We encourage faculty to attend at least one Ultra-specific training session. Several options are available including self-paced Ultra Essentials, Skill Builder workshops and webinars, and the Ultra Experience Boot Camp.

5. Decide on a strategy that fits your course or schedule: Convert or redesign

Faculty have several options with Ultra:

• If you’re ready for Ultra, you can permanently switch your course to Ultra and update it after it is converted.

• If you’re ready for Ultra, but you don’t want to convert your course, you can redesign your course from scratch.

• If you need more time to prepare for Ultra, you can return your sandbox to the Original Course View and revise the content, organization, and tool settings for a smoother transition before converting later.

Visit our Ultra Course Adoption Center for helpful resources and tools including a course adoption guide, course inventory, and course roadmap.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

• Check our extensive FAQ collection

• New Features | Known Issues | Updates & Fixes

• About the Ultra Experience | What’s new in Ultra?

• Open a ticket via RT

• Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups

• Request a consult with instructional technology staff