Given UMBC will be migrating to Ultra by the start of Winter 2025, five more departments will fully adopt Ultra for Fall 2023, The following departments join Theater and Gender, Women's, + Sexuality Studies in applying a consistent look and feel for their students when courses are created every semester:  

• American Studies

• Education

• Emergency Health Services

• Erickson School of Aging Studies 

• Mathematics/Statistics

Additionally, at least eight foreign languages in the Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication department have been fully using Ultra for the last year including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. English 100 and IHU courses also leverage an all-Ultra adoption.

Instructional Technology offers the following course creation and conversion support for department adoption of Ultra:

1. For departments or disciplines that want to adopt Ultra by default, Blackboard course shells can be designated as Ultra when courses are created. This approach can be especially helpful for instructors who are new to UMBC and need to quickly prepare course resources.

2. If departments decide to adopt Ultra after courses are created, we can bulk convert Original courses to Ultra in early August or early January before the semester starts. Using this approach, courses start in Original before content is added and students begin to work, but switch to Ultra with the assistance of Instructional Technology staff.

3. If departments want faculty to prepare courses for Ultra over a semester before fully adopting, we can bulk copy and convert older Original courses to Ultra (e.g., prepare in fall, adopt in spring). Additional time and flexibility are key to this approach, allowing faculty review previously offered courses in Ultra and optimize a redesigned format.

Please open an RT ticket to request any of these department adoption strategies. Providing the discipline's prefix for the courseID ensures Instructional Technology can quickly identify courses and trigger the conversion process on behalf of faculty, saving time and effort.

Finally, we have extensive training options for departments including customized workshops, recording artchives, and other resources.

Four Blackboard course tools--ALEKS, Library Reserves, Pearson, and Qwickly--are undergoing updates, taking a significant leap forward by transitioning to the latest Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standards: LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage. Each tool will be updated in late May. Please see below for information about each tool, where to find it, and new features.

ALEKS (McGraw-Hill)

The updated ALEKS Math tool will include enhancements to Blackboard gradebook synchronization and integrations with McGraw-Hill connect tools. Instructors will find ALEKS in the Blackboard Ultra Content Market and Original course content tools. 

Image 1. ALEKS Math Blackboard Content Market item.

Library Reserves

The Ares Library Reserves upgrade will allow instructors to link to their course reserves home, as before, but will also let instructors link directly to specific reserves items. This new feature supports module- and unit-based course organization by giving instructors more flexibility with content placement in Blackboard. Following the update, instructors will find the Library Reserves options in the Blackboard Ultra Content Market. Blackboard Original users will find the Library Reserves home link in course tools and the new deep link tool in Blackboard Original "build content" menu. Please see the Library Reserves FAQ for detailed information.

Image 2. Library Reserves Blackboard Content Market items.

Pearson

The new Pearson LTI 1.3 integration will enhance the Blackboard experience for Pearson MyLab, Mastering and Revel courseware. This update is scheduled to occur on May 25th. Note: This upgrade does not impact the "My Textbooks & Course Resources" links in courses using CMI materials with VitalSource, shown below for reference. If, in addition to VitalSource links, your course includes Pearson links, please see below for more details. 

Image 3. My Textbooks & Course Resources VitalSource Content Market item

In prior terms, instructors may have linked Pearson Content from the Blackboard Partner Cloud. Please do not replace existing links in Blackboard courses from prior terms, as we cannot retroactively link them to the new tool.

Image 4. Blackboard Partner Cloud Content Provider Links.

For Summer 2023 and Fall 2023 courses, instead of selecting the Pearson tool from the Blackboard Partner Cloud, please find the updated Pearson tool in the Blackboard Ultra Content Market and Original course tools. 

Image 5. New Pearson Blackboard Content Market Links.

If you have any questions regarding your summer course and Blackboard, please submit an RT request. For CMI-related questions, please reach out to Jocelyn Ochoa-Garcia (ochoa1@umbc.edu) in the UMBC Bookstore.

Qwickly Attendance

Qwickly's upgrade offers improved integration with Blackboard to support the security requirements of LTI 1.3. This transition to LTI 1.3 should not affect current or existing courses, and existing settings should remain the same. Qwickly will remain available in the Blackboard Ultra Content Market and Original course tools.

Image 6. Qwickly Attendance Blackboard Content Market item.

Connect with Instructional Technology

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

• PIVOT |Academic Continuity |Student Technology Resources

• 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

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

Post thumbnail: Blackboard Icon (decorative)

1. Student Success and Retention: The grants welcome proposals that explore the relationships between activities and learning in one course and outcomes in other courses. By investigating these connections, instructors can gain insights into strategies that can improve student success and retention rates. This research is particularly crucial for courses with low success rates, critical progression points, or those imparting fundamental skills required for success in the major or program.
2. Faculty Development and Support: Recipients of the mini grants will receive a $2,000 professional development award, renewable annually, directed to their faculty member or department's PeopleSoft chart string account. In addition to access to warehouse data (REX), recipients will also receive support for Tableau, a powerful data visualization tool. Furthermore, participants will be expected to present a report at the conclusion of their project, and they will have the opportunity to engage with the LA Community of Practice. These grants also provide an opportunity for recipients to use their results to compete for the prestigious Hrabowski Innovation Fund award.

• Democratizing the Doer Effect: Using AI to Scale Learning by Doing (2/24/23)
• The Case of Test-Optional Admissions: A Pandemic Natural Experiment (3/3/23)
• How Analytics Informs UMBC's Strategic Planning (4/7/23)
• How Analytics Improved a Dept's Student Success & Enrollment (5/5/23)

As part of planned diversity, equity, and inclusion improvements from Blackboard, the first phase of pronoun support will display student pronouns in courses in time for summer 2023 courses. Providing this information within specific contexts of the course, particularly where engagement and collaboration occur, provides a means for instructors and classmates to address each other in ways that align with individual identity and expression. 

Pronouns are visible within many areas of an Ultra course including roster, discussions, groups, and gradebook. Pronoun support is limited in Original courses. Please review the list of locations where pronouns appear. 

Image 1: Example of Ultra discussion board with pronoun visible to all users 

The use of personal pronouns is an important aspect of self-expression and respect for one's identity. This feature helps foster a more inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students. Learn more about using pronouns (pdf).

How do faculty and staff select a pronoun to display in Blackboard? 

At this time, faculty and staff cannot choose a pronoun to display in Blackboard. Students may choose to indicate their pronouns via their myUMBC profile. This information is passed to Blackboard when a user's account is created or the pronoun is selected/updated. A pronoun is not required. If a pronoun is left blank, no information is passed to Blackboard in this field. 

How do I keep my pronouns private? 

Users control privacy by opting-in to pronoun selection in myUMBC. If no pronouns are selected, then pronouns are not displayed at all in Blackboard and other UMBC systems. 

How do pronouns pass over to third-party tools linked in Blackboard? 

At this time, pronouns are passed over with the user's name to Qwickly Attendance. Pronouns cannot be passed over with the user's name to third-party tools such as VoiceThread, Webex, among many others. While the major learning management systems all support pronouns, web conferencing tools and other engagement platforms have not developed support for this type of data. Some tools may allow users to rename themselves within the platform itself. 

If you need support: 

For technical questions about this feature, please open an RT ticket. 

For all other questions about inclusivity at UMBC: 

The Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI) is responsible for promoting and coordinating the University's core values of inclusive excellence and equity, and has primary responsibility for managing UMBC's efforts related to Title IX, gender identity, and sexual orientation, as well as, other civil rights issues. If you are experiencing discrimination based on your gender identity or sexual orientation you can report it using OEI's online reporting/confidential referral form.

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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