Blackboard August 2022 Updates
The following updates are coming in August, and they will be live on the Westminster system after the 5th of August.
Please watch a short video about the new updates.
Improved management of question banks
In the current blackboard instructors could not create new question banks or manage questions in existing banks. With the new update, you can now:
- Create new, empty question banks in their Ultra courses,
- View and search for questions within a question bank, and
- Add, edit, and delete all aspects of a question within new and existing question banks.
New question banks interface
Instructors can now create question banks within blackboard
You can now view the question banks with filter criteria and edit the points for each question.
New question banks interface.
Advanced calculation for Overall Grade
- The instructor may use the ‘Set it up’ option to configure the Overall Grade/ Go to gradebook, overall mark, calculation details.
- Advanced calculation has been added into overall grade.
Instructors can configure the overall grade using the options on the left hand side.
Delete Student Preview User
Now instructors have a choice when exiting student preview:
- save the preview student and data
- delete the preview student and data
The method for exiting Student Preview also changed.Now to exit Student Preview, an instructor will choose the exit icon.
New exit icon
Import/Export Group Sets and Members
Now instructors can create group sets and add group members by importing a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file. This feature also supplies the ability to export group sets and members to a CSV file.
Explicit declaration of Messages handling
Now when instructors create a message and select ‘all course members’, they will be alerted that this is a group message. With future updates, instructors will have the option to select the message to be sent as a group or as an individual.
Granular Content Copy – Copy Status in Course Tasks and Logs
- When creating and building sites, there is now this additional option. Instructors will now have access to the status of all the course tasks that they start. This includes:
- Copy
- Convert to Ultra
- Archive
- Export
- Import
- Restore
Logs are available for all course tasks. Instructors will be able to view the conversion report, view/filter, and download logs. These logs will help instructors triage any issues that may arise.
Granular Content Copy – Retain links to assessment questions
An assessment has a question set or random block that links to questions in another assessment. An assessment has a question set or random block that links to questions in an assessment pool. Now all the linked questions stay intact after the copy process. Assessments now copy as expected.
Progress Tracking – Status and Filter updates for Submission View
Instructors now can view the “status” of the student’s progress on an assignment which can be seen under 2 new columns:
- Submission Status
- Grade Status
Filters has also been added to allow compound filtering between the two columns. The default for filters is to show everything. The filter resets every time the instructor accesses the submission view.
Unified Blackboard App
Previously there are 2 types of Blackboard app on mobile devices; the Blackboard App and the Blackboard Instructors App. With the new update, both Blackboard Apps has been unified into one single app for both students and instructors. The user experience will change based on the user’s role within a course.
Congruent Mobile App and Desktop Experiences for Ultra Course View
The user experience in the Ultra Course View is now the same between the Blackboard mobile app and a web browser. In the past, users had to make a choice because the features were different between the app and a web browser.
This new Blackboard mobile app will be available August 8, 2022, from the iOS and Android app stores. Students using the current Blackboard app can simply update the app. And instructors, assistants, and graders should remove the Blackboard Instructor App and download the Blackboard App.
Improvements to LaTeX question support
- Now when inputting maths or scientific formulas/equations, code can be inputted with a clearer outcome. Formatting such as italics or bold must be in the LaTeX code. Users can add the code formats in text or when editing using the Math editor. If a user chooses the bold format in the content editor, the image will render without that format. Example:
- Code without format: $$axˆ2+bx+c=0$$
- Code with format: $$\style{font-size:72px}{axˆ2+bx+c=0}$$
Due Date Exceptions
Instructors may accommodate special circumstances by also allowing due date exceptions. Due date exceptions support is for individual tests and assignments only.
Messaging in Private Courses
Instructors can now send messages from within the course even when it is set to private. Students can access the messages from the email address associated with their Blackboard account.
Enhanced auto save capability in the content editor in Tests & Assignments
Now student responses entered in the content editor are auto saved two seconds after the student stops typing. Also if there is a disruption in connectivity, students receive a “Connection lost” warning.
Force Email Copy for all Messages
“Send an email copy to recipients” can now be the default behaviour for all messages by selecting this option within administrator tools.
When the option in Administrators Tools is unticked, the instructors have an option to send an email copy when creating a new message
When the option in Administrators Tools is ticked, an email copy will automatically be sent to the recipients.
