May 2025 Instructor News from CIT | Center for Instructional Technology

Greetings from your Center for Instructional Technology!

‌Summer is here and even though there is less traffic on campus, CIT is busier than ever helping you prepare for Summer and Fall classes! This month, we cover exam and grading tips, how you can move to Ultra – UA’s new LMS experience, our annual course clean-up, and more!

Final Exams and Grading

Final grades are due May 6 at 11:59 pm. Check out these valuable resources about Blackboard exam best practices and final grading information. Need help? Please email cit@ua.edu.

Importing Grades To myBama and Important Information from the Office of the Registrar:

Grading in Blackboard Original courses:

Grading in Blackboard Ultra courses:

Reminder: Blackboard Course Retention Policy

CIT is beginning our routine and annual process of cleaning out older courses and course content in Blackboard. At the end of the Summer 2025 term, we will archive several academic terms’ courses: Summer 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, as well as any non-integrated courses (not official UA courses that are listed in Banner) that have not had activity in the past two years.

The following materials explain the policy, frequently asked questions, and how to save content.

Support Materials

Blackboard Ultra

Have you heard? Blackboard Ultra Course View, or as we often refer to it, Ultra, is the latest version of UA’s learning management system. Designed by educators, Ultra enhances teaching and learning with its intuitive interface and powerful features.

‌‌All Blackboard courses will be designed and delivered in Ultra by Spring 2026.

Request a Live Ultra Course

Here’s the short version of Ultra’s many features!

Simpler, modern course experience for instructors and students.
Mobile-first design that adapts to user’s screen size.
Standard navigation of course content, allowing consistency across courses.
Designed with accessibility in mind and supports the use of assistive technologies.
Updated grade book that is easier to read and navigate.
New analytics and tools for student performance and engagement.
Workflows and tools are easy to find and use with frequently used pages on the navigation bar and search function for course content.
Instructors and students need little experience to teach and learn with Ultra.

Learn Ultra today! ‌Visit Blackboard Ultra to discover multiple learning opportunities.

Ultra Café Day – Register now for May 13

Our first Ultra Café Day in April was a success! We received great feedback and are excited to offer this excellent training opportunity again on May 13th! Ultra Café Day consists of an in-person comprehensive 2-hour interactive workshop (Part 1) and a 2-hour open workspace (Part 2).

Part 1

‌In this workshop led by Anthology experts, instructors will gain hands-on experience with Blackboard Ultra, exploring the difference between a Learning Module and Folder, and how to create a Document, Link, Tests, Assignment, Discussion, Journal, and more. They will also learn how to add a course image, utilize the student preview option, and navigate test exceptions. Throughout the session, best practices for fostering engaging and vibrant learning communities will be highlighted.

Part 2

‌In this 2-hour open workspace you can put all the knowledge you’ve gained from our previous workshops into action and build your courses in Blackboard Ultra. Whether you’re fine-tuning your course content or starting from scratch, our support team will be on hand to answer any questions and provide the guidance you need. It’s the perfect opportunity to enhance your teaching tools and ensure your courses are ready to engage and inspire your students. 

Upcoming Ultra Café Days

‌May 13, Tuesday
June 10, Tuesday
July 11, Friday
August 5, Tuesday
September 11, Thursday
October 8, Wednesday
November 4, Tuesday
December 10, Wednesday
January 6, Tuesday

Ultra Office Hours – May 19

Hosted by CIT, Blackboard Ultra Office Hours will occur the 3rd Monday of each month and offer brief updates and how-to’s, questions and answers, and discussion geared for instructors. Bring your questions or just come for a quick overview of new features and other Ultra good topics.

‌This month’s topic: Your UA Ultra Practice Course

Agenda:

1:00-1:15 PM– Blackboard Ultra Demo of selected topic. Varies each month.
1:15-2:00 PM– General Q&A: Feel free to raise your hand, come off mute and/or post your questions in the chat.

Learn more and find the meeting link.

Hypothesis

Hypothesis is kicking off the summer with a full lineup of events, trainings, and exciting new features — all designed to help you engage students, elevate learning, and prepare for the upcoming academic year.

May 13: Summer Webinar – Design a More Engaging Summer Course Learning Experience
Hypothesis Academy
- May 27: Social Annotation 101
- July 15: Social Annotation for Student Success
Summer Series – See the full series

Respondus

Respondus Monitor now alerts instructors when a device is detected in a student’s hand during an online exam. Flagging of handheld devices occurs automatically in Respondus Monitor. But in situations where an instructor wants to exclude this flag from proctoring results (such as math exams where calculators are permitted), it is easily adjusted after the assessment. Learn more at the Respondus website.

Upcoming Learning Opportunities

Learn with us! CIT regularly hosts workshops and webinars on UA instructional technologies and technology accessibility. Find the full list on our website – cit.ua.edu. We are also pleased to offer individual consultations and group instruction by request.

About This Message

All UA instructors of record are 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.