Welcome to Blackboard Ultra

From the 24/25 academic year, the University of Lincoln will have fully transitioned to the latest version of Blackboard, known as Blackboard Ultra.

In addition the support guides and regular training sessions throughout the year, this page and been produced to provide you with an on-demand version of the workshop series delivered to each school throughout the transition process. You will find the session title, outcomes and video recording displayed below.

Access the Blackboard Ultra Showroom / Recipes: This site provides you with templates, examples, and inspiration for pedagogically informed approaches to designing and structuring your Blackboard site. Note: you may need to click the link twice, once to launch Blackboard, a second to open the site: Blackboard Ultra Showroom (Web Link, Opens in your Web Browser).

Introduction Video – Welcome to Blackboard Ultra

This video is presented by Daniel Wakefield and Luke Kidger.

The introduction video to provides a comprehensive overview of the transition to Blackboard Ultra at the University of Lincoln and highlights the support that will be available for academic and professional services staff. This video consists of a brief tour of the Blackboard Ultra Showroom, a course designed to inspire and assist in the design of your modules in Blackboard, and also highlights the next steps. All staff will gain access to the Showroom once their school begins their workshop series.

You can click on the video icon below to play the “Introduction Video – Welcome to Blackboard Ultra”.

Session 1: Designing your Module Content in Ultra

This video is presented by Emily Heathcote and Misha Munjal.

An introduction to the key concepts and strategies for designing a clear, consistent, coherent and accessible module content structure in Blackboard Ultra, using Learning Modules and Ultra Documents, and reusing a range of pre-templated blocks known as ‘recipes’. This session also explores how to copy and reuse content from your previous Blackboard Original modules.

Session 2: Assessment and Digital Tools in Ultra

This video is presented by Daniel Wakefield and Luke Kidger.

Whilst the core functionality of all our digital tools, such as Turnitin, Panopto and Talis Aspire have not changed with the move to Blackboard Ultra, there are a number of new features and approaches available to embedding them within the course – this session will highlight these. In addition, this session will explore the setup process for core assessment types, an overview of the grade centre and the provision of marks and feedback, whilst ensuring that recent developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the importance of accessibility are considered.

Session 3: Engaging Students Online in Ultra

This video is presented by Emily Heathcote and Peter Davis.

After populating our Blackboard Ultra course with a range of digital tools and module content in a clear, consistent, coherent and accessible structure, our attention will turn to ensuring students are engaging with our course in a meaningful and informed way. This session will focus on communicating with students through Blackboard, establishing spaces for collaboration and discussion, as well as making use of new analytics and progress data.