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 development process. As this tool is only available to LMS system administrators, we wanted to provide a way for any Georgian College faculty or support staff to participate in this process. After all, a majority of the work Anthology does to develop Ultra can directly influence and transform the teaching and learning experience for your courses. 

Idea Exchange Suggestion Form

🗺️ Text Instructions

Your Faculty Blackboard Support Team created the Idea Exchange Suggestion Form to replicate the Idea Exchange experience. This form provides a simple and effective way to share your suggestions for future Ultra LMS development.

To submit your ideas: 

1. Open the Idea Exchange Suggestion Form.
2. Answer each required question.
   1. Your Idea: 
      • This is a concise summary of your idea. 
      • A good rule of thumb is to concisely finish the sentence: “It would be great if Ultra…”. 
         
   2. Great! Tell us more!: 
      • In this area, add as much information as possible to explain your point. 
      • Elaborate on your idea. 
        • why it is useful?
        • who would benefit? 
        • how it should work? 
      • Be clear and provide use case examples for why this is a great suggestion.
      • If you're stuck, consider this formula:
        • [Students/Faculty] [need to/find it difficult to] [access/locate/navigate/complete/…]
        • This makes it challenging to [post/submit/grade/respond/find/…]
        • By (insert idea), it would be [easier/more intuitive/faster] to…
           
   3. Choose a Category:
      • When we submit your ideas, we have to provide the category so select the item that most accurately relates to your idea. 
      • Choosing the most relevant category increases the likelihood that others will vote for the idea.
         
   4. Additional Comments (Optional):
      • Sometimes there is additional information that you want to include but it doesn't feel like it fits. If you want to include anything else, you can do that here.
      • Occasionally the information that is added here may be incorporated into the idea exchange submission. 
         
   5. Send me an email receipt of my response (Optional):
      • If you want a copy of your idea, check the box.
         
3. Submit!

We will review your submission and check for similar ideas. If found, we will vote for those. If there are not existing ideas, we will add them to the Idea Exchange on your behalf. Unfortunately, we cannot actively monitor these idea submissions but you are welcome to request an update from time to time. 

💡 Helpful Tips

Be clear.

Use accurate language and make sure you identify which areas on screen you are referencing. Provide as much relevant information as you feel necessary. It's much easier for us to edit content you provide than to fill in gaps if we don't fully understand your idea. 

Be constructive.

Making sure your ideas are solution-focused, is important. Submissions that do not offer a positive change don't respect the spirit of this tool and as such, cannot be posted. You can certainly indicate frustrations or perceived shortcomings with the product but be sure to complement that with how you suggest they make it better.