In January, UMBC faculty and students will experience a redesigned course navigation in Ultra that makes key areas easier to access and understand. The updated layout brings a full-width header with clearer course branding and improved use of screen space on desktop and mobile. 

The new course navigation provides an update header, modernized banner layout, and Home button that returns users to the Blackboard landing page (rather than the courses page). You'll still have access to your Courses by using the snazzy Course Switcher, which provides shortcuts to the four most recently accessed courses, or you can choose View All to return to the Courses page again. Learn more about these improvements in our overview article. 

Image 1: The refreshed user interface in courses includes full-screen course pages and improvements to enhance the amount of screen space for users to engage with their course.

Image 3: True/false questions now include additional options.

Additional updates for January include:

• The default number of multiple choice answer options is now four (instead of three), helping speed up question creation.
• Instructors can now limit how many answer choices students can select for a multiple choice question, ideal for “select all that apply” formats.
• Ultra has significantly improved test loading times. For example, a 200-question test now loads in about 5 seconds (down from ~25), making large-format assessments more manageable.
• Instructors now have access to an automation activity log, which tracks when each automation was triggered, which student it applied to, and which content item was involved, providing transparency and accountability for automated course messaging.

When you can expect the update

Faculty should see the latest updates in their Ultra courses around January 8-9, 2026. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on January 13, 2026. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra. Join our What's New in Ultra for Teaching & Learning on January 13, 2026, to catch up on the latest updates.

Imagine if you could adjust test points in seconds without regrading everything manually? What if your course could automatically cheer students on when they succeed -- or nudge them when they need support? The November Ultra update introduces new tools to help you work smarter, not harder -- streamlining assessment edits, automating encouragement, and personalizing recognition. Whether you’re wrapping up the semester or refining your course for spring, these features are built to support both your grading workflow and your students’ motivation.

Instructors can now bulk edit question point values within tests, saving time during test setup or revisions. You can select all questions, filter by question type (e.g., all True/False), or select a combination of types and individual questions. This makes it easy to apply consistent scoring rules or adjust point values quickly across an entire assessment. Even after students have opened or submitted a test, you can still change point values, edit question text, give full credit, or revise correct answers -- and all grades will be recalculated automatically. However, certain structural edits (like adding or deleting questions, modifying matching options, or changing fill-in-the-blank structures) remain locked after student access to preserve assessment integrity. These changes offer instructors more flexibility in real-time without compromising fairness or accuracy.

Image 1: Instructors select Bulk edit points.

A new automation feature allows instructors to set up rule-based messages that send automatically when students reach defined performance thresholds. Whether offering encouragement to students who meet a goal or providing gentle support to those who fall short, these messages can be written in advance and delivered at just the right moment. This personalized automation helps instructors build student motivation and maintain a presence in the course without having to manually monitor and respond to every outcome -- especially helpful in large-enrollment or asynchronous courses. Subsequent releases of this feature will offer more customizations.

Image 2: In the Automation trigger, instructors set the conditions that will trigger the message to be sent.

Finally, Instructors can now customize Achievement badges using one of three new image options: upload a custom image, choose from a library of stock visuals via Unsplash, or generate an image using AI. These options give faculty more creative control and allow for more meaningful recognition of student progress. When badges are visually aligned with course themes, goals, or student interests, they can help foster a stronger sense of accomplishment and connection, turning a basic course mechanic into a personalized experience that resonates.

Image 3: Instructors can select or generate an image for the custom achievement.

Additional updates for November include:

• Gradebook Navigation: The column header menu in the Grid View has been streamlined, giving instructors quicker access to submission pages for each item. This improves consistency across item types and simplifies navigation during grading.
• Gradebook Downloads: Instructors now have the option to include or exclude hidden columns when exporting the Gradebook, offering more flexibility when working offline or sharing data with TAs or co-instructors.

When you can expect the update

Faculty should see the latest updates in their Ultra courses around November 6-7, 2025. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on November 11, 2025; release notes are posted to the What's New in Ultra that same week. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra.

The October Ultra release is a lightweight update featuring a valuable feature for faculty assessment management, allowing easier reuse of test questions and question banks. 

Instructors can now tag test questions with metadata to organize and manage questions more effectively across tests, forms, and question banks. When creating or editing a question, you can enable metadata and assign one or more tags -- either by selecting from existing tags or creating your own. These tags make it easier to filter questions when reusing them or building pools, and metadata is preserved when content is copied from Original to Ultra. While tags are hidden from students, they offer a powerful way for instructors to label concepts, learning outcomes, or skills, supporting faster content alignment and more purposeful assessment building over time.

Image 1: Instructors can create and apply a tag to questions.

Students now have a more intuitive experience with fill-in-the-blank questions, which are displayed inline with surrounding text, whether presented as a sentence, paragraph, or table. This update ensures better readability and contextual clarity for students as they complete these question types, especially in assessments that test reading comprehension, vocabulary, or technical knowledge through embedded blanks.

Image 2: After this update, fill-in-the-blanks appear in line with the question.

Additional updates for October include:

• Instructors must first add at least one question to a form before they can make it visible to students. Release conditions cannot be set until the form includes questions. This ensures that students only access complete and purposeful assessments.
• The Save and Cancel actions are now standardized across several assessment settings pages.

When you can expect the update

Faculty should see the latest updates in their Ultra courses around October 2-3 2025. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on October 7, 2025; release notes are posted to the What's New in Ultra that same week. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra.

• A new unread post indicator appears at the top of the Ultra course on the Discussions tab to show how many posts are unread.
• The Student Activity Log now features a Content Access Filter, making it easier to identify whether and when students accessed specific materials, third-party tools, and LTIs that were previously difficult to track.
• Ultra Documents now support resizable divider blocks, which can span up to four columns. These visual elements improve the structure of course content and help chunk information into digestible sections.
• Blackboard improved the appearance and responsiveness of Knowledge Checks, making them more visually engaging and easier to interact with across different screen sizes.
• The Gradebook supports smoother navigation using arrow keys and enhanced compatibility with screen readers.

When you can expect the update

Faculty should see the latest updates in their Ultra courses around June 5-6 2025. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on June 10, 2025; release notes are posted to the What's New in Ultra that same week. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra.

Expanding the functionality for the gradebook and assessments has been a central theme for the past year of Ultra development. When the winter term starts in 2024, Ultra courses will feature additional enhancements for the gradebook, grading interface, and test logs for learner attempts as developers continue to refine features based on institutional and instructor feedback.

The gradebook is a key tool for instructors in an Ultra course. With this update, instructors will be able to create total and weighted calculated columns that are point or percentage based with options to include or exclude categories and dropping scores. Moreover, these new total calculated columns can be used toward the overall grade calculation, allowing greater flexibility.

Image 1: Example of the improved gradebook with option to add a new Total Calculation

Grading & Gradebook Improvements

• The grid view of the Ultra gradebook features usability improvements that reduces spacing around icons and improves row visibility. 
• The gradebook will now provide the student ID next to each learner's name to improve identification. When hovering over a truncated name in the gradebook, a tooltip will reveal the full name.
• A sortable category column is added to the gradebook list view to provide clarity for those items to be graded.
• Students will be able to see their grades for an assessment even if it is hidden. In a future update, feedback will be also visible.
• Instructors can use delegated grading for anonymous assessments. Sorting controls are available for submission date.

The test assessment log has been a frequent request for Ultra courses. Unlike Original courses, the Ultra version of this functionality provides information for tests and assignments. The test log will provide detailed information including date and time for starting the test, answers to each question, a preview of the question itself, and the estimated time spent on each question. The assignment log provides the start and submission date and time as well as the submission receipt number.

Image 2: Instructors can access the Assessment Submission Log from the individual assessment

Content Creation & Management

The latest update to the AI Course Design Assistant Tools in Ultra courses allows instructors to generate assignment prompts aligned to a selected Bloom's cognitive process. As with all AI functionality, instructors are in complete control and can choose when and how to they want to use the tools.

Image 3: Instructors can add additional context through a description, select the desired cognitive level and complexity, and then generate prompts

Additional updates to Content Management include:

• The Batch Edit tool now allows instructors to manage the date and/or time for selected items that have a pre-existing date/time -- for example, assessment due dates or visibility.
• Instructors can use the unused files tool to find and remove course files that are not in use in a course. Instructors can download a file before deleting it.

• 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