What’s New

This fall, UMBC faculty will have the opportunity to test Blackboard’s new AI Virtual Assistant (AVA), a suite of tools designed to support common teaching tasks.  AVA Feedback Assistant will...

DoIT is pleased to announce a new form to help faculty manage their Blackboard course shells with greater efficiency. As part of our ongoing updates to the course creation and enrollment process,...

This month’s Ultra update makes it easier than to generate meaningful descriptions for complex images. August also brings new tools for recording video announcements, styling course materials, and...

Blackboard course shells for Fall 2025 were created on July 16, 2025. All Fall 2025 courses listed in the UMBC Schedule of Classes (SOC), regardless of designation as lecture, lab, etc, or...

Anthology, the parent company of Blackboard, has announced that they will retire Original courses and organizations on December 31, 2026. At this point, all Original content in courses and...

How do you know if students actually read that important course announcement? What if you could make your content more accessible by adding image captions or rendering complex math more clearly...

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...

The May 2025 Ultra release delivers several meaningful updates that improve how faculty assess student work, support engagement, and manage course tools. From expanded rubric options to accessible...

Blackboard course shells for Summer 2025 were created on April 24, 2025. All Summer 2025 courses listed in the UMBC Schedule of Classes (SOC), regardless of designation as lecture, lab, etc, or...

Following the April 2025 Blackboard release, some Blackboard users reported issues (e.g., blank screen, spinning wheel) with Blackboard access. Unsupported browser versions were identified as the...