This article suggests seven steps to prepare your module in Blackboard Ultra.
1. Reflect on previous modules
Explore your existing Blackboard modules – how do students work through the content and activities? (Existing modules will continue to be available from your Course listing in Blackboard.) How much content is there - how is it structured and presented by the module team? What online activities are included? What communication and collaboration tools are used? What assessment and feedback tools are used? How do you communicate with your students?
What works well? What could be improved?
2. Collate your content
Gather together the content files you want to use in your new Ultra module – docs, ppt, pdf, mp4, etc – from Module Handbook to Panopto lecture recordings. You could save files from previous modules into a folder - on your computer or cloud storage (e.g. OneDrive).
It is recommended to review content - check for accessibility (Bb Ally can help with this) and copyright compliance.
3. Plan your layout
Depending on your content, and preferences, there are options on how to structure your content - using Learning Modules, Folders or Documents in Bb Ultra.
Please ask for advice from the CDLE team if unsure about how best to layout your module.
Drag and drop, upload, or copy content into any of the options. Added files (doc, pdf, ppt, etc) display inline, without the need to download to view. Use the Student Preview (top right) to view content from the student perspective. Students can choose to download a range of accessible Alternative Formats from the 'A' icon (Bb Ally integration).
Learning Modules
Learning Modules are available at the top level and provide a useful additional navigation to guide students through the content. They can also have an image.
Folders
Folders allow for further categorisation of content.
Blackboard Document
Bb Documents are similar to a blank web page, on which narrative can be added alongside a range of content - files (minimise and maximise), embedded Panopto media, embedded YouTube video, and web content (e.g. Padlet board). Bb Documents allow for a range of content to be presented logically on one page, with context for the students.
4. Add interactivity
Encourage online engagement and interactivity that complements the campus learning experience.
Online learning activities can be added seamlessly through the learning content. For example, a Discussion activity, for everyone to get to know each other and begin to build a learning community. This is recommended at the start of each module, especially in first year. Other options include - Bb Test progress checks (quiz), interactive group Class Collaborate session (group work), reflective Bb Journal, interactive Vevox quiz, or inline Conversation functionality.
The Activity Stream, on the Blackboard homepage, aggregates activity updates across all modules, so that students can click directly to the relevant update.
5. Prepare assessment and feedback activities
Add formative and summative assessment and feedback activities to your module. (See the Assessment and Feedback - what's changed in Ultra modules? article for further information.) Blackboard Tests can be imported, copied or uploaded to Ultra modules (CDLE can advise with this). There are less question types, and changes to terminology and settings, so it is recommended to review and update Tests added to your Ultra module.
6. Establish communication plan
How will you communicate with your students and how would you like them to communicate with you and each other? Share your preferences with your cohort.
The Announcement tool is useful to highlight information to students, as it appears as a focused pop up when entering the module after it’s posted. With inline Audio/Video recording functionality, providing an easy way to create a personal welcome message for the module.
An Announcement post can also be sent via email.
Messages is an internal messaging system in the module, from which an email copy can also be sent (also aggregates across modules via Messages on the Bb homepage). Course Staff are listed on the left, with a link to contact them via the Messages tool. The Messages tool also integrated with the Gradebook for staff to contact students.
Discussions could be used for regular collaboration, including peer support. The Groups tool allows for students to collaborate with each other.
7. Data-informed enhancements
Explore data in Blackboard Ultra to help shape your teaching, along with other insights (e.g. data and feedback) outside of Blackboard. The Bb Analytics link (top navigation) shows Course Activity, displaying student performance mapped with activity in your course (updates every 24 hours). Notification Alerts can be set up, e.g. if someone hasn’t accessed the module in over five days. Question Analysis is available for assessment questions, helping to recognise questions that might be poor indicators of students’ performance.
Author
Fiona McCloy is an Instructional Design Consultant in the Centre for Digital Learning Enhancement at Ulster University.
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With Ultra, Blackboard undergoes its most radical change in its long history. Ulster has enjoyed a long, fruitful relationship with Blackboard since the early 2000s. Since then, Blackboard has proved to be an amazingly resilient and consistent tool. During that time, it has served content to tens of thousands of students 24 hours a day and sailed through the Covid response to hugely increased demand without skipping a beat. Why, then, is this change taking place?
This consistency comes at a cost: the blackboard interface has not evolved far from its foundation laid by WebCT in 25 years, and inexorably, the chasm between its front-end design and the accepted norms of online tools has grown more substantial over time.
In that time, UI design and User Research, enabled by advances in web technologies, have established new design paradigms based on our underlying blueprint. Our instinctive understanding and expectation of web application design, largely driven by Social Media applications and the Blackboard interface, have grown so far apart that Blackboard has become difficult to learn and use, creating unnecessary friction and cognitive load.
To catch up, a clean break was needed. With Ultra, blackboard redesigned the interface from the ground up according to these modern design paradigms.
Whilst this facelift may be disconcerting to new users, the learning curve is not as steep as one might imagine because beyond what you can see, Blackboard remains largely the same: Assessments, Tests, setting exceptions and availability, creating Announcements... the list goes on. It is all still there; it is simply easier to use, especially on mobile devices.
Some aspects have improved significantly. For example, communication has been overhauled and keeping all communication with students within Ultra is feasible.
There are some notable new additions, such as Learning Modules. These are designed to provide a better experience than folders on mobile devices and allow you to sequence resources and activities. In the same vein, the Document lets you embed resources (presentations, word documents, pictures, videos…) in a web-page-like manner.
Ultra is student-focused. The flat structure, single page, responsive design aims to give students access to the most relevant information as easily and quickly as possible by reducing the number of clicks and limiting unnecessary visual elements to a minimum.
Author:
Antoine Rivoire is an Educational Technologist in the Centre for Digital Learning Enhancement at Ulster University.
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This article explores some of the main differences for assessment and feedback practice in Blackboard Ultra modules - in terms of tools, marking, feedback and management.
Gradebook
The Gradebook allows staff to manage assessment and feedback activity (previously the Grade Centre). It is available as a fixed link from the top navigation bar. The Gradebook is customised by role – displaying coursework marks and feedback for students (previously My Marks). It is recommended to guide students to the Gradebook link to access their marks and feedback. Note, can also access via My Marks on Blackboard landing page left menu (which collates across all modules).
Student Preview
The Student Preview (top right) is useful for checking the student experience of assessment workflows. (Remember to Save when you Exit, to keep your_PreviewUser information, to keep progress across student and staff perspectives.) Assignment and Test are the two main Blackboard Ultra assessment tools. They can be used for formative or summative assessment practice, as can the Discussion and Journal tools (all available via ⊕ and Create). Formative activities can be embedded seamlessly within learning content.
Blackboard Assignment
The Bb Assignment tool allows for a range of assessment and feedback options – including student group submission (integrates with Groups), media submission (with automatic inline Panopto integration), multiple attempts (draft submission), multiple files submission and peer review. Along with integrated marking Rubric, mark Schema, and anonymous, double, and delegated marking options. Note, at present there isn’t a ‘no marks’ rubric available, however this is on the Blackboard roadmap for future updates. Note, select Allow Class Conversations in group Assignment settings, if you would like to give students access to a group conversation and group Class Collaborate virtual classroom.
The Turnitin LTI assessment integration remains unchanged, and available via ⊕ > Content Market > Turnitin. The Turnitin Similarity functionality is also integrated and available from within the Bb Assignment tool settings.
Marking and Feedback Interface
The Blackboard integrated flexible marking and feedback interface (Assignments and Tests), provides improved and simplified workflows – so that marking and providing feedback is easier, from within one browser window.
Feedback methods include a range of digital annotation options (Bb Annotate) and inline Rubric. Text and files (drag and drop or upload) can be added via the Overall Feedback window. There is also a new built-in Audio/Video Recording functionality (up to 5 minutes). This is an easy and secure way to provide personal media feedback to your students, and a welcome additional to the digital feedback options.
🗨️ Dr Sarah Floyd, Reader in Higher Education Practice, Ulster University
‘I have found using the new Ultra Gradebook works well – my assignments were set up using the Bb Assignment dropbox and marked within the Gradebook. This allowed me to build up a comments bank, use the rubric and enable internal and external moderation with ease. In addition, making use of analytics gave me a very clear picture of how participants on my module were engaging with all elements. Overall, the new system is clear and helpful to use.’
Overall, the Bb Assignment tool could become the assessment and feedback tool of choice for a wide range of coursework options.
Blackboard Test
The Blackboard Test works effectively to check student progress and shape teaching, for formative assessment, with multiple attempts and automatic marking and feedback options. It can also be used as a summative Test or Exam, with possible efficiencies of automatic marking and feedback and reusable questions, especially for large class sizes. In Ultra there are eleven question types available. Questions can be easily uploaded, copied or imported, and managed via the Question Banks link on the fixed right menu.
Gradebook
The Gradebook can be viewed as a grid or list. One new concept is the functionality to Post marks and feedback to students, to make them available to them via the Gradebook. They are hidden until Posted. This is done individually or as a group, via the Gradebook or the coursework marking and feedback interface. Note, Posting isn’t easily undone, so ensure you are ready to Post to students before doing so. The equivalent functionality in Turnitin is the Feedback Release Date.
The Gradebook is discoverable, with Filter functionality (via grid view) and Search options. For the Blackboard Assignment and Test, there is Student Activity and Question Analysis options, that surface relevant data into dashboards for possible insights that could help with review processes. Accommodations (reasonable adjustments) can be set at a module level for individual students via the Class Register, which apply for all assessments, making this easier to manage. Exceptions and Exemptions can also be set via the Gradebook.
Author
Fiona McCloy is an Instructional Design Consultant in the Centre for Digital Learning Enhancement at Ulster University.