April 2025 - New Features in Blackboard Ultra

Live Session

Tue 4/8/2025 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET, Click here to join.

Session Recording

TBD

Content Designer: Print Document

Instructors and students can now print Documents or save them to PDF, providing more ways to engage with content. This new option allows users to:

• Review content offline
• Share content with students or peers
• Physically archive content

Instructor Notes

• Knowledge check blocks print with all the question and answer options.
• All other blocks print as displayed outside of editing mode.
• Attached files will not print with the document, and will need to be printed separately.
• Embedded Kaltura Videos will not appear.
• Images will appear

Activity indicator color changed to purple

The color of the activity indicator for discussions, journals, and conversations is changed from blue to purple to better unify the color scheme of Blackboard. Users now have a more consistent and cohesive experience.

Indicator if student has or has not reviewed feedback

In the Gradebook, instructors now have enhanced ability to monitor student engagement with assessment feedback. An indicator on the student Overview page now displays whether a student has reviewed the feedback for a given assessment.

When a grade is posted, the indicator includes a label of Not reviewed with the existing Completed label in the Status column. When the student reviews the feedback, the status updates to Reviewed with a review timestamp.

If the new grade indicator is reset for the assessment, such as when a grade is updated or if the assessment has multiple attempts, the timestamp updates when the student reviews the feedback again. If all attempts are deleted, the Not reviewed or Reviewed label is removed.

Replace Feedback column with actionable Results column in student Gradebook

To encourage student to review their submitted assessments in the Gradebook:

• A new Results column replaces the Feedback column
• A View button in the new Results column replaces the Feedback column's purple feedback icon

When a grade is posted and the new grade indicator (purple circle) is turned on, the View button displays for the assessment. By proving a clear call-to-action, students are more likely to review their submission and feedback.

Enhanced grading experience for group submissions

This is Flexible grading for group submissions.