Greetings from your Center for Instructional Technology! CIT provides training, support, and consultations for UA’s instructional technologies and technology accessibility. Visit cit.ua.edu to find step-by-step guides with pictures, discover upcoming workshops and webinars, or book an appointment. You can also reach us at cit@ua.edu or 205-348-3532 or visit us in A203 Gordon Palmer Hall.
This month’s CIT Instructor News features information and resources to support teaching and learning needs, with a focus on midterm grading and teaching with Ultra.
Midterm grades due Friday, February 28 at 11:59 PM
Midterm grades are required for 100- and 200- level courses. For more information, visit Grade Reporting – Registrar’s Office. If there are discrepancies between course rosters in myBama and Blackboard, contact cit@ua.edu.
Grade Center Assistance
- Resources about Grading in Blackboard
- How do I create/edit the letter grading schema in Blackboard?
- How do I download the Grade Center from Blackboard?
- Enter final grades in Blackboard
- Import final grade into myBama
Test and Exam Assistance
- Testing Tips for Instructors
- How do I create a test in Blackboard?
- How do I deploy a test in Blackboard?
- How do I add extended time or provide another test accommodation in Blackboard?
Teaching with Ultra? Check out Grading in Ultra and Ultra Course Assessments.
A Simpler, More Modern Blackboard – Blackboard Ultra
Blackboard Ultra Course View (“Ultra”) offers a simple, modern, intuitive, and consistent interface across devices and a more streamlined experience for instructors and students. All Blackboard courses will be designed and delivered in Ultra by Spring 2026. Visit the CIT site to learn more about Ultra and UA’s plans, join or watch a recorded demonstration/information session, or request a practice or live course: Blackboard Ultra Course View
Make it an Ultra Good Summer: Teach with the new Blackboard
Instructors of non-OTIDE-supported courses can teach with Ultra now (OTIDE-supported courses are designated as OL or OLM). Request a live course to teach with Ultra in an upcoming semester.
OTIDE courses and programs will transition to Ultra based on their revision schedules, program interest, and other factors. Instructors teaching with OTIDE should contact OTIDE’s tech support area to express interest in teaching with Ultra or inquire about plans.
Ultra Good Features
Check out these updates coming to Blackboard in March.
Copy Banners Between Courses
Instructors now have the option to copy banners between courses. This benefits instructors who prefer to copy course content in parts rather than performing a full course copy and saves instructors and instructional designers time during course setup and rollover. Banners can be copied from Ultra or Original courses.
The Copy Items page with the option to select the course banner under Settings
Pop-out rubric when evaluating an attempt
To enhance grading efficiency, instructors can now pop out the grading rubric into a separate window when grading an assignment submission. The pop-out rubric is a separate, moveable window and formatted in a grid view. Previously, the rubric was only available in a side panel and formatted in a stack.
This update makes it easier to navigate and grade student submissions by providing a clearer, more comprehensive view of the rubric. Popping out the rubric lets instructors view the student submission and the rubric side-by-side for a more efficient grading experience. Instructors can quickly select performance levels and provide feedback in the rubric while viewing the student submission.
Submission view with rubric panel in one window, and the pop-out rubric in a separate window
Usability improvements for discussions
We previously shared that Anthology is doing some work around Discussions. The March release incorporates usability improvements for instructors and students.
Posts now have a gray background to stand out better against the page, and long discussion posts are now fully visible without the need for scrolling.
A long discussion post displayed in its entirety with a gray background
The number of posts and replies is now listed directly on the discussion home page and the Edit button is now directly accessible from the post, saving instructors time.
The main page of a Discussion, with the edit button for the topic highlighted, as well as the Participation section on the right
Enhanced Turnitin Report parameters
Instructors can enable Turnitin on Ultra assessments, allowing student submissions to be matched against the Turnitin database.
With the March release, Turnitin now receives some additional information to enhance the Turnitin Report for instructors: groups, user names, and roles data. By receiving a user’s name and role as well as group data, the Turnitin Report provides more detailed information about course and assignment matches within an institution.
There are no changes to the instructor interface in Blackboard, but, in the Turnitin Report, instructors will be able to access information about the specific courses where the student previously submitted the assignment.
CIT Technology and Tool Highlights
Blackboard
- Innovative Educator Series – Anthology has announced a new webinar series for instructors. The Innovative Educator Series provides a platform for faculty to explore the latest trends in digital pedagogy, collaborate on actionable solutions, and elevate the learning experience for every student. The next offering in the series, The One Where Accessibility and Quality Take Center Stage, will take place March 7.
Hypothesis
- Don’t miss AnnotatED 2025, the premier virtual and free conference exploring the transformative power of social annotation in higher education. This event is your opportunity to connect with other educators across the globe, discover innovative strategies for social learning, and enrich your teaching practices.
- April 9-10, 2025, 11:00am – 2:00pm CT each day
- Network with other like-minded educators and walk away with teaching strategies you can immediately implement to drive engagement and outcomes in your classroom. REGISTER today!
Panopto
- Panopto webinars – Panopto offers regular Basic and Advanced training webinars and trainer office hours; sign in with your UA email address to access them: Panopto Training. Upcoming offerings include the March Basic Training Webinar (March 19) and Advanced Training Webinar – Captions, Translations, and Audio Descriptions (March 26).
- In addition to their ongoing Basic and Advanced Webinars, Panopto will offer (March 5)
People.ua.edu
- The migration of People.ua.edu from Weebly to CampusPress is complete! To learn more about People.ua.edu and CampusPress, visit our main site, ua.edu, where you’ll find training resources, a site request form, a frequently asked questions page, and more.
Respondus
- Show Your Work – The Show Your Work feature in Respondus Monitor prompts students to upload photos of their handwritten work at the end of an online exam. The instructor enables Show Your Work from the Respondus Monitor settings (under Advanced Settings). Video: Respondus Monitor: Show Your Work Feature (2:11)
- Respondus Monitor: Why We Do Our Own Machine Learning – Information about Respondus Monitor’s computer vision system.
Upcoming Learning Opportunities
Learn with us! CIT regularly hosts workshops and webinars on UA instructional technologies and technology accessibility. We are also pleased to offer individual consultations and group instruction by request.
- 3/3 Meet the New Blackboard: Blackboard Ultra Demo & Info Session
- 3/4 LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor: Protect the Integrity of Online Tests (partner event)
- 3/5 Unlock the Power of the New Turnitin Similarity Report (partner event)
- 3/6 Blackboard User Group (partner event)
- 3/6 Panopto Weekly Q&A (Office Hours) (partner event)
- 3/7 The One Where Accessibility and Quality Take Center Stage: Anthology Innovative Educator Series (partner event)
- 3/13 Panopto Weekly Q&A (Office Hours) (partner event)
- 3/18 Plagiarism or Similarity? Interpreting Matches in the Similarity Report (partner event)
- 3/18 Respondus 4 and the Test Bank Network: Quickly Create Online Exams (partner event)
- 3/19 Panopto Basic Training Webinar (partner event)
- 3/20 Blackboard User Group (partner event)
- 3/20 Panopto Weekly Q&A (Office Hours) (partner event)
- 3/21Meet the New Blackboard: Blackboard Ultra Demo & Info Session
- 3/26 Panopto Advanced Training Webinar (partner event)
- 3/27 Panopto Weekly Q&A (Office Hours) (partner event)
- 3/28 Getting Started with Panopto for Lecture Capture, Video Assignments, and More
About This Message
All UA instructors of record are automatically subscribed to updates about Blackboard and other instructional technology. UA community members who would like to be added to the communications list for CIT news can contact us.