As we enter the first wave of transitioning to Blackboard Ultra, one of the most common questions I hear is ‘How different is it?’. Although coming from the same provider, Blackboard Ultra is essentially a different VLE rather than an upgrade of the Original. While a lot of the functionality overlaps, what makes it a separate product to me are the differences in the underlying design principles of the platform. Below I outline the three most essential, from my perspective, changes:
Content organisation
The navigation of the content in Blackboard Original was dictated by the left-hand menu. From my experience, this ‘sectioned’ structure frequently led to Blackboard being used as a repository of resources rather than an actual learning environment.
Blackboard Ultra seemed to take a different approach which to me resembles a design of platforms such as FutureLearn or Coursera focused on leading a student through a sequential learning journey. As there is no left-hand menu, the content has to be organised on one main page by using Folders or Learning Modules.
Learning Modules exist in Blackboard Original, although they are rather underused which is a shame as they facilitate a sequential organisation of the resources and activities. In Blackboard Ultra the Learning Modules are at the forefront of the design. Their added value is providing courses with a more visually appealing interface. For those who used Moodle, Learning Modules in Ultra resemble tiles format. There are some planned improvements to the navigation of Learning Modules which will further enhance their usability.
Read more about Ultra Learning Modules
Documents instead of Items (or rather Blank Pages)
Instead of items, Ultra offers Documents as the key content creation tool. In terms of functionality Documents resemble Original’s Blank Pages. They enable you to add a collection of different items to one page. This includes text, multimedia as well as attachments which, unlike in the Original, display directly within the Document. This is another change which to me emphasises the continuous learning journey and sequential engagement with content. One important consideration when using Ultra Documents is paying attention to accessibility principles such as titles and headings, and alternative text, otherwise they can easily become a hindrance to screen reader users.
Read more about Ultra Documents
Gradebook (Grade Centre)
The last and possibly the most substantial change is the Gradebook, so the equivalent of the Grade Center. To me, the idea behind the changes in this area is to enable a clearer overview of the different progression metrics and monitor student engagement in addition to performing administrative processes. The Original Grade Centre had only one view with rows for students and columns corresponding to submission points, calculations and notes.
The Gradebook has three views:
- Markable items – quick view of all the graded items, their due dates, submissions to mark
- Marks – closest to the Grade Centre, includes all submission points columns along with all the added calculation columns against a list of students
- Students – quick overview of the student activity including the last access date and overall mark (you can then click on the student to see more details on each individual)
Read more about the Ultra Gradebook
In the upcoming weeks, I will be spotlighting other changes and new functionalities. In the meantime, if you like to see a more in-depth comparison of all the differences, these resources may be helpful: