What’s New

More UMBC students like Ultra and want Ultra courses

86% of UMBC students express satisfaction with Ultra

In a survey of 608 students taking Ultra courses during the SP2021 semester, 86% indicated satisfaction with Ultra, marking a 14% increase compared to the last survey in FA2019. Students again...

Posted: August 19, 2021, 9:04 AM

DoIT Upgrades & Adds Classroom AV for Return to Campus

UC to support large courses, training begins next week

As the University prepares for a return to campus this Fall, DoIT’s Audio-Visual and Desktop Support units have been busy upgrading classrooms and equipping instructors with new technologies to...

Posted: August 18, 2021, 1:11 PM

13 Tips to Get Your Blackboard Course Ready

Checklist to optimize your course before the semester starts

Prepare your Blackboard course shell for the new semester with our updated baker’s dozen checklist. 1. Review new tools & features in Blackboard. Our Blackboard site receives updates and...

Posted: August 17, 2021, 12:02 PM

VoiceThread / Blackboard Tool Connection Updated

VoiceThread update changes how VoiceThread is added to Bb

Do you use VoiceThread assignments or links in Blackboard? At the end of July, VoiceThread went through an LTI upgrade to improve functionality between VoiceThread and Blackboard. The new...

Posted: August 2, 2021, 3:08 PM

Enhanced whiteboard tools coming to Collaborate in August

Draw freehand customize text & retain session annotations

A whiteboard is an important pedagogical tool to support handwritten expression and annotation, especially in a virtual classroom. Over the last year, Blackboard has been redesigning the...

Posted: August 2, 2021, 10:30 AM

FA2021 Courses Created in Blackboard on July 26, 2021

Blackboard course shells for FA2021 were created on July 26, 2021. The Ultra Course Preview setting is again enabled in FA2021 courses, which allows faculty to convert a new Original course to...

Posted: July 27, 2021, 10:06 AM

Gradebook filters, progress tracking, badges ready for Ultra

New course navigation & other enhancements coming in August

This upcoming FA2021 semester features new development in the Ultra gradebook, starting with gradebook filters. This function allows faculty to view data and content in the gradebook by multiple...

Posted: July 27, 2021, 8:50 AM

Five Faculty Receive UMBC Learning Analytics Mini Grants

$2k professional development awards renewable annually

To encourage, identify, and exchange effective practice in the use of data to inform teaching and learning, the Provost’s Office has awarded UMBC’s first learning analytics mini grants to five...

Posted: July 22, 2021, 3:15 PM

UMBC to pilot Collaborate automated transcription recording

Pilot will take place during summer session through 9/15

Update @ 10/1: The pilot has concluded. In partnership with Blackboard, UMBC will pilot a recording transcription feature in the Collaborate web conferencing platform this summer. This feature...

Posted: July 12, 2021, 8:09 AM

Akindi Bubble Sheet Training

Learn more about the Scantron replacement

Are you ready for the move? At the end of the Spring 2021 semester, DoIT announced that test scoring services were moving to Akindi, a Scantron alternative. During this transition, we will be...

Posted: July 7, 2021, 1:43 PM