Welcome back, faculty! We hope everyone enjoyed a great summer. We’re ready to help get you up and running with the Fall 2025 Term!
Getting Started Resources
Find help with a range of basic beginning-of-term tasks, like course copy, gradebook set up, and more on our LT site.
Have a quick question about Blackboard? Look up the answer in the Knowledge Base!
Get help with putting in your roster verifications as the term begins!
Getting your syllabus uploaded to Blackboard and in the right place so that the extraction tool can find it can be tricky. Use our helpful guide to make the process a little easier.
Ultra Sessions at Kickoff
Want to learn more about Ultra? You can head to one of the sessions being offered at Kickoff by our COD faculty!
Optimizing Your Content for the Ultra Course View
Or’Shaundra Benson-Meirick and Christine Monnier
- Wednesday, August 20 at 2 p.m. in SRC 3003
- Thursday, August 21 at 2 p.m. in SRC 3003
AI Assist Building and Updating Courses on Blackboard
Tony Chen
- Wednesday, August 20 at 1:00 p.m. in SRC 3003
LT Open Labs at Kickoff
Get help starting the term and moving your courses into Ultra at one of our support labs!
- Wednesday, August 20 from 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. in SRC 3005
- Thursday, August 21 from 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. in SRC 3005
You can find information about this session and others in the full kickoff schedule below.
Ultra Updates for Fall 2025
The Fall 2025 Term is the final term that any courses will be in Blackboard Original. Starting with the Spring 2025 Term, ALL courses will be in the Blackboard Ultra course view. If you have not yet made the switch now is the time to start!
Ultra Numbers for Fall
A lot of COD faculty have already made the switch to Ultra, but we still have a long way to go.
Of all courses at COD (including Dual Credit):
- 70% are in Ultra
- 30% are in Original
Of COD Credit Courses:
- 56% are in Ultra
- 44 are in Original
Remember, after this term, using Ultra will not be optional so it’s key to start planning for your transition now.
What’s New in Ultra: August Updates
Ultra has some great improvements with the latest update! Users can now:
- Add a table of contents and full-width assessment panel to Learning Modules
- Use Forced Sequence in Learning Modules
- Create assessments within Learning Modules
- Enhance Documents with block styling options
- Use Video Studio in Announcements
For details about these changes, please read the release notes from Blackboard.
Ultra Training for Fall
Fall 2025 Ultra Training Sessions
While the transition deadline is fast approaching, you still have plenty of time to learn about Ultra and start moving your courses over. We can help! Here’s our training schedule for this fall–and don’t forget we also have asynchronous training you can do on your own and support labs where we can answer all of your Ultra questions!
Building Your Course in Blackboard Ultra
Whether you are building a brand-new course or are looking to redesign an existing course, this session will include a guided walkthrough on how to build a course optimized for the Ultra Course View. Stick around after the session to ask more questions or get hands on help from Learning Technologies.
- Thursday, August 28 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Zoom
- Wednesday, September 24 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in SRC 3013
- Tuesday, October 28 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Zoom
- Wednesday, November 26 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in SRC 3013
Blackboard Ultra Gradebook
This session will cover an overview of the Ultra Gradebook and how to set up your Gradebook to ensure that you and your students have a successful course.
- Wednesday, September 3 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in SRC 3013
- Tuesday, October 7 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Zoom
- Friday, November 7 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. in SRC 3013
- Wednesday, December 10 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Zoom
Converting Your Course to Blackboard Ultra
Our Converting your Course session will include a guided walkthrough on how to transition your content from Original Course View to Ultra Course view and how to add new content from other sources. You can then take what you have learned and begin transitioning your content into the Ultra Course view. Stick around after the session to ask more questions or get hands on help from Learning Technologies.
- Thursday September 18 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Zoom
- Wednesday, October 15 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in SRC 3013
- Monday, November 17 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Zoom
- Tuesday, December 16 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Zoom
Ultra Asynchronous Training
Want to learn about Ultra but can’t make it to one of our trainings? You can now register for one of our asynchronous online courses! You can choose from a PDH option or one that offers the same information without the PDH component.
Blackboard Ultra Open Lab
LT Open Labs are ready for all your Ultra questions this fall.
From August 27th (next week–see our kickoff lab times above) through December 19th, find us in SRC 3013 on:
- Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Fridays from from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
