Author Dr. Rachel Thompson


Blackboard Learn Service Outage

On Wednesday, March 30 from approximately 6:00 to 6:30 PM Central, Blackboard Learn experienced a service outage. Service was restored around 6:30 PM. When the incident investigation is complete, we will share its results. Contact cit@ua.edu with questions or concerns.


Instructional Technology News – March 29, 2022

Hello instructors, Melissa from The Center for Instructional Technology here with the latest instructional technology news. Blackboard Ultra Course Pilot UA instructors now have the opportunity to explore Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View. Ultra Course View offers a simple, modern, intuitive, and consistent interface across devices and a simpler, more streamlined experience for instructors and…


Zoom: March 21 update brings waiting and breakout room changes, new and enhanced features

The March 21 Zoom release brings many new and enhanced features, a complete list of which is available here: Release notes for March 21, 2022 CIT staffer Karen Burns points out that several improvements to waiting and breakout rooms have been requested by UA instructors. From Zoom: Meeting features Rename participants in Waiting Room – Windows,…


Instructional Technology News – March 3, 2022

Hello instructors, Melissa from The Center for Instructional Technology here with the latest instructional technology news. Midterm grades due March 4 at midnight Midterm grades are due Friday, 3/4 at 11:59 p.m. Instructors are required to submit midterm grades for all 100- and 200-level courses, as well as grades for non-attendance. Midterm grading should be used to…


Blackboard Collaborate Scheduled Maintenance – March 10

From Blackboard: Feb 24, 14:08 EST Scheduled – Blackboard will be deploying our Collaborate v22.04 release to the US region (https://us.bbcollab.com), hosted in AWS (US – Virginia): us-east-1. Start Time: Thursday, March 10, 2022 2:00 AM EST (Eastern Standard Time) UTC/GMT -5 hours End Time: Thursday, March 10, 2022 6:00 AM EST (Eastern Standard Time)…


Instructional Technology News – February 18, 2022

Hello instructors, Melissa from The Center for Instructional Technology here with some instructional technology news and tips. Learning ePortfolios in the Classroom: A Panel Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2022, 2:00-3:30 pm Location: Lackey Room, Bryant Conference Center This professional development session, brought to you by The College of Continuing Studies and The Center for Instructional Technology,…


Known Issue: Lastpass and Blackboard Test Options

The LastPass browser extension may incorrectly autofill fields and generate passwords when editing Test Options in Blackboard Learn. LastPass suggests editing settings for Blackboard in your LastPass vault if you encounter this issue: Go to lastpass.com and log in. Go to Passwords Hover over Blackboard tile and click wrench icon to edit settings Click Advanced…


RESOLVED – Known Issue: Blackboard Ally Degraded Performance

Update 02/18/2022 10 a.m.: Blackboard has resolved this issue. CIT has learned that Blackboard is monitoring an issue with Blackboard Ally for LMS that was preventing the processing of new content added to Learn courses. The issue has been addressed, but delays may continue until February 4. From Blackboard: Ally – US-EAST-1 – Degraded Performance…


Blackboard Developer Portal Critical Maintenance

CIT has been informed that Blackboard will perform critical maintenance tonight, Wed., Feb. 2, 11:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. Central. This maintenance could affect the availability and/or performance of some Blackboard Learn Integrations and third-party tools. From Blackboard: Due to an unprecedented increase in usage, Blackboard will be performing database scaling to improve performance for…