SaaS Monthly Updates

Blackboard SaaS will be updated on the first Thursday of each month, unless otherwise stated. Check back here for new features and updates.

April 4, 2024

  • Calculation changes in grading: When creating calculated columns, previously a calculation might display with .99 instead of as a whole number (i.e. 13.99 instead of 14). This has now been updated so that all calculations will display the accurate whole number on a calculated column.
  • Ultra Courses:
    • Persistent navigation bar for learning modules: When a student is looking at content in a Learning Module, they no longer need to scroll up to see the navigation bar to move to the next or previous item in the learning module.
    • Student feedback remains visible regardless of release conditions: Students will now be able to view their feedback on items regardless of whether the instructor has used release conditions to hide the item or column associated with the feedback.
    • Default question point value changed to 1: When creating a test question, the default point value for each question is now set to 1 instead of 10. Questions copied from other assessments will retain their designated point value.
    • Duplicate questions in tests or question banks: When instructors are creating tests or question banks, they can now duplicate an existing question and make changes to the new version of the question instead of having to recreate the question from scratch.
    • Likert question scale expanded: When creating a Likert scale question, instructors can now choose to have 4 or 6 answer options.
    • Auto-submit indicated added to attempt logs: When an assessment is auto-submitted for a student due to force completion or time running out, the attempt log will now indicate that the submission was auto-submitted. It will also notate if the attempt was submitted manually.
    • Anonymous Discussion posts: Instructors can now choose to make a discussion board anonymous. When submitting their post, users will still need to check the box labeled “Post anonymously”. Anonymous discussion boards cannot be graded.
    • Self-enrollment group improvements: Group sets created as self-enroll groups can now be set to have a maximum number of 1 student per group. Previously, this number was set to 2. Using 1 as the maximum number of students per group allows for a sign-up sheet functionality.
    • Flexible Grading improvements: Improvements to the flexible grading page have been made, including: the attempt selector option is now in a more visible location; only one grade pill is visible on the grading page to prevent grade overrides; creating an override is now a specific option in the grading page; and a more visible submission receipt number for each attempt.
    • Adding question feedback when grading by student: Instructors can now provide specific feedback on all question types when grading assessments.
    • Overall grade added to the gradebook download menu: Instructors can now include the Overall Grade column when downloading their gradebook to Excel.
    • Edit gradebook category for third party tools: Instructors can now change the category for gradebook columns imported from a third party tool.
    • Long Name Visibility: Students with long names would have their names cut off in the Student Activity Report pages. The display of names has now changed so that the entire name is visible when looking at these pages, even on devices with small screens.
    • Individual date adjustment in Batch Edit menu: Instructors can now use the Batch Edit menu to make date adjustments for an individual item.
  • Resolved Known Issues:
    • Original Courses: Ultra navigation page is lost when page is refreshed in Student Preview mode
      • When an instructor is in Student Preview mode and the page is refreshed, the user loses the ability to close the course and return to the Ultra Navigation homepage.
    • Mobile App/Browser: Attached files in Original courses inaccessible on Android devices
      • When using an Android mobile device, either through the browser or Blackboard app, and attempting to open an attached document in an Original course, the document will not open.
    • Mobile App/Browser: HTML Document type does not work on iPad
      • When using an iPad and attempting to use the “Add HTML” feature on an Ultra document, a white screen displays and the user cannot add content.
    • Ultra Courses: Announcements with attached images cannot be edited after course copy
      • When an instructor attaches an image file to an announcement, then copies all course content from one course into another, and makes a change to the announcement with an image, the edits will not save.
    • Ultra Courses: Calculated formula question variable range cannot be set to more than three decimal places
      • When creating a calculated formula question and editing the value range, the input values cannot have more than three decimal places and will round instead.
    • Ultra Courses: Documents are blank when copied in learning modules with force sequence turned on
      • When copying a course with learning modules that have force sequence turned on, any document in the learning module will render as blank.
    • Ultra Courses: Feedback panel shows incorrect grade to student when percentage is shown with feedback
      • When students attempt to view feedback on an assignment that is set to display the grade as percentage, the feedback panel will show a higher percentage than they’ve received, sometimes over 100%.
    • Ultra Courses: Gradable items with long names affect visibility of other items
      • When a gradebook item has a long name of over 100 characters, the gradebook filter will display the full name, making other items not visible.
    • Ultra Courses: Group set import fails when group name is the same as group set name
      • When creating group sets and using the import group function, the import will fail if the group name is the same as the group set name.
    • Ultra Courses: Overall grade column missing from download file when “select all” is used
      • When downloading the gradebook and using the “select all” option on the column selection menu, the Overall Grade column is missing from the downloaded grade file.
    • Ultra Courses: Question Analysis report miscalculates average time spent in assignment
      • If an item is not auto-graded, the Question Analysis Report miscalculates the average time spent in the assignment.
    • Ultra Courses: Screen Reader not reading learner feedback
      • When a user is using a screen reader, the screen reader will not read any feedback entered in the “Feedback to Learner” box when looking at a grade.
    • Ultra Courses: Submission page breaks after self-enrollment group name is changed
      • When an instructor creates self-enrollment groups, assign the groups to assignments, and attempts have been submitted, the submission page will break if the group name is changed after the attempt is submitted.
    • Ultra Courses: Tables created with copied text has spaces that disappear after copying
      • When an instructor creates a table within an Ultra document, copying text from outside of Blackboard clears any text that contains spaces after saving the table.
    • Ultra Courses: Text editor removes some spaces from content copied from Word
      • When copying text from a Word document into Blackboard which contains a list, the copied list will have some spaces missing between words.
    • Ultra Courses: Unable to grade journal when using rubrics
      • When an instructor attaches a rubric to a Journal assignment and attempts to grade the Journal, they will receive an error message or the grading page will not load.

March 7, 2024

  • Ultra Courses:
    • No Due Date option for Assessments: Instructors can now create a test or assignment and select “No Due Date” instead of having to enter a due date.
    • Due Date Updates: The default due date is now set to 11:59pm on the date after the assignment or test was completed. Additionally, if the due date and assessment results settings are in conflict, a banner will appear and prompt the instructor to fix the conflicts.
    • Announcement updates: Users will now see a circled number next to the Announcements option in the top menu to indicate a new, unread announcement. Additionally, users can mark announcements as read or unread.
    • Flexible Grading panels: When grading across multiple login sessions, the flexible grading panel choices (i.e. which panels are open or closed) are now preserved when moving between attempts and across grading sessions.
    • Item Statistics in Gradebook: Instructors can now view item statistics for gradebook columns. Select the column name or the three dots, then select Statistics to view statistics based on the grades assigned for that column.
  • Mobile App:
    • Send messages to students via Student Activity Report: When viewing the Student Activity Report on the mobile app or on a mobile device or small screen, instructors can now send a message to their students.
  • Resolved Known Issues:
    • Edited Fill in the Blank questions cause an error when accessing student attempts in Original Courses
      • When an instructor has edited a “fill in the blank” or “fill in the multiple blank” question, then attempts to access a student attempt, they will receive an error message.
    • Bb Annotate reloads when saving feedback in Ultra Courses
      • When grading assignments and adding feedback to an attempt, Bb Annotate will reload the page 5-6 minutes after the “Save Changes” button was clicked, causing it to look like the feedback was not saved.
    • Grade Calculating using “include all items” option is calculating backwards in Ultra Courses
      • When checking the option “include all items” in a grade calculation, to use a value of 0 for items that have no grades, those items and the respective 0’s are not included in the grade calculation.
    • Grading by question will refresh and go to the top of the list in Ultra Courses
      • When grading an assessment by question, once the instructor sets a score, the page will refresh and go back to the top of the list.
    • Hidden documents copied within force sequence modules make documents visible to students in Ultra Courses
      • When a learning module with force sequence turned on is copied to another course, the visibility of the hidden documents inside the module are set to “Visible to Students”.
    • Overall grade shows different results in grid and list view when grade displayed as letter in Ultra Courses
      • When an instructor has the Overall Grade column set up and set to display as a letter grade, the Overall Grade will display different grades in the list view and grid view.
    • Screen reader not reading discussion boards in Ultra Courses
      • When a user is using a screen reader, the screen reader will skip the “Discussion Topic” entered by the professor and the response text from participants.
    • Virtual classroom setting disappears when student access is turned off in Ultra Courses
      • When an instructor opens the Course Settings menu and turns of “Allow student access” under the Virtual Classroom header, the setting completely disappears and cannot be turned back on.

February 1, 2024

  • Ultra Courses:
    • Forms are now available: Instructors can now use the Forms tool. Forms are not anonymous. Forms are not graded, and there are no correct or incorrect questions.
    • Likert question type: Instructors can now add a Likert question type on forms. Instructors can choose between three different ranges (1-3, 1-5, and 1-7), with a not applicable option.
    • Rubric display choice persists when grading: Instructors who use rubrics during the grading process no longer need to choose to display description levels when moving from one submission to another. If the instructor selects to display the description level, that display option will persist as they move through submissions.
    • Send reminders from gradebook improvements: When choosing to send reminders for assignments or tests from the gradebook, the scenarios where students receive the notifications have changed to make it more consistent and accurate. Students will now receive a reminder if they are available in the course, do not have an automatic zero, and do not have a manual override grade that was posted.
    • Updates to audio/video feedback recording: Improvements have been made to the recording screen when instructors choose to record audio or video feedback while grading. Instructors can now choose to maximize the recording window for better visibility, or minimize the recording screen so they can scroll through the submission.
    • Feedback for Overridden and Automatic Zero grades: Instructors can add feedback on grades that have been overridden or automatic zeros that is now visible to the students. Instructors can also add feedback for grades that were given offline. Previously, only feedback on grades given through Blackboard as part of the grading process were visible to students.
    • Course Activity Report Customization: Instructors can now customize the missed due date alert in Alert Settings on the Course Activity Report page.
    • Long Name Visibility: Students with long names would have their names cut off in the Gradebook and Course Activity Report pages. The display of names has now changed so that the entire name is visible when looking at these pages, even on devices with small screens.
    • Activity Stream Notifications for Instructors: Instructors can now better customize their Activity Stream to see which students may be at risk in their course. There are new options for instructors to choose from for Student Alerts on the Activity Stream, including low overall grade, missed due date alert, and last access alert.
  • Known Issues:
    • A patch was added to fix the known issue “Screen reader not reading test questions” in Ultra. Previously, students using a screen reader would not hear the question and the screen reader would jump to the answer choices. This has been resolved.

Previous Updates

Tentative Future Updates

Blackboard Inc. has released the following dates for updates to Blackboard. Please note that Towson University has no control over these dates and that they are subject to change.

May 2, 2024
June 6, 2024
July 4, 2024
August 1, 2024
September 5, 2024
October 3, 2024
November 7, 2024
December 5, 2024
January 2, 2025
February 6, 2025

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