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Blackboard Ultra Learning Opportunities and Resources

CMU’s journey with Ultra begins with learning Blackboard Ultra’s features, functionality, and setup. Robust training opportunities are offered on various days and times to balance busy schedules and teaching times. Additional resources are also provided to reinforce learning and application.

NOTE: Blackboard, Inc updates the LMS environment regularly, providing patches and fixes and releasing new features and tools. Therefore, some features and screen shares shown in videos and trainings may not reflect the latest capabilities or current Blackboard environment. 

The Ultra Training plan

The following learning opportunities are designed for faculty as they transition their course content from Blackboard Learn to Blackboard Ultra. We recommend that faculty attend these sessions to increase their knowledge and confidence with Blackboard Ultra before migrating their content.

To help you keep track of the trainings you have completed for Blackboard Ultra, we have created an Ultra Training card. This editable PDF lets you record your progress and enter the date for each training attended. After finishing all five sessions, email your completed card to cis@cmich.edu to be entered into a drawing for $250 in professional development funds (compliments of CIS). A drawing will occur at the end of the fall and spring semesters. To be eligible, you must be teaching faculty and have finished all five trainings. Participants are only eligible to enter once.

Join CIS staff to begin your journey with the updated Blackboard user interface Ultra Course View. In this session, we will explore the navigation of Ultra, including its functions and features. This foundational training will prepare learners for subsequent training on Ultra and eventual course migration.

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Ready to take your course to the next level? In this session, learners explore sound course design principles while learning how to build, copy, and manage content and maintain accessibility. We will also demonstrate how to build course content, such as modules, documents, web links, etc.

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Elevate your teaching by efficiently creating and managing graded activities in Blackboard Ultra. This workshop will show how to create and manage discussions, assignments, and assessments within the Ultra Gradebook. Discover the potential for using question banks, question pools, and other question types to enhance assessment options and streamline the grading process.

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Discover a world of new features and capabilities in the Ultra Gradebook. Join us as we demonstrate how to set up and organize the gradebook to maximize the flexibility of Ultra's new features. We will highlight the differences between grid and list views and explore how to filter to see students and their scores. We’ll also share the various grading options, such as grading by student or by question.

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The power of Ultra shines in the analytics it provides. Join us as we illuminate the hidden gems of Ultra's robust analytics, unlocking the potential to quickly identify your top-performing students and those who would benefit from compassionate outreach and support. Discover the activity, engagement, and performance metrics available to support your data-informed instruction of an Ultra course. 

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Designed for faculty who are ready to leap into course migration. This workshop demonstrates how to optimize the course migration process with pre-migration course preparation, streamlined copying of content, and how certain features can be used to leverage sound course design principles. We will also share essential considerations within a post-migration course review.

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One-on-one assistance

Need more one-on-one assistance with an issue you are facing with Ultra? The following opportunities will be available throughout the semester. No appointment is necessary.

Need a little extra help with a Bb Ultra issue? Starting September 27th through December 6th, drop in virtually on Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to ask Ultra-related questions. Note: no VDI on Wednesday, November 22. (CMICH Login Required)

Join the Virtual Drop-in

Bring your laptop to Park Library 413D and meet with a CIS team member for one-on-one assistance. Extra monitors will be available to allow you to view your course in Original and Ultra simultaneously. CIS staff will be on hand to assist on the following Fridays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on October 13 and 27, November 10, and December 1.

Resources by topic

Multiple resources have been created to aid you in your journey to Ultra. In addition to webinars, short training videos are available to reinforce your learning and allow for easy reference any time of day or night. The full video collection is searchable by keyword. Additionally, a collection of knowledge base articles has been created to provide step-by-step guidance to instructors in using and setting up an Ultra course. For ease of use, resources have been organized by the topics listed below.