Course views: What's the difference?
After you enable the Ultra experience for your institution, you can determine the course view for instructors and students. You can specify whether a course uses the Ultra Course View or the Original Course View. Or, you can leave it up to the instructor to decide which course view fits their needs.
On the Admin panel, select Course Settings in the Courses menu. Select Default Course Properties. In the Default Course View Option area, you have three choices:
The course view setting applies to newly created courses. Existing courses won't be affected by what you choose here. New courses use the view you select in default settings, but you can change the course view for each course individually.
To edit the course view for a specific course, edit the course settings. Go to Courses on the Admin Panel and search for the course you want to edit. In the list of results in the Course View column, you can see the view for each course. In the course's menu, select Edit, and then choose the course view.
A course must be unavailable to change the course view option. This restriction prevents data loss during conversion.
Original Course View
The Original Course View most closely mirrors the course experience in Blackboard Learn 9.1. This view contains many of the advanced tools and workflows that instructors may be comfortable with. However, other users may find this experience more complicated and difficult to navigate.
Highlights of the Original Course View:
Advanced assessment options. Instructors use tests and quizzes to assess students' learning and their ability to think critically. They can use different types of questions to learn more about a student's understanding in a way that fits the course or assessment.
Delegated and anonymous grading. Ease the grading workload by assigning other users in a course to grade sets of student submissions. Instructors can also enable anonymous grading to avoid potential grading bias.
Robust tools. In the Original Course View, instructors can use the tools they're familiar with to communicate with students in different ways, such as wikis, surveys, journals, and blogs.
Ultra Course View
The Ultra Course View is a simpler and more modern course experience for instructors and students. The workflows and tools are easy to find and use in the Ultra Course View. Instructors and students need little experience with Blackboard Learn to find and use the tools available to them, but more experienced users may find the Ultra Course View limits their ability to customize their courses.
Highlights of the Ultra Course View:
Mobile-friendly. The Ultra Course View adapts to the size of users' screens whether they view courses on a mobile phone, tablet, or desktop computer. Users can access their courses on the go and on their schedules.
Simplified workflows. Ready to add course content? On the Course Content page, select the plus sign to add content. The system walks you through the process to add assignments, discussions, links, and external content. Other common tasks, such as grading and sending messages, are simplified in the Ultra Course View as well.
Improved navigation. No need to dig for course tools. At the top of your screen, you'll find content, events, discussions, grades, and messages, no matter where you are in the course. You can also search for course content by title using the magnifying glass icon on the right side of the course content page.
Instructor choice
You can let instructors choose whether to use the Original Course View or the Ultra Course View. When instructors access their courses for the first time, they appear in the Original Course View, but the system shows them their options and allows them to choose. Instructors can preview their courses in either course view while a course is closed to students.
A course must be unavailable to change the course view option. This restriction prevents data loss during conversion.
