March 2025 Instructor News from The Center for Instructional Technology

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

Test and Exam Assistance

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 Banner selected to copy from a course

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

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. There's no option to scroll.

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

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

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

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.

About This Message

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