The UMBC Instructional Technology Update is provided by the Division of Information Technology for students, faculty and staff. If you have questions or need help, please consult the Blackboard Help FAQs or directly at www.umbc.edu/blackboard/help.  You can also contact the Technology Support Center at 410.455.3838 or submit an RT (Request Tracker) ticket via the myUMBC Help Menu or directly at my.umbc.edu/help.

HEADLINES

What’s New

• Blackboard offline for required system maintenance on 12/25 (12 AM - 6 AM)
• WT/SP2025 Bb courses created on Nov 22
• Publisher Integration Updates to VitalSource, Cengage, Pearson, Macmillan on Dec 19
• Ultra's Progress Tracking Tools Help Instructors Identify, Connect, and Support Learners
• New Course Management Features in Poll Everywhere Starting Jan 6
• Introducing Qwickly Attendance Plus Pilot with Upgraded Features for SP2025
• National IT Survey Highlights Teaching and Learning Trends in Online Learning
• Vasbinder Creates OER Course from 2023 M.O.S.T. Faculty Grant
• Exploring the Faculty Journey from QM Course Certification to becoming a Master Reviewer

Training & Professional Development (recording archive | view upcoming events)

• Applying the Quality Matters Rubric Asynchronous Online Workshop (01.06 - 01.24) 
• Getting Started with Microsoft Teams (01.06) 
• Blackboard Ultra's AI Course Design Assistant Tool (01.08)
• Ultra Content Release and Visibility Settings (01.09)
• CourseArc Essentials (01.10)
• Getting Started with Google Meet (01.13)
• Copy Content into Blackboard Ultra (01.14)
• What's New in Ultra Courses for Teaching & Learning SP2025 (01.17)
• Create Assessments in Blackboard Ultra (01.21)
• Semester-Start Gradebook Management for Ultra Courses (01.21)
• Poll Everywhere New Course Management Features Training (01.22)
• Improve Course Accessibility with Ally's Remediation Tools (01.24)

In Case You Missed It: Recordings & Tips

• Creating Accessible Content Series 
• Digital Accessibility Guidelines Checklist
• Creating Accessible Documents (44:51)
• Creating Accessible Presentations (31:24) 
• Creating Accessible Instructional Videos (45:19)
• Learning Analytics Community of Practice Talks
• Using AI to Create, Align and Assess Multiple Choice Questions (10/3/24)
• Lessons Learned Nudging Students with myUMBC Personal Posts (11/14/24)
• Course Prep Checklists
• Tips to Wrap Up Your Blackboard Course for the Semester 
• Effective Practices for Delivering Blackboard Tests
• Tips to Get Your Blackboard Course Ready for Next Semester

Other DoIT & UMBC News

• Important Notice: Google Quotas Established
• DoIT Receives NSF Grant for Campus Cyber Infrastructure
• 4 Faculty, 2 Staff Named 2024-25 Learning Analytics Fellows
• Technology Tested and Updated in Classrooms
• DoIT Project Report, FY2024 Q3 & Q4
• Campus Phone Upgrades

Blackboard course shells for WT/SP2025 were created on November 22, 2024. All courses now use Ultra per our earlier announcement. 

Course Materials Publisher Integration Updates in December

Blackboard integrations for VitalSource, Cengage, Pearson, and Macmillan publisher tools will be updated on December 19, 2024. Please do not link any VitalSource, Cengage, Pearson, or Macmillan resources in your Winter 2025 or Spring 2025 courses until December 20th. 

Training & Support for Ultra

• Attend an upcoming January training to prepare for the fall semester.
• Request a consult from our staff Ultra “office hours”or download our 8-step migration guide.
• Explore our Panopto folder for a wide variety of recorded webinars on various instructional technologies available at UMBC.
• Have a question about Ultra? Ask an Ultra Ambassador!

Create an Inclusive & Accessible Course Environment

Plan your accessibility and Universal Design for Learning strategy before students begin working with course materials. Ally, an accessibility tool, is enabled in all course shells. Ally automatically scans uploaded and created course content, then performs a series of steps to make that content more accessible. Please review the Ally FAQs for more information about the  accessibility indicators on course content and alternative formats. Use Ally’s new AI alt-text generator to add alt text to course images. Training will be offered on January 24, 2025.

Instructional Technology also offers resources for creating accessible content including three webinar recordings:

• Digital Accessibility Guidelines Checklist
• Creating Accessible Documents (44:51)
• Creating Accessible Presentations (31:24) 
• Creating Accessible Instructional Videos (45:19)

About Course Creation

Bb shells for WT/SP2025 are available for all courses (designated as lecture, lab, field or discussion) listed in the UMBC Schedule of Classes (SOC), provided that there is an instructor of record listed. As new course sections and/or instructors are added to the SOC by Department Scheduling Coordinators, corresponding Bb shells are automatically generated overnight. 

• If you are an instructor, and your name is not associated with the course you are teaching in the SOC, please see your Departmental Scheduling Coordinator to resolve the issue. Once you are listed in the SOC, your Bb course shell will be created automatically. 
• If you and your Department Scheduling Coordinator believe you are correctly assigned as the instructor of record in the SOC and you do not see your course shell in Blackboard, please submit a Request Tracker (RT) ticket via my.umbc.edu/help.
• If you need a Bb shell for a research or independent study course, please submit a new course request.

Instructors who teach multiple sections of the same course will find those enrollments merged into one Bb course shell. These sections may be split upon request by an RT ticket, which we recommend submitting at least one week before the semester starts, if not as soon as courses are created in Blackboard. NOTE:Courses should not be split after student grade data and engagement activity is recorded since it will be purged as part of the separation process.

Student enrollment in Bb mirrors the official registration in SA and updates hourly. However, courses are not accessible to students by default until the instructor of record makes them available.

Connect with Instructional Technology

As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:

• Check our extensive FAQ collection 
• What's new in Ultra? | Known Issues 
• Open a ticket via RT
• Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups
• Request a consult with instructional technology staff
• PIVOT | Academic Continuity | Keep On Teaching | Student Technology Resources