Explore Jumbled Sentences and Gradebook Tools in Ultra’s June Release

Track unread discussions & student activity

The June 2025 update to Blackboard Ultra brings a fresh set of enhancements designed to support instructional efficiency, student engagement, and accessible course design. From new question types and grading tools to better visibility into student activity, these updates reflect Ultra’s continued commitment to teaching and learning.

Jumbled Sentence Question Type

Ultra now supports jumbled sentence questions for tests and quizzes, allowing instructors to assess syntax, sequencing, and conceptual structure in a dynamic, interactive way. Distractors can be added to increase challenge, and variables can include letters, numbers, and special characters. Answer options are randomized to ensure fairness, and instructors can optionally use AI assistance to generate question formats.

Image 1: Instructor creates a jumbled sentence question type.

Bulk Category Changes in the Gradebook

Instructors can now bulk update the category associations for gradebook columns via the Item Management page. This streamlines gradebook setup and maintenance, especially in large courses.

Image 2: Instructor is bulk changing the category for multiple selected gradebook items.

Additional updates include:

A new unread post indicator appears at the top of the Ultra course on the Discussions tab to show how many posts are unread.
The Student Activity Log now features a Content Access Filter, making it easier to identify whether and when students accessed specific materials, third-party tools, and LTIs that were previously difficult to track.
Ultra Documents now support resizable divider blocks, which can span up to four columns. These visual elements improve the structure of course content and help chunk information into digestible sections.
Blackboard improved the appearance and responsiveness of Knowledge Checks, making them more visually engaging and easier to interact with across different screen sizes.
The Gradebook supports smoother navigation using arrow keys and enhanced compatibility with screen readers.

When you can expect the update

Faculty should see the latest updates in their Ultra courses around June 5-6 2025. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on June 10, 2025; 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: