Improved Features in Blackboard Ultra - September 2025

These are the highlights of this month’s new and improved features in Blackboard Ultra that will be live Thursday, September 4. The most relevant updates are related to a few key areas: 

  • Instructional design 
  • Communication & Collaboration 

Instructional Design 

Enhance Documents with Block Styling Options 

Anthology will be adding block styling to Documents, giving instructors new ways to enhance visual appeal and guide student attention. The styling options feature both color and icons to help create visually engaging content. The style options include: 

  • Question 
  • Tip 
  • Key points 
  • Next steps 
  • Highlight 

The content block toolbar with the block styling option highlighted in blue, showing an expanded menu. The question option is represented by a ?. The tip option is represented by a light bulb. Key points is represented by a pin. Next steps is represented by two arrows. The highlight option is represented by a star. The reset styling option at the bottom shows two arrows circling each other.

When using the new styling options, please consider some of the tips below: 

  • Apply block styles to add visual interest, organize your content, and guide students through key ideas, actions, or reflections. 
  • Use styles consistently to build familiarity and reduce cognitive load. 
  • Clearly communicate the purpose of the styles to students to improve usability and accessibility and help all learners understand their significance.

Please also consider the following tips based on the styling you would like to add into your Documents: 

  • The 'Question' Style: Use for prompts or reflective questions. Keep questions concise and open-ended to encourage critical thinking. 
  • The 'Tip' Style: Use for tips, insights, or helpful suggestions. Ensure tips are actionable and relevant to the content. 
  • The 'Key points' style: Use to highlight key points or essential facts. Keep these blocks brief and focused to reinforce retention. 
  • The 'Next steps' style: Use for next steps or instructions. Present steps in a clear, logical order and consider using numbered lists for clarity.  

Add and manage question titles in tests, forms, and banks.

Instructors can now add, view, edit, and delete question titles when working on questions in tests, forms, and banks. Titles are optional and non-unique. Titles are recommended, as they enhance searchability and reuse workflows. 

In the keyword search in the Reuse question panel, instructors can now search for questions on the question text or the question title. 

Titles appear when: 

  • Creating or editing questions in tests, forms and banks 
  • Viewing or selecting questions via the Reuse questions workflow in tests, forms and banks 
  • Adding questions to pools (Add Question Pool workflow) 
  • Viewing questions in a pool (View Questions workflow) 

Titles do not appear when the instructor views or grades the test and form submissions. Students do not see the question titles when they take a test or review their submission. 

Display time limits and extra time consistently across roles 

Anthology has improved how time limits and extra time are communicated in Assessments. This change ensures that all users understand exactly how much time is available, including any accommodations or overrides. 

Now, all users have the time limits and extra time presented in a consistent format, like the following: 

“Time limit: 20 minutes + 10 minutes extra time” 

This format appears: 

  • When instructors configure or review assessment settings. 
  • When students begin or review an assessment. 
  • In the preview mode for instructors.  

Communication and Collaboration 

Simplify announcement creation with cleaner interface 

Anthology has streamlined the New Announcement page by removing the unnecessary Recipients dropdown. Previously, this dropdown only offered one option—sending to all course members—making it redundant. With this update, the page now displays only relevant options, creating a cleaner, more focused interface and a smoother user experience.  

Use pop-out rubric when grading group submissions 

Instructors can now use the pop-out rubric when grading group submissions in Flexible Grading. This enhancement brings the same efficient grading experience already available for individual submissions to group work. 

The pop-out rubric is a separate, moveable window and formatted in a grid view. Previously, the rubric was only available in a side panel and formatted in a stack. This update makes it easier to navigate and grade student submissions by providing a clearer, more comprehensive view of the rubric. Popping out the rubric lets instructors view the student submission and the rubric side-by-side for a more efficient grading experience. Instructors can quickly select performance levels and provide feedback in the rubric while viewing the student submission. 

The pop-out rubric also includes the following features: 

  • Bulk performance level selection: Apply a level across all criteria with one click. 
  • Cell syncing: Selected cells update the grade pill automatically. 
  • Focused feedback entry: Selecting a cell moves focus to the feedback textbox. 
  • Navigation warning: Alerts instructors if they try to leave with unsaved changes. 
  • Override warning: Shows a banner if the grade was overridden and disables rubric editing. 
  • Printing: Instructors can print blank or completed rubrics using the browser’s print function. 

Please Note: When the pop-out rubric is open, the ability to add Overall Feedback and grade with the rubric in the main grading interface is inactive. This prevents an instructor from editing the same information in two separate places simultaneously.  

Use 'see-more' functionality in Add Question Pool 

Anthology added 'See more' functionality for the Sources, Questions Types, and Tags filter sets in question pools. This enhancement helps instructors more easily navigate long lists of filter values when managing large pools of questions (more than 10 questions). 

Select See More to show all results

Improved accessibility on the Submissions list page in the Gradebook 

To improve accessibility, Anthology has updated the Submissions list page in the Gradebook to use a semantic HTML table structure. This change replaces the previous layout, which relied on stacked <div> elements. The new structure improves screen reader support and keyboard navigation. 

  • Screen reader users can now hear row and column headers as they navigate the table. 
  • Keyboard users can move efficiently across rows and columns without needing to tab through each element. 
  • The table uses proper HTML markup, including <caption>, <th>, <tr>, and <td> elements to ensure clarity and accessibility. 
  • The update applies to all submission list views, including standard, individual, and peer assessments. 

This change aligns the Submissions list with the accessibility improvements previously made to the student Gradebook and supports Anthology’s commitment to inclusive design. 

Grade Export: Display record range and total number of search results 

The Grade Export tool now indicates which records are currently listed out of a total number of search results. This update helps graders quickly understand how many records match their search and where they are in the list, improving navigation through search results. 

The number of items designated as 10 items per page, and the text Showing 11-20 records of 21 results highlighted in blue

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!