Release Notes for Learn SaaS
This page contains features and updates currently on Learn SaaS Test/Stage and Production environments. Visit Archived SaaS Release Notes to see features and updates in older versions. Visit In-Product Updates to learn more about in-product updates.
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More on Learn with the SaaS Deployment | Export the list of Known Issues | Access the latest API and database documentation | Blackboard Learn SaaS release notes archive | Learn Releases White Paper
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View the SaaS release schedule
Learn SaaS release 3900.102.0
Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.102.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 17 September 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 3 October 2024
Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View
For full feature details, please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.102.0 version included below on this page. Details can be found Behind the Blackboard.
Latest release: 3900.102.0-rel.11+1656741 to Test/Stage servers to take place on 17 September 2024.
For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.
October 2024 – 3900.102 Release
The October 2024 - 3900.102 release is robust with features in 9 areas:
- Instructional design;
- Mastery learning and learner pathways;
- Tests and assignments;
- Communication and collaboration;
- Flexible grading;
- Gradebook;
- Integrations;
- Mobile; and
- Upgrade to Ultra
These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action.
Instructors:
- Usability improvements for Documents
- Video Studio: Enhanced caption support for uploaded files
- Usability improvement for Knowledge Checks
- Generate question banks
- Quickly access items that need grade reconciliation
- Show unavailable students in the gradebook
- Brightspace conversion improvements
Instructors and Students:
- Award Course Badges with Achievements
- Award Open Badges Automatically with Anthology Milestone
- Enhancements to student submission review page
- Flexible Grading performance improvements
All users:
Upgrade to Ultra
Brightspace Conversion Improvements - 3900.102
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View and/or Original Course View
Impact: Instructors
Related Topic: Migrate from D2L Brightspace
Question Library and Sections
We further refined the conversion of courses from Brightspace. The question library and sections in Brightspace now convert to question banks. This enhancement is important for converting quizzes that include question pools and sections.
Important notes:
- The question library and sections will be flattened. Nested question banks are not supported in Blackboard.
- Any sections without questions will not convert to question banks.
Gradebook Columns
Numeric, selectbox, text, and pass/fail grade Items in Brightspace are now preserved when converting a Brightspace course to Blackboard. Formula and calculated grade Items are not preserved and are dropped from the gradebook. Instructors should check if their formula or calculated grade items can be rebuilt in Blackboard’s calculated column. For more information, see Calculate Grades.
For Administrators: These features and improvements are available for all Ultra and Original courses. There are no configurations needed.
Learn SaaS release 3900.100.0
Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.100.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 13 August 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 5 September 2024
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View
For full feature details, please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.100.0 version included below on this page. Details can be found Behind the Blackboard.
Latest release: 3900.100.0-rel.32+b7093a7 to Production servers to take place on 19 September 2024.
For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.
September 2024 – 3900.100 Release
The September 2024 - 3900.100 release is robust with features in 7 areas:
- Instructional design;
- Tests and assignments;
- Flexible grading;
- Gradebook;
- Learner progression and personalized experience;
- Learn core and security; and
- Upgrade to Ultra
These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action.
Instructors:
- Student Activity Log
- View items that need grading and posting in the new Overview tab
- View late submissions that need grading
Instructors and Students:
- Content Designer: Knowledge Check in enhanced Documents
- AI Conversation
- Wiris upgrade and benefits
- Exclude attempt when grading
Students:
- Review instructor feedback on the student submission review page
- Access assignment feedback hidden by release conditions
Administrators:
Instructors and Administrators:
All users:
AI Conversation – 3900.100
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: All users
Related Topic: AI Conversation
It's tough to have 1:1 conversations with every student, especially in large courses. Some instructors are asking students to use AI services for topic-related activities to help. But, with many services and limited instructor visibility, results can vary.
To better serve instructors who want to use AI with students, we're launching a new activity called AI Conversation. This is a Socratic questioning exercise guided by AI. AI Conversation lets students explore their thoughts on a topic.
There are two elements to the activity:
- AI Conversation
- This lets students think critically about the topic that the instructor designs.
- Reflection question
- This asks the student to share their thoughts on the activity. The reflection question also lets the student flag any bias or errors from the AI as part of our Trustworthy AI Approach. Reflection helps students understand the responsible use of AI services.
Instructors have the following configuration options:
- A topic for the AI Conversation
- An AI persona including a name, avatar (can be uploaded or generated), and personality trait
- Complexity level of responses
- Edit the reflection question, guiding the student on how best to reflect on this activity
On submission, the instructor can review the AI conversation transcript and the student's reflection. The AI Conversation is a formative assessment by default, but you’re not restricted to this option.
Image 1. Instructor setting up a topic, AI Persona, and Reflection question
Image 2. Instructor previewing the AI Conversation before making it visible to students
Image 3. A Student participating in the AI Conversation
Image 4. Instructor view of a submitted AI Conversation and reflection question
For administrators: In the building block, ‘AI Design Assistant and Unsplash,' a new option called ‘AI Chat Conversation’ is available. The default state is 'off.' When this feature is ‘on,’ the privilege needs to be assigned to course roles as necessary, such as Instructor. The privilege that needs assigning is ‘Use AI Design Assistant.' When that role creates an AI Conversation in a course that’s visible to students, students will be able to complete the activity. Note that toggling this feature to ‘off’ after deployment will stop the AI Conversation services. Therefore, any AI conversation activities visible to students will not operate as expected.
Integrations
Wiris Upgrade and Benefits – 3900.100
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students
We’ve upgraded the Wiris engine and equation editor to the latest versions to improve performance. Version 8.10.2 of the engine and version 7.23 of the editor improves rendering of subscript and superscript formulas. This upgrade provides a better experience for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses.
Image 1. Before the Wiris upgrade
Image 2. After the improvement
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra and Original courses. There are no configurations needed.
Learn Core & Security
Calendar Event Management – 3900.100
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: All users
Institutions can now control which users can create events in the Base Navigation Calendar with a new system-level entitlement Calendar>Create Personal event. This update gives institutions greater control over calendar event creation within their learning environment.
If the Calendar>Create Personal event entitlement is not granted:
- Users can’t create personal events in the Base Navigation Calendar.
- Calendar tool is hidden in Base Navigation if users have no existing events in their calendars and lack this entitlement. Users don’t have permission to import Calendar events from external files (Settings).
When users possess the privilege of the Calendar>Create Personal event entitlement:
- Users can create personal events using the Base Navigation Calendar.
- The add calendar option is displayed.
- The Calendar tool appears in Base Navigation.
- Users can import Calendar events from external files (Settings).
For administrators: This feature is available for all System role users including None. There are no configurations needed.
Upgrade to Ultra
Brightspace Conversion Improvements - 3900.100
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience and/or Original Experience
Ultra Course View and/or Original Course View
Impact: Instructors and Administrators
Related Topic: Migrate from D2L Brightspace
- Embedded Multimedia for Assignments and Discussions
- Embedded Multimedia via Media Library Now Supported
- Arithmetic and Significant Figures Question Types
Embedded Multimedia for Assignments and Discussions
We’ve updated the conversion process from Brightspace to Blackboard for Assignments and Discussions. Images embedded in Assignments and Discussions will now convert. Instructors will no longer need to reupload images or multimedia after converting from Brightspace
Embedded Multimedia via Media Library Now Supported
Previously, multimedia added to the Rich Content Editor in Brightspace using the Media Library did not convert properly. Images and multimedia would fail to load, requiring users to reupload them after converting their courses. This issue has been resolved, and multimedia added from the Media Library will convert.
Arithmetic and Significant Figures Question Types
We’ve improved the way we convert Arithmetic and Significant Figure Questions from Brightspace to Blackboard. We preserve more information related to the questions and questions can now be edited to resolve issues that can't be resolved during conversion.
When converting Arithmetic and Significant Figure Question Types from Brightspace to Blackboard, it's important to carefully review all converted questions to ensure accuracy and functionality. Equations constructed using plain text in Brightspace may not accurately transfer to Blackboard, leading to potential errors or formatting issues. These discrepancies can impact the clarity and correctness of the questions, which affects the assessment's validity.
We advise instructors to thoroughly examine each converted question and verify the accuracy of the equations. In some cases, it may be necessary to rebuild the equations partially or entirely to align with Blackboard's formatting and calculation standards. Ensuring the precision of these questions is essential before making the test available to students. Taking the time to review and correct any issues will help maintain the integrity of the assessment and provide a fair testing experience for all students.
For administrators: These features and improvements are available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Looking for older release notes?
Check out the Blackboard Learn Release Notes Archive for more information on past releases.
