Anthology announces retirement date for Blackboard Original Courses & Organizations Original content will become read-only after Dec 31, 2026

Anthology, the parent company of Blackboard, has announced that they will retire Original courses and organizations on December 31, 2026. At this point, all Original content in courses and organizations will be placed in a read-only state, which can be viewed by those respective enrolled users, but not edited by instructors or leaders. This change reflects the broader shift to Ultra, now adopted by nearly 80% of school and universities worldwide (Bb Office Hours, May 28, 2025).

What this means for UMBC

While UMBC finalized its migration to Ultra courses at the end of 2024, the retirement of Original content means that any active organizations running on Original will be impacted. All Blackboard Original organizations must migrate to Ultra or be archived by our internal deadline of October 31, 2026, to ensure that org leaders have ample time for:

Content that is not migrated to Ultra will be locked in the Original “read only” state by the end of 2026, and automatically converted to Ultra by the end of 2027 by Anthology. This includes both Original organizations and any remaining Original courses, whether term-based or development shells. (Original content may be copied until it is archived or converted.)

Next steps for organization leaders

Instuctional Technology staff will proactively reach out to leaders of active Original organizations in the coming weeks to provide details information about your options:

Instructional Technology is here to support Original organization leaders with training, resources, and personalized assistance.

Connect with Instructional Technology

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


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Blackboard Learn Basics Ultra
This webinar is designed to provide you easy step-by-step instructions on how to upload course content, create discussion boards for students to engage, and provide an overview on the types of online assessments available in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View.

Register for a session:
  • August 18 @ 11 AM
  • September 20 @ 11 AM
  • October 5 @ 10 PM
  • October 25 @ 11 AM
Grading and Managing the Gradebook in an Ultra Course
This intermediate session will provide a deeper dive into setting up grading criteria for assessments, utilizing different types of assessments, and creating gradable assignments in Blackboard Learn Ultra Courses.

Register for a session:
  • August 24 @ 11 AM
  • September 21 @ 11 AM
  • November 2 @ 11 AM
  • October 12 @ 10 PM
Creating Assessments in an Ultra Course
In this session, we will focus on creating different assessments and assignments in Blackboard Learn Ultra courses. We will outline the steps to create an assessment or an assignment, including selecting different options in grade settings.

  • August 25 @ 11 AM
  • September 27 @ 11 AM
  • November 3 @ 11 AM
  • October 19 @ 10 PM
Improving Student Engagement Ultra
Discover how utilizing tools within Learn Ultra can encourage meaningful engagement among students. between your students and you, and with the content itself! In this session, we'll examine how to effectively use discussion boards, class conversations, interactive lectures, and other Learn Ultra tools to foster student engagement in your course. We will also explore different ways to promote communication and collaboration among your students to get them involved and to keep them engaged in online classes.

  • August 30 @ 11 AM
  • September 29 @ 11 AM
  • November 8 @ 11 AM
  • October 26 @ 10 PM
Using Groups in Blackboard Learn Ultra
Collaborative learning offers many benefits over traditional instruction. Studies show that when students work as a team, they develop positive attitudes, solve problems more effectively, and experience a greater sense of accomplishment. This intermediate session will show you how to use the Groups tool in Blackboard Learn Ultra to facilitate student collaboration and enhance student engagement in your course.

  • September 1 @ 11 AM
  • October 5 @ 11 AM
  • November 10 @ 11 AM
  • November 2 @ 10 PM
Ultra Advantage -- Converting Original to Ultra
It's time for a little Spring clean-up! Let's look at suggestions on how to effectively clean-up, reorganize, and sort through the content in your Learn Original course before bringing all the content over to the Learn Ultra course. This webinar is designed to provide tips and tricks on streamlining the conversion over to the Learn Ultra courses.

  • September 7 @ 11 AM
  • October 11 @ 11 AM
  • November 16 @ 11 AM
  • November 9 @ 9 PM
Blackboard Learn Ultra Best Practices
Now that we know the buttons to click to create and setup many of the online learning tools, let's take a step back and determine what are the features of each of the tools and what are some of the best practices to use them in facilitating our online courses. These sessions will take on more of a pedagogical nature to assist in readying your course and yourself to enhancing the teaching and learning of your students. The sessions will coalesce around the lifecycle of each tool including instructor creation and considerations, student completion, instructor grading, and finally the student accessing their grade. Think broadly in terms of groups, assignments, assessments, journals, and discussion boards -- how can I make these more effective for me and for my students.

Register for a session:
  • September 13 @ 11 AM
  • October 13 @ 11 AM
  • November 16 @ 9 PM
All webinars will be recorded and emailed to you after the session. Even if you can't attend live, please register for a Live Webinar!  so you can receive the recording.
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Blackboard Learn Basics Ultra
This webinar is designed to provide you easy step-by-step instructions on how to upload course content, create discussion boards for students to engage, and provide an overview on the types of online assessments available in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View.
  • February 1 @ 11 AM
  • March 1 @ 11 AM
  • April 5 @ 2 PM
  • May 5 @ 10 AM
  • June 9 @ 10 AM
Q&A with Experts: Blackboard Learn Ultra
Have a question on how to do something in Blackboard Learn Ultra? Join this live Office Hours session where Blackboard experts will be on hand to answer questions, demonstrate workflows and provide guidance on teaching remotely.
  • January 27 @ 11 AM
  • February 2 @ 11 AM
  • March 2 @ 11 AM
  • May 10 @ 10 AM
  • June 14 @ 10 AM
Blackboard Collaborate Basics
Blackboard Collaborate is a virtual classroom tool that allows you to engage with your students in real-time, to record sessions for students to watch later, and to offer live virtual office hours. In this 45-minute session, we will review the Collaborate interface and tools that support engaging virtual classroom sessions.
  • January 25 @ 11 AM
  • February 3 @ 11 AM
  • March 3 @ 11 AM
  • May 3 @ 10 AM
  • June 7 @ 10 AM
Blackboard Collaborate Beyond the Basics
This webinar will help you move beyond the basics of Blackboard Collaborate and provide an overview of specific use cases and features that will facilitate synchronous interaction with your students. Some features include using breakout rooms, sharing content through your camera, polling, and other features that will help you engage your learners and empower student success.
  • February 8 @ 10 AM
  • March 8 @ 11 AM
  • April 7 @ 10 AM
  • June 1 @ 10 AM
Q&A with Experts: Blackboard Collaborate
Have a question on how to do something in Blackboard Collaborate? Join this live Office Hours session where Blackboard experts will be on hand to answer questions, demonstrate workflows and provide guidance on teaching remotely.
  • January 26 @ 11 AM
  • February 8 @ 2 PM
  • March 9 @ 11 AM
  • April 5 @ 11 AM
  • June 2 @ 10 AM
Grading and Managing the Gradebook in an Ultra Course
This intermediate session will provide a deeper dive into setting up grading criteria for assessments, utilizing different types of assessments, and creating gradable assignments in Blackboard Learn Ultra Courses.
  • February 9 @ 2 PM
  • March 10 @ 2 PM
  • April 17 @ 2 PM
  • May 11 @ 10 AM
  • June 15 @ 10 AM
Creating Assessments in an Ultra Course
In this session, we will focus on creating different assessments and assignments in Blackboard Learn Ultra courses. We will outline the steps to create an assessment or an assignment, including selecting different options in grade settings.
  • February 10 @ 10 AM
  • March 15 @ 11 AM
  • April 20 @ 11 AM
  • May 12 @ 10 AM
  • June 16 @ 10 AM
Improving Student Engagement Ultra
Discover how utilizing tools within Blackboard Learn Ultra can encourage meaningful engagement among students. between your students and you, and with the content itself! In this session, we’ll examine how to effectively use discussion boards, class conversations, interactive lectures, and other Blackboard Learn Ultra tools to foster student engagement in your course. We will also explore different ways to promote communication and collaboration among your students to get them involved and to keep them engaged in online classes.
  • February 15 @ 11 AM
  • March 16 @ 11 AM
  • April 20 @ 2 PM
  • May 17 @ 10 AM
Using Groups in Blackboard Learn Ultra
Collaborative learning offers many benefits over traditional instruction. Studies show that when students work as a team, they develop positive attitudes, solve problems more effectively, and experience a greater sense of accomplishment. This intermediate session will show you how to use the Groups tool in Blackboard Learn Ultra to facilitate student collaboration and enhance student engagement in your course.
  • February 17 @ 11 AM
  • March 22 @ 2 PM
  • April 26 @ 10 AM
  • May 24 @ 10 AM
  • June 23 @ 10 AM
Ultra Advantage – Converting Original to Ultra
Collaborative learning offers many benefits over traditional instruction. Studies show that when students work as a team, they develop positive attitudes, solve problems more effectively, and experience a greater sense of accomplishment. This intermediate session will show you how to use the Groups tool in Blackboard Learn Ultra to facilitate student collaboration and enhance student engagement in your course.
  • February 22 @ 2 PM
  • March 24 @ 11 AM
  • April 26 @ 2 PM
  • May 25 @ 10 AM
  • June 28 @ 10 AM 
Q&A with Experts: Blackboard Learn Original
Have a question on how to do something in Blackboard Collaborate? Join this live Office Hours session where Blackboard experts will be on hand to answer questions, demonstrate workflows and provide guidance on teaching remotely.
  • February 16 @ 11 AM
  • March 22 @ 11 AM
  • April 6 @ 11 AM
  • May 19 @ 11 AM
  • June 22 @ 11 AM
All webinars will be recorded and emailed to you after the session. Even if you can't attend live, please register for a Live Webinar!  so you can receive the recording.
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All webinars will be recorded and emailed to you after the session. Even if you can't attend live, please register so you can receive the recording. 
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