Navigate Inside an Ultra Course

Your course view

 All of your course content appears in the main part of the page. When you open a content item, such as a test, it slides out in a panel on top of the Course Content page. Close the panel to go back to where you were previously. 

If you see a gauge icon next to your files, your institution uses Blackboard Ally to measure the accessibility of your course content. To learn more, visit Ally Help for Instructors.

Learn Ultra supports up to three levels of hierarchy for content nesting on the Course Content page. For example, a folder within a folder is two levels. A folder within a folder within a learning module is an example of three levels. Your institution can choose to add an additional level of content nesting. Ask your Ultra administrator whether your institution uses this option.

When you select a folder or learning module, it will expand to display the content nested inside that folder or learning module. When you select an item such as an assessment, document, or link, the content slides out in a panel on top of the Course Content page. Close the panel to navigate back to where you were previously. 

You can search for course content by title by selecting the magnifying glass icon at the top of the page.

Watch a video about the course environment

The following narrated video provides a visual and auditory representation of some of the information included on this page. For a detailed description of what is portrayed in the video, open the video on YouTube, navigate to More actions, and select Open transcript.


Video: Navigate Inside a course showcases modern, comfortable, and simple interface. The streamlined navigation and workflows are designed to allow you to get in, get done, and get out.

Navigation bar

Open frequently used pages in one step. Select a page to access Content, Calendar, Announcements, Discussions, Gradebook, Messages, Analytics, Groups, or Achievements.

Details & Actions 

Details & Actions gives you a variety of tools for managing your course.

A. Roster: Access your class list. You can access basic profile cards. You can also send messages to anyone involved with your course. 

B. Progress Tracking: Track student progress relating to content and assessments in your course. Your institution can choose whether or not to allow you to turn Progress Tracking on or off. 

C. Course Image: If allowed by your institution, you can add a course banner image to personalize your course. Your image is displayed on the Course Content page and as the course card thumbnail in the Courses list in the base navigation. 

D. Course is open: Open a course when you're ready for students to participate. You can also make a course private while you add or experiment with content, and then open it to students when you're ready. Students see private courses in their course lists, but they can't access them. 

E. Class Collaborate: If your institution has this integration, you can use Class Collaborate sessions as a convenient launch point for scheduled and impromptu workspaces for students. 

F. Attendance: If your institution has this feature turned on, mark attendance grades and access detailed records. 

G. Books & Tools: Access tools available in your course and your institution. 

H. Question Banks: Create a database of questions you can reuse in multiple assessments. You can create new question banks or import existing ones to use in your courses. 

I. Microsoft Teams: If your institution uses this integration, you can set up a Team class for your course. 

J. Add course schedule: Add when your class meets as a calendar event. You can also include a location. Select Skip if you don’t want to be prompted to add a course schedule. If you later decide to add one, go to the Calendar page.

New course activity

The activity indicator, which resembles a purple speech bubble, is associated with new activity in your course. New journal entries and discussion posts have an activity indicator. If you've turned on conversations on content, there are indicators for new conversation activity.

More on conversations

Course content title search

You can search for items by title on the Course Content page. Select the Search course content button, which appears as a magnifying glass, to expand the search field.

In the search field, enter a few letters of the keyword related to the item of your search.

The course search function lists the titles of matched items as you enter letters. Select the item from the list to access the corresponding content.

Select Show all item results at the end of the list for the details of all matched items. Select the item that you want to access.

To do another search, exit the search field to clear your previous entry. You can also delete the search field contents and enter a different keyword.

Select Clear search to clear the detailed list of search results. You'll return to the Course Content page.

The search display functions in a different way when the browser is not in full screen.