Social media platforms are continually updating their algorithms, adding new features and changing their interfaces. It may be difficult to keep up with these changes and so the GRMC Social Media team has compiled a few notable items for the Humber community.  

Prioritize posting shareable content under 90-seconds on Instagram: Instagram’s goal is to help people discover content they want to connect with friends over. In a recent Q&A, Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, said that number of shares per reach is more important than watch time, comment counts and other metrics in determining overall reach on the platform (Source: Social Media Today on Instagram share rates). At another event, Mosseri also shared that Reels over 90-seconds can hurt distribution (Source: AishaBeau on a recent Instagram presentation via Threads). If you are sharing Instagram Reels, keep it short and focus on creating valuable content that viewers may want to share. 

Facebook and LinkedIn lean into vertical short-form video: On April 3, 2024, Facebook announced an upgrade that better integrates vertical video into the app (Source: Facebook news release on its updated video player). LinkedIn also launched a beta test for a full-screen, vertical feed featuring short-form videos to keep up with this popular way of consuming content (Source: Lindsay Gamble via LinkedIn).   

Authenticity reigns supreme: After staying in touch with family and friends, the main reason people use social media is to be entertained and mentally unwind. In a 2024 Hootsuite Social Trends in Higher Education report, 53 per cent of consumers surveyed think brands should be more relatable on social media and 34 per cent of consumers say that content that is too focused on self-promotion negatively impacts how they view them. The takeaway? Focus on providing value to your audience, such as including a useful tip for students or incorporating humour in your content, rather than solely focusing on promoting a program, event and/or initiative.  

If you have questions or want to discuss social media best practices and trends further, please contact Natalie Leung, Social Media Manager, at natalie.leung@humber.ca.  

Social media resources:

• Social media policy 
• Social media procedure
• Request social media support through the GRMC Project Intake Form 

Here are the highlights of this month’s new and improved features in Blackboard Ultra. For more details, please follow the links below:

AI Design Assistant – output language selector

Generating content in multiple languages can be beneficial for various courses. To accommodate this, the AI Design Assistant now includes an option to select an output language. A list of supported languages is available on the Anthology website. This feature is available for Auto-Generate Modules, Auto-Generate Questions, Auto-Generate Assignment, Auto-Generate Discussion, and Auto-Generate Journal.

Printing for assessments

Blackboard Ultra now supports the printing of blank Tests, Forms, and Assignments. This feature gives instructors more assessment and record-keeping options. You can find the print icon on the Content and Settings page, where you can print to a PDF or a printer.

Post immediately when creating announcements

In the new release, instructors can post announcements directly from the draft page. While drafts can still be saved, an extra step is no longer required for the immediate posting.

Prevent auto-assigning members within self-enrollment groups

When a self-enrollment group has an enrollment period, unenrolled students are automatically assigned to a group at the end of the period. To provide more control over the behavior of the self-enrollment group, instructors can now choose whether to allow automatic enrollment at the end of the self-enrollment period.

Group members list available in the selected group

Managing and organizing students in groups require accurate member lists. Such lists have always been available in Blackboard Ultra; however, it was difficult to determine which group set was assigned to which task. To improve usability, enhancements were made in this release. A dedicated groups page replaced the pop-up side panel, enabling instructor to sort members and access content association information with the group set.

Filter out graded responses when grading by question

Instructors may start grading early-submissions or go back to grade late-submissions. Regardless of the circumstances, instructors often have to revisit the same assessment to grade all submissions. The new feature provides instructors with an option to filter out already graded work when grading by question. This improves productivity of instructors.

Grader Notes on student grades

To ensure fair assessments, keeping records of justifications for grading as side notes can become handy for instructors. Such notes can be reviewed later time to ensure similar justifications are applied to all submissions. This release includes such functionality within the grading window, aiding instructors in recalling the reasoning behind the comments and grades for a particular submission.

Base Navigation – Course and Organization filters and personalization

From the Courses Base Navigation page, you can search for courses by name and filter them by your role (teaching or taking) and course status (open, closed, or completed). Additionally, the option to filter by term has been added as a new feature.

The full list of June updates is available on the Blackboard Help Center website.

The full article is also posted on BB Hub: New and Improved Features in Blackboard Ultra – June 2024 Update

Need additional support? The IL Support Centre is here to help!

After nearly 18 years, Denise Rooney is retiring at the end of June. Please join us in congratulating Denise and recognizing her many contributions to Humber and the University of Guelph-Humber. 

A virtual greeting card has been created. Members of the Humber and University of Guelph-Humber Community are invited to add a message. 

Please join the Library team to celebrate Denise's retirement on Tuesday, June 25 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the North Campus Library (LRC 4th floor).

RSVP by June 17

Congratulations, Denise!

Please see the attachment to view the candidate profiles.