Ultra update features tracking meter, resize images in July

Improved file deletion, complete/incomplete schema, and more

The July update for Ultra provides updates to assessment and grading, content delivery, and course management, offering new functionality and quality of life improvements for faculty and students.

Assessment & Grading

Instructors can select a new complete/incomplete schema when creating a test or assignment. An incomplete is displayed as a gray dash. When a grade is assigned, a checkmark is displayed to the student.
Instructors can apply a "Formative" label to assessments and display this label to students on the course outline, within the assessment itself, and in the gradebook. Formative labels can be used for practice quizzes, spaced practice, and similar types of assessments, and the gradebook will filter the formative label.

Image 1: Student view of course outline with assessments showing the Formative label.

A new simplified navigation for tests and assignments provides convenient access to different sections using tabs, similar to the redesigned discussions page. Designed for instructor efficiency, the navigation includes content and settings, submissions, student activity and question analysis.
For assessments with questions, instructors can turn on partial and negative credit, or allow an overall negative score.
Anonymous assessments feature new Send Reminder options with a simplified nudge to students who haven't turned in the graded activity. Instructors can also add exceptions for anonymously graded assessments.
Grading schemas can now be deleted.
To increase clarity for students before they begin an assessment, the assessment start button displays different states based on the student's progress (Start to begin, Continue after saving, or View for submitted work). Additionally, students will have a clear drag & drop zone to upload files.

Content Creation & Delivery

A progress summary for Learning Modules will be displayed to students, showing the total number of items in the Learning Module. Hovering over the progress bar informs the student of how much content they have completed, started or yet to start. A button shows students whether they need to start, continue, or if they have completed the module.

Image 2: Student view of progress tracking bar.

All users can now resize images, video, and media by dragging a corner handle. Changing the alignment so text wraps around images is not yet supported, but it is coming soon.
When a file is deleted from the course, it will now be deleted from the Content Collection when it is not used in other courses or another place in the same course. This will resolve many course quota issues experienced by faculty.

Course Management

Ultra courses and organizations can now support self-enrollment. Please open a RT ticket for self-enrollment as only a system admin can edit these settings.
If instructor use Canvas at another institution and wishes to reuse that content, they can import Canvas packages directly in Ultra courses. Note: Course structure and tools differ between Canvas and Blackboard. Canvas content is imported as individual HTML pages which must be edited externally. Assignments and tests should be reviewed to validate questions and instructions. Please open a RT ticket for support.

Additionally, the favorite icon that appears in the browser when accessing Blackboard will change from the orange pencil icon to the Anthology logo, a colorful bar graph on a black background. Anthology is the parent company that acquired Blackboard in 2021.

Faculty should see the latest updates in Ultra courses around July 6-7, 2023. Please sign up for our latest What's New in Ultra for Teaching & Learning webinar on August 10 or August 18, 2023 to learn more about these and other exciting new features coming to Ultra.

The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on July 11, 2023; release notes are posted to the What's New in Ultra that same week. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra.

Connect with Instructional Technology

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