Improved Features in Blackboard Ultra - October & November 2025

The following are highlights of this month’s new and improved features in Blackboard Ultra that will be live Thursday, November 6. Additionally, features that went live Thursday, October 2 are also included. The most relevant updates are related to a few key areas:

  • Communication & Collaboration
  • Tests & Assignments
  • Gradebook

Read more and view screenshots about these updates by reading this Blackboard Hub article on our Innovative Learning website.

Communication & Collaboration

Improved Course Messages User Interface - Available in October (Now)

Anthology has redesigned the Course Messages interface in Blackboard to deliver a cleaner, more modern messaging experience. Messages now appear in chat-style bubbles, with the sender’s messages left-justified and the recipient’s messages right-justified, similar to popular messaging apps like iMessage or Teams.

Tests & Assignments

Consistent Save and Cancel options in Settings page - Available in October (Now)

This enhancement includes the following updates:

  • Timer settings: Removed the X icon and added Save and Cancel buttons.
  • Access code settings: Replaced Close and Continue with Cancel and Save.
  • Learning Outcome Measurements: Removed the X icon and added Save and Cancel buttons.

Tag questions with metadata in tests and question banks - Available in October (Now)

When creating or editing a question, instructors can turn on Question metadata, then create or apply a tag to the question. Created tags become available in the Enter question tags search results, allowing instructors to apply that tag to other questions without needing to create them again. Metadata is visible during question creation or editing and can be used to filter questions when reusing or adding to pools. Created tags are facets in the Categories filter set available on the question banks and Reuse question pages.

Require questions before making forms visible to students - Available in October (Now)

Anthology has improved the visibility controls for forms to align with those of tests. Previously, instructors could make a form visible to students, even if it contained no questions. This enhancement ensures that students only access complete and purposeful assessments.

Bulk change question points in tests - Available in November

Instructors can now efficiently update point values for multiple questions in tests using new bulk editing options.

Gradebook

Improved navigation from Gradebook column headers - Available in November

Anthology has enhanced the gradebook grid view to streamline access to submission pages from column headers on the Grades page. These updates improve clarity and consistency across item types.

  • For Assignments, Tests, Forms, Discussions, Journals:
    • Replaced the Edit option with a View Submissions option using the eye icon.
    • Renamed the grade cell menu option from View to View Submission.
  • For Manual Items, Calculations, Total Calculations:
    • Added a View option to the column header that routes to the submission page.
  • For SCORM Items:
    • Added a View Submissions option with the eye icon.
    • Renamed the grade cell menu option to View Submission.
    • Removed Edit and Preview SCORM options from the column header menu.
  • For Attendance:
    • Replaced the Edit option with a View option using the eye icon.
    • Navigation behavior remains unchanged, with users being routed to the attendance page.

Choose whether to include hidden items in Gradebook downloads - Available in November

Instructors now have more flexibility when downloading the gradebook for offline use. Previously, downloads included only the columns visible to instructors. With this update, instructors can choose whether to include hidden items in the download file.

For more information, please read more at Anthology's Blackboard website.

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