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Liam Squires
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How To Auto-Generate a Question Bank in Blackboard Ultra from Uploaded Files
Published November 8th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Faculty can use Ultra's AI Design Assistant to create questions automatically from uploaded files like slide decks (PowerPoint, Keynote) and documents (Word, Pages). Here's how: Video Tutorial Scroll-through Tutorial
Accommodating Choice in Student Assignments
Published February 4th, 2025 by Liam Squires
Introduction Allowing students to choose how they demonstrate and apply their understanding is a great way to cater to learner differences and accommodate unique teaching strategies. Here's how you can set that up in Blackboard. Tutorial Video
Creating and editing announcements
Published November 1st, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction As course instructors, there are often times when we need to communicate important and often time-sensitive information related to their course. For example: Due date changes Changes to your syllabus Corrections to previously shared information Test or exam schedules Announcements are an effective way to accomplish this and offer flexib
New faculty info from your Faculty Blackboard Support Team
Published June 4th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Welcome, new faculty! We are so happy to have your unique industry knowledge and experiences as part of the learning journey for Georgian College students – we are lucky to have you! 🍀 Who is Faculty Blackboard Support? As your Faculty Blackboard Support team, it’s our mission to ensure that all Georgian faculty have the support and resources r
Adjusting Due Dates and Release Conditions in Blackboard Ultra
Published November 28th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Adjusting due dates, show on, and hide after dates can be challenging, but there is an easy way to complete this in one screen. Here's how: Video Walkthrough Step by Step Instructions
Idea Exchange Suggestion Form
Published March 19th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Since faculty are working in Ultra often, it makes perfect sense that this is where some of the best and most impactful ideas come from. Turning those great ideas into product improvement has never been easier. The Anthology Idea Exchange for Blackboard Ultra is a platform for our college to contribute to and engage in the product devel
Creating an AI Roleplay Scenario in Blackboard
Published February 24th, 2025 by Liam Squires
Introduction Creating engaging, real-world learning experiences can be challenging—traditional methods often lack interactivity, and students may struggle to apply theoretical knowledge in practical situations. The AI Role Play feature solves this by offering immersive, scenario-based conversations that encourage active learning, critical thinking,
How to define preferred pronouns in Blackboard Ultra
Published October 31st, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Blackboard now has more options available for preferred pronouns. The steps below describe how to change these to better reflect how you prefer to be addressed. Video Tutorial Ste-by-Step Walkthrough More information Why inclusive pronouns matter Using someone’s correct pronouns is fundamental to creating a safe, respectful space
Setting up Overall Grade in Blackboard Gradebook
Published November 12th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Creating an Overall Grade is an important step in presenting student progress to your learners. These steps guide you through how to create an Overall Grade in your course. Video Tutorial Step-by-Step Walkthrough
How to add an AI generated image to a Learning Module in Blackboard
Published November 20th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Instructors can increase visual interest and support landmarking and navigation in their courses by adding images to their course learning modules. These steps outline how to achieve this. Video Tutorial Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Editing Grade Format in Blackboard Ultra Gradebook
Published November 12th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Changing how grade results are displayed in your gradebook for individual items is easy to do and can be accomplished with just a few steps. Here's how to do it. Video Tutorial Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Printing Tests and Assignments from Blackboard
Published September 16th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction There are occasions when a printed copy of a test or assignment is required. This could be for students with accommodations, in-person test administration, or auditing purposes. Fortunately, this is easy to accomplish with most assessments created in Blackboard. Instructions for tests without Question Pools From the Content and Settings
How to Exclude or Delete Attempts in Blackboard
Published January 20th, 2025 by Liam Squires
Introduction There are often times when a student submission needs to be cleared or replaced. Sometimes this is due to submitting the wrong or incomplete files, while other times, it might be to allow for an additional attempt. While providing the student with an exception (Instructions for that available here) on individual assignments is an effect
Assigning and Unassigning Students in Groups in Blackboard
Published November 8th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Faculty can easily add students or remove them to groups in blackboard. Students can be added and removed individually or in larger selections. Here's how to do that. Video Tutorial Walkthrough Tutorial
How To Enable Respondus LockDown Browser for Assessments in Bb Ultra
Published November 21st, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction: Faculty may wish to add the Respondus LockDown Browser to their assessments as a method to prevent students from accessing other support materials. While use of this tool should be done after discussion this with your academic area, the steps to enable this feature are outlined below. Video Tutorial: Step-by-Step Walkthrough:
Creating Custom Grade Categories in Ultra
Published May 31st, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Blackboard Ultra comes with several commonly used categories to help organize and weigh assessment values. Sometimes an additional category is needed to properly organize certain assessments. This is commonly used for Labs, Observations, or other large groupings of assessments. 🖥️ Video Tutorial 🗺️ Text Instructions Login to your cou
Bb Ultra Course Migration: Copying Content into My Teaching Shell
Published January 4th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction Copying one Ultra course into another couldn’t get much easier. In fact, if you’ve copied pieces of one course into another, you’re already familiar with the process. To begin, you need to make sure you have the following things: Access to the course that contains the content you want to copy (SOURCE) Access to the course that you want
Ultra Content Editor
Published May 29th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction Throughout the Blackboard Ultra course environment, you will find the Editor Tool. This WSYIWIG tool (pronounced "wizzy-wig" and short for 'what you see is what you get') allows you to create and format text and add images, files, equations, links, and tables. It can be found when creating assignments, content, discussions, and is also
Reusing Tests and Pools in Blackboard Original (exporting and importing)
Published January 3rd, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction Exporting and importing tests and question pools (Bb Original) is a convenient way to reuse questions or tests for assessment purposes across multiple courses or to share assessment strategies with colleagues. To complete this process, there are two main actions: Creating an export file from the original source course; and Importing th
Copying question banks (formerly 'pools') into your Ultra course
Published August 16th, 2023 by Liam Squires
ntroduction Building and maintaining a library of questions that can be drawn on throughout a semester is an effective way to support the creation of formative and summative assessments in your course. The best way to accomplish this is through question banks. This article outlines the process for copying question banks from one course to another.
Self-Review Course Checklist
Published December 21st, 2022 by Liam Squires
Introduction Look at you! You’ve come so far! After weeks of careful thought and little creativity, you’re almost done preparing your course to be delivered in Blackboard Ultra. As you draw closer to completion, we want to provide you with this handy little checklist and hope it helps you check over what you’ve accomplished and identify anything e
Placing ScreenPal recordings in Blackboard Ultra
Published January 16th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction Including videos in your course content is an effective way to enrich and humanize the learning experience. This article will guide you through the steps to add ScreenPal recordings hosted online. 🖥️ Video Tutorial 🗺️ Text Instructions Method One: Linked Text This method places a piece of linked text in the content area and opens th
Basic course structure
Published May 29th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction If you’ve been working in Blackboard Original, it can be a significant transition when you first arrive in your Blackboard Ultra course. When you first open your course, taking a moment and familiarizing yourself with the areas and items you see will help orient you in the LMS space. Course Structure Include step by step guidance here f
Adding Banner Images to Blackboard (using Canva)
Published February 17th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction Visual elements are a great way to build interest, reinforce ideas, and support course navigation with landmarking. If you're looking for way to add visual interest to your course content, Canva is a convenient way to create images to use in your course. While users can choose to pay for a premium account, a free license is often enou
Override Individual Grades in Group Assignments in Bb Gradebook
Published November 26th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Sometimes varying student contribution or participation may warrant adjusting individual grades for some members of the group. This can be achieved easily in Blackboard Ultra. Video Tutorial Step-by-Step Tutorial For More Information… Please visit Grade Group Assignments on Anthology's website.
CTL Glossary
Published December 21st, 2022 by Liam Squires
This is a auto-generated Article of all your definitions within the glossary. Glossary This is a auto-generated Article of all your definitions within the glossary. All A D E P S Akindi Akindi is a web-based assessment system, integrated into Blackboard Ultra, that automates the creation and grading of multiple-choice and true/false exams. destinati
Four Seasons of Reconciliation program
Published September 12th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Four Seasons of Reconciliation provides essential knowledge about the relationship between Canada, Indigenous Peoples, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. It fosters a renewed relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Canadians through transformative learning about truth and reconciliation. Developed by the First Na
Reauthorizing your WebEx/Blackboard integration
Published February 16th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction If you've been away from the College for a semester or longer, or even if it has just been a while since you last logged in through Blackboard, your WebEx may present you with an error about authentication. Until resolved, you will not be able to proceed with setting up your online course meetings. Fortunately, the solution is simple.
Entering Grades into Banner
Published August 22nd, 2024 by Liam Squires
Important update for Fall Summer 2024 courses: Final grades are due to be entered in Banner on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. For further information about grade entry, please contact Brad.Delion@georgiancollege.ca. Introduction Before you begin entering grades. It is your responsibility to ensure that your grades are accurately calculated and ent
Equal Weighting in Overall Grade
Published March 20th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction The CTL Faculty Blackboard Support team has recently discovered unexpected behaviour in the Blackboard Gradebook that may affect the accuracy of Overall Grades in some courses. The issue arises when faculty attempt to apply equal weighting through category values and/or calculation rules like dropping scores. This issue was identified
Sharing OneDrive files within Georgian College via a link
Published September 9th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Sharing files from OneDrive is an effective way to distribute material as an instructor or student. Large files can easily be linked directly with customized settings according to your needs. This is especially powerful for posting content to Blackboard or for students who are submitting large files. There are multiple ways to complete
Course shells - SDBXU, PREPU, and Live shells
Published April 12th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction When you enter your course area, you may find multiple course shells listed. If this is your first time in Blackboard, or if it’s been a while, this can be overwhelming at first. This article aims to explain the difference and purpose of the courses you see so, if you’re confused about why you have so many courses listed, you’ve come to
Why students can't see their grades
Published July 4th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction For many students, being able to see their grades and the feedback provided by instructors is an important part of their learning journey. There are occasions, however, when they are unable to view the marks or comments you make. The three main reasons this may happen are: Assessment results visibility are incorrectly configured. Grades
Exporting a Course Package from Blackboard
Published April 1st, 2025 by Liam Squires
Introduction At the end of each semester, and when you reach milestones in course development, it's a good idea to export your content for safe keeping. This is an easy process once you know where the menu item is located. Video Walkthrough Step-by-Step Instructions
Showing and Hiding Course Menu items
Published January 16th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction The side navigation in Blackboard Original allows acts as a shortcut to content you want yourself or your students to have easy access to. Throughout the term you can adjust the visibility of these items to assist with navigation in your course. 🗺️ Text Instructions Making course menu items unavailable (hidden) To hide course menu items
Using publisher material in your Blackboard Ultra course
Published June 4th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Many publishers create content and assessments that can be uploaded or directly integrated into your Blackboard Ultra course. While your Faculty Blackboard Support Team is happy to help wherever possible, we encourage you to reach out to the publishers directly as they will have the most up to date information about how to use their res
Banner images too small with Blackboard Ultra update 3900.98
Published August 19th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction The most recent update brought with it the ability for instructors to layout course content in a more attractive manner that also makes greater use of the screen space available. This includes the ability to arrange content into up to four columns. An unexpected result was that the maximum width of the content area increased from appro
Using offline assessments with Blackboard Ultra
Published February 22nd, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction Many times, faculty will want to assess students in ways that can't be submitted through Blackboard in a traditional sense. This might be a class presentation, a lab observation, or a paper submission that does not make sense to be submitted electronically. To ensure students are able to see their grades when posted, it's important to
Merging / Unmerging Courses in Blackboard
Published May 8th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction When instructors are assigned to multiple sections of a course, it can be challenging and tedious posting the same content into multiple sections. To avoid this, Blackboard offers a Section Merge Tool. Section Merges provide all students access to a single section, allowing faculty to share content, post announcements, and manage assess
Setting up Student Accommodations in Ultra
Published January 16th, 2023 by Liam Squires
Introduction Accommodations may be granted to students for a variety of reasons. Unlike Blackboard Original, Blackboard Ultra allows you to set define these once for each student and have that take effect across all assessments in that particular course. 🗺️ Text Instructions In your Blackboard Ultra course, open your Roster, available in the Details
Changing Preferred Pronouns in Blackboard Ultra
Published November 12th, 2024 by Liam Squires
Introduction Blackboard now has more options available for preferred pronouns. The steps below describe how to change these to better reflect how you prefer to be addressed. Video Tutorial Ste-by-Step Walkthrough More information Why inclusive pronouns matter Using someone’s correct pronouns is fundamental to creating a safe, respectful space
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