최신 릴리즈 정보를 찾고 계십니까? Blackboard Learn SaaS 릴리즈 노트 피드를 확인하십시오.

SaaS가 구축된 Learn에 대해 자세히 알아보기 | Ultra 환경을 활성화하는 방법

기능 목록을 찾아보거나 유지 관리 항목을 봅니다.

Behind the Blackboard에서 알려진 문제 목록을 만들고 내보내는 방법에 대한 지침도 확인할 수 있습니다.

이 페이지 끝에서 이전 버전의 노트를 확인하십시오.

Learn SaaS release 3900.104.0

Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.104.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 5 November 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 7 November 2024
Original Course View, Ultra Course View

For full feature details, please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.104.0 version included below on this page. Details can be found on Anthology Global Support.

Latest release: ​​​​​​​3900.104.0-rel.36+1656a6c to Production servers to take place on 28 November 2024.

For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Anthology Global Support.


November 2024 – 3900.104 Release

The November 2024 - 3900.104 release is robust with features in 8 areas: 

  • Instructional design;
  • Tests and assignments;
  • Communication and collaboration;
  • Learner progression and personalized experience;
  • Integrations;  
  • Learn core and security; 
  • Mobile app; and 
  • Upgrade to Ultra

These improvements impact instructors, students, observers, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action. 

Instructors: 

Instructors and Students: 

Students:

Instructors and Administrators:

Observers:

Administrators:

All users:


Instructional Design 

Role play option for AI Conversation– 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic:  AI Conversation 

We expanded our AI Conversation feature to include a role play option. Role play can enhance learning by providing active learning opportunities. Role play also encourages critical thinking. It also provides an opportunity for students to apply knowledge in a simulated environment. 

For example, a student could role play a doctor by speaking to a patient, played by the AI persona. In this scenario, a student gains practical experience in a safe environment for experimentation. 

Instructors customize the AI persona by giving it a name and image. Instructors also define the AI persona's personality traits and select the complexity of the responses. 

Instructors should always preview an AI conversation before releasing the activity to students. AI tools can hallucinate and introduce bias. It is important to ensure that instructions are clear and that the AI persona responds in an expected and appropriate way. 

We also introduced a stepped setup. This approach makes it easier for instructors to select the type of conversation and define the topic, student role, and AI persona.

Image 1. Select the conversation type

Step 1 of creating a new AI Conversation. Socratic questioning and Role play are available options.

Image 2. Describe the conversation and define the student’s role

Step 2 of creating a Role play exercise, prompting the user to enter a scenario and roles

Image 3. Set up the AI persona

Step 3 of creating an AI Conversation, where the persona is defined

For administrators: For more information on how to enable AI Conversation, visit our page for AI Design Assistant and Unsplash Configuration. AI Conversation must be on before you can select the Role play option. Note that toggling AI Conversation off after deployment stops AI Conversation services. Therefore, any AI Conversation activities visible to students will not operate as expected.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Video Studio: Viewing controls for captions and transcription – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, students
Related Topic: Video Studio (instructor page), Video Studio (student page), Video Studio (administrator page)

In Video Studio, users can control the display of captions and transcription. 

Control captions display

Video Studio makes recordings more accessible by automatically displaying captions. To accommodate diverse learner preferences, individual users turn captions on or off.  For example, a student can close the auto-generated captions if they do not want to view them. To turn off captions, select the captions button next to the progress bar at the bottom of the video.

Image 1. Option to enable captions

Woman speaking in Video Studio recording. Captions appear and the captions control button in the bottom panel of video is highlighted.

Control transcript display

Video Studio also automatically generates a transcript for created or uploaded recordings. As with captions, students can control the display of the transcript.

To view the transcript, select the transcript button next to the progress bar at the bottom of the video.

Image 2. Display control for transcript

Woman speaking in Video Studio recording. Transcript appears on right side panel and the transcript control button in the bottom panel of video is highlighted.

Students can view the transcript in-line and in full screen in Documents when videos are displayed three and four columns wide. When videos are one to two columns wide, the transcript displays in full screen.

For Administrators: Video Studio is a premium solution. We are offering customers a free trial until June 30, 2025. This trial provides access to the full version of Video Studio. Video Studio is set to OFF as a default in test/stage environments. If you want to enable it in your institution’s production environment, you can do that for free until the end of June 2025. In the Administrator Panel, select Configure in The Ultra Experience is Here! module. Select Enable creating/uploading videos using Video Studio. Beyond this date, your institution will have to purchase Video Studio to continue using it.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Video Studio improvements – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
Related Topics: Video Studio (admin page), Video Studio (instructor page)

We have enhanced Video Studio to improve the user experience for instructors. Instructors can now:

Edit video title

Instructors can edit the title of an audio/video recording or uploaded file after it is saved to the Document.

While editing the document, the instructor can select the pencil icon from the top left of the video block.

Image 1. Video title edit option

Woman speaking in Video Studio recording. Edit icon highlighted.

After the instructor selects the pencil icon, the previously uploaded video displays in the Upload Video screen.

Image 2. Field to edit video title

Woman speaking in Video Studio recording. Title field highlighted.

Device selection

With Video Studio, instructors can select the device used to record video and audio. By selecting the dropdown menu options for camera, mic, and screen, an instructor can choose from any connected devices on their computer.

Image 3. Select device

Woman speaking in Video Studio recording. Device selection options highlighted.

Retry a failed video upload

If an instructor uploads a file in Video Studio and the upload fails, they can select Retry upload at the top right corner of the screen or Retry next to the Upload process bar.

Image 4. Retry options if upload fails

Woman speaking in Video Studio recording. Retry failed upload options highlighted.

For Administrators: Video Studio is a premium solution. We are offering customers a free trial until June 30, 2025. This trial provides access to the full version of Video Studio. Video Studio is set to OFF as a default in test/stage environments. If you want to enable it in your institution’s production environment, you can do that for free until the end of June 2025. In the Administrator Panel, select Configure in The Ultra Experience is Here! module. Select Enable creating/uploading videos using Video Studio. Beyond this date, your institution will have to purchase Video Studio to continue using it.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Improvement to Resizing Blocks in Documents – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors  
Related Topic: Create Documents  

To help with resizing blocks that are vertically tall, we modified the resize handle. Now, instructors can resize a block by selecting the vertical edge of a block. It is not necessary to place the mouse directly over the handle. 

Image 1. Resize handle in a Document

The purple resize handle is highlighted between an image and a knowledge check to demonstrate how the zone the handle functions in

For administrators: A configuration option is on the Ultra Experience Management page in the Administrator Panel: “Enable support for customizing Ultra document layouts.” The default state is on.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Empty State Indicator for Documents – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors  
Related Topic: Create Documents  

We added an empty state indicator to content blocks in Documents. If a content block is empty, text displays to tell instructors to select the block to add content. The empty state indicator doesn’t display outside of the edit mode.

Document in edit mode, with "Select this block to add content" displaying in an empty block

For administrators: A configuration option is on the Ultra Experience Management page in the Administrator Panel: “Enable support for customizing Ultra document layouts.” The default state is on.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Skip Link to Course Information – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: All users 
Related Topic: Accessibility Overview 

We added a second skip link to the Course Content page. In addition to the current skip link to tab directly into course items, users can now press the Tab key again to skip to course information. If users don’t use either skip link, they will tab into the course features. 

Image 1. Skip link on Course Content page

Course Content page, showing a skip link at the top to go directly to course information

For administrators: There are no configurations needed.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Tests & Assignments

Print Tests with questions from Question Pools and other improvements – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
Related topic: Question Pools

Instructors can now print tests that include questions from Question Pools. We also combined the answer key and the corresponding test. This ensures that users always have an answer key that matches the test. We generate the answer key and print it ahead of the test. We also labeled the Answer Key to ensure awareness.  

The system generates a different version of the answer key and test  each time a test is printed when the test:

  • Randomizes questions or answer options  
  • Includes Question Pools
  • Instructors can use the print option to save the answer key and test as a PDF.  

Image 1. Printing a test

Print test dialog

For administrators: There are no configurations needed.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Improved performance for assignment file submissions – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Students
Related Topic: Submit Assignments

Working on assignments can be a stressful experience for students. When submitting their work, students need assurance that their files have been successfully attached, received, and stored by Blackboard. They also need to be  informed if there is an issue with their submission. 

In this release, we've made architectural improvements to mitigate against file corruption and to ensure files are correctly attached during uploads. These updates include:

  • Managing Multiple File Uploads: To prevent issues when uploading multiple files, students will now be required to wait for the first upload to completely before attaching additional files. 
  • File Size Limit Notification: A modal will display a message if a file exceeds the permitted size limit. 
  • Corrupted File Alerts: In the unlikely event of a student attempts to submit a corrupted file, a modal will notify them of the issue, and the system will alert the instructor.

For administrators: There are no configurations needed.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Communication & Collaboration 

Indentations Added to Discussions – 3900.104 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students 
Related Topic: Discussions 

To better distinguish between responses and replies, we added indentation. 

Image 1. Indented discussion replies

Discussion thread, with replies indented from responses

We removed the delete option for the discussion topic. Instructors can edit discussion topics as needed. 

Image 2. Edit option for Discussion Topic

Discussion topic with dropdown menu expanded, showing no delete option available

We're improving the usability and appearance of discussions. Areas of focus include navigation, clearer calls to action, updating UI elements, terminology updates, and others. We’ll release small changes in several releases to benefit users as soon as we can make them available.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Learner Progression & Personalized Experience 

Observer Access to Documents and Uploaded Files and Media– 3900.104  

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Observers 
Related Topic: Observer Role 

Observers who mentor students need to access course content to understand what topics a student is learning. Observers can now access uploaded files and media and Documents in their students’ courses. 

Observers are limited to the same file permissions that instructors have set for students: view and download, download only, and view only. 

Progress tracking must be on for observers to access course content through the Progress tab. 

For administrators: Institutions can choose whether observers have access to course content. Access controls are in the Ultra Experience Management area of the Administrator panel.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Download Option for Student Activity Log – 3900.104 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Student Activity Log 

Instructors and administrators can review the Student Activity Log to troubleshoot or resolve academic disputes. We added the option to download the Student Activity Log as a CSV. All filters applied to the log also apply to the CSV. Only the first 1000 events are downloaded.

Image 1. Student Activity log with Download button

Student Activity Log, with Download button highlighted at top right

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Integrations

Enhanced course grades public REST API – Exceptions (Student Attempts) – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1 
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Administrators  
Related Topic: Blackboard Learn APIs

We enhanced Blackboard’s public REST API for course grades to improve grading exception management for individual student assessments. Grading exceptions include:

  • extending due dates,
  • allowing additional attempts, and
  • providing more flexible grading options.

Developers can now retrieve parameters for grading exceptions to an individual student's assessment. Developers can also set exception parameters for a user-specific start date, hide date, and other parameters. The attributes are in all the endpoints. The endpoints are:

GET -

  • /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{{courseId}}/gradebook/columns/{columnId}/exceptions/users/{{userId}}

POST - This method is traditionally intended for creating resources. However, there are specific circumstances with the GET due to some technical constraints and the POST for this occasion will be used to retrieve information about the exceptions, the retrieve will be made to a gradebook column (Retrieve all students associated to that column). This is because it allows the request to include detailed parameters in the body, taking advantage of the ability to send more extensive data and without the constraints associated with GET requests url length.

  • /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{{courseId}}/gradebook/columns/{columnId}/exceptions  

PUT - This allows users to create or modify an exception for a student.

  • /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{{courseId}}/gradebook/columns/{columnId}/exceptions/users/{{userId}} 

DELETE - Deletes the exception for a student.

  • /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{{courseId}}/gradebook/columns/{columnId}/exceptions/users/{{userId}} 

If the option is enabled, end users can read and update the assessment's due date, additional attempts, and rescheduled due date.

The required privileges and entitlements for student exception endpoints for course grades API are:

For GET and POST:

  • entitlement: course.gradebook-item.exceptions.VIEW  
  • privilege: Course/Organization Gradebook > Gradebook Item > Exceptions > View Item Due Date Exception

For PUT and DELETE: 

  • entitlement: course.gradebook-item.exceptions.MODIFY
  • privilege: Course/Organization Gradebook > Gradebook Item > Exceptions > Edit Item Due Date Exception  

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


New course completion setting in Administrator Panel – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Administrators
Related Topic: Course Terms

Administrators can now manage course completion through the Administrator Panel.

This gives administrators more control over course access that previously could only be controlled by instructors.

Image 1. The Complete option in the Availability section of the Course Settings page

Availability section of Edit Course in Administrator Panel. The Complete option is highlighted.

For Administrators: From the Administrator Panel, select Courses in the Courses module. Choose a course, then select Edit. Under Availability, there is now an option to mark that course as complete. The Complete option in the Administrator Panel only applies to Ultra courses. Selecting Yes for an Original Course only disables notifications and may block other updates in the future for that course.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Mobile app

Blackboard mobile app rebranding – 3900.104

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Course View
Original Course View
Impact: All users

To reflect Anthology Inc.’s rebranding efforts, the Blackboard Learn App will now be known simply as the Blackboard App. The change aligns the app with Anthology, Inc.’s rebranding efforts. The Blackboard App has an updated:

  • Splash screen
  • App icon
  • Name
  • App description 

These changes reflect Anthology’s vision, which is grounded in dedication to customer-centered innovation to inspire student success and institutional growth.

Image 1. Rebranded logos and designs for the Blackboard App

Mobile screens displaying rebranded Blackboard App logo and design

For Administrators: This feature is available for all courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Upgrade to Ultra 

Brightspace Conversion: Quiz Pools and Quiz Sections – 3900.104 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from D2L Brightspace 

Quiz pools are now converted to Blackboard. When quiz sections are converted to Blackboard, quiz sections now become separate pages on tests. 

Things to consider about conversion: 

  • Quiz sections can be nested in Brightspace, but we flatten the nesting structure during conversion. All sections are now at the same level, divided with page breaks. 
  • Section titles and section text are dropped during the conversion process. We create a page break between sections and questions remain in their converted section. 
  • The conversion process does not maintain the ordering of questions, sections, and pools. Instructors should review the structure and presentation of converted quizzes. 

For administrators: There are no configurations needed.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


Batch Edit: Usability Improvement – 3900.104 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Batch Edit 

"Change dates to a specific date and/or time" is the most popular option used in Batch Edit to change dates in a batch, so it is now the default option. This change simplifies the process for our users and helps instructors to prepare courses for teaching and learning even faster. 

Image 1. Edit Dates option in Batch Edit

Batch Edit Edit Dates window, with Change to specific date and/or time highlighted

For administrators: There are no configurations needed.

Return to November 2024 – 3900.104.0 Release description


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
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 on Anthology Global Support.

Latest release: 3900.102.0-rel.33+21f9d21 to Production servers to take place on 31 October 2024.

For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Anthology Global Support.


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: 

Instructors and Students: 

All users:


Instructional Design

Usability improvements for Documents – 3900.102 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Create Documents 

We made several usability improvements for Documents. 

  • For uploaded files, we've restored the default of View and Download in the Edit File Options
  • If there isn’t enough space when resizing blocks with keyboard navigation, the option to expand right is hidden.
  • The Redo button now continues to display and function after removing an HTML block. 
  • The cursor function works as expected when dragging a block. 
  • We've restored the Content Collection option in the Insert content + in the Content block. 
  • For institutions that have not enabled support for the Content Designer for Documents, we've restored the option to generate a question bank directly from a Document. 

For administrators: A new configuration option is on the Ultra configuration page in the Administrator Panel: “Enable support for customizing Ultra document layouts.” The default state is on.

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Video Studio:  Enhanced caption support for uploaded files - 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS   
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View   
Impact: Instructors
Related Topic: Video Studio (admin page), Video Studio (instructor page)

Video Studio gives instructors the ability to easily upload or record audio and video within Documents, creating a more engaging learning experience. We have enhanced the capabilities of Video Studio to help create a more accessible learning environment. Now Video Studio auto-generates captions for all file types.

Video Studio is a premium solution. We are offering customers a free trial until June 30, 2025. This will provide access to the full version of Video Studio as a feature flag. Video Studio is set to OFF as a default in test/stage environments. If you want to enable it in your institution’s production environment, you can do that for free until the end of June 2025. Customers will have to purchase Video Studio to continue to use it beyond this date.

For administrators: For configuration and settings, see the Administrator page for Video Studio

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Usability improvement for Knowledge Checks– 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS   
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View   
Impact: Instructors

We modified the default for the Difficulty metric to display as "--" until there is at least one attempt. We also updated the answer instruction text for instructors to align with the instructions given in a test. It now reads "Choose one or more correct answers."

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Mastery Learning and Learner Pathways

Mastery tab in the gradebook – 3900.102 

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View   
Impact: Instructors, Students, Administrators  
Related Topic: Mastery Tab

This feature will be available on September 17, 2024.

The new Mastery tab in the Gradebook allows instructors and students to see how their activities align with institutional goals. Based on the goal performance scale set by your institution, the tab displays the mastery of each alignment

The Mastery tab enables instructors to: 

  • View the level of mastery per alignment for each student. 
  • View how each student is performing against those alignments.
  • Drill down view for individual student mastery performance. 

Image 1. The instructor view of the Mastery tab

Instructor view of the Mastery tab

The Mastery tab enables students to: 

  • Access a visual display of their mastery performance. 
  • View specific skills and competencies that they need to master. This insight helps students understand where they should concentrate their efforts. This leads to more targeted and effective learning. 
  • Access their performance as it relates to each specific criterion. This allows them to identify areas for improvement and work towards mastery. 
  • Focus on key areas where mastery was not achieved. This fosters a growth mindset and a deeper understanding of the course content.

Image 2. Instructor view of a student’s mastery of goals

Instructor view of a student's mastery of goals

The color schema used in the Goal Performance Scale (shown in Image 5) indicates levels of mastery. Instructors can select View Scale to view the Goal Performance Scale from the Mastery tab.. 

Image 3. Instructor view of the Mastery tab with View Scale selected

Instructor view of the Mastery tab with View Scale selected.

Goals tab 

Students can drill down on the Goals tab to individual content items to see how goals align with their mastery progress. 

Image 4. Student view of details of mastery on the Goals tab

Student view of details of mastery on the Goals tab

Configuring the Performance Scale (Administrators)

The performance scale is an institutional configuration. This allows for consistent aggregation across courses. It also creates consistency for students in mastery-based programs.

Administrators can configure the number of levels as well as the labels and colors for each.

Image 5. Goal Performance Scale (Administrator only)

Goal Performance Scale from the Administrator panel

Notes:  

  • Students will always see the Goals tab and instructors will always see the Mastery tab. When there are no goals aligned, the tab will be empty. The Mastery tab will display to other users depending on privileges. If their course role or system role allows them to create or view goal alignment, users will see the tab.  
  • Users can select the student column header on the Mastery tab to sort students by last name. 
  • Instructors can preview what the Goals tab will look like for students. 
  • The calculation method is points-based. To weigh different items, different point values should be assigned. For example, an instructor wants to weigh performance on a rubric criterion ten times greater than a matching question on a test. Therefore, the rubric row should be set to 50 points and the matching question to 5 points. 
  • The calculation method prioritizes more granular alignments. Priority is given to alignments on individual rubric rows or test questions, and other alignments are then ignored. When the alignments are only on the assessment itself, those alignments will apply to all the assessment’s test questions or rubric criteria.

For administrators: The Administrator panel has a new configuration option on the Ultra Experience Management page: Enable support for Mastery Tab in Gradebook. The default state is OFF. Note that if enabled, students will see the Goals tab even when goals are not aligned to content items. In addition, all instructors will see the Mastery tab. The ability to control this feature at the course level will be available in a future release.

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Award Course Badges with Achievements 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS   
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View   
Impact: Instructors, Students 
Related topic: Achievements

Achievements is a new capability for Ultra courses to help keep students motivated and congratulate them for their participation in a course. With Achievements:

  • Instructors can create course badges and set criteria for students to earn the badges.  
  • Instructors can view which students earned a course badge.
  • Students can review the requirements to earn a course badge.
  • Students can view both earned and unearned course badges.
  • Leaders can use achievements in Ultra organizations.

Achievements support learning in many ways:

Supports self-directed learning pathways. Instructors can give learners tasks, goals, or quests with clearly defined criteria. Learners have more flexibility in how they approach their activities; they might choose to focus on a particular area of development before moving on to another. This flexibility can replace a set sequence to personalize learning.

Engages and motivates learners. Some learners respond to extrinsic motivations. They feel accomplishment when they complete tasks.  Teaching methods can use achievements to add game mechanics to a course.

Adds transparency to learning. Course badges that define the skills and competencies in a course can help students:

  • Follow how they’re developing competencies. 
  • Understand and articulate to others what they’re learning. 

With this release, there are two achievement types: course badges and Open Badges

Create course badges

Users with privileges to manage achievements can:

  • Create, publish, and delete course badges.
  • Select a badge image from a badge library.
  • Set performance criteria for one or more assessments in the course. With multiple performance criterion, students must meet all to earn the course badge.
  • Preview how the course badge appears to students.

Image 1. Instructor view of the Achievements tab with saved course badges and the New Course Badge button  

learn ultra achievements add course badge

Image 2. Instructor view of the new course badge screen where you can set the title, description, badge image, and earning requirements

learn ultra achievements badge setup

View recipients of achievements

On the Achievements tab, instructors can view the recipient count for each course badge. Select an achievement to review details about the recipients, including the date and time they earned the course badge. To review the settings for the badge, select Badge Settings.

Image 3. Instructor view of the Recipients tab displays course badge earners

learn ultra achievements recipients

Review achievements as a student

On the Achievements tab, students can review the details of badges and the requirements to earn them. They can also determine which badges they’ve earned, and which remain unearned. When a student earns a badge, the badge displays the date and time the badge was earned.

Image 4. Student view of the Achievements tab with details of earned and unearned course badges

learn ultra achievements student

Notes:

  • When overall grade or a calculated column is a performance criterion, that calculation itself is not enough to earn the achievement. Students must have scores for all gradable items used for the calculation. This requirement prevents a running total issuing a badge before a student completes all tasks.
  • When a gradable item has multiple attempts, it is calculated using one of the following: last attempt, first attempt, highest score, lowest score, or average of all attempts. If you need to change this setting, we recommend doing so before grading submissions. If you change it after grading, calculation updates may not award new achievements to students. If you encounter this issue, you can update student grades again for the item.
  • An earned achievement isn’t revoked if an instructor changes a student’s grades.
  • Custom badge images aren’t supported in this release.
  • Student preview isn’t supported in this release.
  • Once an achievement is published, it can’t be changed. If there is a configuration error, delete the achievement and create it again.
  • Achievements from Original course view do not convert when copying or importing a course.
  • Achievements can’t be copied from one Ultra course to another. We plan to support this in a future release.
  • Blackboard sends out events for changes to calculated columns every 4 hours; therefore, Achievements using a calculated column will have a delay before they are awarded.
  • For calculated columns, if there are contributing gradable items that are ungraded, any Achievements based on that calculated column will not be issued until all grades are posted.

Considerations for early adoption:

  • The Achievements tab appears for all students, even when achievements aren’t used in the course. We plan to improve this in a future release.
  • Student preview isn’t supported in this release.
  • Course copy for achievements isn’t supported in this release.
  • Administrators can restrict who can manage achievements and view recipients of badges. Manage privileges for Achievements in Course Role and System Role configurations.
  • The Achievements management pages found in the Administrator panel main page and the Tools area are only for Original. These don’t apply to Achievements in Ultra. 

For administrators: This feature is opt-in using the administrator toggle Achievements in Ultra. Enable it in the Ultra configuration page of the administration panel.

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Award Open Badges Automatically with Anthology Milestone – 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS   
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View   
Impact: Instructors, Students, Academic leaders

Achievements in Blackboard can be linked to Open Badges in Anthology Milestone. When linked, earned Open Badges are issued automatically to the student’s profile in Blackboard.

Anthology Milestone is a solution for managing institutional micro-credentials and badges. It can issue transferable Open Badges that offer several benefits for education, professional development, and career advancement:

  • Verified and Trustworthy: Transferable Open Badges are digital credentials that are securely checked for authenticity. They prove that the skills and achievements they represent are reliable and recognized by schools and employers.
  • Easy to Share: These badges can be shown on different platforms like LinkedIn, personal websites, digital resumes, and social media. This makes it easy for people to keep a consistent record of their skills and achievements, no matter where they work or study.
  • Supports Lifelong Learning: Transferable Open Badges allow people to collect and show their skills over time, helping them continue learning throughout their lives.
  • Personalized: Individuals can choose and organize their badges to reflect their unique skills, learning experiences, and career goals. They can manage and display their badges with a free Achievement Studio account or transfer them to another system.
  • Clear and Trustworthy: The information included in Open Badges makes it clear what skills were demonstrated and how they were assessed.
  • Works Across Platforms: Open Badges follow open standards, so they can be used and recognized on different systems and platforms.
  • Inclusive: Open Badges can recognize a variety of skills, including those that might not be acknowledged by traditional education, like soft skills, informal learning, and community involvement.

Set up Open Badges with Achievements

An administrator must first set up the Anthology Milestone integration. 

Once enabled, users with privileges to manage achievements in Blackboard can:  

  • Add an Open Badge to a course or organization.
  • Set performance criteria required to earn the badge.

Add an Open Badge

On the Achievements tab, select Use Open Badge. Search for and select an Open Badge from Milestone. Then work with the badge like any other. For more information, see Achievements.

Image 1. Instructor view of the Achievements tab with Milestone integration enabled. The Use Open Badge button appears on the tab

Milestone add open badge

Image 2. Instructor view of the Select an Open Badge screen. It displays a list of Open Badges from Milestone  

learn ultra milestone link open badge

Set performance criteria and preview the badge

After you select an open badge, you can set performance criteria for one or more assessments in the course. With multiple performance criterion, students must meet all to earn the Open Badge.

In the Summary section, you can preview how the Open Badge will appear to students in Blackboard.    

Image 3. Instructor view of Earning Requirements where you can set the performance criteria required to earn the Open Badge and preview the how the badge appears for students

learn ultra milestone set earning criteria

 Students earning Open Badges

When students earn an Open Badge, they receive an email at the address associated with their Blackboard profile. Students can manage their earned Open Badges using an Achievement Studio account. To manage their Open Badge, the Achievement Studio account profile should include the same email address.

From Achievement Studio, students can:

  • View an Open Badge
  • Add it to a collection
  • Download it
  • Get a sharing link

For more information about student tasks in Achievement Studio, see Badges Overview.

Image 4. Student view of an Open Badge in Achievement Studio

learn ultra milestone student views badge

Enable Anthology Milestone

If you license Anthology Milestone, you can integrate it into the Achievements tool in Blackboard. When using Ultra courses in Blackboard, instructors and course builders can link performance criteria to Open Badges in Milestone. 

Currently, there are not distinct production and test/stage instances of Milestone. Therefore, we recommend only integrating Milestone with your production instance of Blackboard. This is to avoid accidentally issuing authentic Open Badges from a testing environment. 

To set up the integration, contact Product Support for Milestone. In the request, provide the following: 

  • State your request to integrate Milestone with Blackboard. 
  • Provide the tenant ID of your production Blackboard instance. 
    • Access the Administrator Panel
    • Navigate to Building Blocks and click the link to list Installed Building Blocks
    • In the context menu for Foundations Connector, select Settings
    • The Tenant ID is second in the list.

 Notes:

  • Administrators must set up the integration with Milestone.
  • Open Badges can be used in Ultra courses and organizations.
  • Users without an email address won’t be able to use the Open Badge picker. Students must have an email address in their Blackboard profile to receive Open Badges they earn.
  • Any user with privileges to manage achievements can link to Open Badges. We plan to limit this access in a future release.  
  • An earned achievement isn’t revoked if an instructor changes a student’s grades.
  • Deleting an achievement that’s linked to an Open Badge doesn’t delete that badge in Milestone.
  • Student preview isn’t supported for earning Open Badges.

For administrators: This feature requires licensing Anthology Milestone. The integration is configured as an LTI tool. A new LTI placement type adds appropriate Open Badge tools into the Achievements tool. This placement type should not be used for other LTI tools. 
You can manage the Achievements privileges in Course Role and System Role configurations. In this release, there aren’t separate privileges for users who can set up Open Badges versus course badges using Achievements. You may want to consider a limited rollout of Achievements until we address this with separate privileges in an upcoming release.  

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Tests & Assignments

Generate question banks - 3900.102 

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Question Banks 

Creating questions is time consuming. Instructors now have the option to generate questions in a question bank. Generating question banks from course materials provides inspiration and saves time. 

To generate a question bank, select the Auto-generate option from the + on the Question Banks page. 

Image 1. Auto-generate a question bank

Question bank main screen with the dropdown selected and Auto-generated appearing

From the menu, instructors can select content items. These content items provide context for the questions. Instructors can further refine the questions they ask by entering a description of the learning objectives or topic. 

Image 2. The context picker for creating new questions

The context picker, with several different categories of course items. Two of the types of course item are checked are others are left unchecked.

Instructors can select the type of question to generate, such as multiple choice or fill in the blank. The complexity of the questions can also be adjusted. Instructors choose which questions to include in the question bank. 

Image 3. The Auto-Generate Question Bank page

Question bank generation page, showing options on the left and questions on the right

For administrators: The option to generate questions only appears for instructors when the tool is on. Select Building Blocks from the Administrator Panel, then select Installed Tools. Locate "AI Design Assistant and Unsplash" and select Settings from the dropdown. The default state is off. You must also activate privileges. Assign the “Use AI Design Assistant” privilege for the appropriate Course Roles (for example, Instructor).

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Enhancements to student submission review page – 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS
 Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Students, Instructors

The student submission review page makes it easier for students to access instructor feedback on their submissions.

We made several enhancements to this page:

  • When an instructor selects student preview, they can now access the student submission review page.
  • Students can now access offline submissions from this page.
  • Students now have a Read more option for overall and attempt feedback.

We also made general usability improvements, including additional labels and other indicators, to help students easily find the information they need. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Communication & Collaboration 

Email notifications for followed discussions – 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: All users  
Related Topic: Discussions 

To encourage participation in discussions, we expanded notifications to include email. Emails are sent when users opt for Email me right away notifications. 

Key Enhancements:  

User Notification Settings: New notification options allow users to manage their emails for discussions they follow. To help with consistency, these settings align with the user's settings for their activity stream. 

  • Activity on my responses 
  • Activity on responses I have replied to 
  • Responses from instructors 
  • Responses for followed discussions 
  • Replies for followed discussions 

Administrator Settings: New administrator controls allow institutions to set defaults for user notification settings. These are enabled by default: 

  • Discussion activity on the current user’s responses 
  • Discussion activity on responses the current user has replied to 
  • Discussion responses from instructors 
  • Discussion responses and replies for followed 

Image 1. The notification settings available for the Email me right away option

Notification settings for emails

Image 2. An example of an email for discussion activity

Example email notification of discussion activity

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. However, administrators can change these notification settings to default off, always off, or always on if desired.

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Quickly access items that need grade reconciliation – 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors

With parallel grading, multiple people can share grading responsibilities for a course. For example, an instructor can divide up the grading tasks among teaching assistants and other graders. The designated reconciler reviews all grades and feedback to determine the final grade.  

A Needs reconciling section now appears on the gradebook Overview tab. In this section, reconcilers can easily access all items ready for reconciliation.  

Image 1. The reconciler's view of the Needs reconciling section on the gradebook Overview tab

new Needs Reconciling section on the Overview tab

This section is hidden when the grader has no items for reconciliation.

Graders can select Reconcile now to open the Submissions tab for the item. They can review grades and feedback from others before determining the final grade.

The Gradebook tab displays an exclamation point when there are items to reconcile or post.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Show unavailable students in the gradebook – 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors

Instructors may have students in their courses whose access to Blackboard is temporarily restricted. For example, if a student has a payment pending, an administrator can set the student’s user account as unavailable until the hold is lifted.

In direct response to user feedback, we’ve made changes to how unavailable students appear in the gradebook. Now unavailable students appear in the gradebook for their enrolled courses, but their avatar has a strikethrough to indicate the unavailable status.

Image 1. Instructor view of the gradebook showing an unavailable student

Unavailable student has avatar stricken through on Submissions tab

To completely hide unavailable students from their gradebooks, instructors can use the Students Visibility setting introduced in the last release.

When the hide unenrolled students from the gradebook option is turned on, unavailable and unenrolled students are hidden from these gradebook areas:  

  • Grades page
  • Students page
  • Calculation student list
  • Gradable items student list
  • Submission tab for an assessment
  • Group Submissions tab for an assessment
  • Student Activity tab for an assessment

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 
 

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Flexible Grading

Flexible Grading performance improvements – 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS
 Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Students, Instructors

We made several adjustments to improve the performance of Flexible Grading. Users will experience faster loading when:

  • Scrolling in the Student list (instructors)
  • Posting all grades (instructors)
  • Viewing the rubric (instructors and students)

For larger classes with more than 2000 enrollments, the Flexible Grading page loads 25% faster! 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


Mobile

Email notifications for followed discussions – 3900.102

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: All users

Instructors and students sometimes need to pay special attention to one or more discussions or threads in a course. Users can now easily follow specific discussions to receive email updates on new contributions. Institutions can set notification defaults for discussion activity and responses for followed discussions. This feature makes it easier for users to monitor and engage with class discussions from the Blackboard Mobile App.

For Administrators: You can configure this feature in the Administrator Panel by selecting Notification settings and enabling/disabling your institution’s preferences.

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


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.

Return to October 2024 – 3900.102.0 Release description


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.38+07d2c83 to Production servers to take place on 26 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: 

Instructors and Students: 

Students: 

Administrators: 

Instructors and Administrators:

All users:


Instructional Design 

Content Designer: Knowledge Check in Documents – 3900.100

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Students
Related Topic: Create Documents 

The Content Designer for Documents now includes a Knowledge Check block. The Knowledge Check enhances the learning experience. Knowledge checks allow students to engage with content and receive immediate feedback. Instructors are also empowered with valuable insights to tailor their teaching strategies. 

Key Features:

  • Question Types: Multiple choice and multiple answer questions 
  • Feedback: Pre-populated correct and incorrect answer feedback, which instructors can edit 
  • Student Interaction: Students can select an answer and submit it. They receive immediate feedback on whether their answer is correct or incorrect. Knowledge checks allow unlimited attempts. 
  • Metrics: Instructors can access detailed metrics including: 
    • Number of students participating 
    • Total number of attempts 
    • Average number of attempts to reach the correct answer 
    • Maximum number of attempts to reach the correct answer 
    • Level of difficulty metric 
    • Percentage of students selecting each answer option 

Image 1. Instructor view - Knowledge Check creation

Knowledge check creation page

After saving the Knowledge Check, instructors may resize and move it as desired within the document. 

Image 2. Animation of student experience interacting with Knowledge Check

Image 3. Instructor view of Knowledge Check metrics

Knowledge check metrics

Grading for Knowledge Checks isn't supported at this time. There are also no notifications specific to Knowledge Checks. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. You must enable the option on the Ultra Experience Management page in the Administrator Panel. It's called "Enable support for customizing Ultra document layouts." This setting is on by default. You can toggle this option on or off. If you turn off this option, it may affect content created with or changed by enhanced options. Note that this option will be available until December 2024. At that time, we will remove the option. Enhanced Documents will be the default.

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


Content Designer: Video Studio in Documents – 3900.100 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students, Administrators 
Related Topic: Video Studio (admin page), Video Studio (instructor page)

Video Studio is a premium solution. We are offering customers a free trial until June 30, 2025. This will provide access to the full version of Video Studio as a feature flag. Video Studio is set to OFF as a default in test/stage environments. If you want to enable it in your institution’s production environment, you can do that for free until the end of June 2025. Customers will have to purchase Video Studio to continue to use it beyond this date.

Instructors have recording capabilities in Announcements and Feedback features. Now they have the ability to upload or record audio and video within Documents. The lightweight, deeply integrated Video Studio solution promotes a more engaging learning experience.

When creating a Document, a new block option is available to create audio and video files from a camera, audio recording, or from screen recordings. Additionally, it is possible to upload audio and video files.

Image 1. New Audio/Video block in a Document 

Adding a content block in enhanced Document

Image 2. Recording and uploading options available in Audio/Video block for a Document

Options for recording a content block in an enhanced Document

When a user starts recording, there is a 3 second countdown before the recording begins. Users can pause, resume, retake, or end the recording as needed.

Image 3. Start recording process

Instructor getting ready to record a video

After a user ends the recording, the uploading process begins. During this time, the user can preview the result and edit the title. Users can select Save to add the audio or video into a Document. After saving the video, auto captioning for videos is available.

Image 4. Add video details, preview, and save options 

Uploading an enhanced document video with options to edit title and description

Image 5. Automatic captioning for videos is available

Instructor displayed on recording in an enhanced Document

For administrators: These new video capabilities require a license for Video Studio. Also, the "Enable support for customizing Ultra document layouts." setting on the Ultra Experience Management page in the Administrator Panel must be on. The videos created using Video Studio will not count towards your existing storage entitlement. The following existing privileges are used for the Video Studio solution:

  • Course/Organization (Content Areas) > Create Materials: To create videos. Includes all operations like save, finish, check Video upload Status. Not needed for playback.
  • Course/Organization (Content Areas) > Delete Materials: To delete videos. 

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


Course Content Page Enhancements– 3900.100

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: All users 

User experience (UX) plays a vital role in student engagement and learning. We're committed to continuous improvement of the Blackboard Ultra course view. It's important to us that we meet the needs of our users—both educators and students. We're excited to deliver several changes to improve the Course Content page. Client feedback is at the center of the changes we’ve made. 

The improvements include: 

  • Greater visual depth 
  • Improved page structure 
  • Differentiation among course elements 
  • An enhanced presentation of top-level and nested content

Greater Visual Depth and Content Page Structure 

Creating a more appealing and engaging interface has been a key theme in client feedback. To support this, we've created greater visual depth to the Course Content page. This provides a more enjoyable and inviting experience for end users. 

The new design incorporates: 

  • Subtle gradients and softer edges 
  • A more cohesive color palette with inviting, warmer tones 
  • More intuitive navigation, which reduces cognitive load and increases focus on the content 

Image 1. Instructor view: Course Content page visual depth improvements

Instructor view of the Course Content page

Image 2. Student view: Course Content page visual depth improvements

Student view of the Course Content page

Content presentation enhancements 

We've improved the differentiation among learning modules, folders, and content items. Currently, users sometimes find it challenging to distinguish among these elements. This can lead to confusion and inefficiency in navigating course materials. 

Image 3. Instructor view: Content item presentation for a Learning Module

Instructor view of a learning module

Image 4. Instructor view: Content item presentation for a Folder

Instructor view of a folder

Image 5. Student view: Content item presentation for a Learning Module

Student view of a learning module

Image 6. Student view: Content item presentation for a Folder

Student view of a folder

These improvements create a more organized and improved user experience. 

To learn more about the visual style changes and to access supporting resources, visit the community blog post here

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


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

AI conversation setup page, demonstrating how to set up the question, persona, and complexity

Image 2. Instructor previewing the AI Conversation before making it visible to students

Instructor preview of what an AI conversation will look like to students

Image 3. A Student participating in the AI Conversation

Preview of student display of an AI conversation

Image 4. Instructor view of a submitted AI Conversation and reflection question

Grading page for an AI conversation

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.

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


Tests & Assignments

Review instructor feedback on the student submission review page - 3900.100

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Students 

Assessment feedback gives students insights into their strengths and weaknesses. It also helps them refine their skills and knowledge.    

We are introducing a new student-facing submission review page for assignments. The new page makes all instructor feedback on a submission more accessible. We are planning to add this same feature for tests in a future release.   

Students can access the new assignment submission review page from these locations:   

  • The gradebook feedback button for the assignment.  
  • The small panel that displays when students access an assignment from the Course Content page.

If a student submits multiple attempts, they can review each on the submission review page. By default, the student sees the appropriate graded attempt. The instructor defines which attempt to grade in the assignment's final grade calculation setting.  

The new assignment submission review page displays the following information and feedback formats:

  • Assessment content
  • Student submission with inline feedback
  • Submission timestamp
  • Submission receipt  
  • Final grade and calculation model
  • Attempt grade and feedback
  • Override grade and feedback (if applicable)
  • Optimized display of rubrics information and criterion feedback  

Image 1. The feedback button lets students access the new assignment review page from their gradebook

New assignment review page

Image 2. Students can access the new assignment submission review page by selecting the "3 submitted" link and the "Your Grade" label on the assignment’s settings panel

Your Grade label on the assignment's settings panel

Image 3: Student view of the assignment submission review page, displaying the inline feedback, attempt feedback, and rubric information 

Student view of the assignment submission review page

Image 4: Student view of the assignment submission review page; in this example, the instructor has overridden the final grade and provided override feedback; the inline feedback and rubric information are also visible

Assignment submission review page, displaying a grade override

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


Access assignment feedback hidden by release conditions - 3900.100

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Students 

Students must access feedback on past submissions. Feedback review is vital for their academic growth. Now students can access all feedback on their submission, even if the assignment is hidden by a release condition. We are planning to ensure that students have access to all feedback on tests, discussions and journals in future releases.

Image 1. Instructor view of release conditions settings with a date/time release condition combined with the Hide state

 Instructor view of release conditions settings with a date/time release condition combined with the Hide state

Image 2. Student gradebook view of an assignment hidden by a release condition; the ‘Content isn't available’ label indicates the student can’t make further submissions

Student gradebook view of an assignment hidden by a release condition; the ‘Content isn't available’ label indicates the student can’t make further submissions

Image 3: Student view of the assignment submission review page for the hidden assignment; all instructor feedback is displayed

Student view of the assignment submission review page for the hidden assignment; all instructor feedback is displayed 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


Flexible grading

Exclude attempt when grading – 3900.100

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students

Allowing students to submit multiple attempts for an assessment can help them stay on track. It can improve the quality of the assessment and boost student success.  

However, there are some circumstances where an attempt doesn’t need to be graded. For example, the student may have submitted the wrong file, or their submission may be incomplete or an outlier.  

We added a new option to help instructors remove submissions from the grading workflow without having to delete them. When grading a student, you can now select Exclude Attempt to remove it from the Needs Grading workflow.  

If an attempt is excluded, the Excluded label appears above the attempt grade and in the attempt selector. If you need to remove the attempt exclusion, select  from the menu.  

Grade calculations ignore excluded attempts. Students aren’t automatically granted an additional attempt if an attempt is excluded. You can grant additional attempts to the student via the exception's workflow.  

You can exclude any submitted attempt by a student. If you exclude an attempt when the student has no remaining attempts, you receive a warning that their final grade can’t be calculated.  

When students review their submissions, a banner notification appears on excluded attempts.

Image 1. Instructor view of the Exclude attempt menu option

Instructor view of the Exclude attempt menu option 

Image 2. Instructor view of the Exclude label above the grade and in the attempt selector

Instructor view of the Exclude label above the grade and in the attempt selector

Image 3. Warning that a student has no remaining attempts and the final grade can't be calculated

Warning that appears if a student has no remaining attempts

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


View items that need grading and posting in the new Overview tab   – 3900.100

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors

To help instructors stay on top of their grading workload, we added an indicator to the Gradebook tab to let you know when there are new submissions to grade. The indicator displays the number that needs grading. If the count goes higher than 99, it displays as 99+.  

We also added a new gradebook Overview tab to improve task orientation and grading efficiency.  This tab contains two sections: Needs Grading and Needs Posting.

Needs Grading section  

If you face a substantial grading workload, the Needs Grading section is a useful tool for prioritizing your tasks. It allows you to see all items ready for grading and a count of the total number of outstanding grading tasks in your course.  

This section displays up to five items at a time, ordered by the oldest ungraded submission. For an item, select Grade now to quickly access the submissions you need to grade. If your course has more than five items that need grading, you can use the buttons at the bottom of section to navigate through all pending tasks.  

Needs Posting section  

The Needs Posting section increases accessibility of assessments with grades that need posting. For an item, select Post now to its grade If there are more than five items that need posting, you can use the buttons at the bottom of section to navigate through the pending tasks.  
 
Image 1. Instructor view of the new Needs Grading count on the Gradebook tab and the Needs Grading section on the new Overview page  

Instructor view of the Needs Grading count on the Gradebook tab and the Needs Grading section on the Overview page 

Image 2. Instructor view of the new gradebook Overview page where the Needs Grading and Needs posting sections appear

Instructor view of the new gradebook Overview page where the Needs Grading and Needs posting sections appear 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


View late submissions that need grading – 3900.100

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors

When enabled, the Automatic Zeros gradebook setting gives a zero score to students who haven’t made a submission by the due date.  

To help instructors to find and grade late assessment submissions, they are now indicated as Needs Grading on the Grades and Gradable Items gradebook pages.  


Image 1. Instructor view of the updated Gradable Items page; the status the assignment now displays 1 to grade for a late submission that needs grading

 Instructor view of the updated Gradable Items page. The status the assignment displays 1 to grade

Image 2. Instructor view of the updated Grades page; the column status displays 0 Graded | 0 Posted and a New Submission label indicating the late submission that needs grading

 Instructor view of the updated Grades page. The column status displays 0 Graded | 0 Posted and a New Submission label indicating the late submission that needs grading

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


Learner Progression & Personalized Experience 

Student Activity Log – 3900.100 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Student Activity Log

Instructors often need to review student activity. Student activity helps inform decisions in academic disputes and aids in troubleshooting. You can also analyze the course participation of students at risk. 

Instructors can use student participation to support financial aid decisions. For example, requests for tuition fee reimbursements if a student hasn't participated in a course. Course participation records can also help with awarding scholarships. 

Now the Student Overview page has a student activity log. Instructors and other higher roles can use the report to check what a particular student did in a course. 

Image 1. Student activity log report located in the student overview page

Student activity log, showing all student activities. There's a download option at the top right.

The Activity log can be filtered by event type and can look to the past 140 days. Any information older than that won’t be stored in this report. The log can take up to 20 minutes to update from the last time a student performs an action. 

The following events can be found in the report: 

  • Course Access 
  • Assessment Started 
  • Assessment Draft saved 
  • Assessment Submitted 
  • Assessment Auto-submitted 
  • Discussion Access 
  • Discussion Draft saved 
  • Discussion Edit 
  • Discussion Reply 
  • Discussion Response 
  • Document Access 
  • Journal Access 
  • LTI Item Access 
  • SCORM item Access 

For administrators: A new privilege is available to control role-based access to the student activity log report. Go to Manage Privileges, choose the role you want to add the privilege to, and then select "Course/Organization > Student/Participant > Activity Log."

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


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

Math editor containing equations

Image 2. After the improvement 

Math editor containing equations after Wiris upgrade

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra and Original courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


Group Attempts Grading Management via Public REST API – 3900.100

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View
Impact: Administrators 
Related Topic: Blackboard APIs

Group assignments are a crucial component of collaborative learning in Blackboard. Group assignments enable students to work together on projects and submit their collective efforts for evaluation. Effective management and grading of these group submissions are vital for accurately assessing group performance and providing meaningful feedback. Previously, we introduced CRUD operations for managing group assignment attempts. Now we have provided enhanced capability of the Group attempts endpoints to include comprehensive grading functionalities.

  • Score. The numeric grade assigned to a group’s submission.
  • Notes. Additional notes that an instructor can include regarding the group’s performance or submission details.
  • Feedback. Detailed feedback provided to the group, helping students understand their performance and areas for improvement.

This update ensures that instructors can efficiently grade group submissions directly through the public API, enhancing the overall workflow for managing group assessments in Blackboard.

For administrators: The required privileges for Group attempts endpoints can be validated for each endpoint in the API documentation.

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


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. 

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


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 

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.

Return to September 2024 – 3900.100.0 Release description


Learn SaaS release 3900.98.0

Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.98.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 16 July 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 8 August 2024
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View

For full feature details, please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.98.0 version included below on this page. Details can be found Behind the Blackboard

Latest release: 3900.98.0-rel.37+68cbd0f to Production servers to take place on 22 August 2024.

For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.


August 2024 – 3900.98 Release

The August 2024 - 3900.98 release is robust with features in 8 areas: 

  • Instructional design; 
  • Mastery learning & learning pathways;
  • Tests and assignments; 
  • Communication and collaboration; 
  • Flexible grading; 
  • Gradebook; 
  • Learn core and security; 
  • Integrations; and 
  • Upgrade to Ultra 

These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action. 

Instructors: 

Instructors and Students: 

Instructors and Administrators: 

Administrators

All users: 


Instructional Design

Content Designer: Enhanced Documents – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Create Documents

Content design is key to creating an engaging course that supports learner needs. The Document feature is a useful option for creating and presenting a variety of visual elements. We have made significant enhancements to Documents to provide new and robust options for content design. Instructors will be delighted that all enhancements work beautifully using a mouse, trackpad, or the keyboard. All enhancements are mobile friendly for instructors and students. 

We've removed the option to generate questions from Documents. Generating questions from within a test using the context picker in the AI Design Assistant is the preferred method.

Image 1. Enhanced Document with diverse content laid out in rows and columns

Full view of an enhanced Document with blocks filled with text and images

Image 2.  Empty Document with block options 

Block options for a Document

Instructors can now design Documents by selecting from a variety of block types. 

  • Content block 
    Add content via the content editor. 
  • HTML block 
    Add content via HTML or CSS in the Document. 

An administrator must configure an alternate domain for the HTML block to appear. Learn more about setting up an alternate domain. 

  • File upload block 
    Browse for files on the local machine to upload to the Document. 
    Note: Administrators can define the maximum size of a file that users can upload. 
  • Cloud upload block 
    Login to a cloud service and select a file to add into the Document. 
  • Content Collection block 
    Browse the Content Collection and select a file to add to the Document. 
  • Convert a file block 
    Browse for files on the local machine. Once selected, the system converts the file into the Document format. Supported file types include PDF, PowerPoint (ppt, pptx, pps), and Word (doc, docx, odt). 

In this release, the option to convert a file is only available in the main authoring space. In the Add Content panel (the + menu), the option to convert a file doesn’t appear. We'll correct this in an upcoming release. 

Instructors can also open the left panel by selecting the + and choosing the desired block. 

Image 3. Empty Document with the blocks panel opened

A document with the new block option expanded

Document menu bar

To provide greater efficiency when designing content, we added a menu bar to Documents. The menu bar remains in view as the instructor scrolls the Document to view, add, or edit content. The menu bar contains the Edit option when in the view state. After selecting Edit, the menu bar displays the following options: 

  • Edit 
  • Add Blocks 
  • Undo/Redo 
  • Cancel 
  • Save 

Image 4. Add blocks from the left panel or select the purple + to add a block as a row

A document with the + icon to add a new block displayed

Resizing and moving blocks 

Instructors can create appealing layouts by resizing and dragging/dropping blocks into columns and rows. 

  • Each row includes a menu with options to move or delete the block. 
  • Each block includes a menu with options to edit, move, or resize, or delete the block. 

Image 5. Move, expand, and shrink options via keyboard controls

Movement options expanded in a document

New LTI placements via the Content Market option in the content editor aren't yet supported in enhanced Documents. Pre-existing placements continue to function as expected. We are working to add this feature. We will update you soon.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. A new configuration option is on the Ultra configuration page in the Administrator Panel: “Enable support for customizing Ultra document layouts.” The default state is on. This option will be available until December 2024. At that time, we will remove the configuration option and enhanced Documents will be default. 
The 3900.98 release will begin updating on production sites on Thursday, Aug. 8 in the US morning as usual. The Content Designer: Documents option will not appear as configuration setting for administrators in the Administrator Panel and enhanced Documents will not be available in courses. We will enable the Content Designer: Documents feature on Monday, Aug. 12 at 9 am ET. At this time, the administrator setting will display in the configuration options and will be ON by default, but administrators can toggle it off.

This option can be toggled on or off. Be mindful of potential impacts to content created with or modified by enhanced options if you turn this option off.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Image Generation Improvements – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related topic: Add Files, Images, Audio, and Video

Images enhance comprehension and engagement with course content. To help, we introduced the ability for instructors to generate images using the AI Design Assistant. 

We are updating the technology in the image generation process from DALL-E 2 to DALL-E 3. This update allows instructors to generate higher quality, higher resolution images in the following workflows: 

  • Learning Module images 
  • Document images 
  • Announcement images 
  • Assessment question images 
  • Journal prompts images 

Image 1: Generated image using DALL-E 3 in a Document

AI generated image of a space shuttle taking off

For administrators: The "Generate images" options only appear for instructors when each tool is on. Select Building Blocks from the Administrator Panel, then select Installed Tools. Locate "AI Design Assistant and Unsplash" and select Settings from the dropdown. The default state is off. You must also activate privileges. Assign the Use AI Design Assistant privilege for the appropriate Course Roles (for example, Instructor).

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Mastery Learning & Learning Pathways

Multiple rules for release conditions – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Administrators
Related Topic: Content Release Conditions

Instructors need to release course content based on performance criteria to sequence students on learning paths correctly. Sometimes they also need to release content to different groups using different criteria. For example, graduate students may be required to perform additional activities or perform at a higher level than other students. To support this needed flexibility, instructors can now create multiple rules for release conditions. 

You can create rules for release conditions based on these criteria: date, time, and grade range performance criteria. You can also create rules for specific individual learners, groups, or for all members.

Image 1. Release Conditions page

The release conditions page, with Add new rule and Add performance criteria options called out

 

This release also improves copying content from Original courses. Rules and criteria now copy from Original adaptive release settings. The supported criterion types are date, time, grade range, and memberships (individual or groups). Only supported criteria types are copied from Original to Ultra courses. These criteria types are removed automatically during a copy:

  • Attempt for a gradable item (student submitted the assignment or test)
  • Student marked an item reviewed

As before, we recommend reviewing settings after copying content from Original courses.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. For Test/Stage environments, availability will be on July 24.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Tests & Assignments

Improvements to creating assignments – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students 
Related Topic: Create and Edit Assignments

Instructors need robust, easy to use tools when creating their assessments. 

To create a better experience, the new Assignment page includes these improvements: 

  • A new Instructions box where instructors can use the full content editor to craft assignment instructions.
  • There are no options to add questions to an assignment. 
  • The Settings panel now includes only options relevant to assignments. 
  • Blank attempts are no longer created when students view assignment instructions. The system only creates an attempt when students add content to the file drop zone / content editor. Note: Group or timed and proctored assignments continue to create attempts when students view the instructions.

Assignments created before this release will continue to create blank attempts when students view the instructions. We'll address this issue in a future release. 

The New Test page remains unchanged. Instructors can access all the same question types and settings options. Attempts are still automatically created when students view the test questions. 

Image 1. Instructor view of the New Assignment page with the new Instructions box

The New Assignment page

Image 2. Instructor view of adding instructions to an assignment

Add Instructions content box on the New Assignment page

Image 3. Students view of the new Assignment Information panel and the View Instructions option

Student view of assignment panel with instructions

Image 4. Student view of the assignment instructions

Student view of instructions in an assignment

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Anonymous student responses for Forms – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students 
Related Topic: Forms

Anonymous responses in forms encourage honest and candid feedback from students and help participants feel safe and secure knowing their identities are protected. Anonymity leads to more genuine responses that convey the respondents' true opinions and experiences. Additionally, it increases participation rates and the overall quality of the results. 

Instructors can now collect anonymous submissions in Forms. The new Anonymous submissions option appears in the Grading & Submissions section of Form Settings

Image 1. Anonymous submissions option

Forms panel, with the Anonymous submissions option selected

When you select Anonymous submissions, these settings are enabled by default: 

  • Due date
  • Prohibit late submissions 
  • Prohibit new attempts after due date 
  • Complete/incomplete is selected as the grading schema for non-graded forms 
  • When grading, the submission earns the points assigned; you can’t edit or override the points earned

Additional important details to note: 

  • Anonymous forms cannot be administered to groups. 
  • Class conversations are not supported when Anonymous submissions is selected. 
  • To ensure anonymity, student activity, exceptions, exemptions and accommodations are not supported. 
  • To ensure anonymity, student progress/statistics are not captured. 
  • Modifications to form questions and settings are not permitted if the form has submissions and the due date has passed. 

From the Submissions tab for a form, you can view an anonymized list of students participants along with this information and options: 

  • Student submission status
  • Grading status and grade – At submission, the grading status is set to Complete and the grade is marked (for example., 5/5) 
  • Post -- Graded forms post automatically 
  • Download all – You can download all form submissions

To view responses, select an anonymous student from the list. You can enter overall feedback for their submission. 

From the Gradebook, before the due date for an anonymous form, "Anonymous" appears in the cell for each student. After the due date, the cells display: 

  • For ungraded forms, the text "Submitted" or "Not submitted" 
  • For graded forms, the grade 

From the Grades tab, you can select Download Gradebook to download responses to forms with anonymous submissions.

When converting Original courses containing surveys to Ultra courses, surveys convert to anonymous forms by default. 

We've taken care to ensure students know when their submission to a form is anonymous. The Anonymous icon and label appears on: 

  • the Content Page 
  • the Form panel where they start the attempt and view their submission 
  • the Details & Information section that appears while responding to the form 

Image 2. Student view – Anonymous label and icon for a form

Student view of an anonymous form

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Communication & Collaboration

Ability to ‘Follow’ Discussions for Enhanced Engagement – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: All users 
Related Topic: Discussions

Discussions are an important part of the course experience, allowing for easy collaboration between all course members. The ability to engage and re-engage with discussions ensures that collaboration is active and lively. Users can re-engage when they know there are new posts by following the discussion. 

Key Enhancements: 

  • Follow Discussions: Users can follow select discussions and receive notifications for new contributions from peers or instructors. 
  • User Notification Settings: New notification options for the Activity Stream settings allow users to manage notification types for discussions: 
    • Activity on my responses 
    • Activity on responses I have replied to 
    • Responses from instructors 
    • Responses for followed discussions 
    • Replies for followed discussions 
  • Administrator Settings: New administrator controls allow institutions to set defaults for the above user settings: 
    • Discussion activity on the current user’s responses 
    • Discussion activity on responses the current user has replied to 
    • Discussion responses from instructors 
    • Discussion responses and replies for followed

The default settings for these options are all “on.” 

Image 1. New ‘Follow’ option inside a discussion

Discussion displaying that it is being followed

Image 2. New user notification options for the Activity Stream

Activity stream notification settings panel

Image 3. Notifications being delivered to the Activity Stream

Activity stream with a discussion notification

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. Administrators can manage notification settings in the Administrator Panel.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Send a message to a group from Group Spaces – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: All users 
Related Topic: Group Spaces

Communication and collaboration between group members is important. For this reason, we've expanded opportunities for group members to communicate. 

Users can now send a group message from the members page of a group space. This encourages collaboration on content that they have been assigned. 

Image 1. The group spaces page with the ability to message a group.

Message option within a Group Space

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Flexible Grading

Improved navigation between students in Flexible Grading – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related Topic: Grade Tests with Flexible Grading

To make the grading experience more efficient, we added Next Student and Previous Student buttons to the Students tab in Flexible Grading. Instructors can now quickly navigate between students when grading assessments. 

Image 1. Instructor view of grading an assignment by student with the new Next Student and Previous Student buttons

Flexible grading page, showing Next and Previous student arrows to the left and right of a submission

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Gradebook

Hide unenrolled students from the gradebook – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Ultra Gradebook and Course Settings

Students can change their course schedules at the beginning of a term or semester. Institution policy determines what happens when students change classes. At some institutions, when a student drops a class their enrollment (membership) record is set to unavailable. They display in the gradebook with a strikethrough on their avatar. The instructor's gradebook can become cluttered with students who aren’t actively enrolled in the class.

Using the new Students Visibility setting, instructors now have the option to hide or show unenrolled students. 

The default option is to show these students. 

You can access the Students Visibility setting from two locations: 

  • Course settings
  • Gradebook settings 

If you change the Students Visibility from Course settings, it will also change in Gradebook settings, and vice versa. Also, the selected visibility setting applies to all users teaching the course. 

The Students Visibility setting affects these gradebook areas: 

  • Grades page 
  • Students page 
  • Calculation student list 
  • Gradable items student list 
  • Submission tab for an assessment 
  • Student Activity tab for an assessment 

Image 1. Instructor view of the Gradebook settings panel showing the new Student Visibility option set to display students who no longer have access to the course

Gradebook settings panel, with the Students Visibility toggle in the center

Image 2. Instructor view of the Gradebook settings panel showing the new Student Visibility option set to hide students who no longer have access to the course

Gradebook settings panel, with the Students Visibility toggle selected

Image 3. Instructor view of the Course settings area showing the new Student Visibility option

Students Visibility option in Course Settings

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Users and enrollment records set to the "disabled" state will continue to be hidden in all cases. A best practice for data integrations is to use the "disabled" record state when instructors no longer have any responsibility to manage those records or should not change data associated with those students. The "unavailable" record state still allows data access and grading activities—it’s most suitable when a student shouldn’t access the course any longer, but instructors are still responsible for reporting data for the student.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Status information removed from the gradebook download file – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Work Offline with Grade Data

Instructors can download the full gradebook or selected columns to work with the information offline.
 
We've removed from the download file the status information associated with grades. Removing this information makes it easier to perform statistical analysis or calculations.
 
We also ensured that instructors can download the gradebook for completed courses.
 
Example table
ExampleBefore the changeAfter the change
A student submitted an attempt that was graded but not postedReady to Post (75)75
A student submitted an attempt that was graded and has started a second attemptIn Progress (75)75
A student submitted an attempt that needs gradingNeeds GradingNeeds Grading

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Learn Core & Security

Assessment IP Address Filtering – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Administrators, Instructors, Students
Related topic: Assessment IP Address Filtering, Assessment Settings (Instructor)

Assessments are sometimes administered in proctored environments to ensure academic integrity. Instructors can now restrict an assessment by location in Ultra Course View. This restriction prevents students from taking tests outside of proctored locations or taking tests on another’s behalf.

To restrict by location, select Test Settings, then Assessment Security. Finally, select your Location restriction. No restriction is the default value.

Image 1. Location restriction configuration for a test

Assessment security screen with location restriction option highlighted

Students are informed if a test is restricted by location before starting it. They're also informed if they are not meeting the IP address rules when starting an attempt and during the test.  

Image 2. Student being informed that a test is restricted by location

Test panel indicating to student that test is location restricted

Image 3. Student being informed when not meeting IP filtering rules

Location restriction pop up informing student that they are not in the correct location to take test.

For administrators: The configuration for IP filtering rules in Administrator Tool Panel > Course Settings > Grading Security Settings. For the range, enter as many filters as necessary to correctly capture the part of the network used in the testing environment. We will support multiple profile configurations in a future release.

Image 4. Configuration of IP filter rules from Administrator Tool Panel 

Grading security settings with IP filters on Administrator Panel

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Integrations

Math formula enhancement– 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: All users 
Related Topic: Math Editor 

We reduced the response time in the text editor when creating a formula. With enhanced data retrieval, instructors can process formula requests more efficiently.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Enhanced Attendance Public REST API with Timestamp Data – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View and Original Course View
Impact: Administrators 
Related Topic: Blackboard Learn APIs

Tracking and auditing attendance records are crucial for student data integrity and transparency.  We have enhanced the Attendance API to include Insert Date and Update Date for marked attendance records.

These enhancements allow developers to retrieve accurate attendance data. Showing both when attendance was first marked and when it was last modified.

  • Insert Date: When the attendance was first marked.
  • Update Date: When the attendance was last modified.
  • Modified By User ID: The user who made the insertion or modification.

The new attributes are available via the Attendance public endpoints.

For administrators: The required privileges for Attendance API remain unchanged.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Enhanced Group Assignments Management via REST API – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Administrators 
Related Topic: Blackboard Learn APIs

Group management in Blackboard is essential for collaborative learning and efficient course administration. With the latest enhancements, users can now manage group assignment attempts with new API capabilities. These updates allow users to create, read, update, and delete group submissions. Users will find these new capabilities through the following endpoints in the Course Grade API:

  • For GET and POST
    • .../courses/{courseId}/gradebook/columns/{columnId}/groupAttempts
  • For PATCH and DELETE
    • .../courses/{courseId}/gradebook/columns/{columnId}/groupAttempts/{groupAttemptId}

This enhancement offers streamlined integration, which simplifies the management of group assignments through improved API functionalities. This makes it easier to integrate and automate processes within their systems.

For administrators: The required privileges for Group attempts endpoints can be validated for each endpoint in the API documentation.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Building Block Content to LTI Link Migration Tool: Change in support status – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Original Experience
Original Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Convert Building Blocks to LTI

Since its release last year, we've been enhancing the tool called Converting Building Block Content to LTI. The tool helps convert most media links created with Building Blocks to newer LTI versions of the respective tool. We built it to work with several of our media solution partners:

  • Kaltura
  •  Panopto 
  • MediaSite 
  • Echo360 
  • ShareStream

This release includes some final improvements and fixes. These are the final changes we will make. The tool, Converting Building Block Content to LTI, is now considered deprecated. This means no further bugs will be addressed, and no further enhancements will be added. Administrators can continue to use this tool as-is. Product Support will assist administrators using the tool. There are no plans to remove it at this time.

The tool converts most links, but some scenarios may remain that can't be automatically converted. Any remaining links will need to be updated manually. If you encounter issues with link conversion, we recommend contacting your respective vendors directly. They may provide alternative methods or assistance for recreating these links.

We are committed to supporting you throughout this transition period. If you have any questions or need further assistance, contact our support team. 

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Upgade to Ultra

Original Conversion Improvement: Convert Undeployed Tests to Question Banks – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Copy Content from Other Courses

We’ve added a new configuration option within the Ultra experience settings: "Convert Undeployed Tests to Question Banks." This new option is designed to provide administrators with more control over how undeployed tests are handled during course conversions. By default, this option is not turned on and must be activated by administrators if they wish to use it.

Using the new Convert Undeployed Tests to Question Banks option in the Ultra experience settings, administrators now have more control over how undeployed tests are handled during course conversions. This provides greater flexibility and efficiency in managing undeployed tests and enables admins to choose the conversion method that best suits their institution’s needs.

Key Features and Benefits:

1. Conversion of Undeployed Tests to Question Banks: 

  • When turned on, this option converts all undeployed tests into question banks. This process helps to declutter both the course content page and the gradebook, making it easier for instructors to manage their course materials. 
  • This conversion significantly reduces the effort required to clean up courses that have been converted, as it organizes questions more effectively. 

2. Removal of Random Blocks, Question Sets, and Linked Questions: 

  • During the conversion process, any random blocks, question sets, and linked questions included in undeployed tests will be removed. Question Banks do not support those features. This ensures that the resulting question banks preserve original questions without duplication.

Default Behavior When Option is Disabled: 

  • By default, this option is not turned on.
  • If the "Convert Undeployed Tests to Question Banks" option remains turned off, undeployed tests will instead be converted into deployed tests within the Ultra experience and set to hidden. This default behavior preserves the original structure of the tests, including any random blocks, question sets, and linked questions. 
  • The primary benefit of this default setting is that it allows instructors to use these converted tests as they were initially intended, without needing to recreate them from question banks.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. A new configuration option is in the Ultra configuration page in the Administrator Panel. The default state is off.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Brightspace Conversion Improvement: Gradebook Categories – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Original Experience and Ultra Experience 
Original Course View and Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from D2L Brightspace

The Brightspace conversion process now supports the preservation of grade categories. This enhancement allows instructors to associate grade-related items with preserved categories after conversion which will simplify setting up their gradebooks. Instructors can set weights using these categories, ensuring an organized grading structure.

For administrators: This feature is available for all courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Brightspace Conversion Improvement: Discussion Forums and Topics – 3900.98 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Original Experience and Ultra Experience 
Original Course View and Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from D2L Brightspace

Discussion Forums and Topics in Brightspace are now preserved during the conversion process. Discussion Forums convert to Folders and Discussion Topics convert to Discussions. 

The following Discussion Forum and Topic settings are also preserved: 

  • Visibility 
  • Due Dates 
  • Release Conditions 
  • Points 
  • Post First 

For administrators: This feature is available for all courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Brightspace Conversion Improvement: Embedded Equations – 3900.98 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Original Experience and Ultra Experience 
Original Course View and Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from D2L Brightspace

We’ve resolved a rendering bug related to embedded math equations. Math equations converted from Brightspace would render but break when edited. This issue is now fixed. Equations converted from Brightspace to Learn can be edited without breaking. This ensures a more reliable and efficient transition for courses with mathematical content. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Brightspace Conversion Improvement: File Uploads – 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Original Experience and Ultra Experience 
Original Course View and Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from D2L Brightspace

We resolved an intermittent issue where file uploads failed during conversion. All uploaded files now convert in a proper state so that users can view and download them. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Brightspace Conversion Improvement: Quiz Timer Settings – 3900.98 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Original Experience and Ultra Experience 
Original Course View and Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from D2L Brightspace

We have improved the way Quiz Timer Settings are converted from Brightspace to Learn. In the past, timed quizzes were kept open after the timer has lapsed, despite the original configuration in Brightspace. With this update, we preserve the settings from Brightspace. Quizzes with timers will either continue to be open or auto submit once the timer ends. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Moodle Conversion Improvement: Embedded Images– 3900.98

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Original Experience and Ultra Experience 
Original Course View and Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from Moodle

We have an important update to our Moodle conversion process. We fixed an issue related to embedded images. Converted Images wouldn't display for students. The issue is now fixed for the following items: 

  • Assignments 
  • Books
  • Choice 
  • Feedback 
  • Files 
  • Forums 
  • Glossaries 
  • Lessons 
  • Pages 
  • Questionnaire Descriptions 
  • Quiz Descriptions 
  • Text and Media Areas 
  • URLs 
  • Wikis 
  • SCORM 

For administrators: This feature is available for all courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to August 2024 – 3900.98.0 Release description


Learn SaaS release 3900.95.0

Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.95.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 11 June 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 11 July 2024
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View

For full feature details, please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.95.0 version included below on this page. Details can be found Behind the Blackboard

Latest release: 3900.95.0-rel.93+e583816 to Production servers to take place on 1 August 2024.

For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.


Tests & Assignments

Print answer key for assessments – 3900.95 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors
Related topic: Print Assessments 

Instructors can now print an answer key for their assessments. A printed answer key is helpful for grading any printed assessment.  

Printing provides a convenient solution for a variety of use cases:

  • Accommodating students with specific needs or limited technology access
  • Providing a printed assessment for testing in designated centers
  • Backup and record keeping
  • Conducting offline assessment
  • Documentation and compliance
  • Maintaining security and integrity

The print answer key option is available in Tests and Assignments with questions. Instructors may also save answer keys as a PDF.

To print an answer key from an assessment, navigate to the assessment. Select Print from the Content and Settings tab.

We plan to support printing question pools and printing from the mobile app in upcoming releases.

Image 1. Print answer key option

Print options available for printing an answer key

Image 2. Select desired print options

Printer options you can select

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Improvements to the Group Submissions page – 3900.95 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors 

Some instructors prefer to assess their students using group assessments. To improve the user experience, we made several improvements to Group Submissions page. These improvements address overall performance and reduce the load time. 

Performance tested scenarios in a course with 5000 students enrollments and 1000 groups: 

  • Loading the Group Submissions page from the content item: Load time reduced from 260s (about 4.5 minutes) to 34s (87% performance improvement) 
  • Loading the Group Submissions page from the Gradable Items gradebook view: Load time reduced from 260s (about 4.5 minutes) to 29s (88% performance improvement) 
  • Opening a Group Submissions from the Gradebook Grades view: Load time reduced from 276s (about 4.5 minutes) to 15s (95% performance improvement)

For administrators: These improvements are available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Improvements to prevent printing a question across pages – 3900.95 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors 

In response to client feedback, we enhanced the print functionality for assessments to ensure a more user-friendly experience. For the following use cases, questions now print so that a question is not separated incorrectly on the physical or digital paper page break (e.g., in PDFs). This improves readability and ease of use for instructors and students alike.

  • Question headers will split the question number and points possible across pages
  • Question header will not split the header from the question text
  • Question answer icons and text will not split across pages
  • Tables, lists, and images will not split across pages
  • Very large text answer options may span pages, but the answer choice icon (e.g. option A) will display next to the first line of text rather than aligning to the center of the option
  • In matching questions, the prompt/answer heading will not split from the answer pairs 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Needs Grading improvements for assessments allowing multiple attempts – 3900.95

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors 
Related topics: Grading & Submissions and Grade Multiple Attempts

The value of multiple attempts on an assessment ranges from support of mastery learning to reducing student anxiety. To help instructors grade assessments with multiple attempts, we have added new settings.

When an instructor chooses to allow multiple attempts, there is now a way to see which attempt(s) display as Needs Grading.

From the ‘Attempts to grade’ menu. The options are:

  • First attempt
  • Last attempt (default)
  • All attempts

Example: An assessment allows 3 attempts; a student made 3 submissions

OptionAttempt(s) counting towards Needs GradingNeeds Grading count
First attemptThe first attempt submitted by the student1
Last attemptThe last attempt submitted by the student1
All attemptsAll attempts submitted by the student3

Instructors will always have access to all attempts submitted by a student in the grading interface. The Attempts to grade setting only controls which attempts display as Needs Grading.

If All attempts is selected, the instructor must also select the calculation method for the student’s grade.

From the Final grade calculation menu, the options are:

  • Average 
  • Highest (default)
  • Lowest

 Image 1. Updated 'Attempts to grade' setting

Options available for Attempts to grade setting

Image 2. New 'Final grade calculation' setting

Options available for Final grade calculation setting

Image 3. Updated Submissions page with the Needs Grading filter applied; in this example, the instructor elected to grade the last attempt, which is now also displayed

Submissions page filtered to include needs grading for latest attempt

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Communication & Collaboration 

Send a copy to email when scheduling announcements – 3900.95

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Announcements

Managing communication with students is an important instructor task. Instructors often plan certain communications in advance. Now instructors can schedule an announcement for a future date and select that it will send an email copy. The announcement tool will send the email copy on the day and time the announcements are posted. 

In the past, instructors could schedule an announcement that would present to students on the selected day and time. Instructors could also immediately post an announcement and send an email copy to students at the same time. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Flexible Grading

Needs Grading improvements for Students and Questions tabs – 3900.95

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors
Related Topics: Grade Assignments With Flexible Grading and Grade Tests With Flexible Grading

We continue to improve the grading experience for instructors. Now, the Needs Grading filter for the Student and Questions tabs reflect the 'Attempts to grade' assessment setting.

The Needs Grading filter on the Student tab will now only display students with ungraded attempts that count towards Needs Grading.  

The Needs Grading filter on the Questions tab will now only display questions with ungraded responses from attempts that count towards Needs Grading.  

Instructors will always have access to all attempts submitted by a student in the grading interface. The ‘Attempts to grade’ setting only controls which attempts need to be graded for the student to be removed from the Needs Grading workflow.

Example: An instructor configures a test with multiple attempts and chooses to grade the last attempt. Two students, Jessica Evans and Nathalie Williams, have made two attempts each. All four attempts are ungraded.

Image 1. Students tab with Needs Grading filter applied; two students display on the tab.

 Students tab with Needs Grading filter applied; two students display on the tab

Consider the image above. After the instructor grades Jessica Evans' last attempt, Jessica will no longer appear on the Students tab even though her first attempt is ungraded.

Image 2. Questions tab with the Needs Grading filter applied

Questions tab with the Needs Grading filter applied

Continuing with the example, one essay question is displayed along with 2 responses to grade. The instructor is grading Jessica Evans. The attempt selector defaults to the last response to that question based on the assessment settings. After the instructor grades Jessica’s last response to the essay question, Jessica's responses will no longer appear on the Questions tab even though the response from her first attempt is ungraded.  

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Recording audio and video when adding per question feedback – 3900.95

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related topic: Grade Tests With Flexible Grading

When grading by student or question, instructors can now provide contextual feedback as recorded audio and video. Instructors can add recorded feedback to all question types. Question level feedback promotes deeper understanding and personal growth among students. Question level feedback enhances overall submission feedback and automated feedback for auto-graded questions.

Audio and video feedback recordings do not count towards the institution storage quota. 

Image 1. Question feedback recording option when grading a test by student

Question feedback recording option when grading a test by student

Image 2. Instructor view of the question feedback recording option when grading a test by question

 Instructor view of the question feedback recording option when grading a test by question

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Gradebook

Improved navigation when accessing feedback – 3900.95

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Students

Some instructors choose to add feedback on a student’s overall submission and individual attempts. We've improved students' access to this valuable feedback. Now students can view overall and attempt-level feedback from the gradebook.

Image 1. Student’s gradebook with the Grade & Feedback panel displaying the overall submission feedback for Assignment 1; the student can also select the feedback icon on Attempt 1 to review feedback specific to that attempt

Student’s gradebook with the Grade & Feedback panel displaying the overall submission feedback for Assignment 1; the student can also select the feedback icon on Attempt 1 to review feedback specific to that attempt

 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Learner Progression & Personalized Experience 

Test and Discussion events included in the Activity Accumulator and synthetic events clean-up – 3900.95

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience and Original Experience 
Ultra Course View and Original Course View
Impact: Administrators 

Administrators and faculty need to review user activity. This user activity helps inform decisions in academic disputes and aids in troubleshooting. 

Administrators can now view more granular events for what students did on assessments and discussions in the “activity_accumulator” table. 

New events are saved in the “event_type” column.

Event nameRule
ASSESSMENT_SUBMITA student submits a test or an assignment
ASSESSMENT_DRAFTA student saves a draft on a test or an assignment
DISCUSSION_RESPONSEA student posts a response on a discussion
DISCUSSION_REPLYA student posts a reply on a discussion
DISCUSSION_DRAFTA student saves a draft in a reply or response to a discussion
DISCUSSION_EDITA student edits a reply or response to a discussion

Note: The “activity_accumulator” includes only submissions the student makes. Auto submissions made by the system are not yet included. 

Image 1: Query results of user interactions in a course including discussion and assessment events in the “activity_accumulator” table

Output of Activity Accumulator with test and discussion activities highlighted

We also cleaned up the “activity_accumulator” table to prevent the generation of synthetic and duplicate events. This makes student activity review simpler and more transparent.

  • Indirect user interactions may generate synthetic events. For example, a student might access a page where content was displayed without accessing content itself might generate a synthetic event. These synthetic events could lead to confusion, making it difficult to differentiate real user interactions and clutter databases. Now, no synthetic events are generated. 
  • Duplicated events were generated with a single user interaction. This could give the impression a user was more active than they were. Now, each user interaction registers a single event. 
  • When opening a folder, learning module, or other container, “CONTENT_ACCESS” events were registered for all items inside the container. Now, only the access for the container is registered. 

Behaviors you can expect on existing events: 

  • “COURSE_ACCESS” events are generated only when a user accesses the course. 
  • “CONTENT_ACCESS” events are generated only when a user accesses that course content. This applies for all course content items: documents, assessments, discussions, journals, LTI activities, SCORM packages, etc. 

As before, the “activity_accumulator” table can receive requests from Course Content public APIs. If you’re using the following API endpoints, take into account these new events and cleanup:

  • GET /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{courseld}/contents 
  • GET /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{courseld}/contents/{contentld} 
  • GET /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{courseld}/contents/{contentld}/children 

Key considerations: 

  • These changes apply to new events. Historic events will remain the same. 
  • The activity_accumulator table registers events of all users no matter the role. These changes apply to students and any other role that made these interactions. 
  • User actions made in mobile app are also included in the “activity_accumulator” table. 

For administrators: To track user interactions in the Activity Accumulator table this feature needs to be activated. Go to Tools and Utilities in the administrator panel. Select System Reporting, then Auto-Reporting options. Select Yes in the event tracking field. The default state is on.

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Enhanced privacy controls for Student IDs – 3900.95

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Customize User Information

We aim to support our clients' unique policies and use cases relating to personal information. Administrators can already:

  • Restrict the display of certain fields for all users within the environment
  • Reveal usernames to selected staff members through role-based privileges

With the new role-based privileges, administrators can now customize access to student IDs.

For example, instructors can be granted visibility of student IDs. This is helpful for distinguishing between students with similar names. At the same time, administrators can apply restrictions to prevent other roles from viewing student IDs.

We've also added a new privilege: “Show student/participant ID even when hidden from other users.” This privilege provides an extra layer of control by allowing specified users to see Student IDs. This ensures that only designated personnel have access to this information when necessary.

In the past, to view the student ID, a user was required to have access to edit the student information. This is no longer necessary. 

Image 1. Customize User Information configuration from Administrator Tool Panel; select Customize User Information in Users section to access this page

User Information configuration from Administrator Tool Panel

For administrators: We recommend reviewing and modifying privileges according to your institution’s policies. With the introduction of a new privilege, we advise verifying custom roles. 
 

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


‘Reply to Email’ feature for Messages – 3900.95

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Impact: Administrators
Related Topic: Messages

We aim to support institutions' specific policies and procedures about email communications. To help, administrators can now control how users interact with Messages sent as emails. When allowed, users can reply to Messages sent as an email. 

There are two new settings for Ultra Messages: 

  • Allow email replies to messages from non-students/non-participants (instructors/leaders, administrators) 
  • Allow email replies to messages from students/participants 

When drafting the message, instructors may choose whether they want to allow replies. When selected, replies from students will be directed to the instructor's email address registered in the system. Allowing replies helps interactions to be more efficient and will foster smoother communication. 

Image 1. Messages for Organizations and Courses configuration from Administrator Tool Panel

Ultra message settings in the admin panel

For administrators: By default, both settings are deselected. This setting can be selected for students, non-students, or both.

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Default Organization View settings – 3900.95

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Organization View, Original Organization View 
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Organizations

Administrators can now set the default experience for organizations:

  • Original Organization View
  • Ultra Organization View
  • Instructor Choice

The Default Organization View options now align with the Default Course View options.

Image 1. Default Organizations Properties from Administrator Tool Panel

Default Organization Properties on Administrator Panel

For administrators: System administrators can set the default organization view by navigating to System Admin> Organizations module >Default Organization Properties.

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Upgade to Ultra 

Brightspace Conversion Improvement: Embedded Images and Multimedia – 3900.95 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience and Original Experience 
Ultra Course View and Original Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from D2L Brightspace

We have improved the way we convert HTML Documents from Brightspace to Ultra. Now, embedded images and multimedia are preserved for HTML Documents. HTML Documents from Brightspace convert into Content Items or Ultra Documents, depending on the course view. We now preserve embedded images and multimedia for either output. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Moodle Conversion Improvement: Graded Discussions – 3900.95 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience and Original Experience 
Ultra Course View and Original Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators
Related Topic: Migrate from Moodle 

We have improved the way that we convert Discussions from Moodle to Ultra. Now, graded discussions and their settings convert. We now bring over the points and grade category for the discussion. This change simplifies the process for those migrating from Moodle. Instructors will no longer need to update converted discussions to be graded. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to July 2024 – 3900.95.0 Release description


Learn SaaS release 3900.93.0

Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.93.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 7 May 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 6 June 2024
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View

For full feature details, please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.93.0 version included below on this page. Details can be found Behind the Blackboard

Latest release: 3900.93.0-rel.60+b2d93bf to Production servers to take place on 27 June 2024.

For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.


June 2024 – 3900.93 Release

The June 2024 - 3900.93 release is robust with features in 9 areas:

  • Instructional design;
  • Tests and assignments;
  • Communication and collaboration;
  • Flexible grading;
  • Gradebook;
  • Learner progression and personalized experience;
  • Integrations;
  • Learn core and security; and
  • Mobile App

These improvements impact instructors, students, observers, administrators, and all users. Some features do require administrative action.

Instructors:

Instructors and Students:

Students:

Administrators:

Observers:

Everyone:


Instructional Design

AI Design Assistant – Language Selector – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: AI Design Assistant

To support multi-language use cases, the AI Design Assistant now includes a language selector. Instructors may use the language selector to set the desired language for generated content. This feature is especially beneficial for courses with multi-language requirements. 

The language selector is included in all existing AI Design Assistant workflows. A list of supported languages in the language selector is available. 

Image 1. Select the desired output language from the advanced options

Auto-Generate Learning Modules panel, showing the Advanced Options section expanded at the bottom

Image 2. The generated output is in the selected language

Generated learning modules displaying Spanish text

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Printing for Assessments – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, users who have privileges to edit an assessment
Related topic: Print Assessments

Instructors can now print assessments. Printing provides a convenient solution for a variety of use cases:

  • Accommodating students with specific needs or limited technology access
  • Providing a printed assessment for testing in designated centers
  • Backup and record keeping
  • Conducting offline assessment
  • Documentation and compliance
  • Maintaining security and integrity

The print option is available in Forms, Tests, and Assignments with questions. Printing also provides the option to save as PDF.

To print an assessment, from Content and Settings, select Print.

Note: We plan to support printing answer keys and question pools and printing from the mobile app in upcoming releases.

Image 1. Print option from a test

Print option from a test

Image 2. Select desired print options

Choose print options in the menu

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Streamlined point value editing for questions – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related topics: Edit Tests and Questions

When editing a question, instructors can now access and edit the point value field with just two clicks. Reducing the number of clicks needed to edit the point value of a question saves instructors time and effort. This small change leads to a smoother workflow and enhances the overall teaching and learning experience.

Note: Editing the point values for matching questions requires three clicks. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Return a true/false question to an unanswered state – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Students

Students can now return a true/false question to an unanswered state after choosing an answer. Students clear their choice by selecting the same option again. Students may need to clear their answer selection for a test question. For questions that use negative scoring, if a student is uncertain about their answer, their score may be better if they leave it unanswered. In this case, clearing a response makes it easy for them to come back later using the unanswered question filter. This helps students better manage their time during a test.

In the past, a student could only change their answer to a true/false question to a different value. 

Image 1. A true/false question with true selected as the answer

A true/false question with true selected as the answer

Image 2. The true/false question answer has been cleared

The true/false question answer has been cleared

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Communication & Collaboration 

Post immediately when creating announcements – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Announcements

Instructors can now post announcements as part of the drafting and editing processes. This makes the process of creating and posting announcements simpler. 

Instructors can still post from the announcements page. 

Image 1. When creating or editing an announcement, there is now an option to post

New Announcement page, showing the option to post immediately or save draft

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Prevent auto-assigning members in self-enrollment groups – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Create and Manage Groups

Instructors use self-enrollment groups to provide agency to students on group activities. Currently, at the end of the enrollment period, unassigned students are always distributed into groups. To improve the use of self-enrollment groups for optional activities, instructors can now opt-out of this behavior. Instructors can deselect the option, which does not enroll students who do not self-enroll by the end of the enrollment to any group. This option gives instructors more flexibility when managing self-enrollment groups. 

Image 1. The auto-enroll check box sets the behavior at the end of the self-enrollment period

Groups page showing Self-Enrollment checkbox

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. The default behavior is unchanged.

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Group members list available within the selected group – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students
Related topic: Create and Manage Groups
 
Groups and group work form an important part of the learning experience. To improve and centralize member information, we have relocated the members list to the selected group page. This will now display as a member’s tab rather than a separate panel. Here, users can search for members and sort them alphabetically. This change enhances the visibility of the selected groups page and provides the groundwork for adding more features in future releases. 

Image 1. Show Members option from the group sets page

Manage Groups page, with a group expanded to display the Show Members option

Image 2. Once a group is selected, the members now appear on the groups page within the Members tab

Members tab on a group's page

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Filter out graded responses when grading by question – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors

The Needs Grading filter now filters out graded student responses by default. Filtering this way helps instructors to focus on any remaining ungraded responses for a given question. It also provides instructors with an improved view of their outstanding grading workload. If instructors want to include graded responses, they can select Show graded responses. This selection preference is now stored per course and it persists across assessments in each course.

Image 1. Grading by question option with the grading status of Needs Grading filter selected

Grading by question option with the Grading Status of ‘Needs Grading’ filter selected

Image 2. Grading by question view with the grading status filter of Needs Grading and Show graded responses options selected

Grading by question view with the Grading Status filter of ‘Needs Grading’ and ‘Show graded responses’ options selected

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Gradebook

Grader Notes on student grades – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related topics: Grade Tests with Flexible Grading, Grade Assignments with Flexible Grading

Instructors can now add private grading notes to student grades. After a score is assigned, the new Feedback & Notes menu option is available. Grader notes form an important part of the academic record. These notes may serve as documentation for a grading decision or grade adjustment.  Grader notes are private to graders and not visible to students.

Those with grading privileges can access Feedback & Notes from two places: 

  • The Grades tab in the Gradebook by selecting a specific score.
  • The Submissions list page for an assessment, select the More menu for a student

Image 1. Instructor view of the Feedback & Notes menu option accessible from the Gradebook grid view and Submissions page for assessments

Instructor view of the Feedback & Notes menu option accessible from the Gradebook grid view and Submissions page for assessments

Image 2. Instructor view of the new grader notes option

Instructor view of the new grading notes option

Image 3. Instructor view of grader notes accessed from a student’s contextual menu on the assessment’s Submissions page

 Instructor view of grading notes accessed from a student’s contextual menu on the assessment’s Submissions page

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Improved visibility of new grades and feedback in the student gradebook – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Students
Related topic: Grades

To ensure that students are aware of any new grades in the course we have added an indicator to the Gradebook tab. When there are new grades, the number of new grades appears on the tab.

After selecting the tab, items with new or updated grades appear at the top of the student gradebook and display a purple indicator. The purple indicator disappears and the count on the tab reduces when the student selects the item or reviews their submission.  

We also reviewed the use of color in the gradebook based on student feedback. Now, we mark late assessments with a "(Late)" label to reduce stress sometimes associated with the use of the color red. In the past, late submissions appeared with a red assessment icon and label.


Image 1. Student view of an Ultra course with the new grade indicator on the Gradebook tab

Student view of an Ultra course with the new grade indicator on the Gradebook tab

Image 2. Student view of the gradebook displaying the grade indicator on the Gradebook tab and corresponding purple indicators for the 3 relevant items; the new “(Late)” label is also visible

Student view of the gradebook displaying the grade indicator on the Gradebook tab and corresponding purple indicators for the 3 relevant items; the new “(Late)” label is also visible

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Weighted calculation usability improvements – 3900.93


Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related topics: Calculate Grades

Responding to client feedback, we have made two improvements for gradebook weighting:

  • The label “0% per item” appeared for categories excluded from weighting. This caused confusion so we removed it.
  • We updated the calculation rules panel to make it easier to understand the selected settings.


Image 1. Instructor view of the previous interface for weighted calculations

Image 1. Instructor view of the existing weighted calculation interface

Image 2. Instructor view of the new weighted calculation interface where the ‘0% per item’ information is removed for excluded categories

nstructor view of the update weighted calculation interface where the ‘0% per item’ information is removed for excluded categories

Image 3. Instructor view of the updated text on the Calculation rule panel

Instructor view of the updated text on the Calculation rule panel

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Learner Progression & Personalized Experience 

Student's overall grade visible to Observers –3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Observers 
Related Topic: Observer Role

Observers are users who can only view the progress and performance of specified students. We now display the overall grade in the Grades tab along with other grades. This improves student monitoring for observers. If an instructor sets the overall grade to be visible to students, it will be visible to observers. 

Image 1. Current overall grade visible to observer

Student grades tab for the observer role

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Announcements API enhancements - additional filtering options – 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience, Original Experience 
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related Topic: Learn APIs

Announcements play a crucial role in course communication. They ensure that students stay informed about important deadlines and course materials. Administrators and developers now have additional REST API capabilities to streamline integrations and save time. New announcements filtering options allow administrators and integrated tools to retrieve data more efficiently. This optimizes audit and search processes, reducing query volume and data processing after retrieval.

 New filter options:

  • Creation Date: Retrieve announcements based on their specific creation date
  • Modified Date: Retrieve announcements based on their last modification date
  • Availability: Filter announcements based on their availability status

For administrators: The required privileges for Announcements API remain unchanged. 

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Learn Core & Security

Base Navigation - Course and Organization filters and personalization - 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience, Original Experience 
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: All

The courses and organizations tabs in Base Navigation are some of the most accessed places in Blackboard Learn. We received feedback in numerous focus groups and were inspired by client ideas posted in the Idea Exchange. We heard the pages should fit more institutions’ situations and give users more options to customize. This release includes the following improvements:

We removed the carousel for navigating between terms. There is now a term selector and filter you can use on its own or with other filters.

You can set filters, make term choices, and add text searches. All of these are clearly displayed below the search box. Remove these search settings or filters to see more courses or organizations. Remove them by selecting the close icon “x” on each.

Your selections and filters are remembered automatically even if you log out or switch devices. Set up the pages the way you like, and we’ll keep it that way until you change it.

The terms selector has specific logical behaviors to help users:

  • “Current Courses” and “Current Organizations” are the default term selections. If terms aren’t used or all your courses/organizations are open or use continuous duration, you’ll default to the “All Terms” selection option instead.
  • You can now choose to view “All Terms” to see everything regardless of term.
  • The “Upcoming Courses” and “Upcoming Organizations” term options will only display if you have upcoming courses/organizations.

Image 1. Course page with search for "medical" and current courses

Filters on the course page

For administrators: This feature is available for all environments with Base Navigation enabled. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Mobile App 

Landing Page Enhancements for Blackboard Learn Mobile App - 3900.93

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra and Original Experience 
Ultra and Original Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students

To enhance usability and streamline user interaction in the mobile app, we added filters to the following landing pages:

  • Courses
  • Organizations
  • Grades 

Users now can use filters at the top of each landing page, allowing them to refine their search results.

When a user applies a filter, its tag appears at the top of the landing page. Users can remove filters by unselecting the respective tag.

Image 1: Courses landing page with filtering option

Landing page of the Mobile app displaying filtering features

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations

Return to June 2024 – 3900.93.0 Release description


Learn SaaS release 3900.91.0

Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.91.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 9 April 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 2 May 2024
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View

For full feature details, please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.91.0 version included below on this page. Details can be found Behind the Blackboard

Latest release: 3900.91.0-rel.38+0f923c8 to Production servers to take place on 30 May 2024.

For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.


Competency Based Education/Mastery Learning

Align goals to questions in question pools – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Administrators
Related topics: Question Pools, Goals

Institutions want to align goals to course content. Goal alignment ensures curriculum design meets specific learning outcomes.

Now, instructors can align goals to questions within a question pool. Question-level goal alignment ensures that assessment items measure the desired learning outcomes. This helps to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of evaluation and feedback practices.

Image 1: Option to choose Align with goal from the menu when adding or editing a question in a question pool

Instructor option to choose the “align with goal” menu when adding or editing a question in a question pool

Learn more about goal alignment in the Ultra Course View.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Supporting multiple performance criteria in release conditions – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related topics: Content Release Conditions

Release conditions determine when students can view course content. Release conditions are on the content's visibility setting on the course content page. Currently, you can set:  

  • Which course members or groups have access;
  • When the course content is accessible, visible, and hidden;
  • When student performance is necessary for completing an assignment or scoring.

Instructors can now set more than one performance criteria per content item.  

Image 1. Release condition panel with additional performance criteria selected

Release condition panel with additional performance criteria selected

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Tests & Assignments 

Reuse questions in Forms – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related topics: Forms

Reusing questions streamlines the Form creation process and saves users time and effort.  Instructors can now select Reuse questions when editing or creating a Form. 

Image 1. Reuse questions option in a Form

Reuse questions option in a Form

Instructors can filter questions from existing Forms within the course. Filter criteria include a keyword search, select Forms, and by question type. Any question the instructor selects is then copied into the Form. The instructor may edit the question, if desired.

Image 2. Filter criteria for question reuse in Forms

Filter criteria for question reuse in Forms

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Multiple attempts for Forms assigned to groups – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Forms

Instructors can now assign a Form to a group and allow multiple attempts. When assigning forms to groups, enabling multiple attempts promotes dynamic, iterative learning experiences. Groups can now submit the Form, receive feedback, and submit another response. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Flexible Grading

Add question feedback when grading a test by question – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students

When grading by student or by question, instructors can provide contextual feedback. Instructors can add feedback to all question types. Question level feedback promotes deeper understanding and personal growth among students. Question level feedback enhances overall submission feedback and automated feedback for auto-graded questions.

Image 1. Instructor view of adding per-question feedback when grading by question

Instructor view of adding per-question feedback when grading by question

Image 2. Instructor view of question with saved feedback  

Instructor view of question with saved feedback  

After scores are posted, students can access their feedback in the Gradebook. Students can access both overall feedback and question-specific feedback.

Image 3. Student view of feedback added to an essay question

Student view of feedback added to an essay question

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Improved Gradebook navigation – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors

To create a more intuitive navigation, we replaced the grid and list view buttons with text links. The options are now:  

  • Gradable Items
  • Grades (grid view)
  • Students

The Gradebook will remember the last view you used in each course.

Image 1. Instructor view of the new gradebook navigation menu

Instructor view of the new gradebook navigation menu

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Weighted Calculation Improvements – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students
Related topics: Calculate Grades, Grade Columns

 

Instructors have diverse grade calculation needs. Some instructors use weighted calculations to help with aggregating calculations like midterm or final grades.

Now instructors can assign equal weights to items in the same categories. The chosen calculation method, whether proportional or equal, applies to all categories. In the past, weighted items in the same category had proportional weights. These weighted items were based on the possible points of each item. 

To better understand student performance, some instructors use drop rules to remove outliers. Because it’s important to know the weighting method when managing these settings, we now display the instructor's chosen weighting option in the calculation rules panel.

Image 1. Instructor view of the new Proportionally and Equally weighted calculation options

Instructor view of the new Proportionally and Equally weighted calculation options

Image 2. Instructor view of the new proportional weighted calculation option. Instructors can see what percentage each item in the category contributes to the overall category weighting

 Instructor view of the new proportional weighted calculation option. Instructors can see what percentage each item in the category contributes to the overall category weighting

Image 3. Instructor view of the equally weighted calculation option; instructors are informed of the equal percentage that items count towards the overall category weighting

Instructor view of the equally weighted calculation option. Instructors are informed of the equal percentage that items count towards the overall category weighting

Image 4. Instructor view of the updated Edit calculation rule panel confirming the selected category weighting option

Instructor view of the updated Edit calculation rule panel confirming the selected category weighting option

 For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Learner Progression & Personalized Experience

Observer role support in Ultra Courses – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Observers 
Related Topic: Observer Role

Academic advisors, parents, coaches, and other users may find it beneficial to monitor the progress of one or more students. This enables them to effectively support the students in their learning journey. Now these observers can monitor student progress and performance in Ultra courses. 

The streamlined process for Ultra courses eliminates the need for complicated instructor settings. Observers will have access to the following information: 

  • Last Access Date: Observers can view when the student last accessed the course. 
  • Grades tab: This tab provides details on a student’s earned grades. The information included is: 
    • Overall Grade
    • Upcoming and past due dates 
    • Any exceptions granted to the student 
    • Late submissions
  • Progress tab: This tab helps the observer understand a student's progression in the course. The information included is:
    • Navigation through the course content 
    • Course elements visible on the student’s learning path 
    • Completeness and progress indicators for items, folders, and learning modules 

To view a student's progress, progress tracking must be enabled in the course. 

Image 1: Observer view of a student’s grades in an Ultra Course

Grades tab of a student on an Observer dashboard

Image 2: Observer view of a student’s progress in an Ultra Course

Progress tab of a student on an Observer dashboard

Observers can access a dedicated dashboard in the Tools area of the Base Navigation. Observers should first select the student they wish to observe and then choose the specific course they want to access. Both Original and Ultra courses can be observed from this dashboard. 

Image 3: An observer chooses which student they want to observe in the Observer Dashboard

The Observer Dashboard, showing two students available for observation

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. As before, administrators can manage observer-to-student relationships manually, with a bulk file, or through data integration. 

A user must be assigned the Observer system role as their primary system role. In this release, Observer accounts continue to be mutually exclusive from other user accounts. We plan to remove this restriction in a future release.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Integrations

Limit enrollments by Course Role – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience and Original Experience
Ultra Course View and Original Course View
Impact: Administrators

For some institutions, instructors or staff manage some course membership manually. For example, institutional policy might define that student enrollments and instructor assignments come from the student information system (SIS), but instructors manage graders and assistants in their own courses.

Now administrators can limit the course roles that a user can add, edit, or remove from the roster. This allows institutions to better enforce their policies. It also helps prevent potential data conflicts and mismanagement. We changed some course role privileges in this release to support this.

There are now two privileges for allowing a course user to add other enrollments:

  • Course Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Enroll User
    • Use this privilege when you want course role limits to apply.
  • Course Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Enroll User for all roles
    • Use this privilege when the user can enroll users with any course role but you want to apply course role limits to the enrollment edit and remove privileges.

Similarly, there are now two privileges for batch enrolling users:

  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Batch Enroll Users
    • Use this privilege when you want course role limits to apply to batch actions.
  • Course Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Batch Enroll Users for all roles
    • Use this privilege when the user can batch enroll other users with any course role. Course role restrictions would still apply to the edit and remove privileges. 

To configure restrictions, go to the Administrator Panel and select Course/Organization Roles. In Course/Organization Roles, select Edit for the appropriate course role. A new section allows selecting course roles and adding them to the list of manageable roles.

Image 1. An administrator configures a course role so users can only manage Course Builder, Grader, and Teaching Assistant roles.

Administrator panel to manage course enrollments by role

Image 2. User is only allowed to enroll others with the course roles of Teaching Assistant, Course Builder, or Grader.

Roster page showing panel with limits on roles that can add to enrollment

Image 3. User is able to edit or remove this enrollment because the role, “Teaching Assistant” is allowed. 

Roster page showing panel with limits on roles that can add to enrollment

These restrictions also apply to other course role privileges for editing and deleting enrollments.

  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Change System DSK User's availability in Course/Organization.
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Change System DSK User's Role in Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Remove System DSK Users from Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Set System DSK instructor as primary in Ultra Course View
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Change Non-System DSK User's availability in Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Change Non-System DSK User's Role in Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Remove Non-System DSK Users from Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Set Non-System DSK instructor as primary in Ultra Course View 

For administrators: We recommend administrators review course role configurations, so they best align to institutional policies. Confirm the assignment of expected privileges. Set any appropriate course role restrictions for course roles with the privileges above.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Learn Core & Security 

Reduced motion setting – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View, Original Course View 
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Accessibility Overview

The Ultra Experience has animated elements such as panels opening and closing. Some users may prefer or need to reduce animations and motion. Many devices and operating systems have settings to reduce non-essential motion. 

We added support for the ‘prefers-reduced-motion’ feature to select animated panels. Panels will snap into place when users have configured reduce motion. Before they used a swiping motion.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. It is also available for the Original course panel when Base Navigation is enabled. Users should use device settings for reducing motion.

  • iOS: Accessibility > Motion > Reduce motion (on)
  • Android: Settings > Accessibility > Remove Animations (on)
  • Windows: Settings > Accessibility > Visual effects > Animation effects (off)
  • Mac OS: System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Reduce motion (on)

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Set the size limit for file type uploads to zero – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: File size upload limit

Administrators set policies to help ensure responsible storage use. We reduced the minimum size setting for a group of file types from 25 MB to 0 MB. This allows setting limits for very small files. Administrators can also restrict certain file types completely by setting them to zero. This can help encourage users to store certain file types elsewhere. For example, institutions may use these settings to prevent video uploads to Blackboard. They may want users to upload videos to a specific video streaming platform instead.

For administrators: We recommend reviewing any extensions and limits previously set. Restrictions apply for new uploads only in Ultra courses and in Content Collection. 

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Mobile App

Landing page enhancements for Blackboard Learn Mobile App – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students

The landing pages (Grades, Messages, Courses, Organization) are now designed in a card layout. For the Courses and Organization pages, the course status indicator previously located in the course image has been moved below the course or organization title. The current functionality remains the same. These design changes align the landing pages with the design principles and language of the Blackboard Mobile App.

These enhancements are a part of a larger redesign of the Blackboard Learn mobile app landing pages to ensure uniform design, optimized user experience, and natural user flow across various devices and screen sizes.

Blackboard Learn Mobile App Course Landing page designed in card layout

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Support for Observer role for Ultra Courses in Mobile App - 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View
Impact: Observers

Users with the Observer role can now view student progress in Ultra Courses using our mobile app. This provides student advisors and support staff the ability to track student success. 

They also can view grade related information. Observers view the same information displayed to a student. Mobile access for the Observer role makes it easier for support staff to help students.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Upgrade to Ultra

Option to convert Content Areas to Learning Modules – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Administrators
Related Topic: Convert Courses to Ultra

In previous releases, Content Areas converted to Folders when converting Original courses to Ultra. We updated conversion so administrators can choose if Content Areas convert to Learning Modules or folders. 

Converting to Learning Modules is helpful for the following types of courses: 

  • Original Courses using more than one Content Area to organize course materials 
  • Courses migrating from Canvas, Brightspace, and Moodle Learning Management Systems 

The default setting is to convert Content Areas to Learning Modules. 

Image 1. Convert Content Areas to Learning Modules toggle

Ultra Experience Management page in the Admin panel, showing the option to Convert Content to Learning Modules at the bottom

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. We recommend administrators review this configuration to set the most appropriate institutional choice. 

A new configuration option is available on the Ultra Experience Management page. The default state is ON. When OFF, Content Areas will convert to Folders instead of Learning Modules.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Restricting Original Course View Course Copy workflow – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Original Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators
Related Topic: Copy Courses 

We have added a restriction to the Course Copy workflow in Original courses. Users can no longer push a copy from an Original course to an Ultra course. We made this change to reduce the likelihood of an Ultra course becoming corrupted. The Original Course Copy workflow was never designed for copies into an Ultra course.

Instructors can still copy from one Original course to another. For Ultra courses, instructors should always start a copy process from the Ultra course.

Image 1. Copies to Ultra courses are blocked when copying from Original

Copy Course workflow in Original

Users can copy course materials from Original to Ultra by using Copy Items in an Ultra course. They can copy an entire Original course into an Ultra course. They also have the option to pick and choose which items they want to copy into an Ultra course. 

Image 2. Users can copy content from Original to Ultra using Copy Items

Ultra Experience Management page in the Admin panel, showing the option to Convert Content to Learning Modules at the bottom

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. Administrator copy processes aren’t changed in this release. While unchanged, admins should use caution when copying from Original to Ultra. The admin copy workflow can have the same types of issues and can lead to course corruption. If possible, try to limit to doing only full course copies using the admin copy workflow.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Moodle Conversion Improvement: Question Pools – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Original Experience, Ultra Experience 
Original Course View, Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators
Related Topic: Migrate from Moodle

In Moodle, any time you edit or save a question it creates a new version of that question. Our conversion process was bringing over every version of a question as a new question. Question Pools and Tests were being affected and didn't match what was in Moodle. We updated our conversion logic in the following ways: 

  • If a question in a Test is using the latest version, we add it to a Question Pool that is linked with that Test. This matches the behavior in Moodle with Quizzes and Question Banks. 
  • If a question in a Test is using an older version, we only add that question to that Test. This ensures that Question Pools only have the latest versions of questions. This matches the behavior in Moodle with Quizzes and Question Banks. Question Pools will no longer contain every version of a question as they did before. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Original and Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Moodle Conversion Improvement: Partial Credit for Multiple Choice and Multiple Answer Question Types – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Original Experience, Ultra Experience 
Original Course View, Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from Moodle

In Moodle you can create a Multiple Choice question type. Multiple Choice question types can have a single answer or more than one answer. They can also support partial credit. We have updated our conversion logic so that partial credit weights convert. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all Original and Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Bulk Conversion for Moodle and Brightspace – 3900.91

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Administrators 
Related Topic: Convert Courses to Ultra

Bulk Conversion from Moodle and Brightspace is now available. Institutions moving from Moodle and Brightspace can share exports with our implementation team. Our implementation team will take the packages and bulk import and convert them. This service is part of our standard implementation for institutions transitioning to Blackboard.

Return to May 2024 – 3900.91 Release description


Learn SaaS release 3900.89.0

Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.89.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 12 March 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 4 April 2024
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View

For full feature details, please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.89.0 version included below on this page. Details can be found Behind the Blackboard

Latest release: 3900.89.0-rel.31+520e1f0 to Production servers on 18 April 2024.

For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.


April 2024 – 3900.89 Release

The April 2024 - 3900.89 release is robust with features in 10 areas:

  • Instructional design;
  • Competency based education;
  • Tests and assignments;
  • Communication and collaboration;
  • Flexible grading;
  • Gradebook;
  • Learner progression and personalized experience;
  • Integrations;
  • Learn core and security, and
  • Upgrade to Ultra

These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action.

Instructors:

Instructors and Students:

Students:

Instructors and Administrators:

Administrators:


Instructional Design 

AI Design Assistant – Context picker for Learning Modules, Assignments, Discussions, and Journals – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related topics: Learning modules, Assignments, Discussions, and Journals 

Context selection is key for tailoring course content generated with the AI Design Assistant. The context picker also helps to ground generated content in an appropriate context.

File types supported by the context picker include PDF, Word, PowerPoint, text, RTF, and HTML.

 We are extending the context picker for test questions to other generation workflows: 

  • Learning modules 
  • Authentic assignments 
  • Authentic discussions 
  • Authentic journals

Image 1. Example of context picker for learning module generation; select Auto-Generate Modules from the plus icon's dropdown menu

Course Content page, with the dropdown from the plus icon open and Auto-Generate Modules highlighted

Image 2. Choose Select Course Items

Auto-Generate Learning Modules panel

Image 3. Select course items for context and then choose Select items

Select Items panel, showing a selected folder with all dependent items highlighted, with the Select Items button at the bottom right

Image 4. Select Generate to apply the context to the generation workflow

Auto-Generate Learning Modules panel with a "1" beside Select course items

Image 5. Select generated Learning Modules and add them to your course

3 generated learning modules on the Auto-Generate Learning Modules panel are selected

When Ultra documents are selected as context, file attachments on the Ultra document will also be included as context for all context pickers.

For administrators: You have to enable AI features to use the Context Picker for Learning Modules, Assignments, Discussions, and Journals. In Installed Tools, select Settings for AI Design Assistant and Unsplash. The default state is off. When this feature is on, the privilege will need to be assigned to course roles as necessary, such as Instructor. The privilege to assign is "Use AI features."

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Persistent navigation for Learning Modules – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Students 
Related topic: Learning Modules

To improve students' navigation in a learning module, we updated the navigation bar. Now the navigation bar is sticky and remains visible as students vertically scroll through content. Students no longer need to scroll back up to the top of content to access the navigation tools. 

Image 1. The navigation bar is always visible

Document within a learning module, showing arrows going to the left and right at the top

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Competency Based Education 

Student feedback remains visible to students regardless of release condition settings – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students
Related topic: Content Release Conditions
 

Instructors may want to control access to course content using release conditions. This is helpful for providing custom learning paths through course content. The release conditions include an option to show or hide content to/from students before they meet release conditions. We've modified how these settings impact the students' view of feedback from instructors. Now instructors can set release conditions without any impact to feedback to students.  

In the past, when an instructor selected the option to hide content, students could view associated grades but not the feedback. We have corrected this to ensure that students can always review feedback.  

Image 1. Instructor view of release conditions settings with date/time release condition set in combination with Hide state in “When will content appear?”

Instructor view of release conditions settings with date/time release condition set in combination with Hide state in “When will content appear?”

Image 2. Student gradebook view with display of student’s feedback and grade regardless of the release condition setting in Image 1

tudent gradebook view with display of student’s feedback and grade regardless of the release condition setting in Image 1

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Tests & Assignments 

Default question points value changed from 10 to 1 – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS  
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors
Related topic: Create Tests

We recognize that manually adjusting the point value for questions can be time-consuming and error prone. Based on valuable client feedback, we are changing the default point value from 10 to 1. Moving forward, any newly created questions will have a default point value of 1. This change helps reduce the need for manual adjustments.  

Questions copied from another assessment retain the designated point value.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Rubric API Enhancements – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Learn APIs

Rubrics are fundamental tools for instructors, aiding in the fair and consistent evaluation of graded work. Now, administrators can leverage the enhanced API to perform the complete spectrum of CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations for rubrics.

Developers will gain access to the following endpoints:

  • POST /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{courseId}/rubrics
  • PATCH or DELETE /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{courseId}/rubrics/{rubricId}

For administrators: The REST integration user must have the following entitlements:

  • For POST method: "Course/Organization Control Panel (Tools) > Rubrics > Create Rubric"
  • For PATCH method: "Course/Organization Control Panel (Tools) > Rubrics > Edit Rubric"
  • For DELETE method: "Course/Organization Control Panel (Tools) > Rubrics > Delete Rubric"

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Duplicate questions in Assessments, Forms, and Question Banks – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related topic: Edit Tests and Questions

This enhancement is a direct response to client feedback.

Sometimes an instructor may want to have a question repeated with the same answer options but a different question. Instructors can now select Duplicate to quickly copy an existing question within the same assessment (test, assignment, form) or in a question bank. This feature eliminates the need for manual duplication and simplifies the process of creating multiple questions with the same answer options.

Instructors may edit the question text and answer options. There are no changes to how an instructor edits the question.

Image 1. Duplicate menu option for a test question

Duplicate menu option for a test question

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Likert answer options expanded to include 4 and 6 – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS   
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View   
Impact: Instructors
Related topic: Likert Questions 

Instructors can now create Likert scale questions with 4 or 6 answer options. This allows for greater granularity in student responses. An even number of answer options also supports the creation of questions where students cannot select a neutral option. This enhancement is in response to valuable user feedback.

Image 1. Likert question with 4 and 6 answer options

Likert question with 4 and 6 answer options

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Auto-submitted indicator in attempt logs – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Attempt Logs

Understanding the context of student submissions is helpful to instructors. Now the Attempt Log indicates whether a submission is manual or automatic. This indicator provides instructors with deeper insights into student behaviors. This addition also allows instructors to better track their student progress. 

Image 1. Attempt marked as "Auto submitted" in the log

Attempt log page with an auto-submission highlighted

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Communication & Collaboration

Anonymous posts for Discussions – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Students
Related topics: Create Discussions for Instructors, Discussions for Students 

Discussions play a pivotal role in nurturing peer-to-peer interaction and critical thinking. Students need to feel free to express their ideas and opinions without fear of judgement. To support this, we've added an option for instructors to allow anonymous posts in ungraded discussions. This feature provides flexibility for instructors. They can toggle anonymity on or off as the discussion progresses. Any existing anonymous posts keep their anonymity. 

Image 1. Setting to turn on anonymous posts

Discussions settings panel, with Allow anonymous responses and replies checked off

Image 2. A student making an anonymous post

Editor showing a student's response with an Anonymous icon beside the editor

Image 3. An anonymous post in a discussion

Discussion post showing that the poster is Anonymous

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Self-Enrollment Group Improvements – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related Topic: Create Groups

Self-enrollment groups provide an important part of student autonomy throughout the learning experience. To support more use cases for self-enrollment groups and based on client feedback, we are reducing the maximum members per group from 2 to 1. This will cover use cases such as sign-up sheets and booking 1:1 slots with students.

Image 1. Instructors can set maximum members per group to 1

Self-enroll group page, showing a minimum number of group members of 1

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Reply all in messages – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Original Experience 
Original Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Students
Related topics: Messages for Instructors, Messages for Students

Responding to messages is an important part of course communication. The "Reply all" option in the Original Course View is limited to messages with up to 100 recipients. With this release, we have raised limits to 1000 recipients. This is to help with wider course communication and based on client feedback. When using the "Reply all" feature, it will respond to all users on the original message. If you wish to select which users to reply to, the "Reply" option allows you to desired select users.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Original courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Flexible Grading 

Usability improvements for flexible grading – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students
Related topics: Grade Tests With Flexible Grading, Grade Assignments With Flexible Grading, Override Grades

Streamlining the grading process saves instructors time and reduces their workload. We have implemented several enhancements to Flexible Grading in response to instructor feedback. All the enhancements target improved usability and efficiency.  

We relocated the attempt selector to improve visibility and efficiency. It is now nearer to the attempt grade pill. This allows instructors to switch between a student's attempts during grading.  

Image 1. Instructors view displaying the relocated attempt selector next to the attempt grade pill

Instructors view displaying the relocated attempt selector next to the attempt grade pill

The grading interface now displays a single grade pill. This provides a more intuitive grading workflow. The single grade pill also prevents accidental grade overrides. 

Image 2. Instructors view displaying a single grade pill as well as the submission receipt for the displayed attempt

Instructors view displaying a single grade pill as well as the submission receipt for the displayed attempt

Overriding the final grade is now an explicit grading option. The three-dot menu next to the attempt grade pill now includes an Override Final Grade option. When selected, an Override label appears above the grade pill. Here the instructor can adjust the final grade for the submission. 

Image 3. Instructors view displaying the new override grade workflow

Instructors view displaying the new override grade workflow

Image 4. Instructors view displaying a graded submission where a grade override has been applied

nstructors view displaying a graded submission where a grade override has been applied

The submission receipt for the selected attempt now displays beneath the attempt selector.

For administrators: The Flexible Grading experience is a available behind a feature flag. The feature is on by default to ensure that the Flexible Grading interface is available to users by default. You can turn off the Flexible Grading interface by setting this feature to Off. 

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Add question feedback when grading by student – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students

Instructors can now provide contextual feedback by student on all question types. Question level feedback promotes deeper understanding and personal growth among students. Question level feedback complements the existing capabilities of overall submission feedback and automated feedback for auto-graded questions.

Note: We are targeting the 3900.91 May release for per-question feedback when grading tests by questions.  

Image 1. Instructor view of adding per question feedback

nstructor view of adding per question feedback

Image 2. Instructor view of question with saved feedback  

Instructor view of question with saved feedback

Once students have submitted their tests and scores are posted, students can access the feedback. Students can access both overall feedback and question-specific feedback.

Image 3. Student view of feedback added to an essay question

Student view of feedback added to an essay question

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Gradebook 

Calculations changed from using BigDecimal to BigFraction – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS and Learn 9.1 
Ultra Experience and Original Experience 
Ultra Course View and Original Course View 
Impact: Instructors, Students

Instructors need a gradebook that supports diverse grading scenarios. We are changing the software library used to perform calculations in calculated columns and the overall course grade.

Example: A course contains 3 assignments worth 22 points each. The student scores 13/22 on the first assignment, 14/22 on the second assignment, and 15/22 on the third assignment. An instructor creates a calculated column to calculate the average of these assignments.  

Using the new software library, BigFraction, the average will calculate as 14/22.

With the former software library, BigDecimal, the average would incorrectly calculate to 13.99/22. The new software library ensures calculations compute as expected.

For administrators: This change applies to both Ultra and Original courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Overall Grade added to the Gradebook Download – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS   
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View   
Impact: Instructors 
Related topic: Work Offline with Grade Data

Some instructors download grades from the gradebook to analyze in other applications, such as Microsoft Excel.

Now, instructors can choose to include the Overall Grade for students in the downloaded gradebook. This additional data point helps provide a comprehensive view of student performance.

Image 1. Instructor view of Download Grades panel with ‘Select All Items’ option selected

Instructor view of Download Grades panel with ‘Select All Items’ option selected

Image 2. Instructor view of the downloaded grades file that contains the Overall Grade column

Instructor view of the downloaded grades file that contains the Overall Grade column

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Edit gradebook category for Partner Cloud content – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS   
Ultra Experience   
Ultra Course View   
Impact: Instructors 
Related topic: Grade Columns

Some instructors want to change the gradebook category for third-party content and tools (e.g., Cengage). Now instructors can edit the category information from the gradebook.

Image 1. Instructor view of the Edit menu option for a Partner Cloud generated gradebook item

Instructor view of the Edit menu option for a Partner Cloud generated gradebook item

Image 2. Instructor view of the Edit panel for a Partner Cloud generated gradebook item

Instructor view of the Edit panel for a Partner Cloud generated gradebook item

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed. 

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Learner Progression & Personalized Experience 

Long names visibility and sorting controls for the Student Activity report for assessments on small devices and mobile app – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Original course view 
Impact: Instructors 
Related Topic: Student Activity Details for Assessments

Depending on the culture, personal name lengths vary. To continue demonstrating our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we adjusted long names in the Student Activity report for assessments. This change ensures that names are visible on a variety of devices. This helps instructors avoid confusion when viewing students with similar names. 

Also, instructors can now sort the student list by last name in small devices so they can organize the list easily. 

Image 1: Long names visibility and sorting control in the Student Activity report for an assessment on a small screen

Student Activity report for Assessments showing long names

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Integrations

Delete a deployment ID - 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience and Original Experience
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Managing LTIs

Multiple deployments allow administrators to integrate to an LTI 1.3 third party tool that manages different credentials through the institutional hierarchy. Now administrators can delete these deployments and remove tenants that are no longer active.

Image 1. Delete link in deployment drop down menu

Manage Deployments screen with menu drop down showing options including Delete

For administrators: Deployment management is available for both the Ultra and Original Experience.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Converting Building Block content to LTI: Student submissions and feedback – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Original Experience
Original Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Convert Building Blocks to LTI

We remain committed to ensuring a smooth transition experience from building blocks to LTI. We have further enhanced our conversion tool. Now administrators can include student submissions and instructor feedback.

During the conversion process, the tool prompts administrators to select whether to include the content links added in student submissions and feedback. If selected, those links in student submissions and feedback transition to LTI format within the selected course.

Image 1. Option to migrate student submission and feedback content 

Migrate courses with building block content with Migrate student submissions and feedback option highlighted

We encourage administrators to review the conversion tool settings. Please make informed choices based on your institution's requirements. 

For administrators: If a course contains content from Kaltura, Panopto, Echo360, MediaSite and/or ShareStream building blocks, you must perform the conversion process for each building block.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Rubric Evaluations API Enhancements

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Learn APIs

Rubrics provide educators with a structured approach for assessing student work. We continue to enhance the rubric evaluations APIs. Now we have endpoints to create and update rubric evaluations to gradable items associated with a rubric.  

Developers will gain access to the following endpoints:

  • POST …/public/v1/courses/{courseId}/rubrics/{rubricId}/associations/{rubricAssociationId}/evaluations
  • PATCH …/public/v1/courses/{courseId}/rubrics/{rubricId}/associations/{rubricAssociationId}/evaluations/{evaluationId}

Before using these options, consider the following tips for a smooth experience:

  • When using the PATCH method, include the cells intended for update. Confirm that at least one cell relates to the evaluationId provided in the URL.
  • Provide only one value per aspect in the rubric cells. Check that it matches the rubric definition.
  • Before creating or updating rubrics, verify that the gradebook grade allows for such changes. This step ensures accurate and reliable assessment data.

For administrators: The REST integration user must have the "Course/Organization Control Panel (Grade Center) > Full Control" entitlement.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Announcements API Enhancements: Creator Information  – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Learn APIs

Course announcements are vital for timely communication in courses. Some courses contain users in varying roles. Identifying announcement authors via REST API is challenging for users. We've enhanced the Announcement API by adding the "Creator" parameter. This reveals the user IDs of the authors of both Course and System Announcements.

With the new "Creator" parameter, developers can now identify the authors of announcements via API. Administrators can also filter announcements by the creator.

For administrators: The required entitlements for Announcements API remain unchanged.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Learn Core & Security

File Size limits now also apply to the Content Collection – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: File size upload limit

Administrators must manage storage used by courses. We have enhanced group file size limits to now also apply to the Content Collection. This change helps administrators ensure responsible usage of storage across the platform.

For administrators: We recommend that you review any extensions and limits previously set.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Moodle Conversion Improvement: Gradebook Categories – 3900.89 

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience and Original Experience 
Ultra Course View and Original Course View 
Impact: Instructors and Administrators 
Related Topic: Migrate from Moodle

Categories provide a way for instructors to group assessments together in the Gradebook. Instructors can use categories to adjust the weighting of items in the Gradebook. Now when importing a Moodle package (.mbz), categories are preserved. Instructors will have the option to align these categories to assessments. 

For administrators: This feature is available for all courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Individual date adjustments from Batch Edit – 3900.89

Blackboard Learn SaaS 
Ultra Experience 
Ultra Course View 
Impact: Instructors
Related Topic: Batch Edit

Updating availability and due dates after a course copy, import, or a conversion can take time. We're making it easier for instructors to make date adjustments for any item on the Batch Edit page. Instructors now have the option to change the due date and availability (Show On and Hide After) for any item. 

Image 1. Adding a due date for an assignment

The Batch Edit panel, showing an item's options expanded to show due dates

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to April 2024 – 3900.89 Release description


Learn SaaS release 3900.86.0

Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.86.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 6 February 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 7 March 2024
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View

For full feature details, please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.86.0 version included below on this page. Details can also be found Behind the Blackboard

Latest release: 3900.86.0-rel.49+1802b14 to Production servers to take place on 28 March 2024.

For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.

 


March 2024 – 3900.86 Release

The March 2024 - 3900.86 release is robust with features in 10 areas:

  • Instructional design;
  • Competency based education;
  • Tests and assignments;
  • Communication and collaboration;
  • Flexible grading;
  • Gradebook;
  • Learner progression and personalized experience;
  • Integrations;
  • Learn core and security, and;
  • Upgrade to Ultra

These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action.

Instructors:

Instructors and Students:

Administrators:


Instructional Design

AI Design Assistant – Context picker for test question generation – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

The AI Design Assistant offers inspiration and efficiency when generating test questions. Instructors can now select course items to help define questions. This option improves the alignment of generated questions to course content.

The context picker does not draw context from items that are attached to an Ultra document. Only items that appear on the context picker’s menu are used by the context picker. In future releases, attached files will be included in the context picker.

Image 1. Auto-generate question option in assessment

Auto-generate question option in assessment

Image 2. ‘Select Course Items’

Select 'Course Items'

Image 3. Select course items and then, ‘Select items’

Select course items and then, ‘Select items’

Image 4. Select ‘Generate’ to apply the context to the generation workflow

Select ‘Generate’ to apply the context to the generation workflow

Image 5. Select questions generated and add them to your assessment

Select questions generated and add them to your assessment

For administrators: In Installed Tools, select Settings for AI Design Assistant and Unsplash. The default state is 'off.' When this feature is ‘on,’ you will need to assign the following privileges to course roles as necessary, i.e. Instructor: 'Search for images using Unsplash’ and ‘Use AI features’.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Competency Based Education

Goal alignment to Journals – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Institutions want to align goals to course content. Goal alignment ensures that the curriculum is designed to meet specific learning outcomes.

Instructors can now align goals to journals to ensure that the activity measures the desired learning outcomes. This helps to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of evaluation and feedback practices.

Instructors can also align goals to the following course items:

  • Assignments
  • Tests, including individual questions
  • Questions in banks
  • Discussions
  • Rubrics criterion
  • Files
  • Web links
  • Teaching tools with LTI connection
  • Documents

Image 1. Instructor view of the “Align with goal’ menu option used to align a journal to a goal

Instructor view of the “Align with goal’ menu option used to align a journal to a goal

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Tests & Assignments

No Due Date assessment option – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Due dates are an important aspect of the teaching and learning process. In some scenarios, such as self-paced learning, an instructor may not want to apply a due date. To make the option for not having a due date more evident, we've added a "No due date" option for Tests and Assignments.

Image 1. Test Settings panel showing the new “No due date” option

est Settings panel showing the new “No due date” option

We also updated the default due date and time to tomorrow’s date at 11:59 pm.

Image 2. Test Settings panel displaying the new default due date and time 

Test Settings panel displaying the new default due date and time

There may be cases when the “No due date” selection conflicts with the Assessment Results settings. When this occurs, the instructor is prompted to review the settings.

Image 3. A warning banner appears when the "No due date" selection conflicts with Assessment Results settings

A warning banner appears when the "No due date" selection conflicts with Assessment Results settings

Instructors can navigate to the Assessment Results section in the Settings via the link in the banner.

Image 4. Assessment results timing options when there is no due date

Assessment results timing options when there is no due date

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Communication & Collaboration

Announcement indicators and mark announcements as read/unread – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students

Announcements are an important communications channel within a course. Over the past 12 months, course announcements usage has more than tripled! With such an increase in usage, it is important to help create awareness of new announcements and read/unread controls.

Now, there is a number indicator next to the announcement tab in the course. The indicator signals the number of unread announcements available.

Additionally, users can now mark announcements as read or unread. On the New Course Announcement pop-up, users have the option to mark the read state. Users can also mark announcements as read or unread from the Announcement page.

Image 1. Number of unread Announcements next to the Announcement tab

Number of unread Announcements next to the Announcement tab

Image 2. Announcements pop-up with the option to mark as read/unread

Announcements pop-up with the option to mark as read/unread

Image 3. Announcements page with the option to mark as read/unread

Announcements page with the option to mark as read/unread

Image 4. Matching announcement and messages indicators for consistency

Matching announcement and messages indicators for consistency

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Flexible Grading

Last used view state of flexible grading side panels preserved – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Instructors want to configure the grading interface according to their preferences. In flexible grading, instructors can collapse or expand the left panel (student cards) and right panel (feedback and rubrics). To provide a better user experience, the last used state is now preserved in the browser. Now,  navigating between student attempts and across sessions provides a more efficient experience.

Image 1. Flexible grading view with both the left and right panels expanded

Flexible grading view with both the left and right panels expanded

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Gradebook

Gradebook item statistics – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Item statistics give insight to course members' overall performance on a graded content. Now, instructors can select a column in the gradebook to access summary statistics for any graded item. The statistics page displays key metrics such as:

  • Minimum and maximum value
  • Range
  • Average
  • Median
  • Standard deviation
  • Variance

The number of submissions requiring grading and the distribution of grades also displays.

Image 1. Access to item statistics from the grid view

Access to item statistics from the grid view

Image 2. Access to item statistics from the Gradable Items view

Access to item statistics from the Gradable Items view

Image 3. Item statistics page

Item statistics page

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Text grade schema converts to points – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

This particular upgrade won't be released to production. A new project is on the way to support all text column needs. When the time comes, we will be announcing this new initiative.

In the Original course view, instructors can create text schemas that are unsupported in the Ultra course view. When converting courses, text schemas convert to a points schema. After conversion to Ultra, instructors can create and apply an alternate schema if desired.

For administrators: There are no configurations needed.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Learner Progression & Personalized Experience

Send messages to students from the Student Activity report for assessments on small and medium devices and the mobile app – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Instructors lead busy, on-the-go lives and access Learn from a variety of devices. Some instructors use small or medium devices or the mobile app. Now these instructors can send messages to students from the Student Activity report for assessments. The message option is in the ellipsis menu for each student.

Image 1. Send message option in the Student Activity report for an assessment on a small screen

Send message option in the Student Activity report for an assessment on a small screen

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Integrations

Converting Building Block content to LTI: MediaSite course content – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Original Experience
Original Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Convert Building Blocks to LTI

Mediasite, a comprehensive rich media system, integrates with Original courses via building blocks. With building block support ending, administrators can now use the conversion tool with Mediasite content.

The tool currently supports the conversion of content embedded with the content editor and mashup links. The conversion tool transitions Mediasite for content links from Building Block to LTI.

Image 1. The administrator accesses the tool to convert Building Block content to LTI

The administrator accesses the tool to convert Building Block content to LTI

Image 2. The administrator selects the MediaSite Building Block and maps Building Block tools to LTI placements

The administrator selects the MediaSite Building Block and maps Building Block tools to LTI placements

Administrators must configure the MediaSite LTI integration before converting links. Custom parameters will not be required for this configuration.

Image 3. Building block mappings can be viewed and edited

Building block mappings can be viewed and edited

Next, an administrator will choose courses to be scanned for MediaSite links. Select the MediaSite Building Block. Use the course search tool to select courses for link migration.

Image 4. The administrator selects the ShareStream Building Block and chooses courses to migrate

The administrator selects the ShareStream Building Block and chooses courses to migrate

Administrators can monitor the status of a conversion process. Choose MediaSite as the Building Block. Define the start and end dates to find the desired migration task. Select Search. The results will indicate the number of courses that were successful, and the number of courses with failures.

Image 5. Checking the status of a migration task

Checking the status of a migration task

For administrators: If a course contains content from MediaSite, ShareStream, Panopto, Kaltura and/or Echo360 building blocks, the conversion process must be performed once for each Building Block.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Converting Building Block content to LTI: Automatic Conversion – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Original Experience
Original Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Convert Building Blocks to LTI

Many Original courses contain content links for the partners listed below. Now, we auto-convert Building Block links for these partner contents to LTI when importing an Original course or restoring an Original course archive.

  • Kaltura
  • Echo360
  • Panopto
  • ShareStream
  • MediaSite

The automatic conversion ensures that course content transitions to LTI. This will promote consistency and adaptability across the platform.

For administrators: To ensure the auto-conversion of building block links to LTI, please review the following:

  • The administrator must configure each building block in the Migration Service Settings section of the Conversion tool in the Admin Panel Settings.
  • The administrator must configure each associated LTI integration before converting the links.
  • The administrator will have the capability to enable/disable this functionality through a feature flag via a support ticket.

 

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Rubric Associations API Enhancements – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: Learn APIs

Rubrics serve as a well-organized and transparent framework for assessing student work. Administrators can now manage associations for rubrics via API for the following:

  • tests
  • assignments (without questions)
  • graded discussions
  • individual questions (Original course view only)

Managing rubrics and their associations via API streamlines rubric alignment across many courses.

Administrators can now use the enhanced API to perform the full spectrum of CRUD operations: create, update and delete rubric associations.

Developers will gain access to the following endpoints:

  • POST: public/v1/courses/{courseId}/rubrics/{rubricId}/associations
  • PATCH: public/v1/courses/{courseId}/rubrics/{rubricId}/associations/{rubricAssociationId}
  • DELETE: public/v1/courses/{courseId}/rubrics/{rubricId}/associations/{rubricAssociationId}

For administrators: Refer to the API documentation for detailed information about entitlements to perform CRUD operations on Rubric Associations.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Learn Core & Security

Group File Size Limit  – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Administrators
Related topic: File size upload limit

Administrators are tasked with the management of storage used by courses. To help, we have added a feature to equip administrators to set file upload limits by file extensions. For example, if an administrator wants to prevent users from uploading any Word documents, they can set the file upload extensions for .docx, .doc, .docm, .dotx, .dot, and other Word extensions. This way, users will not be able to upload any files with those extensions to the course that exceed the limit set by the administrator.

Administrators can specify a maximum file size that applies to files in general. They may also set maximum file sizes by groups defined by file extensions. There are no restrictions on the number of groups an administrator can define.

Example:

  • An institution has a policy of 512MB size limit for most files. The administrator sets that limit for the maximum file size.
  • The institution licenses a video platform and wants users to store large videos there. Because of this, the limit for video in Ultra courses will be 25MB.
  • The administrator creates a group for video and sets the limit.
  • The administrator defines the following file extensions, each separated by a comma. This will restrict all video files .webm, .mkv, .flv, .vob, .ogv, .ogg, .drc, .gif, .gifv, .mng, .avi, .MTS, .M2TS, .TS, .mov, .qt, .wmv, .yuv, .rm, .rmvb, .viv, .asf, .amv, .mp4, .m4p, .m4v, .mp2, .mpe, .mpv, .mpg, .mpeg, .m2v, .svi, .3gp, .3g2, .mxf, .roq, .nsv, .f4v, .f4p, .f4a, .f4b

Image 1. Manage files limits by maximum file size; add custom file groups

Manage files limits by maximum file size; add custom file groups

Image 2. A message informs the user of any files that do not comply with the limit set by the institution

A message informs the user of any files that do not comply with the limit set by the institution

For administrators: This feature applies to Ultra courses except for Content Collection direct uploads. To configure it, open the Administrator Panel -> System Configuration -> File size limits.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Upgrade to Ultra

Moodle Conversion Improvements – 3900.86

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Instructors

These improvements will not be available immediately in the release to Test/Stage environments for the 3900.86 release. We will update this note and send an email notification to followers of this page when it becomes available.

We continue to make progress on improving the conversion of Moodle courses. With this update, we're adding support for converting the following Moodle Question Types:

  • Multiple Choice (Single Answer)
  • Multiple Choice (Multiple Answers)
  • True/False
  • Matching
  • Short Answer
  • Numerical
  • Essay
  • Calculated
  • Calculated Multichoice (Single Answer)
  • Calculated Multichoice (Multiple Answers)
  • Calculated Simple

For administrators: This feature will be available for all courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to March 2024 – 3900.86 Release description


Learn SaaS release 3900.84.0

Blackboard Learn SaaS Continuous Delivery v3900.84.0
Release to Test/Stage: Tuesday, 9 January 2024 | Release to Production: Thursday, 1 February 2024
Original Experience, Ultra Experience
Original Course View, Ultra Course View

For full feature details please review the corresponding notes for the Learn 3900.84.0 version included below on this page. Details can also be found on Behind the Blackboard

Latest release: 3900.84.0-rel.49+3c179b0 to Production servers to take place on 29 February 2024.

For more information on updates and bug fixes, please visit Behind the Blackboard.

 


Tests & Assignments

Forms – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Some instructors need to collect information to place students in clinical experiences. Others need to survey their class to gauge student interests or opinions. Now, instructors can create a Form for these use cases.

The following items are supported in a Form:

  • essay question
  • Likert question
  • multiple choice question
  • true/false question
  • text
  • local file
  • file from cloud storage
  • page break

By default, a Form is not graded. Questions in a form don’t have correct or incorrect answers.

Image 1. An example ungraded Form used for clinical teaching placement

Example of ungraded Form used for clinical teaching placement

Some instructors may choose to grade a Form to encourage participation. When this is the case, instructors must manually enter a grade for each submission.

Instructors may view Form submissions by student or by question in the new grading view.

Image 2. Ungraded Form submissions by question

Example of ungraded Form submissions by question

Image 3. Graded Form submission by student

Graded Form submission by student

Instructors may download the Form results from the Gradebook and Submissions page as an Excel spreadsheet or CSV file.


Image 4. Download Form results from Gradable Items view

Download Form results from Gradable Items view


Image 5. Download Form results for Submissions page

Download Form results for Submissions page

In the Gradebook grid view, student submissions for an ungraded Form appear as “Submitted.” Graded Forms display the manually entered grade or appropriate grading status.

A Survey created in the Original course view converts/copies to a Form in the Ultra course view. Only questions and options are supported in a Form convert/copy. After conversion, an exception suggests that instructors review their questions.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Likert question type – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Likert questions help provide a quantitative measure of opinions and attitudes. The responses often range from strongly disagree  to strongly agree. This question type is now available in the Form assessment type.

Image 1. Set up a Likert question

Set up a Likert question

The scale range defaults to 3 options, with suggested labeling for options 1 and 3 as strongly disagree and strongly agree. Instructors may select a range of 3, 5, or 7 and label the poles as desired. Instructors may also choose to include a "not applicable" option.

Image 2. Example Likert question in an end of unit survey

Example Likert question in an end of unit survey

Note: A Likert question in a Survey created in the Original course view converts/copies to a Form in the Ultra course view. The scale range default is 3.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Rubrics performance level descriptions: Display choice persists – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Rubrics play a critical role in the grading process for many educators. Rubrics performance level descriptions are hidden by default. Instructors can choose to display the performance descriptions as needed for grading.

In the past, the performance level descriptions display option didn’t persist when navigating submissions. This caused frustration for instructors.

Now, the rubrics grading interface stores the most recently used display option. This means that instructors who rely on performance level descriptions when grading don’t have to turn them on each time they navigate to grade another submission. The performance level display option preference is stored on a per-user per-assessment basis.

Image 1. Rubric grading displaying performance level descriptions

Rubric grading displaying performance level descriptions

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Communication & Collaboration

Send reminders from the gradebook: Improved student count for instructors – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Some instructors like to send reminders to students who haven't yet made a submission for an assessment. The send reminder option in the gradebook saves instructors time in student support. We have refined the scenarios that determine the students who will receive the reminder. This will make the recipient list more accurate.

A student user will be counted and receive the reminder if they didn't submit and:

  • they are available in the course.
  • they have not received an automatic zero.
  • they don’t have a manual override score that was posted.

These changes help ensure that the number of students indicated in the send reminder confirmation is more accurate.

The Send Reminder option is now also available for LTI and 3rd party tools with assessments in the gradebook. With LTI Advantage integrations, the tool can inform Blackboard Learn when a student has submitted, even if they haven’t yet received a grade. If the tool doesn’t support this, it is possible that students will receive a reminder even if they’ve submitted their work. The tool provider can enhance their integration to improve this.

Image 1. Send Reminder confirmation

Send reminders confirmation

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Flexible Grading

Audio/Video Recording in feedback: Usability improvements – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Audio/video feedback is a more personalized and engaging means for providing feedback. It is beneficial for addressing complex concepts and sharing detailed explanations. To ensure easy and clear access to this tool, we have exposed the Audio/Video option on the feedback toolbar. When in use, the recording window appears on the right side of the screen so that the instructor can view the student submission. The instructor can scroll through a student's response while recording their feedback. The instructor can maximize the recording window for better visibility.

Image 1. Audio/Video recording on the main tool bar

Audio visual tool on main tool bar

Image 2. Audio/Video recording window in default state

AudioVideo tool recording window in default state

Image 3. Audio/Video recording window in maximized state

AudioVideo tool recording window when maximized

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Gradebook

Feedback on override and automatic zero grades for Tests and Assignments – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students

Feedback is crucial for students as it supports and shapes their learning journey. Now, instructors can give feedback for overridden tests, assignment grades, and automatic zeros. This option appears in the Gradebook grid view, and the Submissions list after the override or automatic zero is entered.

Image 1. Feedback from the grid view

Feedback from grid view

Image 2. Feedback from the submission list 

Feedback from submission list

Image 3. Feedback panel

Feedback panel

Override feedback on group submissions will be supported in a future release.

Additionally, instructors can now upload feedback for students as part of the offline grading process. In the past, only uploaded grades were visible to students.

Students can view override feedback after grades are posted.

We also improved students' access to the feedback. Now, feedback for all attempts on a test or assignment is visible in a panel.

Image 4. Student view of feedback

Student view of feedback

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Learner Progression & Personalized Experience

Missed due dates included in the Course Activity Report – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Punctuality and time management are key for student success. Instructors need an easy method for identifying students who may be at risk. Now, instructors can view the number of missed due dates for students in the Course Activity Report.

Instructors can customize the missed due date alert in the Alert Settings.

There is no default setting for missed due date alert. Be sure to customize the alert settings.

Image 1. Customize missed due date alert

Admin view of missed due date metric and alert setting

Students who trigger the missed due dates alert appear in the Course Activity report table and chart and in the downloaded report.

Image 2. Missed due dates in the Course Activity report view

Missed due dates in the Course Activity report view

Image 3. Students with missed due date alerts appear in the Course Activity chart view as a purple dot

Students with missed due date alerts appear in the Course Activity chart view as a purple dot

Students will not receive notifications based on course missed due date alert setting. If a student opts in to missed due date alerts, alerts are sent for each content item.

As before, activity stream notifications for instructors include a summary of students with alerts per course. Now, the summary includes missed due dates alerts. These alerts are triggered every day in case there are new students with alerts in a course. New courses need at least 2 weeks of activity to start triggering these notifications.

Image 4. Missed due date alerts appear in the instructor's activity stream

Customize missed due date alert

The missed due date alert applies when a student doesn’t submit before the due date in the following:

  • Assessments, including group and formative
  • Assessments with the “collect submissions offline” option selected - when an instructor creates an attempt and enters the submission date/time after the due date
  • Assessments with the “hide student names” option selected - alerts only after all student submissions are graded and student names are exposed
  • Discussions and journals marked for a grade
  • SCORM packages when the “Grade individual SCOs” option is selected in SCORM settings
  • Other 3rd party activities, such as LTI and Respondus

Special considerations:

  • Students with a due date accommodation never have their work marked late. A student with due date accommodation won't have any missed due date alerts.
  • Students with a due date exception will have a missed due date alert if the excepted due date passes and there is no submission.
  • Students with an exemption never have their work marked late. A student with an exemption won't have any missed due date alerts.
  • Hidden content with a due date or content with date/time and performance release conditions are included in missed due date alerts.
  • Content with a due date and release conditions for individual course members or groups will alert only those students/groups included in the condition who miss the due date.
  • New items added to the gradebook with a due date are not included in the missed due date alerts.

Image 5. Admin view of missed due date metric and alert setting

Missed due date alerts appear in the instructor's activity stream

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.

For administrators: A new configuration option is on the Ultra configuration page in the Administrator Panel. The default state is on. If the missed due date option is set to off, the Course Activity report still displays students' overall grade, hours in course, and days since last access.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Long student names visibility in the Course Activity Report – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Depending on the culture, personal name lengths vary. In demonstrating our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we have adjusted long names in the Course Activity Report. This change ensures that names are visible even on small devices. This helps instructors avoid confusion when viewing students with similar names.

Image 1. Students with long names in the Course Activity Report

Students with long names in the Course Activity report

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

To view the Course Activity and Student Activity Details reports, the user’s role needs to have the “Course/Organization Control Panel (Grade Center) -> View Grades” privilege.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Better control over "Student Alerts" notifications for instructors - 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Administrators

Notifications of certain student-related alerts help instructors be more aware of students who may be at risk. To help, we've made it easy for instructors to control what student alerts they receive in their Activity Stream.

The “Student Alerts” options are:

  • Low overall grade
  • Missed due date alert
  • and Last access alert

Image 1. “Student Alerts” section in the Activity Stream’s notifications settings

Improvements to student alerts

Image 2. A student alert notification with a low overall grade, last access, and missed due date alerts

Notification settings for student alerts

Administrators can control these 3 notifications at the institutional level in the administrator panel.

Notifications are:

  • Student Last Access Alert  for Instructors
  • Student Low Overall Grade Alert  for Instructors
  • Students Missed Due Dates Alert  for Instructors

Image 3. “Notification Settings” menu in the administrator panel

Student alerts displayed in the activity stream

Key considerations:

  • These alerts are only available for courses.
  • Courses must have at least 10 students and no more than 2000 students. Courses with enrollments outside of that range won’t receive notifications.
  • Notifications for these alerts are sent nightly only when new alerts are met.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. 
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. These notifications are based on the values set in the Course Activity alert settings.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Integrations

Google Workspace: Add a second primary domain – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Administrators

We've finalized the addition of this feature and will release it to client production instances or client environments during the week of January 15 to 22.

Some institutions manage two primary Google Workspaces: one for instructors and one for students. Now, The Google integration for Blackboard Learn permits the addition of a second workspace. This allows students to access Google Files added to the course from their instructor. Students can log in with their Google Workspace accounts to access the content.

Enable “Connect another Google Workspace” to configure a second workspace. Be sure to enter a Client ID, API Key, and Client secret copied from Google Cloud. Also, make sure to configure the Consent Screen

As part of the configuration process, ensure that the Authorized redirect URIs, already mentioned in the Help documentation, are accurately entered in the newly created Consent Screen in the Additional/Secondary Workspace.

Image 1. Configure a Google Integration

Administrator Tools screen to configure Google integration

Ensure that student users have an Institutional Role set to Student.

Image 2. Institution Role options for a student user

 Institutional Role screen set to Student

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra and Original courses. Access  the Administrator Control Panel to configure.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Converting Building Block content to LTI: ShareStream course content - 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Administrators

ShareSteam is an integrated partner solution for managing and streaming video. In the past, it integrated with Original courses using Building Blocks. Its newer integration uses the Learning Tool Interoperability (LTI) standard. With support ending for Building Blocks, administrators may wish to assist instructors with updating links that were created in the past.

We’ve enhanced the link conversion tool to assist administrators with transitioning from the ShareStream Building Block to LTI. The link conversion tool supports these types of ShareStream video links:

  • Content embedded with the Content Editor
  • Mashup links
  • Course tool content

Image 1. The administrator accesses the tool to convert Building Block content to LTI 

Converting Building Block content to LTI highlighted

Image 2. The administrator selects the ShareStream Building Block and maps Building Block tools to LTI placements

On Migration Service Settings screen, ShareStream is selected as the Building Block is selected as

Administrators should select the ShareStream Building Block and the correct ShareStream LTI integration. Administrators must configure the ShareStream LTI integration before converting links. Custom parameters can be added if ShareStream informs you that this is required.

There are multiple ShareStream tools. These should be mapped to the correct LTI placements created by the administrator.

Image 3. Building block mappings can be viewed and edited

Building block mappings after ShareStream Building Block is selected fro migration settings

Next, an administrator will choose courses to be scanned for ShareStream links. Select the ShareStream Building Block. Use the course search tool to select courses for link migration.

Image 4. The administrator selects the ShareStream Building Block and chooses courses to migrate

Course Migration Settings screem with ShareStream selected

Administrators can monitor the status of a conversion process. Choose ShareStream as the Building Block. Define the start and end dates to find the desired migration task. Select Search. The results will indicate the number of courses that were successfully converted and the number of courses with failures.

Image 5. Checking the status of a migration task

Course Migration Settings screem with ShareStream selected

For administrators: If a course contains content from ShareStream, Panopto, Kaltura, and/or Echo360 building blocks, the conversion process must be performed once for each Building Block.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Kaltura course content conversion - 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Original Experience
Original Course View
Impact: Administrators

We improved the tool that migrates Kaltura Building Block links to LTI links. It now supports converting links created with older versions of the Kaltura integration. Content added to Learn Original courses with the older Kaltura V1 and V2 Building Blocks will now convert. Also, the content can be converted to LTI 1.1 for all Kaltura versions.

Administrators can rerun the migration tool on courses if older Building Block links are not converted with previous conversion tasks. 

For administrators: This improvement is part of the migration tool. The older Building Blocks embedded videos within tables and anchor tags. This content is now processed correctly. There is no need for additional steps or configurations.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Learn Core & Security

LDAP authentication requires encryption – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Impact: Administrators

At Anthology, we’re continuously improving the security stance of our products. LDAP is an authentication method supported in Blackboard Learn. It's no longer possible to configure LDAP connections without encryption. The “No SSL” option can’t be selected for new LDAP configurations.

The “No SSL” setting was only appropriate for self-hosted clients operating in closed networks. With the ending of standard support for self-hosting, we’ve removed this option. Existing configurations using “No SSL” won’t be changed, but new configurations aren’t possible.

For administrators: We do not recommend using the “No SSL” option with LDAP. If you have an existing LDAP configuration using this setting, you should work with your IT team to transition to a secured integration. We also recommend you consider using the more modern federated authentication method SAML. This change is for all Learn environments. There are no configurations needed.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Limit enrollment management actions based on data source key of enrollments – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Instructors, Administrators

There are cases when instructors need to manage some course or organization enrollments.

Instructors may need to add co-instructors, assistants, or graders. However, institutional policy often mandates instructors should not alter records from a Student Information System (SIS).

Now, administrators can limit whether users can make changes to enrollment records based on how the enrollment was added. Enrollments added through the GUI belong to the SYSTEM data source. Enrollments added through integrations are assigned to other data sources based on configuration (non-SYSTEM).

The following Course/Organization Role privileges have been changed:

  • Change the availability of enrollments
  • Change a users’ roles in the course
  • Set an instructor as primary instructor
  • Remove (delete) users from the course

The 4 Course/Organization Role privileges have been split into 8 privileges—4 for enrollment records in SYSTEM and 4 for enrollment records not in SYSTEM. These are found in the privileges manager for each Course/Organization Role:

  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Remove System DSK Users from Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Change System DSK User's availability in Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Change System DSK User's Role in Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Set System DSK instructor as primary in Ultra Course View
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Remove Non-System DSK Users from Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Change Non-System DSK User's Role in Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Change Non-System DSK User's availability in Course/Organization
  • Course/Organization Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Set Non-System DSK instructor as primary in Ultra Course View

Administrators can configure each Course Role with the appropriate privileges for their policies. The privileges and restrictions are applicable to users in both Ultra and Original Course Views.

The Original Course View has a bulk remove action for enrollments. If the course user is restricted from removing any of the selected users, the action is stopped with a warning.

Image 1. Administrator sets the privileges for a Course Role 

Administrator sets the privileges for a Course Role

If the above entitlements related to System DSK Users are permitted and entitlements related to Non-System DSK Users are restricted, it will allow user to Remove, Edit Availability, Edit Roles and set Instructor as Primary for System DSK users only.

Image 2. Ultra example when Remove Non-System DSK Users’ entitlement is restricted 

Ultra example when Remove Non-System DSK Users’ entitlement is restricted

The remove member icon does not appear when a course user with no permissions tries to delete a Non-System DSK user.

Image 3. Ultra example when Remove System DSK Users’ entitlement is permitted

Ultra example when Remove System DSK Users’ entitlement is permitted

The remove member icon appears in the GUI when a course user with permissions tries to delete a System DSK user.

Image 4. Course user in Original Course View is restricted from a bulk remove action because they aren’t allowed to delete the selected users

Course user in Original Course View is restricted from a bulk remove action because they aren’t allowed to delete the selected users

Image 5. Course user in Original Course View is restricted from a bulk remove action because they aren’t allowed to delete some of the selected users

Course user in Original Course View is restricted from a bulk remove action because they aren’t allowed to delete some of the selected users

The upgrade process should retain consistent behavior with the prior release. For example, if a Course Role had the privilege to remove users from a course/organization, they should now have the equivalent privileges:

  • Remove System DSK Users from Course/Organization
  • Remove Non-System DSK Users from Course/Organization

For administrators: We recommend that you review privileges configured for your Course Roles. You can adjust Course Role privileges to better conform to your institutional policies.

For administrators: A new Course Role privilege was added in this release, "Course Control Panel (Users and Groups) > Users > Enroll User for all roles." This privilege does not need to be configured as it will support an upcoming enhancement and does not yet serve a purpose. More information will come in upcoming release notes.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


Upgrade to Ultra

Import Moodle packages – 3900.84

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Ultra Experience, Original Experience
Ultra Course View, Original Course View
Impact: Instructors, Administrators

Switching from Moodle to Blackboard Learn Ultra is now easier than ever. Instructors can now import Moodle packages into Ultra and Original view courses themselves. This change removes instructor reliance on an administrator.

Image 1. Import Course Content

Import Content panel open on a course displaying import options

Learn more on importing courses from Moodle for more directions. We also have a guide to help you understand the differences in terminology.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra and Original courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to February 2024 – 3900.84 Release description


January 2024 – 3900.82 Release

We're aware that updates to copy workflows for admins are causing issues and we're actively working on a resolution.

The January 2024 - 3900.82 is robust with features in 9 areas:

  • Instructional design;
  • Mastery learning / Competency based education;
  • Tests and assignments;
  • Flexible grading;
  • Gradebook;
  • Learner progression and personalized experience;
  • Integrations;
  • Mobile; and
  • Upgrade to Ultra

These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action.

Instructors:

Instructors and students:

All users:

Instructors and Administrators:

Administrators:


Instructional Design

AI Design Assistant - Authentic Assignment prompt generation – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

AI plagiarism is a growing concern among academics. Research indicates a variety of issues with a reliance on AI detection. Detection models cannot keep up with advancements in AI technologies. Our approach to combatting AI plagiarism is different. We empower instructors to lean into the effective practice of authentic assessment.

Learn more with our academic paper AI, Academic Integrity, and Authentic Assessment.

Now instructors can generate assignment prompts that encourage students to:

  • engage in higher-order thinking, 
  • apply their learned knowledge,
  • produce authentic submissions that are evidenced, and 
  • emulate real-world situations.

To ensure the instructor is in control, the generation process allows instructors to: 

  • enter an assignment description, 
  • select a desired cognitive process based on Bloom's Taxonomy, 
  • set the complexity, and 
  • generate an assignment title.

The instructor can review the generated prompts and select one to add to the assignment. After adding the prompt, the instructor can edit or further refine the prompt as appropriate.

Image 1. The auto-generate assignment option

A "New Assignment" panel is open with the "Auto-Generate Assignment" option visible on screen.

Image 2. Three generated prompts; each include a title, prompt, and cognitive level

The "Auto-Generate Assignment" panel is opened, with three generated prompts on screen: each include a title, prompt, and cognitive process.

Image 3. Instructors can add additional context through a description, select the desired cognitive level and complexity, and then generate prompts

The 'Auto-Generate Assignment' panel is open, displaying three generated prompts on the screen. On the left-side options, there is included content.


Image 4. Selected title and prompt added to an assignment

The "New Assignment" panel is open with the selected title and prompts added to the assignment.

For administrators: To use this feature, enable the AI Features option in Ultra Experience Management. Select Building Blocks from the Administrator Panel, then select Installed Tools. Locate AI Design Assistant and Unsplash and select Settings from the drop-down. The default state is off. Set Enable AI Design Assistant to on. Set Generate Assignments to on. You must also activate privileges. Assign the following privilege for the appropriate Course Roles (e.g., Instructor): Use AI features.

Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description


AI Design Assistant - Generate Rubric Improvements – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience  
Ultra Course View  
Impact: Instructors 

The AI Design Assistant helps instructors create rubrics for assessments. We've streamlined a time-intensive task and created efficiency for instructors with rubric creation. Being careful to consider user feedback, we have made some improvements to rubric generation. The improvements improve column and row labels . We also improved the distribution of percentages/points for criteria. 

Generate rubric screen displays auto-generated content from AI design assistant

Image 1. Rubric generation outputs using the AI Design Assistant

For administrators: To use this feature, enable the AI Features option in Ultra Experience Management. Select Building Blocks from the Administrator panel, then select Installed Tools. Locate AI Design Assistant and Unsplash and select Settings from the menu. The default state of the AI Design Assistant is set to Off. Select Enable AI Design Assistant to turn the feature on. You must also set Generate Assignments to On. Assign the Use AI features privilege for the appropriate Course Roles (for example, Instructor). 

Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description


Mastery Learning/Competency Based Education

Grade visible to students in Gradebook when item is hidden by release conditions – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students

Release conditions provide options for custom learning paths through course content. When instructors set release conditions, content is unavailable until students meet those conditions. An option to 'Hide' selected content from students is available. This setting also hides the grade from the student view of the gradebook.

Now, instructors can set release conditions without concern of hiding grades. Regardless of the setting in "When will content appear?", students can see the grade. All other functionality of release conditions is unchanged.

Image 1. Release conditions settings with date/time release condition set in combination with Hide state in “When will content appear?”

Release conditions settings with date/time release condition set in combination with Hide state in “When will content appear?”

Image 2. Student gradebook view with display of student’s grade regardless of the release condition setting in Image 1

Student gradebook view with display of student’s grade regardless of the release condition setting in Image 1


For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
 

Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description


Tests & Assignments

Delegated Grading improvements – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Instructors sometimes distribute the grading workload for an assessment to multiple graders. This is a popular practice in larger classes. Instructors can assign graders to groups of students with the new delegated grading option. Each grader only sees the submissions made by students in the group(s) assigned to them.

Now instructors can also use delegated grading in combination with anonymous submissions and tests.

Image 1: Instructor view of the assessment Settings panel for a test with the Delegated Grading and Anonymous grading options enabled

The assessment settings panel is open, with the delegated grading option visible on screen.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description
 


Flexible Grading

Improved attempt display in Flexible Grading – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

Multiple-attempt assessments result in more submissions, which can increase the complexity of grading.

In the past, when an instructor selected a student in the list the most recent attempt displayed. Now, the attempt selected for display is based on the grading status and attempt aggregation model selected.

Attempt Aggregation ModelGrading Status and Attempt Displayed
Average of all attempts

If all attempts are graded, the most recently submitted attempt displays.

If ungraded attempts exist, the most recent, ungraded attempt displays.

First attempt with a grade

If all attempts are graded, the first submitted attempt displays.

If ungraded attempts exist, the oldest ungraded attempt displays.

Attempt with highest grade

If all attempts are graded, the attempt with the highest grade displays.

If ungraded attempts exist, the most recent, ungraded attempt displays.

Last attempt with a grade

If all attempts are graded, the most recently submitted attempt displays.

If ungraded attempts exist, the most recent ungraded attempt displays.

Attempt with lowest grade

If all attempts are graded, the attempt with lowest grade displays.

If ungraded attempts exist, the most recent ungraded attempt displays.


For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description
 


Sorting controls in Students view for assessments graded anonymously – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

We are adding sorting controls to assessments graded anonymously. Now instructors can apply these sorting options:

  • Submission date (oldest - newest) of latest attempt
  • Submission date (newest - oldest) of latest attempt

The grading interface stores the most recently used sorting option. If an instructor stops grading an assessment and resumes grading later, the last sorting option is applied.


Image 1: Sorting options on an anonymously graded assessment in flexible grading
 

The assessment grading panel is open, displaying sorting options for an anonymously graded assessment.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.


Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description


Gradebook

Enhanced Grid View – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
 
To improve usability and maximize the screen real estate of the gradebook grid view, we have made several enhancements:

Improved row visibility and display more rows:

  • We reduced the size of the column icons and the spacing around them. 
  • We removed group names and highlighting on group assessments.
  • The course name moves up and hides when vertically scrolling.

Improved student identification:

  • When hovering over a truncated student name, the full name displays in a tooltip. 
  • Student IDs display beneath student names to aid in distinguishing between students with similar names.


Image 1. Improvements to gradebook grid view

Improvements to gradebook grid view

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description


Total & Weighted Calculations – 3900.82


Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors and other users with permissions

Instructors need a gradebook that supports diverse grading scenarios. The gradebook supports the creation of calculated columns and an overall course grade. We are expanding gradebook functionality to also support total and weighted calculated columns. These types of calculations are helpful for specific events or periods, such as midterms or finals.

Total calculated columns can be point-based or weighted calculations. Like setting up the Overall Grade, instructors may link/unlink items in a category in the calculation. They may also choose to exclude categories from the calculation. For an included category, instructors may edit the calculation rule. The calculation rule allows instructors to drop scores or to include only the lowest or highest score in the category.

Instructors may wish to define a total calculated column for their own use. In this case, they can choose to hide from students. If desired, instructors can include a total calculated column in the overall grade calculation.

Image 1. Add a Total Calculation column from the Grid view

Add a Total Calculation column from the Grid view


Image 2. Add a Total Calculation column from Gradable Items view

Add a Total Calculation column from Gradable Items view


Image 3. Editing a Weighted Total Calculation Column

Editing a Weighted Total Calculation Column

Image 4. Define rules for the Weighted Total Calculation column

 

Define rules for the Weighted Total Calculation column

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.
 

Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description


Category Information on the Gradable Items Page – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
 

To provide greater efficiency and clarity in the gradable items view, we have added a Category column. This column, along with the grading item icon, helps instructors more readily identify to which category, if any, an item belongs. Instructors can sort this column ascending or descending alphabetically.

Image 1. Category column on the Gradable Items, sorted Z – A

Category column on the Gradable Items, sorted Z – A

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

Return to January 2024 – 3900.82 Release description


Original Course View: Updated options display when sending email from Grade Center – 3900.82

Blackboard Learn SaaS, Blackboard Learn 9.1
Original Course View
Impact: Instructors

Instructors can send emails to students in places like the Grade Center and Retention Center. Previously, the option to include student names in the sender copy was misleading. The checkbox seemed to apply to both sending a copy of the message and including recipient names. We’ve improved the presentation to clarify the expected behavior. A copy is always sent to the sender. The sender can opt-in to including recipient names in their copy of the email.

Image 1. The options to add attachments and include the names of recipients are better organized