Welcome back! We hope your first week back is going well! As you’re getting your courses set up, here are some resources you might find useful as well as some updates you may find relevant.
Helpful Resources for Getting Started
Here are links to some helpful resources that will help you get everything ready to go for the semester.
- How to Export/ Import a Course
- Software Recommendations
- Getting Started with Blackboard Course Design
- Customizing the Course Menu
- Post Your Syllabus
- Adding Extra Time to a Quiz/Test
Important Updates
ARI Tool Change
One important update that you’ll want to note for the spring term is that you will no longer be able to enter a final grade without first entering a midterm verification. Make sure you enter your verifications at midterm so that when it comes time for final grades you are already set and ready to go!
Ultra Pilot
In LT news, we are currently piloting Ultra, Blackboard’s latest LMS platform. Select faculty and students will be using Ultra courses during Spring Term and will provide valuable feedback and information that will help us more effectively roll out Ultra to the College at large. Look out for more information about this pilot as well as some opportunities to learn more about Ultra in general this spring.
Changes to YuJa Media Chooser
Finally, you will find a couple of changes in your Blackboard courses this spring. First is with regard to YuJa:
The YuJa building block integration in Blackboard has been updated to LTI 1.3 beginning the Spring term. This update allows greater flexibility and is more mobile ready as the model is independent of web browsers.
Due to the upgrade, current YuJa users will notice a slightly different placement of the YuJa Media Chooser in the Build Content menu in Blackboard. To assist with this change, Learning Technologies has published two new articles to our Knowledge Base to guide faculty in using the updated YuJa integration:
- Adding Videos to Your Course via the YuJa Media Chooser within the YuJa LTI
- Replacing Missing YuJa Video Embeds with Updated Links via the YuJa LTI
If you are a YuJa user and need assistance navigating this change, please reach out to Learning Technologies for support configuring your links in your Spring courses.
Zoom Blackboard Integration
You will also notice that Zoom is now integrated into your Blackboard courses. Starting with Summer Term 2024, Zoom will be replacing Blackboard Collaborate as the integreated web conferencing tool in Blackboard.
The Zoom meetings Blackboard integration allows instructors to schedule and link meetings right from Blackboard course shells, and has very similar functionality to Collaborate. To support you in using this new tool, we have a new knowledge base article: Quick Start Guide for Zoom Meetings for Blackboard. If you have additional questions, please contact us!
Other
For information about any other updates, you can find the latest release notes for our educational technologies below, though there are no big changes other than those noted for Spring Term this year:
Have other questions? Check out the full Getting Started support section on our Knowledge Base or send us an email!
