These are the highlights of this month’s new and improved features in Blackboard Ultra that will be live Thursday, February 6. The most relevant updates are related to a few key key areas:

• Instructional design
• Tests & assignments
• Communication & collaboration
• and Gradebook

Learn more about the full update at Anthology's Blackboard website.

Instructional Design

Exclude descriptions from learning modules generated by AI Design Assistant

Anthology has added the option to exclude descriptions from learning modules generated by the AI Design Assistant. Instructors who want to write their own descriptions no longer have to manually remove them from auto-generated learning modules.

AI Design Assistant -- Set a larger maximum number of generated questions and learning modules

When using the AI Design Assistant, instructors can now set the number of questions generated for tests and question banks to a maximum of 20. The maximum number of learning modules that the AI Design Assistant generates also increased to 20. Generating more questions at once reduces the chance that similar questions will be generated.

Change folders to learning modules or learning modules to folders

Instructors can now change a folder to a learning module or a learning module to a folder in Blackboard. There are a few benefits of changing a folder to a learning module:

• Adding thumbnail images: Learning modules come with thumbnail images, which provide a visually appealing course experience, whereas folders don't.
• Forcing sequence: Instructors can force students to navigate learning modules in linear paths, which isn't possible in folders.
• Modules have a progress bar: Learning modules have a progress bar for students that highlights the number of items that they need to complete and their progression on those items.
• Previous and next navigation: Students can quickly navigate to the next or previous item in a learning module.

Improvement to rendering of uploaded files

Files uploaded by instructors to Blackboard now retain their original formatting and characteristics wherever instructors can upload files. Previously, formatting changes may have displayed with uploaded files, such as PowerPoints or Excel worksheets. With improved rendering, students can view files in their original format, leading to a better overall user experience.

Upload images to Documents using the new image block

Anthology has added an image block to Ultra Documents. Instructors can use image blocks to upload their own images, use the AI Design Assistant to generate images, or select images from Unsplash, which are royalty-free. Image blocks can be moved throughout a Document, just like other block types. Instructors have the option to resize images, set height, and maintain aspect ratios in image blocks. A dedicated image block makes adding images more apparent. Adding images via the image block also reduces white space around images and provides greater control over content design.

Tests & Assignments

Masking access codes for an assessment

When an instructor or exam proctor enters an access code for an assessment on a student's computer, the code is masked using asterisks (*******) to ensure enhanced security. Previously, the code was visible when entered on a student's screen, compromising the secure testing environment. An option to view the code is available but the default state keeps it hidden, providing better privacy and protection during testing.

Communication & Collaboration

Improvements to avatar size and time stamp positioning for discussion replies

Anthology has adjusted the size of avatars and the position of time stamps to improve the user experience in Discussions. Replies to posts are now easier to identify and avatar sizes are consistent.

Enhancements to course groups

To simplify group management and enhance usability for instructors, Anthology has made several improvements to course groups:

• Activity-level groups are now course-level: All new groups are now course-level. Instructors can create course-level groups directly from a content item, eliminating the need to manage groups at the activity level.
• More warnings and restrictions: To prevent the creation of empty group sets during group assignments, Anthology has added restrictions and additional warning messages. This helps instructors make informed decisions and avoid disruptions in group management.
  
• Simplified group creation: The option to reuse activity-level groups was removed. This change encourages instructors to focus on course-level groups and reduces confusion.

Gradebook

Excluded attempts removed from Needs Grading count

Instructors can choose to exclude attempts that they do not intend to grade. Excluded attempts are removed from the Needs Grading workflow and any gradebook calculations.

With this release, Anthology has ensured that excluded attempts are removed from the Needs Grading count in all gradebook views. This provides instructors with a more accurate overview of their outstanding grading workload.

Test Settings usability improvements

To enhance usability and improve the test-building experience, Anthology has streamlined the Settings panel for tests by removing the following assignment-specific options:

• Collect submissions offline
• Use grading rubric
• Maximum points
• 2 grades per student
• Peer review

By simplifying the Settings panel, Anthology hopes to reduce complexity and save instructors time, allowing them to focus more on creating effective assessments rather than navigating through numerous options.

Additionally, Anthology has updated the functionality for student visibility options and release conditions for tests. Now, instructors must add one or more questions to their test to make it visible to students or to add release conditions. This ensures that students only see assessments that they can actively engage with.

Improvements to grading interface

Anthology has implemented the following design changes:

• Relocated the Previous Student and Next Student navigation controls next to the attempt grade pill and removed the gray bar that these buttons were on.
• Replaced the Previous Student and Next Student buttons with <> arrows.
• Moved the avatar, student name, and submission information to the existing black bar and removed the white bar where the information was previously listed.

This is what the grading interface will look like following the improvements to the grading interface:

Improved accuracy when uploading grades and feedback

Instructors can now upload grades and feedback for assignments, journals, and discussions with improved accuracy. Previously, when instructors uploaded grades, they were always stored as an override, which left the underlying attempts or submissions ungraded. This caused the Needs Grading and New Submission flags to remain visible, even when grading had been completed offline. For discussions and journals, discussion and journal grades can now be entered directly in the Grid view or Grades & Participation page with improved accuracy and consistency, too.

Uploaded grades and feedback are now correctly mapped to the corresponding attempt or submission whenever possible. This reduces confusion and provides better clarity for instructors.

Improvement to rendering in Bb Annotate

Anthology has enhanced how files submitted by students are rendered in Bb Annotate. Previously, formatting changes made grading more challenging for instructors. Now, files display with the exact same formatting as when they were submitted, ensuring a smoother grading experience.

Supported file types include:

• PowerPoints
• Excel worksheets
• PDFs
• Other common formats

Need support? Contact the Innovative Learning Support Centre. We are here to help!

Here are the highlights of faculty questions from January. These are not necessarily the most frequently asked questions, but helpful for all faculty members to know!

Question: How do I setup the Gradebook and the Overall Grade?

Answer:

Innovative Learning has created a simulation to help you learn to setup your overall grade. If you prefer the written instructions they are below. Please make sure to setup your Gradebook as soon as possible, and make sure to upload your grades quickly, so that students have an idea of how they are doing in the course.

1. At the bottom of the Gradebook, select Set it up. The overall grade page will open up.
   
2. Select Overall Grade Calculation. Please select Weighted.
   
3. Read the instructions located at the top of the screen. These instructions describe the function of each symbol within the overall grade calculation.
4. Please select how gradable items within the category should be distributed. By selecting proportionally, items are distributed based on their total points. For example, an item with 100 points will have twice the weight of an item with 50 points. Equally will ignore the total point and equally distribute weight for each item.
   
5. If grading by category, input the correct weights of each category in their respective areas. Categories that are not being used can be exempted (grayed out row with a purple icon on the right as in the Homework category below).
   
6. If grading by individual items, unlink them from their associated category. This can be done by selecting the dropdown of the category and selecting the unlink icon next to the item that needs to be separated.
   
7. The item should now have a separate place to enter it’s individual weight.
   
   Note: The overall grade allows you to include both category and individual items in the calculation if desired.
8. Once all the appropriate weights have been entered, there are additional settings to the right of the screen. Here, you can dictate whether you want overall grade calculated based on the total of points earned.
   Note: if these settings are not selected, the overall grade calculation will be a non-running total, and students are not able to view it. If you select Percentage, you can show the current running total in percentage.
   

You can learn more about dropping the lowest grade a student received in a course, as well as overriding the overall grade for a student.

Question: How do I disable automatic zeroes for student submissions?

Answer:

1. In the Gradebook, select the Settings icon. The Gradebook Settings panel will open on the right.
   
2. Near the middle of the panel is the "Automatic Zeros" option. Deselect the green arrow.
   
3. An option will be given to "Keep existing automatic zeros" or "Clear existing automatic zeros". After making the preferred selection, press confirm.
   

Question: How do I setup accommodations in Blackboard?

Answer:

1. Access the Roster of your course. The Roster is located on the right hand side, under the Details & Actions menu.
   
2. Locate the student that needs an accommodation and select the three dots > Accommodations.
   
3. On the Accommodations panel, select the necessary accommodation for the student:
   1. Due date accommodation: Students with this accommodation will never have their work marked late.
      
   2. Time limit accommodation: Students with a time limit accommodation have more time to finish their work during timed assessments.
      • Custom percentage can be selected if the student requires a specific time limit for their assessments.
        • To give the student time and a half on assessments, please enter 50% in the extra time percentage box.
        • To give the student double time on assessments, please enter 100% in the extra time percentage box.
      • Unlimited time can be selected if the student requires no time limit for their assessments.
4. After the accommodations have been applied, a purple flag icon will appear next to the student’s name.
   
5. These accommodations can be edited at any time. Please note that when a due date or time limit accommodation is deleted, previously submitted work for assessments may then be flagged late.

Question: I want to add myself to a course as an instructor. How do I do this?

Answer:

Instructors are added to live Blackboard courses by the Faculty Scheduler in Banner or Destiny 1. Once they are added through Banner or Destiny 1, access is immediate. Associate deans can request the instructor be assigned through their faculty scheduler. Only faculty who are assigned teaching contracts can be assigned "instructor" status in Blackboard.

The Innovative Learning Support Centre can only add instructors to courses from a previous semester only with approval from an associate dean for the purpose of accessing old course content.

The Innovative Learning Support Centre can manually add users to current courses with the Course Builder role.  With this role they will be able to access the course but are limited in functions (for example they will not have gradebook access). However, they still can perform a course copy!

If you want to request to be added as an instructor or course builder, follow this link to the Innovative Learning Support Centre, where you can complete a Support Request.

Question: How do I copy tests, assignments, and other individual content items between courses?

Answer:

• Innovative Learning recommends that you copy the entire course rather than just the content in the course. Copying only the content may result in styling and formatting issues, because copying individual items may not automatically copy over items referenced by the selected item. However, copying individual course items is possible and does work when done carefully. Learn more about copying full courses.
• You can only copy materials into a course if you have the role of instructor, teaching assistant (TA), or course builder.
• Hidden courses will not be selectable in the Copy Content panel.
• Copying does not include student-specific data (e.g. test and assignment submissions, grades, discussion posts, attendance data).
• Content migrated from one course to another always needs to be reviewed and tested (i.e. ensure all the settings were retained in the migration process) prior to publishing them, particularly when Blackboard integrations like Respondus are involved.

Here is how you copy individual content items from one course into another:

1. Open the destination course – the course where you want the copied content to go.
2. There are two locations you can go to Copy Items Page.
   One is from the middle of the page with a plus icon. By clicking the icon, you will see a menu where you can click Copy Content to go to Copy Items Page.
   
   Another is from the top-right corner. Select three dots and you will see a menu where you can click Copy Items to go to Copy Items page.
   
3. Locate the course that needs to be copied from and select the arrow next to its name. Note: Do not select the checkbox next to the course name if you are only making a copy of items. Selecting the checkbox results in copying over the entire course.
   
4. The course will open into several parts depending on what are contained in the source course. “Content”, “Discussions“, “Announcements”, "Question Banks", "Rubrics" and “Grade Schemas” can be copied. Select the arrow next to the part that contains the needed content. This should reveal the individual items within that section.
   
5. Select the box next to all items that need to be copied over. Note: Folders and Modules can be opened further to select content inside. Selected items are shown on the right side of the panel.
   
6. Once you have made the necessary selections, click on "Start Copy" at the bottom of the right panel. It may take a while to complete the copy process. Once it is finished, you will be able to see all the items copied from the selected course.
   

Need support? The Innovative Learning Support Centre is here to help!

This program introduces high school students to fundamental STEM concepts, focusing on mechatronics and automation, to spark their interest and build a foundation for future studies or careers in STEM fields. Students will develop skills such as understanding pneumatics, sensors, and control technology, programming circuits with FluidSIM, building models, and learning industrial automation terminology. 

Schedule: 

• March 10-11, 2025 
• March 13-14, 2025 

Location:  

• Humber Polytechnic North Campus and Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation 

Registration

Note:  

• Humber staff receive a 10 per cent discount, use BCTIHUMB10 before checking out.  
• Lunch and transportation are not included. 

Please email jener.gurrea@humber.ca if you have any questions.

The Sip & Chill Mobile Resources Cart will be at the Lakeshore Campus in February.

Sip & Chill Mobile is an in-person service designed to bring essential information directly to students in their primary campus setting – the classroom.

How does it work?

Professors and faculty members can schedule the cart to arrive during class breaks. The Sip & Chill Mobile Resources Cart will be present in the classroom, offering students access to information about resources, upcoming events, giveaways, and a complimentary beverage.

Lakeshore, get ready! If you haven't booked a drop-in yet, now is your chance.

How to request a visit?

For February, Lakeshore professors and faculty members can arrange for the Sip & Chill Mobile Resources Cart to arrive during class breaks by booking online.

Please note that reservations are limited to one visit per class per semester.