In January, UMBC faculty and students will experience a redesigned course navigation in Ultra that makes key areas easier to access and understand. The updated layout brings a full-width header with clearer course branding and improved use of screen space on desktop and mobile. 

The new course navigation provides an update header, modernized banner layout, and Home button that returns users to the Blackboard landing page (rather than the courses page). You'll still have access to your Courses by using the snazzy Course Switcher, which provides shortcuts to the four most recently accessed courses, or you can choose View All to return to the Courses page again. Learn more about these improvements in our overview article. 

Image 1: The refreshed user interface in courses includes full-screen course pages and improvements to enhance the amount of screen space for users to engage with their course.

Image 3: True/false questions now include additional options.

Additional updates for January include:

• The default number of multiple choice answer options is now four (instead of three), helping speed up question creation.
• Instructors can now limit how many answer choices students can select for a multiple choice question, ideal for “select all that apply” formats.
• Ultra has significantly improved test loading times. For example, a 200-question test now loads in about 5 seconds (down from ~25), making large-format assessments more manageable.
• Instructors now have access to an automation activity log, which tracks when each automation was triggered, which student it applied to, and which content item was involved, providing transparency and accountability for automated course messaging.

When you can expect the update

Faculty should see the latest updates in their Ultra courses around January 8-9, 2026. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on January 13, 2026. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra. Join our What's New in Ultra for Teaching & Learning on January 13, 2026, to catch up on the latest updates.

Blackboard will roll out a refreshed interface in early January, introducing a cleaner, more intuitive design that aims to make everyday teaching tasks faster and more efficient. One change is significant enough that faculty should be aware of it now: the navigation and course layout will look noticeably different in January for winter and spring courses in four ways.

Image 1: The refreshed user interface in courses includes full-screen course pages to enhance the amount of screen space for users to engage with their course.

What's Different About the Course Design

1. Faculty will see several improvements within the course view itself. The header now displays both the courseID and course title, offering immediate orientation, which may be especially helpful when juggling multiple sections or cross-listed courses. In a future update, we will also see a breadcrumb navigation to further streamline movement through nested content areas. 

2. If you use a course banner, it will now stretch across the full width of the screen and sit behind the course ID and title on a darker background. This change modernizes the appearance, increases readability for all users, and improves overall accessibility. Since the course name will now display in close proximity to the banner, we recommend using an image that does not include text.

3. To support more consistent wayfinding, Blackboard replaced the small "X" used to exit a course in the upper left. In its place, a new Home button appears in the course header. The Home button will return users to the Blackboard Institution page, not the course home page or the Courses page. To return to the course home page, click the Content tab. The familiar "X" will still appear for closing lower-level panels such as learning modules, but the main path out of a course is now clearer and less prone to mis-clicks.

4. A new Course Switcher in the header allows instructors to jump quickly to their four most recently accessed courses. This addition supports a smoother teaching workflow, particularly during busy periods when faculty frequently toggle between multiple sections. Selecting "View All" will allow users to access Blackboard courses not in the Recent Courses list. We anticipate that the February release will include additional options in the Course Switcher menu. 

Image 2: The new course switcher lets users move between the four most recent courses. 

Although the core functionality within courses remains unchanged, the interface updates will alter how the environment looks and how instructors navigate through it. Most users should find the transition straightforward, but the shift away from the "X" exit button and the new placement of key course information may take a brief moment of adjustment. Blackboard focused on reducing clutter and helping users move through their materials with fewer clicks and navigation errors based on feedback from instructors, students, and system administrators across the global community. Performance improvements, such as faster load times and smoother transitions, are also part of this redesign.  

These changes are expected in the winter release, which will be installed on our Blackboard site around January 8-9, 2025. This date was selected by Blackboard to minimize impact on the traditional start of term (spring or fall) when more students are using the learning management system.