What is Blackboard’s AI Design Assistant?

Blackboard Ultra has integrated AI into a tool known as the AI Design Assistant, to assist instructors with setting up and creating a course. The AI Design Assistant can:

• Generate Modules and Course Structures
• Generate Journal, Discussion and Assignment topics
• Generate Rubrics
• Generate Test Questions
• Generate Question Banks
• Generate or Find Relevant Images
• Generate Document Structure

Before and after creating content using the AI Design Assistant, please note: Faculty must review all AI-generated content before use, because AI may generate inaccurate or culturally insensitive information!

Is the AI Design Assistant Safe to Use?

• humans in control,
• fairness,
• privacy,
• security, and
• safety.

How do I generate knowledge check questions within Documents?

Learn more about generating knowledge check questions with AI in Documents in the video below:

Follow the steps below to generate knowledge check questions within Documents:

1. Click on the ‘Knowledge Check’ block in your Blackboard Document.
   
2. Select ‘Auto-generate’ to use the AI Design Assistant to help you generate a Knowledge Check question.
   
3. The AI Design Assistant window will open. You can use the description to add a prompt or information you would like the AI to have when generating your knowledge check questions, or the ‘Select course items’ option to select items as context for question generation, or use the complexity slider to make questions easier or harder.
   
   • There are ten levels included in the complexity level slider:
     • Early primary school
     • Late primary school
     • Early middle school
     • Late middle school
     • Early high school
     • Late high school
     • Undergraduate lower division
     • Undergraduate upper division
     • Graduate level
     • Advanced PhD level
4. Once you’ve set your settings, click on the ‘Generate’ button to generate your knowledge check questions. Please note that the AI Design Assistant will only generate 4 questions at this time.
5. Select and add one of the generated knowledge check questions; click on the radio button to select the question you would like to add to your document.
   
   • Please note that you can only select one question to insert as a knowledge check block. If you would like to add more knowledge check questions to your Documents, you may do so by repeating this process.
6. Once you’ve selected the knowledge check question you’d like to add into your document, select the ‘Add to document’ button in the bottom right corner of the page.
   

7. You may edit the question once added to the document by clicking on the newly created knowledge check block.

What are Innovative Learning’s recommendations for using the knowledge check question generation feature in Documents with Blackboard’s AI Design Assistant?

• As a general rule of thumb, knowledge checks should be used when cognitively important or when a lot of information has been shared to split up the cognitive load. Consider using the AI Design Assistant to create knowledge checks in your Documents to fulfill this role.
• Use knowledge checks in your documents for ‘right-on-time’ formative assessment, helping students make sure they know what they are doing as they are learning.
• Consider using the knowledge checks as an engagement tool, keeping students attentive and active as they work through your Document.

Contact the Innovative Learning Support Centre if you need support. We are here to help!