Today, Jan. 7, OIT will be enabling the new Box user interface for all UA users. The new interface features a sleek design and provides users with the ability to better organize content. Learn more on the Box Website.
Blackboard Operations will be performing data center maintenance Friday, Dec. 25 from 1am – 5am. A 30-minute outage is expected for UA’s instance of Blackboard Learn at some point during the maintenance window.
Turnitin is currently experiencing an unexpected service degradation. During this time, you may find that you are unable to view submissions and/or Similarity Reports. If you would like to track Turnitin’s progress in resolving this issue, please visit the Turnitin status page at https://turnitin.statuspage.io.
Resolved 12/9, 6:00 pm CST – Degradation was encountered between 9am – 1:30pm CST.
On December 22, 2020 at 8:00am CST, VoiceThread will be making a low-risk change to the Content Delivery Network configuration. This should not have any impact on VoiceThread availability or service speed, but we are letting you know in the unlikely event that you do experience some slowness of media loading at that time.
Date: December 22, 2020
Time: 8:00am CST
Impact: No impact expected
Panopto Cloud will be updated with new features and improvements on Saturday, Dec. 19. Panopto will be unavailable from 8pm – 11pm during the maintenance window.
Blackboard Learn will undergo a 24-hour upgrade beginning Thursday, Jan. 7 at 5pm through Friday, Jan. 8 at 5pm.
In Blackboard app version 5.8 on iOS devices, the question text in tests is repeated every few questions resulting in duplicated questions and mis-matched answer choices. This issue was resolved in Blackboard app version 5.8.1 (iOS only), which was released on October 26, 2020. Update your Blackboard app if using an iOS device to avoid this issue. CIT recommends taking high-stakes tests on wired, non-mobile devices for best performance.
Students who have used the Honorlock Chrome browser extension for test proctoring at other colleges or universities may receive an error message when taking tests in Blackboard. These users should uninstall the Honorlock extension to avoid this issue. If the extension is still needed, reinstall to get the updated version which does not cause this issue.
How to uninstall Chrome browser extensions
Honorlock Support
Gradescope License Renewed
UA’s license for Gradescope will be renewed for the upcoming year, thanks to all who submitted feedback. If you haven’t used Gradescope yet, check it out! Gradescope is an ideal tool for assessing hand-written work. Below is an example of how Gradescope can be used to grade a math equation. Learn more on the CIT website.
Consider Alternative Assignments using Adobe Creative Cloud
Did you know that all UA students and faculty have access to Adobe Creative Cloud software? This includes Spark, Audition, Photoshop, InDesign and others. Consider developing alternative and creative assignments (podcasts, timelines, videos) for your students. Visit the Adobe Education Exchange for inspiration.
Reminder – Respondus Webinars
Many instructors may be planning to use Respondus for final exams. Make plans to attend one of Repondus’ upcoming webinars that offer comprehensive training for using Respondus Lockdown Browser and Respondus Monitor for online exams
Reminder – Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Maintenance
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra will undergo scheduled maintenance Nov. 12 from 1:00 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. Collaborate Ultra users will experience intermittent availability of the service during the scheduled maintenance window
We’re here to help.
Want someone to look over your test settings in preparation for final exams? We can do that – and more. Book an appointment to meet virtually with CIT today!
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra will undergo scheduled maintenance Nov. 6 and Nov. 12 from 1:00 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. Collaborate Ultra users will experience intermittent availability of the service during the scheduled maintenance window.
