Blackboard release monthly features updates. This article will contain a summary of things that are on the horizon.
Block Styling for Documents
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Add block styling to your Blackboard Ultra Documents. The styling options feature both colour and icons. The style options include:
- Question (blue border with a question mark icon)
- Tip (yellow border with a lightbulb icon)
- Key points (Purple border with a pin icon)
- Next steps (Green border with an arrow icon)
- Highlight (Light blue shading with darker blue border, no icon).
Instructors can select styling options from a dropdown menu that appears in Edit mode on all block types.
Each style will add a colour border and an icon to the block. Blocks can be resized as usual. Selecting “Reset styling” will remove the block styling but will not delete any of your block content.
Block styling is a way of adding visual appeal to your documents, but you should not rely on the block style to convey meaning. Add headings, context and signposting to your Documents to guide students through your Blackboard course.
AI tools and image generation
Course instructors can currently use Unsplash to add stock images to their course content and Learning Modules. You can also use the AI Structure Generator to create Learning Modules for your course.
What’s next for AI in Blackboard?
Blackboard offer a variety of AI tools called the AI Design Assistant. These tools are currently being tested and evaluated for use at the University of Southampton.
Learning Object Repository
This feature is not yet available at the University of Southampton. Please raise a ServiceLine ticket for the Blackboard team if this is something you might want to use in the future.
The Learning Object Repository is a central location to store course materials in Ultra Documents. These documents can then be centrally updated from a single location, but appear on multiple courses.
Goals and Mastery Learning
This feature is not yet available at the University of Southampton. Please raise a ServiceLine ticket for the Blackboard team if this is something you might want to use in the future.
The Mastery tab in the Gradebook allows instructors and students to see how their activities align with institutional goals. Based on the goal performance scale set by your institution, the tab displays the mastery of each alignment.
The Mastery tab enables instructors to:
- View the level of mastery per alignment for each student.
- View how each student is performing against those alignments.
Considerations:
- Goals cannot be created by a course Instructor. These must be set up by an administrator.
- The Goal Performance Scale must also be created by an administrator, and is the scale used for all goals.
- Gradebook columns cannot be expanded so it is difficult to view the full name and description of a goal.