New faculty info from your Faculty Blackboard Support Team
Important information for new faculty about the Blackboard Ultra Learning Management System.
Written by Liam Squires
Updated at June 5th, 2024
Table of Contents
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! 🍀
As your Faculty Blackboard Support team, it’s our mission to ensure that all Georgian faculty have the support and resources required to feel comfortable and confident 🔨 building, 🧭 navigating, and 📢 delivering their courses using our Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard Ultra.
And what is Blackboard Ultra?
We're so glad you asked. Blackboard Ultra can be used to communicate with students, post course content such as lecture materials, create and post assessments, and facilitate student collaboration by means of discussion boards and group activities. There is also a gradebook in which marks can be entered and made visible to students at any point in the semester. There’s a little learning to do, for sure, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll find Blackboard Ultra makes it easier for you to focus more on the teaching, which is probably why you’re here in the first place. 😃
Getting started with Blackboard Ultra?
Awesome! Watch this pre-recorded Blackboard Orientation Session to learn how it can help you achieve all of your amazing teaching goals. After watching this session, or attending one in person, we then recommend that you complete the five-part training pathway we've put together for you.
🗺️ How to access Blackboard Ultra training
Curious about how to get some Blackboard Ultra training under your belt?
We’ve got you covered! Log into your Blackboard account and locate the “Organizations” link within the menu on the left-hand side:
From there you will find the “CTL Central for Faculty” organization shell.
This is an organization you are enrolled in as a participant. Inside the New Faculty Journey module you will see a folder titled Blackboard Ultra Training. This folder contains five training session recordings on how to use Blackboard Ultra. Check these out in sequence.
If you'd rather direct links, you can find each session listed below:
All Training Sessions: Full Training Folder
Session One: Communication and Notifications
Session Two: Modules, Folders, and Building Content
Session Three: Tests, Question Banks, and Question Sets
Session Four: Assignments, Rubrics, Discussion Boards, Calendar, and Course Schedule
Session Five: Gradebook, Submissions, Groups, and Accommodations
Faculty Blackboard Support Drop-In Sessions
Want to connect or ask questions? Please do!
- Virtual Ultra drop-in support sessions are held Tuesdays and Wednesdays @ 1:30 – 2:20pm and Thursdays and Fridays @ 10:30-11:20am - join us!
- We do not host sessions on Mondays.
Here’s how to find the link in your Blackboard Ultra screen
- Log into your Blackboard account and locate the “Calendar” link within the menu on the left-hand side.
- Find the drop-in session listed and click the link.
📄 Additional Resources
Course Calendar
Your course calendar contains links to help you get connected to virtual Blackboard Ultra drop-in support sessions when you need a hand. Don’t be shy. In fact, find that link and join us during one of the times set up so you know where to find it when you need it. We’d love for you to stop by! 👋
PREP & SDBXU Shells
You may also notice a PREP (Ultra Preparation) shell and a SDBXU (Ultra Sandbox) shell – We go into great detail about these shells during the training but it might help to know that PREP shells are course shells that serve as long-term storage of your course content so that you will always have it handy to edit and tweak should you teach the same course again. The SDBXU shell is simply an empty Ultra shell that you can use as a sandbox to play and experiment with inside as you go through the training.
If you can’t find these, please let us know so we can help set you up with the resources you will need.
Need more info?
To those highly motivated folks who would like more details about Blackboard Ultra, we encourage you to check out these links:
Have questions?
If you have any urgent questions, please feel free to reach out to our team at FacultyBBSupport@GeorgianCollege.ca.
🙋 Did you find what you need?
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