Blackboard has been upgraded to another environment called Ultra. With the Blackboard upgrade, changes have been made to the external environment and not to the courses. There are new pages such as Activity Stream, Calendar, Messages, and Organizations.

Activity Stream

The new Activity Stream is the former Updates area. It helps keep you up to date with anything new that’s going on in the courses and activities – groups you might be a part of. The flow of new actions from the courses is recorded with a detailed date and time that you can take them. At the same time, you can go to the respective page of the lesson – an activity that has been updated with a single click by clicking on the new information.

Courses

From the menu and with the option “Courses” you can see the list of your courses and have access to them. Each course card lists the course ID, course title, and instructor’s name. If your course has multiple instructors, select Multiple Instructors to see them all in one list.
If you don’t see any card then it is in list mode. If you wish to change it, just press above the word “Favorites” the sign with the square and a cross in it.

Organizations

From here you can access the school’s Societies and other Services containers such as the ACG Health & Wellness Center.

Calendar

View events and due dates for all your courses. Find and navigate the full/general calendar. From the full calendar to the list where your name appears, you can see all your upcoming due dates and appointments in all your courses – all in one place.

Messages

You can send messages to each other, even to multiple people or to the whole class. Message activity remains within the system without the need to use email addresses.
You can quickly message all students about important deadlines and schedule changes as an instructor. This information also applies to organizations.

Grades

In the list where your name appears, you have access to all grading assignments on the Global Grades page. All your grading assignments are organized by subject. By logging into the Grades tab you can observe all the courses you are taking and your grade in it. If you select a course title, you’ll see all the assignments you’ve submitted that you expect to be graded on or have already been graded on.
The courses are displayed together in alphabetical order.

Tools

In the list where your name appears, select Tools to access general features outside of the course. Blackboard tools familiar to all courses are available on the Tools page, such as the Content Collection, portfolios, and app authoring, as well as Microsoft OneDrive.

Content Collection

In the Content Gallery, it replaces the Files area of your course. This is the area where all the files you upload for the course are stored. In Content Collection you can store, share, and publish digital content in personal and course folders.

Portfolios

With portfolios, you can build your own resume of your skills and share it with others as proof of your skills and future potential. You can organize a collection of items or even better, you can create more than one portfolio.

Application Authorization

Manage your authorized app integrations with Blackboard. You can revoke access to any app that you don’t want to act on your behalf.

Anthology Course Evaluation

Course feedback to improve teaching and learning

Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud-based storage service that allows you to save and access files and folders online anytime. By linking your school email account to your Blackboard account, you can easily upload your files.

OneDrive seamlessly integrates with Blackboard, enabling you to access and upload documents stored in your school’s OneDrive account directly to your Blackboard courses.

To upload files from OneDrive to Blackboard, follow the steps below:

1. Save your files to OneDrive. Then, connect your OneDrive account to Blackboard by navigating to the Tools section on the Blackboard homepage. Click on Microsoft OneDrive, and you’ll be prompted to log in and connect your account.

2. Access your course. Once connected, go to the Courses page and select the course where you’d like to upload your files.

3. Upload your files. Within the course, create a new content item or publication for students. When prompted to add files, select Browse Cloud Service and choose the files from your OneDrive.