Pearson tools are currently unavailable through Blackboard Learn. Links to Pearson (MyLabs, etc) assignments redirect to Blackboard Learn institution page or are otherwise broken. We are working with our vender support teams to resolve this issue as soon as possible.
From Blackboard:
Mar 31, 16:09 EDT
Scheduled – Blackboard will be deploying our Collaborate v22.06 release to the US region (https://us.bbcollab.com), hosted in AWS (US – Virginia): us-east-1.
Start Time:
Tuesday, April 19, 2022 2:00 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) UTC/GMT -4 hours
End Time:
Tuesday, April 19, 2022 6:00 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) UTC/GMT -4 hours
Collaborate customers will experience intermittent availability during the maintenance window. For more information, please refer to: Collaborate Version 22.06 Release
Date Published: Mar 31, 2022
Real-time information about Blackboard status, as well as updates about scheduled maintenance and past incidents, is available on the Blackboard status page.
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.
A forthcoming security update for LockDown Browser will affect managed computers running Windows 7 or 8. Officially, these older versions of Windows aren’t supported by LockDown Browser, but Respondus does their best to accommodate these users.
Students using Windows 7/8 with the “student edition” of LockDown Browser on their personal computers will be fine because Respondus will push the required update to them (currently scheduled for April 4, 2022).
Institutions will encounter problems if they are running Windows 7/8 on managed devices that have the “Lab Edition” of LockDown Browser installed. LockDown Browser updates don’t get pushed to the Lab Edition, and older versions will fail after the security update is implemented in early April.
If running Windows 7/8 on managed devices, the easiest solution is to update to LockDown Browser version 2.0.8.05 or later. If this change isn’t possible, please open a ticket with the Respondus Support team (support.respondus.com) and we can suggest another option. Other questions about this issue can also be directed to the Respondus Support team.
Hello instructors,
Melissa from The Center for Instructional Technology here with the latest instructional technology news.
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 students. Learn more and apply to participate in the Ultra Course View pilot by requesting a practice course: Blackboard Learn Ultra Course Pilot
Faculty, instructors, graduate teaching assistants, instructional designers and technologists, and others who hold instructional roles – you are invited to the Blackboard Teaching Symposium, a day of peer-led sessions on digital teaching strategies. The event takes place online on April 21, 2022, 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET (8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. CT). Event information and registration are on the Blackboard website: Digital Teaching Symposium
A Turnitin change coming on May 11 will alter how instructors access the Turnitin tool; the tool will be located under a new menu, but its functionality will remain the same. CIT suggests instructors wait until after this transition to build summer and fall Turnitin assignments. More information about the upcoming update: Changes to Turnitin in 2022
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. Update your Zoom client to access them, and read about them here: Zoom: March 21 update brings waiting and breakout room changes, new and enhanced features
OIT is seeking feedback for our next strategic plan. We want to know how we’ve performed the past three years, and what we can change in the next three years to better support you. Surveys are now open and available on the OIT website for UA students, faculty and staff to provide feedback. The feedback you provide in this survey directly determines the future of technology at UA. Surveys will close March 31.
OIT has planned a week of Microsoft Meetups to prepare and equip UA students to migrate content from Google to Microsoft. As a reminder, Crimson Google account service ends May 16, 2022. Sessions will showcase how to migrate content as well as tips and tricks for using the Microsoft 365 suite of tools. Faculty and staff are welcome to attend sessions to learn more about Microsoft 365.
Join OIT and UA’s Microsoft reps the week of April 11 – 13 to learn more, ask questions and get comfortable with using OneDrive and other Microsoft 365 apps. Learn more about Microsoft Meetups and see a full lineup of events on the OIT Events website.
Your colleagues in The Center for Instructional Technology provide training, support, workshops, webinars, and consultations for UA’s instructional technologies and technology accessibility. Submit a help request or join us at an upcoming webinar.
Want more updates from CIT? Subscribe to our news updates and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
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, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Hosts and co-hosts can rename meeting participants in the waiting room before they enter the meeting. After locating a participant’s name in the waiting room section of the participant list, an option appears in the … menu to rename that participant. The participant is notified of this change.- Save Breakout Room assignments for future use – Windows, macOS
When breakout rooms are created, the host can save that current configuration and participant assignments, which can be used in future sessions. This is only available for recurring meetings and limited to 10 saved configurations per user.- Share audio with content to all breakout rooms – Windows, macOS
Hosts are able to share computer audio, along with shared content, to all breakout rooms. This can be enabled when beginning the share, or while sharing is in progress. This also supports the Share Video option as well for Breakout Rooms.- Optional include co-host when automatically assigning breakout rooms – Windows, macOS, Linux
When creating breakout rooms and choosing to assign participants automatically, any co-hosts will now not automatically be included in the assignments, but the host can choose to include them.
Zoom provides video conferencing, simple online meetings, and group messaging. Real-time information about Zoom status, as well as updates about scheduled maintenance and past incidents, is available on the Zoom status page.
Hello instructors,
Melissa from The Center for Instructional Technology here with the latest instructional technology news.
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 submit grades assigned for non-attendance.
Helpful grading information:
Reporting a non-attendance grade? Find the date the student last accessed your Blackboard course using the Performance Dashboard or by viewing the Last Access column in the Grade Center grid.
You can now find instructional technology help articles and answers to frequently asked questions in CIT’s Instructional Technology knowledge base. Search by keyword, browse by topic, or navigate via menu to find resources for both instructors and students. Importing midterm or final grades into myBama? Provisioning a Blackboard course for Panopto? Creating a Turnitin assignment? Looking for Lockdown Browser Information for Students? Find the information you need in the knowledge base.
The Technologies pages on the CIT website have been redesigned to feature prominent links to relevant knowledge base content. Contact us for assistance locating former website content in the knowledge base.
An upcoming change to Blackboard Learn will impact export and archive packages created within a Blackboard Learn course. Course packages created after the March 3, 2022 Blackboard Learn upgrade will expire and auto-delete 30 days after the creation date. Existing user-generated course packages will be set to expire in 90 days from the March 3, 2022 upgrade. Additional information is available on the CIT website: Blackboard Learn: Automatic cleanup of user-created archive and export packages
Your colleagues in The Center for Instructional Technology provide training, support, workshops, webinars, and consultations for UA’s instructional technologies and technology accessibility. Submit a help request or join us at an upcoming webinar.
Want more updates from CIT? Subscribe to our news updates and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
An upcoming change to Blackboard Learn will impact export and archive packages created within a Blackboard Learn course.
Course packages created after the March 3, 2022 upgrade will expire and auto-delete 30 days after the creation date.
Existing user-generated course packages will be set to expire in 90 days from the March 3, 2022 upgrade.
In keeping with the LMS Course Retention Policy, Blackboard Learn courses are subject to removal from the system two (2) years following the end of the semester in which they are taught. Blackboard’s export course feature is one method by which instructors can back up content; it creates a ZIP file of your course content that can be used to create a new course. CIT recommends storing these files in Box or OneDrive.
Information about and step-by-step instructions for exporting courses can be found on Blackboard’s Help site: Export a course
Information about the change to user-generated course packages can be found in the release notes for the March 2022 upgrade: Automatic cleanup of user-created archive and export packages – 3900.34.0
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) UTC/GMT -5 hours
Collaborate customers will experience intermittent availability during the maintenance window. For more information, please refer to: Collaborate Version 22.04 Release
Date Published: Feb 24, 2022
Real-time information about Blackboard status, as well as updates about scheduled maintenance and past incidents, is available on the Blackboard status page.
