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 3900.69.0
Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.69.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 6 June 2023 | Release to Production: Thursday, 6 July 2023
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View
For full feature details please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.69.0 version included below on this page. Details can also be found soon on Behind the Blackboard.
Latest release: 3900.69.0-rel.7+99730ca to Test/Stage servers to take place on 6 Jun 2023.
For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.
Learn SaaS release 3900.67.0
Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.67.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 9 May 2023 | Release to Production: Thursday, 1 June 2023
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View
For full feature details please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.67.0 version included below on this page. Details can also be found Behind the Blackboard.
Latest release: 3900.67.0-rel.25+fc2d438 to Production servers to take place on 1 Jun 2023.
For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.
July 2023 – 3900.69 Release
The July 2023 - 3900.69 release is replete with features in six areas:
- Assessment and grading;
- Richer course and content;
- Data and analytics;
- Mobile app;
- Integration, extension, and management; and
- Course upgrading
These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action.
Instructors:
- Partial and negative credit improvements for the Multiple Choice / Multiple Select question type
- Tab navigation for Assessments
- Add exceptions for anonymously graded assessments
- Exceptions panel updates
- Delete Grade Schemas
- File deletion in the course also removes the file from the Content Collection
- Manage Course Duration in Course Settings Panel
- Import Instructure Canvas course packages
- Improved flattening logic
Instructors and students:
- Formative label and Gradebook filter
- Complete/incomplete grade schema
- Send reminders to non-submitters for anonymously graded assessments
Students:
- Start, Continue, and View Assessment options and file submission updates
- Progress Tracking and Start / Continue / Completed options for Learning Modules
All users:
- Resizing media
- Improvements to the Grades landing page
- Manage Messages at institutional level
- Self-enroll for Ultra Courses and Organizations
Administrators:
Partial and negative credit improvements for the Multiple Choice / Multiple Select question type – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
Multiple Choice and Multiple Answer questions are graded automatically. Answers are scored based on the instructor selected scoring option.
In the past, instructors could select from the following scoring options:
- All or nothing. A student must select all the correct answer choices to receive credit. If a student selects one or more incorrect answer choices, they earn no points.
- Allow partial credit. A student receives partial credit if they correctly answer part of the question.
- Subtract points for incorrect answers. A student will have points subtracted for incorrect answer choices. This option discourages guessing. The overall question score is not less than zero.
With the partial credit and subtract points options, all answer choices were equally weighted. Instructors were unable to control how much partial and negative credit is awarded for each correct and incorrect answer.
To provide instructors with more control we have made some changes. Now instructors can turn on partial and negative credit. This option allows instructors to:
- Define a positive percentage value to award credit for a correct answer(s)
- Enter a negative percentage value to subtract for an incorrect answer(s)
- Allow a negative overall score for the question
Image 1: Instructor view of the improved partial and negative credit scoring options
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Tab navigation for Assessments – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
We have simplified the navigation for Assessments. Instructors now have convenient access to different sections using tabs:
- Content and Settings
- Submissions
- Student Activity
- Question Analysis
This improvement is designed to optimize instructor efficiency. It provides a more streamlined assessment management experience for instructors.
Image 1: Assessment with Content and Settings, Submissions, Student Activity, and Question Analysis tabs
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Add exceptions for anonymously graded assessments – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
We all live complicated lives and special circumstances often arise. When this happens, instructors may need to grant an exception to a student for specific tests or assignments. These exceptions may include the following:
- Granting additional attempts
- Rescheduling submission deadlines
- Allowing extended access
Now instructors can grant student exemptions for anonymously graded assessments. Instructors can access the exceptions options for all assessments from the Student Overview page in the gradebook.
Image 1: Add exception for an anonymously graded assessment via the Student Overview page
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Exceptions panel updates – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
Exceptions are important for supporting students who experience unforeseen situations. Instructors can:
- Grant additional attempts
- Reschedule submission deadlines
- Allow extended access
We've updated the exceptions panel to display more information. The exceptions panel now features course, assessment, and student names. This improvement helps instructors to ensure the accuracy of the exception.
Image 1: Exceptions peek panel with course, assessment and student information
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Complete/incomplete grade schema – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students
The complete/incomplete grade schema is now available for the Ultra Course View. This grade schema helps to shift the focus from points earned to student effort and completion of tasks. It offers a more holistic approach to assessing student progress.
Instructors can select the schema in the settings panel from the Grade using section. When a grade is assigned, a checkmark is displayed on that item for the student in the gradebook. An incomplete is displayed as a dash in a grey-colored pill.
Assessments that use automatic zeros and the complete/incomplete will mark non-submitting students as incomplete.
Image 1: Instructors may select the Complete/Incomplete grade schema Grade using section of the Assessment Settings panel
Image 2: Assessment using the Complete/Incomplete grade schema
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Delete Grade Schemas – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
In the past, instructors could only create and edit grade schemas. Now, instructors can also delete grade schemas that are not used in the course. The option to delete helps instructors maintain the grade schema list.
A Delete button now appears on schemas that are not in use. Schemas that are in use will only display the option to copy.
Image 1: Option to delete a grade schema that is not in use
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Send reminders to non-submitters for anonymously graded assessments – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students
During an assessment, instructors may need to communicate with students. To support this need, instructors can filter and select the students they would like to message from the Submissions page. Instructors can craft a message appropriate to the audience and circumstances.
In the past, the instructors couldn't message students for assessments that are anonymously graded. This is because instructors do not know which students had submitted.
Now we have introduced a Send Reminder option. This allows instructors to send reminders to students who have yet to make a submission for an anonymously graded assessment.
With the "Send Reminder" button on the Submissions page for anonymously graded assessments, instructors have the chance to confirm their desire to send the reminder along with the number of students who will receive it.
Image 1: An instructor can select Send Reminder to send an automatic reminder to students who have yet to make a submission
Image 2: Student view of the reminder
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Start, Continue, and View Assessment options and file submission update – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Students
To increase clarity for students before they begin an assessment, we have made changes to the user interface. In the past, when a student selected an assessment, the Details & Information panel included an option labeled View assessment. Now this option is labeled as Start attempt. Additionally, the button displays different states based on the student's progress:
If the student is eligible to make a new attempt, the button displays Start attempt alongside the next attempt number.
If the student has saved a draft, the button displays Continue attempt along with the current attempt number.
Once the student has exhausted all possible attempts, the button displays View submissions. This indicates that students can review their completed submissions.
These modifications aim to provide a more intuitive and informative experience for students. These changes ensure that students have a clear understanding of their progress and available options throughout the assessment process.
Image 1: Start attempt
Image 2: Continue attempt
Image 3: View submissions
To clarify how a student can attach files or add content to their submissions, we have updated the instructions in the Submission section. The instructions now read as follows: Drag and drop files here or select (click) to add text.
Image 4: Student view of the assignment Submission area
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Richer Course and Content
Progress Tracking and Start / Continue / Completed options for Learning Modules - 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Students
Progress Tracking provides students with clear visibility of their progress throughout a course. In the past, students would need to expand the module to view progress for the contents of a Learning Module. To save time and provide greater clarity, a progress summary for Learning Modules is now displayed at the top level.
Image 1: The progress indicator displays at the top level of the Learning Module and includes the total number of items in the Learning Module
Hovering over the progress bar informs the student of how much content they have completed, started or yet to start.
Image 2: Student hovers over the progress bar for more details
Now there is an option for students to 'Start' or 'Continue' progress in a Learning Module with a single selection. This option is dynamic based on the student's progress in the Learning Module. Selecting the option takes the student to the first item, or next incomplete item. Students no longer need to expand the Learning Module to browse the content items.
Image 3: Start and Continue options change based on the student’s progress; when complete, the status changes to Completed
When a student progresses through the contents or otherwise marks content as complete, the Learning Module displays a 'Completed' status. This provides a clear sign to the student that they have completed that module. If an instructor adds content to the Learning Module or the student marks the work from completed to started, the progress bar updates accordingly. The button text reflects the status change as 'Continue.' This reminds the student to re-engage with the content.
Learn more about Progress Tracking for students.
For administrators: Please note that the system administrator must enable progress tracking at the institution, node, or course level for these updates to display to students.
Resizing media – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Students
Instructors often strive to include media in their course design to help create an engaging course. Students may desire to include media in their discussions or assessment responses. When inserting media, users expect an easy way to control the size of the included media. In the past, this wasn't easy to do. Users would have to size media before uploading it in the course.
Now media items have handles in each corner. Users can resize the media by dragging a corner handle. Users can also resize media via keyboard navigation. Media types available for resizing include images, videos, and media inserted via URL.
This enhancement provides users with a seamless and intuitive way to resize media.
Image 1: Resize media corner handles
Image 2: Resize media by dragging corner handle
Based on client feedback, we made several additional changes:
- We removed the gray background of the media
- We relocated the delete icon to the top right corner of the media
- All media attached or inserted via URL maintains aspect ratio
- All media has center alignment (future milestones will permit other justification options)
- The maximum size of the media (100%) is the maximum width allowed by the content editor
- The minimum size limit for all media is 200 pixels
- We redesigned Image Settings to include the alternative text box and an option to force users to download the media
- When inserting a video in edit mode, a new icon displays in the top right corner to play the video from edit mode; this icon appears regardless of how media is inserted
Image 3: Resize media delete icon
Image 4: Image Settings includes the display name, alternative text, an option to mark an image as decorative, and an option to force users to download the media
Image 5: Resize media video play icon in edit mode
Resizing media is not supported on mobile devices.
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
File deletion in the course also removes the file from the Content Collection – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
The Content Collection is a valuable tool for organizing files and to support content reuse. In the past, if an instructor deleted a file from an Ultra course, the file remained in the Content Collection. This was the case even if the file was not used in other courses. Removing this file required additional steps from the instructor and was often overlooked.
Now, when a file is deleted from the course, it is also deleted from the Content Collection when it is not used in other courses or another place in the same course. This workflow simplifies file management and helps with responsible use of storage space.
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Data & Analytics
System administrators not enrolled in a course can access Course Activity and Student Activity Details reports – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Administrators
In the past, system administrators not enrolled in a course could not access the Course Activity and Student Activity Details reports. To access the reports, administrators would have to enroll in the course. This extra step was cumbersome and problematic. Now system administrators who are not enrolled in a course can see these reports.
System administrators can now better inform instructors about these reports, answer instructors' questions, and troubleshoot user issues.
Image 1: A system administrator can see now the Course Activity report under the Analytics tab
Image 2: A system administrator can see now the Student Activity Details report
For administrators: To view the Course Activity and Student Activity Details reports the user’s role needs to have “Course/Organization Control Panel (Grade Center) > View Grades” privilege permitted.
Mobile App
Improvements to the Grades landing page – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra and Original Experience
Impact: All users
Mobile app users can now select the sorting criteria for their grades. Users can sort grades as follows:
- course order
- last activity (most recent grade posted)
- due date (latest or oldest first)
These sort options allow users to customize the Grades landing page to suit their preferences.
Images 1 and 2: Users may order their grades based on Course Order, Last Activity or the Due Date
For administrators: This feature is available for all users of the Mobile App. No action is needed from users who have enabled automatic updates on their devices. Users who have disabled automatic updates on their devices must download the update.
Integration, Extension, and Management
Manage Messages at institutional level – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: All users
Institutions often have policies about how students communicate with others in their courses. To support institutional policy, system administrators can now manage Messages tool visibility. When Base Navigation is enabled, this level of control is available for both the Ultra and Original experiences at the institution and node levels.
Administrators can define Messages visibility for both courses and organizations. Messages are not displayed on the Ultra Base Navigation when it is hidden at institutional level. If an institution has different configurations at node level, Messages will display on the Ultra Base Navigation according to the Messages policy applied for each course. The Course Messages option does not display for courses where the Messages tool is off.
Image 1: The Messages tool doesn’t appear in the Ultra Base Navigation when it is turned off for all courses where a user is enrolled.
Image 2: The Messages policy applied displays for each course and organization in the Ultra Base Navigation
Image 3: The Course Messages option is hidden when the tool is off
If the Messages tool is off, users may still send messages as emails using the Messages icons. This gives instructors the ability to easily communicate with students from contextual locations in their Ultra courses. It also allows students to connect with their instructor. The following are behaviors in Ultra courses when the Messages tool is off:
- The message will be sent as an email. Recipients must have an email configured in their profiles.
- The sender will receive a copy of the message as an email.
- Replies aren't allowed.
- Instructors can edit recipients.
- Students are not allowed to edit recipients and only can send messages to instructors.
- There are no changes to attachments.
- Daily notifications will not include information about a new message created from courses where the Messages tool is off.
Image 4: The Messages icon is available for instructors to send messages as emails when Messages tool is off
Image 5: Instructors may edit recipients when sending a message as an email and the Messages tool is off
Image 6: The Messages icon is available to students in the Course Faculty section; messages are sent to instructors as emails
Image 7: Students cannot edit recipients when sending a message as an email to an instructor and the Messages tool is off
Image 8: Messages visibility controls from the Administrator Tools Panel
For administrators: Administrators can configure the Messages availability at the institutional level from the Administrator Tool Panel. Configurations at node level are always allowed and the Scope of Change is for ALL courses (new and existing ones). In a future release we will support additional configuration options.
Manage Course Duration in Course Settings Panel – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, users with privileges
Students are always allowed to access some courses. Other courses have restrictions so students can only access them for a specific time. This is determined by course duration settings. In the past, only administrators or a data integration process could manage the course duration settings for Ultra courses. Even when instructors had the correct privileges, they couldn’t manage this themselves.
Now, course users with the correct privileges can modify the course duration settings for their Ultra courses.
A new Course Settings option appears at the top of an Ultra course if the user has privileges to view or manage settings. The course duration settings are managed here. The course duration can be set to the following:
- Ongoing – no access restriction
- Restrict by Dates—set dates and times for student access to begin, end, or both
- Restrict by number of days from enrollment
- Restricted by the start and end dates of the associated Term - this option only appears when a Term is defined for the course
You can also manage the Roster tool availability in this panel if allowed. Instructors can continue to manage student access to the Roster tool in the Roster panel itself. In future releases, we’ll move more settings to the Course Settings panel.
Image 1: The new Course Settings option appears at the top of the course when the user has appropriate privileges
Image 2: A privileged user can manage the course duration and student access to the roster in the Course Settings panel
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. Users must have appropriate System Role or Course Role privileges to manage course duration and the Roster tool. The Roster tool can only be managed in a course if allowed by settings in the Administrator Panel > Tools.
- Privilege to access the Course Settings panel: Course/Organization Control Panel (Customization) > Properties
- Privilege to modify the Course Duration: Course/Organization Control Panel (Customization) > Properties, Duration
- Privilege to modify student access to the Roster tool: Course/Organization Control Panel (Customization) > Properties Tool Availability
Self-enroll for Ultra Courses and Organizations– 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Base Navigation
Impact: All users
In the past, the course and organization catalogs only showed Original courses and Original organizations. We’ve updated both catalogs so they also display Ultra courses and Ultra organizations.
As with Original courses and organizations, Ultra courses and organizations must be associated with the catalog in the administrator panel or through data integration processes. The self-enrollment setting for Ultra courses and organizations must be managed in the administrator panel or through data integration. At this time, instructors can’t enable self-enrollment in Ultra courses and Organizations.
Learn more about the Course Catalog
Learn more about SIS integration types and the SIS Course Categories object's Learn fields
For administrators: Administrators must manage catalog associations and self-enrollment settings for Ultra courses and organizations to use these features. To define the catalog structure, admins must define categories. For courses to display in the catalog, they must be associated with those categories.
Import Instructure Canvas course packages – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Instructors, Administrators
An instructor may move between institutions or teach at more than one place. That could mean the instructor has course packages they built in Instructure Canvas. Some institutions adopting Blackboard Learn Ultra are moving over from Canvas.
Now instructors and administrators can import Canvas packages directly in Learn courses. This can save significant time preparing a course for teaching in Learn. Canvas packages can be imported into either Learn Original or Learn Ultra courses by users with course import privileges.
All course import and restore workflows support Canvas packages:
- Course import in an Ultra course
- Course import in an Original course
- Administrator course import
- Administrator course restore—only course contents will be imported with this action, user data is not restored
Canvas exports courses in a proprietary format. This proprietary format shares elements with the interoperable standard Common Cartridge. For example, both have the file extension .imscc. When importing a package with this file extension, Learn will automatically determine if a package should be processed as a Common Cartridge package or a proprietary Canvas package.
Note: Course structure and tools differ between Canvas and Learn. After import, instructors or course designers should review all contents and settings. This is to adjust the content so is suited for use in Learn. Not all course elements are converted.
Image 1: Import Canvas packages using the standard course content import tools
For administrators: This feature is available only in Learn SaaS environments. It works with both Original and Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed, but only users with privileges to import course packages can use the feature. If you need to convert many courses in bulk, Anthology Product Support can assist with this request. Due to a dependency on a web service, the feature will start to function a few days after release.
Instructure and Canvas are registered trademarks of Instructure, Inc.
REST APIs to read Rubrics Evaluations – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Administrators
With the Rubric Evaluations Public API, users can now retrieve comprehensive data on student attempts that were graded using a rubric. The Rubric Evaluations Public API includes three new GET endpoints:
- Retrieve Rubric Evaluations from a Student Attempt: This endpoint allows users to retrieve detailed rubric evaluations from a specific student attempt.
- Retrieve All Rubric Evaluations from a Rubric Association: This endpoint provides users with the ability to retrieve all rubric evaluations associated with a particular rubric.
- Retrieve a Single Rubric Evaluation with Cell Expansion: This endpoint enables users to retrieve a single rubric evaluation while having the flexibility to expand its cells.
This new API showcases our commitment to empowering educators and institutions with advanced assessment capabilities.
For administrators: The REST integration user must have the entitlement “Course/Organization Control Panel (Grade Center) > Full Control” to make use of the new endpoints.
LTI admin launches from Books and Tools, Content Market – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Administrators, other support users
Administrators and other support users access courses without being enrolled. Sometimes they need to access 3rd-party content integrated using LTI, the Learning Tools Interoperability standard. In the past, admins could launch LTI links in the Course Outline of Ultra courses. Admins couldn’t access LTI links in other areas of the course. Now, administrators can access and launch LTI tools in the following additional areas:
- The Books and Tools panel
- The Content Market
This change will make it easier for admins to support courses when they are not an enrolled course member.
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. For these LTI link launches, Learn will send the role of “administrator” for both the LTI context and institution roles. A tool must be compliant with this aspect of the standard for the launch to work.
LTI Tool Dynamic Registration – 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Impact: Administrators
LTI Advantage, including LTI 1.3, is a standard for integrating tools into learning environments. This standard from 1EdTech is based on the highly secure three-legged OAuth2 method. This security method requires a secured key registration process and supports key rotation. For Blackboard Learn, this key registration and rotation procedure is managed in the Anthology Developer Portal.
Tool providers can register their applications in the Developer Portal so that clients don’t have to. This lets the tool provider define things like icons and tool placements in Blackboard Learn, saving administrators time. This is Anthology’s preferred LTI tool adoption workflow because it reduces the burden on administrators.
Some tool providers require adopting clients to register applications themselves and manually configure all aspects of the tool in both the Anthology Developer Portal and in Blackboard Learn. This is usually because they don’t support multiple deployments for a single application as they are defined in the LTI specification. There are many steps to this registration process.
Recently the LTI standards committee defined a new service called LTI Dynamic Registration. This helps tools and learning platforms simplify the registration process in an interoperable way. The Anthology Developer Portal now supports this standard. For tools that support this standard but require administrators to register the application themselves, this will reduce the number of steps to configure the LTI tool.
Learn administrators given a registration URL should add the application in the Developer Portal using the Dynamic Registration option. After this step, the administrator should complete any other steps as required by the tool provider.
Image 1: An administrator or developer chooses to add a new application using Dynamic Registration
Image 2: An administrator or developer enters the tool registration URL
Improved flattening logic– 3900.69
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
Items can move when copied, imported, or converted into Ultra courses. We call this the flattening process. The process moves items with a depth greater than two to the lowest supported level in Ultra courses. For institutions that have opted in to a third level of depth, items with a depth greater than three move to the lowest supported level. We received feedback from instructors calling for improvements to this process.
One issue was that items were not retained in their parent folder. As a result, a course could have many empty folders at the lowest supported level. The items that used to be in those folders would also be at the lowest supported level. This made it difficult for instructors to understand where items used to be. They had to spend a lot of time finding and moving items.
The second issue was with Learning Modules. Learning Modules could become nested inside other Learning Modules or Folders. Nested Learning Modules are not supported in Ultra courses. These nested Learning Modules set the wrong expectation for new users. This also broke the user interface.
With this update, we implemented new logic:
- Learning Modules are always brought to the highest level on the Course Content page.
- Folders are now brought to the highest level necessary to ensure that child items don't move.
This change should help instructors organize their moved content.
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
June 2023 – 3900.67 Release
The June 2023 - 3900.67 release is robust with features in six areas:
- Assessment and grading;
- Richer course and content;
- Data and analytics;
- Communication and social engagement;
- Integration, extension, and management; and
- Course upgrading
These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action.
Features with this icon are controlled by a client facing feature flag:
Instructors:
- Add Exemptions for Anonymous Assessments
- Add Exceptions from Gradebook Grid View and Student Overview page
- ‘Base calculation on points earned out of total graded points’ support for Custom Calculations
- Upload questions from a file to tests
- Support for anonymous grading of tests
- Journals Grades & Participation list filters
Instructors and students:
- Course Links improvements
- Announcements in the top navigation
- Course Term display logic improvements
Students:
All users:
Administrators:
Assessment and Grading
Add Exemptions for Anonymous Assessments 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
The use of anonymous grading helps to reduce grading bias. Many consider it an important grading approach. To further support instructors and improve their ability to manage student exemptions, we have introduced a way for instructors to set exemptions for anonymously graded assessments. Instructors can now access the exemptions option for an anonymous assessment from the Student Overview page. This will make it easier for instructors to manage exemptions and ensure a fair and accurate grading process for all students.
Image 1: Instructor view – “Essay: Sun proximity effects – Milky Way” assignment is anonymously graded; the instructor can access the “Add or edit exemption” option from the overflow menu
Image 2: The exemption icon is not visible in the gradebook grid view until all grades have been posted to help ensure student anonymity
Image 3: The exemption icon is not visible on an assessment submissions page until all grades have been posted; this helps to ensure student anonymity
For administrators: The exemption feature is enabled by default. Administrators can turn it off at the institution level in the Ultra Experience configuration page.
‘Base calculation on points earned out of total graded points’ support for Custom Calculations – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
Calculating course grades can vary depending on instructor practice. To offer greater flexibility in gradebook calculations, instructors can now opt to use the 'Base calculation on points earned out of total graded points' option for any gradebook calculation, regardless of whether it contains operators with functions and variables. Previously, this option was only available for Average, Total, Minimum, and Maximum calculations.
Image 1: Option to include 'Base calculation on points earned out of total graded points' option for any gradebook calculation
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed at the administrator level.
Upload questions from a file to tests and assignments – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
Besides course content, assessment questions are one of the most valuable teaching artifacts. Up until now, instructors could only create new questions in tests, assignments, or question banks. This process could be time-consuming and inefficient.
Now instructors can author questions offline in a text file. Instructors can upload the file into a test for a more streamlined test building workflow. Each question file must be a tab-delimited TXT file. The file should not exceed 250 records to avoid time-out restrictions. For more details on formatting requirements, please review the related Help pages for Original and Ultra platforms.
Instructors can easily edit and use the uploaded questions as they would a question created in a test. Uploading questions saves instructors valuable time and effort.
Supported question types include:
- Multiple choice / multiple answer
- True / False
- Essay
- Fill in the Blank
- Fill in Multiple Blanks
- Numeric response
- Matching
Image 1: Instructor view – ‘Upload questions from file’ option in tests; this same option exists for assignments
Image 2: An instructor can edit uploaded questions as they would a manually added question
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed at the administrator level.
Support for anonymous grading of tests – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
Instructors can reduce grading bias for high-stakes assignments by enabling anonymous grading. Until now, this option was only available for assignments. Instructors can now also turn on anonymous grading on tests. This adds an additional layer of fairness and impartiality to the grading process.
The anonymous grading option for tests is not available when grades are automatically posted.
Image 1: Turn on “Hide student names” for anonymous grading in Test Settings
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed at the administrator level.
Original Course View: Improved Assignment Submission page – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Original Course View
Impact: Students
Students submitting an Assignment in Original Course View have several possible actions. They can upload files, author a submission, and attach a note to their instructor. Previously, these actions could be confusing for students. The option to add comments always displayed. The option to author a submission required selecting a button that was easy to miss.
We redesigned the Assignment submission page to be less confusing and easier for students to use.
Students have three distinct actions they can take. Each section can be opened independently. Students can open more than one. The page will retain added content when a student closes a section.
- Create Submission
- Upload Files
- Add Comments
All Assignment information has been grouped together:
- Due date
- Points possible
- Grading rubric
- Group membership and update statuses
- SafeAssign disclosure
Image 1. The new student Assignment submission page has three sections: instructions, submission, and assignment information
Image 2. The “Create Submission” section opened
Image 3. The “Upload Files” section opened
For administrators: This feature is available for all Original courses. There are no configurations needed.
Richer Course and Content
Course Links improvements – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
To provide a better experience, we’ve made a series of improvements for Course Links:
- Instructors have the option to add course links to folders and learning modules on the Course Content page. The option to add course links to folders and learning modules is hidden for nested content containers.
- Instructors cannot move into another folder or learning module a course link to a folder or learning module. A warning message displays if an instructor tries to move a course link in this way.
Image 1. Warning message alerting an instructor that a course link to a folder cannot be moved into another learning module
- Instructors cannot copy into another folder or learning module a course link to a folder or learning module. The option to copy course links to folders and LMs is hidden if an instructor selects the Copy Content option from the + menu while inside a folder or learning module.
- To help users identify course links to folders and learning modules, we have made a new icon. This icon displays a link at the top left corner of the icon for a folder or learning module. In the past, the learning module did not have an icon. Learning modules now have an icon, which is the same one displayed for learning modules on the Create Item panel.
Image 2. Learning module iconography on both Create Item panel and learning module (as shown in the background on the Course Content area)
- The context menu for a course link to a folder or a learning module now provides these options:
- Edit Course Link
- Edit Linked Folder or Learning Module
- Delete Course Link
- Users can expand a course link to a folder or learning module as they would a folder or learning module. This allows the user to view the nested contents of the target folder or learning module. The contents displayed are read only. An instructor cannot modify the nested contents displayed for the course link. An instructor cannot move additional content into the folder or learning module course link.
Image 3. Course Link to a folder is shown as expanded, revealing the contents of the course link in a read-only view
- When an instructor makes changes to the nested contents of a folder or learning module, the changes will appear for any related, expanded course link. These changes include:
- Adding/deleting nested contents
- Re-order nested contents
- Moving additional contents into the target folder or learning module
- Editing the names of nested contents
- Modifying the visibility or release conditions of nested contents
- In the past, if an instructor copied a course link to an Ultra Document, some of the contents added via "Add Content" did not copy. This has been fixed. Now the Ultra Document and its contents, along with the course link, are copied as expected.
- When creating a Course Link, an instructor can now select a folder and/or learning module from the Category section of Search Criteria. Additionally, instructors can expand the folders and learning modules in the search results to select one of its contents.
Image 4. Instructor may search categorically for folders and learning modules to create a course link to content in a folder or learning module
- When upgrading an Original course to the Ultra course view, course links to folders and learning modules are not retained. The conversion report includes an exception for course links and explains their removal.
For administrators: These improvements are available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Add Exceptions from the Gradebook Grid View and the Student Overview page – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
We all live complicated lives and special circumstances often arise. When this happens, instructors may need to grant an exception to a student for specific tests or assignments. These exceptions may include the following:
- providing additional attempts
- rescheduling due dates, or
- granting extended access.
These exceptions are available even if the assessment is hidden from other students. Until now, exceptions were only accessible from the submissions page for an assessment. Now, instructors can access the exceptions workflow from the gradebook grid view and Student Overview page.
Image 1: Add or edit exceptions from the gradebook grid view
Image 2: Add or edit exceptions from the student overview page
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed at the administrator level.
Additional Level of Content Nesting – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: All users
At present, Blackboard Ultra supports up to three levels of hierarchy for content nesting on the course content page. We have received consistent feedback from students indicating that they prefer this structure. Many have shared that it improves course navigation. Instructors have shared the same and cited it helps them easily design and layout their courses.
Image 1. Before – Content nested in three levels of hierarchy
We have also heard that some institutions need more than three levels of content nesting to structure their course content. To address this feedback, we have added an option to use one additional level of content nesting. This extra level provides instructors with greater flexibility to organize content in ways that better suit their needs. The option to use one more level of content nesting improves the overall usability of the platform for some of our users. Opting for the extra level of content nesting also reduces the flattening effect of content when upgrading courses from the Original to Ultra course view.
Image 2. After - Content nested in four levels of hierarchy
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses once enabled. Administrators should discuss with internal stakeholders before enabling. Some consider an extra layer of depths as a more negative experience for students and mobile users. Once enabled, it cannot be turned off.
This feature is off by default. You can access the setting by selecting the Configure button in ‘The Ultra Experience is here!’ module on the Administrator Panel. The ‘Activate an Additional Level of Nested Items’ is listed among the General Settings on the Ultra Experience Management page.
Data & Analytics
Journal Grades & Participation list filters – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
To help instructors manage journal entries and provide effective feedback to students, we have added new Student and Grading Status filters to the Grades & Participation view in Journals. These filters allow instructors to view student journal entries based on their status. This can help streamline the grading and feedback process. These filters are consistent with filters in other areas of Ultra. This consistency provides a unified and intuitive experience for instructors.
Image 1. Journal Grades & Participation page with filters
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Progress tracking management– 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Administrators
Progress tracking provides students, instructors, and administrators with an efficient way to track and measure student progress. Now administrators can control progress tracking at the institution and node levels. This option is on the Administrator Panel | Tools & Utilities module | Tools option. An administrator may select from the following setting combinations:
- On and unlocked in Ultra courses
- On and locked in Ultra courses
- Off and unlocked in Ultra organizations
- Off and locked in Ultra organizations
The lock option prevents instructors from changing the administrator-defined default within their courses. Administrators should lock the setting to ensure consistent use of progress tracking.
Administrators can control the scope of the availability changes. This allows administrators to choose to apply changes to only new or new and existing Ultra courses/organizations.
Note: With this release, progress tracking availability remains unchanged. With the August release, progress tracking will be turned on for all Ultra courses and organizations. Administrators can change this setting to meet the specific needs of their institution as needed.
Image 1. Progress tracking tool management
For administrators: This feature removes the progress tracking setting from the Ultra Experience Configuration page. After this release, the configuration option may remain visible for a couple of days, but it will not be functional.
If you are a United States federal entity hosted in GovCloud, you can turn on Progress Tracking in this release. Turn it on in the Administrator Panel > Tools. You can set the policy institution-wide or by Institutional Hierarchy node. You can enforce a policy or set a default that can be changed by end users.
Communication & Social Engagement
Announcements in the top navigation bar – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students
To provide a better user experience, we moved Announcements from the Details & Actions menu to the top navigation bar. This reduces the number of items within the Details & Actions menu. This change also improves visibility and prominence of Announcements.
Users will be able to access announcements anywhere from within a course. All existing announcements functionality remains the same.
Image 1. Announcements top navigation bar of a course
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed at the administrator level.
Integration, Extension, and Management
Prevent passwords exposed in data breaches – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Impact: All users allowed to change passwords in Learn
Some institutions use an identity provider, such as Azure Active Directory, to authenticate users. Others manage passwords within Learn. In recent releases, we have prioritized improvements to the security of passwords managed in Learn.
Now institutions can also restrict users from selecting passwords exposed in a data breach. This is an important security measure since passwords like "123456," "qwerty," or "password123" are frequently targeted by hackers.
When a user attempts to change their password within Learn, we check it against a global database of breached passwords. If the chosen password is among passwords in the database, we notify the user and require them to select a different password. This helps to ensure that users' passwords are strong and secure, reducing the likelihood of unauthorized access to their account.
Image 1. A user is informed that their proposed password was exposed in a security breach
Image 2. An administrator configures the exposed password protection policy
For administrators: For most institutions, this feature is off by default. It must be enabled by an administrator.
For United States government clients in FedRAMP boundaries: This feature is on by default. If your compliance boundary changes, you should confirm your configuration.
Managed privilege to view System Roles – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Administrators, Developers
Developers create applications that expand the functionality of Blackboard Learn. Some of these apps integrate using REST APIs. Administrators manage the privileges for integrated apps. As a best practice, an integration should only have the minimum privileges necessary to function.
In the past, if an integration needed to read System Role information, the integration user had to be set as a full System Administrator. Now administrators can configure an integration user with fewer privileges and still grant access to view System Role information.
In the System Role privileges manager, administrators can now grant a new privilege called Administrator Panel (Users) > System Roles. No System Roles have this privilege by default. An Administrator must always grant the privilege to any System Role. It isn’t possible to grant this privilege to a Course Role.
For administrators: This feature is available for all Learn environments. There are no configurations needed at the administrator level. To improve security, admins should reduce privileges for a REST application if System Administrator privileges were granted previously as a workaround.
Course Upgrading
Bulk Conversion options – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Administrators
Institutions now have an easier way to convert a large number of courses to the Ultra Course View. Administrators can use Bulk Convert and/or Bulk Copy and Convert.
- Bulk Convert: Converts selected courses from the Original to Ultra course view
- Bulk Copy and Convert: Copies selected courses using the Original course view and converts them to the Ultra course view; this is the option we recommend for most institutions
Both options save time and effort when converting large numbers of courses.
Image 1. Bulk Convert Actions
Please review the Help documentation for Bulk Convert and Bulk Copy and Convert before using them. You may want to enable the extra level of content nesting on the Course Content page before using either option. Having the extra level can help with conversion.
For administrators: Administrators should discuss the above options with their account executive and client experience manager before using. Having conversations ahead of time can help to ensure a smooth transition to the Ultra Course View.
This feature is on by default. You can turn off the feature by selecting the Configure button in ‘The Ultra Experience is here!’ module on the Administrator Panel. ‘Course bulk conversion’ is included in the list of Available Features.
Prevent renaming of items when moved during a copy, import, and/or conversion – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
Items copied, imported, or converted into the Ultra Course View sometimes move. Items move when they are nested more than the Ultra Course View allows. Items that move are placed at the lowest supported level in the Ultra Course View.
When moved, the title of these items would change to reflect their original location path. While helpful, the change added extra work for users. As a result, users had to change the title of each moved item and remove the pathing. With this release, we will no longer change the title of items.
For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
Preserve "Open in New Window” behavior for Flickr Mashups as Web Links – 3900.67
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
In the May release, we added a new setting to Web Links on the Course Content page. Instructors can choose whether the web link opens in a new window or within the Ultra Course View. With this change, converted Flickr Mashups would not load unless users opened the Web Link in a new window. We have updated the conversion process so that when a Flickr Mashup is converted to a Web Link, the "Open in a new window" option is auto selected.
For administrators: This feature is 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.
