What’s New

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

New Respondus Lockdown Browser Features Auto-Update in July

Students using Win/Mac must install to gain this feature

The July update to the Windows and Mac versions of Respondus LockDown Browser will feature a new Auto Update function that starts when the application opens.  To optimize the test proctoring...

Posted: June 28, 2021, 4:13 PM

Groups & gradebook enhancements planned for Ultra in July

Improved functionality for groups support larger enrollments

The groups tool in Ultra has been redesigned for the July update to improve overall performance, particularly for large courses. This redesign includes functionality to make it easier to find...

Posted: June 25, 2021, 9:18 AM

Panopto Upgrades and Downtime

6/26 Downtime & IE discontinued; 7/16 recorder upgrade

Cloud Downtime On Saturday, June 26, Panopto Cloud customers will be upgraded to the latest cloud release. The vendor anticipates up to 4 hours of downtime, with a target start time of 9:00 PM...

Posted: June 11, 2021, 9:30 AM