Why Attend?
This roadmap presentation offers a deep dive into new development in Ultra over the next 3-6 months, impacting the way we teach, learn, and interact with our students using Blackboard. In addition to Instructional Technology staff support, the Blackboard team, representing client experience, product management, and Ultra migration, will be available to answer your questions. Continued feedback has helped shape Ultra's evolution since UMBC began its journey and contributes to our final milestone to migrate all courses to Ultra by the end of 2024.
We're offering exclusive perks for those who can join us in-person:
Space for in-person attendance is limited. However, understanding the demands of academic schedules, we're also offering a virtual attendance option. This ensures that everyone interested can benefit from the valuable insights shared, regardless of physical location.
How to RSVP
Visit our event page to reserve your spot, whether you plan to attend in-person or virtually. Please take a few minutes to complete this pre-event survey by February 14, 2024 to help us tailor the upcoming Lunch & Learn Roadmap session to your needs and interests. Your responses will guide the focus of the roadmap presentation and discussion.
Connect with Instructional Technology
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
UMBC is committed to providing a consistent learning experience for everyone. The last day we will support Blackboard Original is December 31, 2024. Please check out our training and support: umbc.edu/go/ultra
Thumbnail Image: word cloud spelling "ULTRA"
Over the last year, Ultra received more than 150 enhancements and new features to strengthen and improve the new course for faculty and students. At the first quarter roadmap for 2023, the Ultra developers presented extensive plans for the next six months, focusing on grading and assessment, engagement and collaboration, content and course organization, and learner analytics.
In March, Ultra courses will receive improvements to multiple submissions, allowing faculty to quickly shift between student attempts for grading and comparison, as well as a downloadable PDF version of the SafeAssign report. More information about the March release is available on the What's New in Ultra FAQ with a forthcoming update expected to myUMBC before the Blackboard site is updated early March.
In April, we expect to see two improvements requested by UMBC faculty and one new feature:
Multiple grading schema: Create more than one grading schema in your Ultra course including pass/fail or complete/incomplete.
Import questions into Question Banks: Abandon those messy gradebook columns from unused tests and create question banks instead!
Search course content: Quickly find course content by searching title and description. This feature will be available to students and faculty. Exclusive to Ultra courses.
These are not the only enhancements expected in April, but the most exciting to share.
Although Anthology also offered a roadmap for Original, the majority of development continues to center in usability, accessibility, security, and storage management. Most development described during the Q1 2023 Original roadmap centered on system admin tools, base navigation (e.g., the Blackboard dashboard), or global changes impacting both Ultra and Original courses such as tool integration and Bb Annotate. A few enhancements focus on usability such as streamlining the assignment submission process for students with a few improvements slated for long term development (e.g., more than six months).
The Instructional Technology team tracks and shares monthly updates to its myUMBC group and presents a What's New in Ultra for Teaching & Learning webinar every semester. Blackboard's quarterly roadmaps are open to the public.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology, please consider the following options:
~ by Mariann Hawken