Trouble shooting Blackboard Ultra

Owned by ellen bell
Last updated: Nov 05, 2024
4 min read

This page covers a list of common issues and queries you may encounter when working in Blackboard Ultra.

 

Contact Digital Services if you need support with the technical infrastructure for online learning, passwords and email.

Contact the Blackboard helpdesk if you are having issues with setting up or accessing assignments or learning materials etc. within the Blackboard learning environment.

 

I can’t log in to Blackboard

Account conflicts - using other Microsoft accounts

Please note that we recommend signing out of any personal, or workplace Office/Office 365 accounts before signing in to Blackboard Learn.

Ulster University uses Microsoft Office 365 for Single Sign-on (SSO). If you are logged in/ or have recently logged into a non-UU Office 365 account, your browser may pick up this account and prevent you from logging into Blackboard.

  • If you have another office account this may be detected automatically, make sure you are using your ulster account:

Screenshot of Blackboard learn pick an account page with ulster email highlighted

 

  • If another account is detected choose “Use another account” and enter your ulster email and address.

Screenshot of Blackboard learn pick an account with use another account highlighted

 

A simple way of seeing which account you are logged into is to visit Microsoft Office and select your initials at the top right of the screen. This will display the name of the account you are currently logged in with (see image below).

If you are using a personal/workplace/non-Ulster University Office.com/Office 365 account you should first Sign out of that account (and close your browser) before attempting to login to Blackboard Learn using your Ulster University account details.

 

Expired sessions

If you are logged into Blackboard Learn and leave the session open within your browser, the system will timeout after a set period of time (typically 8 hours) resulting in an error message. To resolve this issue we suggest going to Microsoft Office (logging in if you are not aready logged in), selecting your initials at the top right of the screen and choosing the Sign Out link (highlighted in red below):

Please note that we also recommend signing out of email if you are using the web version of Outlook

 

You should then close and open your browser and try to login again.

 

I don’t have a university account

The majority of staff need a University email for access to Blackboard Learn.

New full time member of staff (with an e-code e123456) are automatically assigned an email and password. You will find these details in the personal email used on your application and or contract (check your spam if you can’t see it in your inbox). Contact HR hr@ulster.ac.uk or servicedesk@ulster.ac.uk if you haven’t received your new login details.

Associate members of staff e.g. those with part-time, short-term or temporary contracts (with an a-code a12345) will receive their welcome email and password reset in their personal email account used in their application (check your spam if you can’t see it in your inbox). In addition, Associate members need their A-Code/email to set up their account. Contact the member of staff who sponsored your application, they will have received a notification email with your A-Code.

 

I don’t know how to log in to Blackboard

 

I’ve forgotten my login details.

Use the same credentials that you use for the MyDay Portal or University e-mail i.e. your Ulster University e-mail address and network password.

 

I’ve forgotten my network password

You can reset your account on the Microsoft website at https://passwordreset.microsoftonline.com/ or by following the instructions at Self-Service Password Reset.

 

 

I can’t use my Multi-factor Authentification.

Ensure that you have Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) is enabled.

  • Log in to Microsoft 365, click on your initials or photograph in the top right hand corner

and click on View account

  • Click on Security info

Make sure the Default sign-in method is set to ‘Microsoft Authenticator- notification’. If it is not click Change and select ‘Microsoft Authenticator- notification’ from the drop down menu.

If you do not have Multi-factor authentication (MFA) set-up, follow the the guide to setting-up MFA or follow this Digital Services guide for MFA.

 

Oops! Something went Wrong

If you see the error screen above, don’t panic, it’s probably just a permissions issue.

Check you are assigned to the module you expected to see, if you are then contact the Blackboard Helpdesk with the module code, problem description and your details.

 

 

I can’t see any of my modules in Blackboard

Make sure you are in Courses view in Blackboard.

Once you are logged into Blackboard you are automatically taken to Activity stream, click on Courses in the left hand menu.

If no courses appear in Courses view, check your course filters at the top of the page

Check your Course filters

If no courses appear in Courses view, check your filter settings at the top of the page, Terms filter should be set to All terms and Filters all courses.

Getting assigned to a module

If you still can not see your course in Blackboard course view, you may need to be assigned to the module. while students enrol on a course and are automatically assigned to a course, staff need manually assigned to their course. You can use module manager to get access to a module.

Remember modules may share the same name with courses that run on different campuses or different semesters, make sure you select the right one. Each module has a unique CRN, Course Reference number, use this to select the right course.

Follow these instructions to get access to your course using Module manager.

If you are still having problems contact the module coordinator.

Setting up your module in Module Manager

Every academic year, a new version of your course must be created for a new cohort of students. If you are the named Module co-ordinator for a course, you can set up your course in Module Manager for the new academic year.

As Blackboard is being upgraded to Blackboard Ultra, academic year 24/25 modules will be automatically assigned a Blackboard Ultra Module template

If your course is blank, you can easily copy content from your Blackboard Original modules or add new content.

 

I can’t migrate my content from last year!

In academic year 24/25, all modules will be automatically assigned a Blackboard Ultra Module template.

See My Module is empty for guidance

My Module is empty

As Blackboard is being upgraded to Blackboard Ultra, all academic year 24/25 modules feature the new Blackboard Ultra module template. However, you can only migrate content from other Ultra modules, otherwise your course will be assigned a blank Ultra module template.

Don’t panic! You can …

Adding learning and assessment to Course Content

Copying content from a previous module

To copy into the course content area; in your Ultra module, you can either …

at the top of the course content area, click the ellipsis (three dots)

 

Or mouse over where you want to add an item, click on the plus icon.

 

the select Copy Content from the drop-down menu.

 

This will bring up the Copy Items dialogue box. Enter the module code you wish to copy from, in the Course name or ID search box.

For more detailed instructions on

 

Create and add new items in the Course Content area

Mouse over where you want to add an item, click on the plus icon.

 

This brings up the add content context menu, select Create

 

 

This brings up the Create Item context menu. Select the type of item you wish to add (NB use Context Market for Turnitin)

Follow the links to more detailed instructions on

Add a Blackboard Assignment dropbox

Mouse over where you want to add an item, click on the plus icon. This brings up the add content context menu, select Create

 

This brings up the Create Item context menu. Select Assignment in the Assessment section.

 

Add a meaningful title, add instructions for your students and click Save.

Use the cog to access the full range of Assessment settings

 

Add a rubric to Blackboard Assignment

Click on the cog icon in your Blackboard assignment dropbox to access your assignment settings, scroll down to ‘Additional tools’.

Select Add marking rubric.

Either select Add to add an existing rubric or select Create to create a new rubric.

 

 

  1. This will open up an empty rubric template with four achievement columns with percentage marks and four empty criteria rows each weighted at 25%.

Click on “New Rubric” to add a meaningful name to your rubric.

Select your preferred rubric type e.g. Percentage Range from the Rubric Type drop-down menu.

 

Along the top of the columns, you have the levels of achievement: Excellent, Satisfactory etc. If you need to add another achievement column, e.g Very Good, mouse over the vertical border between the cells in the top row between Excellent and Satisfactory. Click on the plus that appears

Add in the achievement level in the text box, click outside the textbox to confirm the edit.

To edit an achievement level, mouse over the right hand side of the cell and a pencil icon will appear. Click on it to edit the name of the column. Click outside the cell to confirm the text edit.

In the first column, mouse over the right hand side of each cell until the pencil appears … then click to add text to the Criterion text box

 

If you need to add another criterion row, mouse over the border of the cells in the first column and click on the plus.

Add your criterion and then add in the weighting of that category. When you add the weighting you’ll get a warning that your weighting isn’t balanced. You can choose to add your own weighting or balance the values evenly using Balance Criteria.

Continue to add your content to the cells, mousing over each cell, click on the pencil icon to edit achievement descriptions and values.

Select Save at the bottom of the rubric and Save in the settings

Adding a Turnitin assignment dropbox

Navigate to the folder / section you want to place the drop box in. Click on the + icon

Then click on ‘Content Market’

Content Market shows all the tools integrated with Blackboard, select and click on Turnitin to add a Turnitin dropbox and then adjust your settings.

 

Changing the name of an item in Ultra

To change the name of an item in Ultra, click on the three dots (ellipsis) and select edit.

 

Then mouse over the title and click when you see the title underlined and the pencil icon appears

 

 

when you see the flashing cursor you can edit

No need to save, just use the purple X to close.

 

Adding Accommodations and Exceptions

You can set up an accommodation for a student with Reasonable Adjustments (RARs) in Gradebook. That accommodation will affect all forms of assessment within the module. Students with accommodations are identified throughout the module with a purple flag beside their name.

To add an accommodation, go into Gradebook and click on Students view:

Click on the three dots (ellipses) to the far right of the row for the student you wish to add an accommodation for:

 

Select ‘Accommodations’ and then tick ‘Time limit accommodation’. Then add in the custom percentage for the student as per their RAR > Click SAVE.

Find out more about adding accommodations in Gradebook

An exception is associated with one assessment and is used for exceptional circumstances like a hospital appointment. An exception will be denoted by a timer in the student's row in the column of that assessment in Gradebook (Marks view)

Set up an exception by going to Marks view in Gradebook

 

In the Blackboard assignment column, click on the student's cell and select Add or edit exceptions.

This opens up the Exception settings panel for that assignment, choose from Assessment due date, show and hide and attempts allowed and click Save.

 

The student will have the timer symbol appear beside their name.

 

Using groups

How do I set up groups?

Your groups will sit under the Groups tab in the Course toolbar

Groups sit within Group Sets, for instance one Group Set may contain five groups that divide your cohort into five groups for one project.

You can either create your group sets manually by clicking on New Group Set, or import your group set and group members using spreadsheets saved as .CSV files.

If you are creating your groups manually click on New Group Set

This brings up the Group Set options page, give your Group set a name then select how you want to create groups within the Group set, by selecting an option in the Group students drop down menu.

Chose from:

  • Custom: manually add students to groups

  • Randomly assign: automatically add students to groups at random

  • Self-enrolment: lets student choose their group

Find out more about creating Group sets manually

How do I set up a Group Discussion?

Use Group sets for group discussions

Select the Discussions tab along the top navigation panel.

 

Click ‘New Discussion’

 

Once you have given your discussion a title and a topic/context /a question or a starting point etc. you can adjust the settings by clicking on the cog in upper right hand side.

Under the Group discussion section, select Assign to Groups.

This will open up the group setting for your discussion. Select Custom in the Group students drop-down menu and select the appropriate Group set from those listed (NB Group sets, not groups are displayed). Click Save.

You will return to the Discussion Settings menu, “1 group” should now appear under Group discussion, click Save.

Find out more about creating Group Discussions

 

Release Conditions making content available to certain students or groups?

Use Release Conditions to make content available to certain groups or students.

Click on the Visible/Hidden from Students underneath the name of the item in Course Content. Select Release Conditions from the drop-down.

You can use rules to show or hide your items to students based on certain criteria.

For instance if you want your folder or learning module to release to your class on a certain date.

Set rule 1: select All members and Date/time checkbox, then enter the date you want the item to become visible:

Select Save and then select Hide:

You can also add more than one rule to the same item.

For instance, you can set an earlier release time for a specific student, by selecting Specific members or groups and using the drop-down arrow to find the student. Then you can set Date/time as before

Find out more about using Release conditions

 

 

 

 

 

Getting support

 

Getting support from Digital Services

Digital Services support the technical infrastructure for online learning and provides technical support and training.

Digital services provide support for email, password, Staff portal, Eduroam wifi, hardware, software, and printing.

 

Contacting the Blackboard helpdesk

Contact the Blackboard helpdesk if you are having issues with setting up or accessing assignments or learning materials etc. within the Blackboard learning environment.

For issues within Blackboard, you can

 

Example email to Blackboard helpdesk

 

Related articles

Useful links

Centre for Digital Learning Enhancement
ulster.ac.uk/learningengancement/cdle