TABLE OF CONTENTS

• About the Updates
• Course Content Improvements
  • Block Styling in Ultra Documents
  • Learning Module Improvements for Students
• Communication and Collaboration Improvements
  • Record Audio and Video in Announcements
  • Review Student Engagement with Announcements
  • Discussion Activity Indicator
• Assessment and Grading Improvements
  • Grades and Feedback Indicator
  • Rubric Improvements
• Learner Progression & Personalized Experience
  • Automations: Automatically Send Messages to Students 
• Additional Resources and Support

About the Updates

Blackboard releases new Ultra features and improvements every month! Some of these new features are large updates with completely new functionality while others are small enhancements. This page highlights some of the newer features and improvements that we think you'll enjoy.

Be sure to check out Blackboard's What's New in Blackboard page for additional information about new tools and features.

Course Content Improvements

These improvements focus on course content, including Ultra Documents, Learning Modules and Folders, and more.

Block Styling in Ultra Documents (September 2025)

Instructors can use new block styling options to enhance the visual appeal of Ultra Documents and guide students' attention to key ideas, questions, next steps, and more. 

When creating or editing an Ultra Document, click on the Styling button (paint palette icon) to open a menu. Select the styling option you wish to use.

You may select from the following styling options:

• Question (question mark icon): Use for prompts or reflective questions. Keep questions concise and open-ended to encourage critical thinking.
• Tip (light bulb icon): Use for tips, insights, or helpful suggestions. Ensure tips are actionable and relevant to the content.
• Key Points (pin icon): Use to highlight key points or essential facts. Keep these blocks brief and focused to reinforce retention.
• Next Steps (chevrons icon): Use for next steps or instructions. Present steps in a clear, logical order and consider using numbered lists for clarity.

Learning Module Improvements for Students (August 2025)

Table of Contents 

Blackboard has redesigned how students experience Learning Modules by adding a collapsible Table of Contents. The Table of Contents provides easy navigation between items and allows students to easily track their progress.

Displaying Assessments Within Learning Modules

Assignments and Tests now open in a full panel within Learning Modules. This provides students with a more consistent and distraction-free experience.

Communication and Collaboration Improvements

These improvements focus on communication and collaboration tools, including Announcements, Messages, Discussions, and Groups.

Record Audio and Video in Announcements (August 2025)

You can now use the Video Studio tool within an Announcement to record or upload video and audio. Click on the Audio/Video button in the text editor to open Video Studio.

You may choose to record any combination of your camera, microphone, and screen. You may also upload a video that you saved on your machine.

Once the application launches, you may use the camera, microphone, and screen options to select or change your connected devices. If you are creating a recording, select Start Recording. There is a three second countdown before recording begins. While recording, you can pause, resume, retake, or end the recording. Once you end the recording you can preview the recording, edit the title, and add a description. Once it has finished processing, select Save.

Please note that students can only access the audio/video recording from within the course. When sent as an email, students will need to click on the link to go into the course and view the Announcement.

Review Student Engagement with Announcements (July 2025)

Instructors can now verify which students have viewed Announcements within the course. The Announcements page displays a viewers column, showing the number of users who have viewed each Announcement.

Clicking on the viewer count will open the viewers list, showing who has viewed the Announcement in the course.

Please note that this only applies to Announcements viewed within the course. If a student viewed the Announcement as an email, but not within the course, their status will remain "unread".

Discussion Activity Indicator (June 2025)

Instructors and students will now see an indicator next to the Discussions link in the navigation menu. This indicator shows the number of unread Discussion posts.

Assessment and Grading Improvements

These improvements focus on Assessments (including Assignments and Tests), the Gradebook, and grading workflows. To learn more about the Ultra Gradebook, grading tasks, and more, refer to the Gradebook and Grading support article.

Grades and Feedback Indicator (April 2025)

Once a grade is posted, instructors can now go to a student's Grades page to find out whether a student has viewed their grade and feedback. In the Status column, a Not Reviewed or a Reviewed label will display. If you hover your mouse over the indicator you will see a timestamp of when the student reviewed the feedback. 

If the grade is updated or another attempt is submitted and graded, the timestamp will update when the student reviews the feedback again.

Rubric Improvements (March and May 2025)

Pop-Out Rubric (March 2025)

To enhance grading efficiency, instructors can now pop out the rubric into a separate window when grading an assignment submission. Popping out the rubric allows instructors to view the student submission and the rubric side-by-side. Additionally, instructors can print a blank or completed rubric using the browser's print function.

Qualitative Rubrics with No-Points Options (May 2025)

You can now create and use no-points rubrics for qualitative evaluation. With this type of rubric, you'll be able to assess student work based on specific criteria and provide feedback without assigning points.

Watch the Grade Using Rubrics tutorial video to learn more about using rubrics for grading and feedback.

Learner Progression & Personalized Experience 

Automations: Automatically Send Messages to Students Based on Course-Level Rules (November 2025)

You can create automations to send messages to students based on custom rules you set in your course. For example, you can create an automation to send a congratulatory message to all students who earned 90% or higher on an assignment.

To create a new automation, go to the Course Content page and select View Automations.

In this initial release, you may choose from two different automation types - send a congratulatory message when students earn a high score on a graded item or send a supportive message when students do not achieve a specified score. 

In the Automation Trigger section, set the conditions that will trigger the message to be sent (ex students earn 90% or higher on a specific assignment).

Then, in the Action to be Taken section, write the message that will be sent to students when the meet the conditions.

Additional Resources and Support

What's New in Ultra?

Blackboard is releasing new Ultra features and improvements every month! Some of these new features are large updates with completely new functionality while others are small enhancements. Check out Blackboard's monthly roundup of new features: What's New in Blackboard.

Faculty Quick Start Guide

This guide contains instructions and tutorial videos to get you started with Ultra Course View: Blackboard Ultra Course View Faculty Quick Start Guide.

Student Quick Start Guide

This guide contains information for students taking an Ultra course: Taking Your First Ultra Course? Here's What You Need to Know.

Contact Us

Reach out to eLearning and Instructional Support (eLIS) at elis@lesley.edu with any questions or to request a 1:1 or small group training.