Blackboard course shells for WT2024 and SP2024 were created on November 29, 2023.

The Ultra Course Preview setting is enabled in WT/SP2024 courses, which allows faculty to preview OR convert a new Original course to Ultra. The recommendation, however, is to create a new course to optimize the design.

• Please review the release notes for the latest updates as well as feature parity charts -- more than 200 new updates were added over the last year! 
• Discover What's New in Ultra for Teaching & Learning on December 11 or January 12.
• Have a question about Ultra? Ask an Ultra Ambassador!

Many departments have opted into Ultra into Ultra to ensure a consistent approach for their students, which means those courses will start with Ultra by default rather than Original -- please check with your department as this list has grown.

Note: 

• For consistency of instructional technology support, WT/SP2024 courses created in Blackboard on/after January 1, 2024 will be created in Ultra by default.
• The last day we will support Blackboard Original is December 31, 2024.

Tool Updates

Several third-party integrations have planned updates for the end of FA2023. Instructional Technology recommends holding off on adding these tools to your courses until after December 22, 2023. Improvements to the integrations often provide deeper synchronization and support for content, assessment, and grading. These tool updates include:

• December 21: Panopto, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Vista Higher Learning

• January 2: Aktiv, Lumen Learning, WileyPLUS

Accessibility & AI

Plan your accessibility and Universal Design for Learning strategy before students begin working with course materials. Ally, an accessibility tool, is enabled in all course shells. Ally automatically scans uploaded and created course content, then performs a series of steps to make that content more accessible. Please review the Ally FAQs for more information about the accessibility indicators on course content and alternative formats, or attend a training session.

The AI Course Design Assistant Tools will be available in Ultra courses for WT/SP2024 as of December 13, 2023. These tools are limited to the instructor role in an Ultra course. All capabilities are opt-in and the instructor is always in control of the content generated. Learn more at an upcoming preview session, join the Ultra AI Tools workshop or review the documentation.

Online Teaching & Learning

For faculty who will be teaching hybrid or online, the instructional technology team would like to share several resources to support online course development and instruction.

1. Choose from our PIVOT Solo lessons to refresh or enhance your online teaching preparation. Five key topics cover course organization, active learning, community building, assessment, and supporting students. 
2. Explore our Panopto folder for a wide variety of recorded webinars on various instructional technologies available at UMBC.
3. Learn about the Quality Matters Impact program, a new initiative to formally recognize courses that meet Quality Matters standards and demonstrate exemplary online/hybrid course design.

• If you are an instructor, and your name is not associated with the course you are teaching in the SOC, please see your Departmental Scheduling Coordinator to resolve the issue. Once you are listed in the SOC, your Bb course shell will be created automatically. 
• If you and your Department Scheduling Coordinator believe you are correctly assigned as the instructor of record in the SOC and you do not see your course shell in Blackboard, please submit a Request Tracker (RT) ticket via my.umbc.edu/help.
• If you need a Bb shell for a research or independent study course, please submit a new course request.

Split/Merge Requests: Instructors who teach multiple sections of the same course will find those enrollments merged into one Bb course shell. These sections may be split upon request by an RT ticket, which we recommend submitting at least one week before the semester starts, if not as soon as courses are created in Blackboard.

Student enrollment in Bb mirrors the official registration in SA and updates hourly. However, courses are not accessible to students by default until the instructor of record makes them available.

Connect with Instructional Technology

Blackboard course shells for FA2023 were created on July 25, 2023. 

The Ultra Course Preview setting is enabled in FA2023 courses, which allows faculty to preview OR convert a new Original course to Ultra. The recommendation, however, is to create a new course to optimize the design. Note: The last day we will support Blackboard Original is December 31, 2024.

• Please review the release notes for the latest updates as well as feature parity charts -- more than 200 new updates were added over the last year! 
• Discover What's New in Ultra for Teaching & Learning on August 10 or 18.
• Attend an Intro to Blackboard Ultra in 45 Minutes or Less training on August 9 or 15. 
• Recent hires may be interested in the New Faculty Evening Orientation on August 9 or 17.
• Review 5 best practices to prepare your Ultra gradebook on August 22.
• Enroll in our self-paced workshop, Ultra for Instructors, designed to provide a starting point to help you prepare your courses in Ultra.
• Have a question about Ultra? Ask an Ultra Ambassador!

As previously announced, seven departments, many foreign languages, English 100, IHU, FYE, and TRS courses have opted into Ultra to ensure a consistent approach for their students. This means courses will start with Ultra by default rather than Original. For consistency of instructional technology support, FA2023 courses created in Blackboard on/after August 1, 2023 will be created in Ultra by default.

Plan your accessibility and Universal Design for Learning strategy before students begin working with course materials. Ally, an accessibility tool, is enabled in all course shells. Ally automatically scans uploaded and created course content, then performs a series of steps to make that content more accessible. Please review the Ally FAQs for more information about the accessibility indicators on course content and alternative formats, or attend a training session.

For faculty who will be teaching hybrid or online, the instructional technology team would like to share several resources to support online course development and instruction.

1. Choose from our PIVOT Solo lessons to refresh or enhance your online teaching preparation. Five key topics cover course organization, active learning, community building, assessment, and supporting students. 
2. Explore our Panopto folder for a wide variety of recorded webinars on various instructional technologies available at UMBC.
3. Learn about the Quality Matters Impact program, a new initiative to formally recognize courses that meet Quality Matters standards and demonstrate exemplary online/hybrid course design.

• If you are an instructor, and your name is not associated with the course you are teaching in the SOC, please see your Departmental Scheduling Coordinator to resolve the issue. Once you are listed in the SOC, your Bb course shell will be created automatically. 
• If you and your Department Scheduling Coordinator believe you are correctly assigned as the instructor of record in the SOC and you do not see your course shell in Blackboard, please submit a Request Tracker (RT) ticket via my.umbc.edu/help.
• If you need a Bb shell for a research or independent study course, please submit a new course request.

Instructors who teach multiple sections of the same course will find those enrollments merged into one Bb course shell. These sections may be split upon request by an RT ticket, which we recommend submitting at least one week before the semester starts, if not as soon as courses are created in Blackboard. NOTE: Courses should not be split after student grade data and engagement activity is recorded since it will be purged as part of the separation process.

Student enrollment in Bb mirrors the official registration in SA and updates hourly. However, courses are not accessible to students by default until the instructor of record makes them available.

Connect with Instructional Technology