NEW Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV) in HuskyCT
The new version of Blackboard, called "Ultra Course View" or just "Ultra," is now available in UConn's HuskyCT system. Anyone who has a HuskyCT site can begin using Ultra Course View for their teaching. While the older version of Blackboard, known as "Original Course View" will remain available for the foreseeable future, UConn's HuskyCT Team (comprised of ITS and CETL-EdTech staff) encourage all faculty using HuskyCT as part of their teaching to consider their transition plans to Ultra Course View.
If you would like help getting started with Ultra Course View, would like to meet with CETL-EdTech staff to discuss your options and plans, or for any other HuskyCT-related questions, please contact us by phone or email.
Phone: (860) 486-5052 E-mail: edtech@uconn.edu
Why switch to Ultra Course View?
Ultra Course View (UCV) is a modern, user-friendly LMS design that simplifies many course building and management tasks, making maintaining and teaching your course with HuskyCT much easier. While the overall layout and design does differ from the Original Course View, most faculty who have switched to Ultra Course View have found it much easier to work with, and students say they prefer it over the Original Course View version of Blackboard.
UCV introduces many updated features such as improved content creation and editing, easier control of content availability, and many others. As well, UCV includes new tools such as artificial intelligence assistance for question bank creation and learning module structures, class conversations for individual content items, and discussion analytics that are not available in the Original Course View.
Sara Renzulli on UCV
Jamie Kleinman on UCV
Ultra Course View How-Tos
UCV Tutorial Videos
Basic Course Building in Ultra Course View
Archive of UCV Transition Project Communications/Announcements
January 29, 2024 email announcement:
Colleagues,
We are writing to announce a migration plan for HuskyCT.
UConn utilizes Anthology’s Blackboard Learn for HuskyCT, our learning management system (LMS). We currently offer the ability to deliver courses using Original Course View (Original), the legacy product, or Ultra Course View (Ultra), the new product. Original receives minimal Anthology support and will remain relatively static. Ultra is the stated successor to the traditional Original. It enjoys full support and is the recipient of nearly all current Anthology development. Positive feedback from the community indicates that it has been well received by both faculty and students. Original will undoubtedly languish over time as Anthology continues to divert resources to Ultra, and security updates will eventually cease. While we actively support both Original and Ultra, most courses in HuskyCT are currently being delivered via the legacy product.
To remain on a fully supported, contemporary system, we propose moving university courses to Ultra for the 2024 and 2025 academic years. Transition of all 1,000 and 2,000 level courses into Ultra has been tentatively scheduled to be completed by the start of the Fall 2024 academic session. All remaining courses will be transitioned by the start of the Fall 2025 academic session. This sequencing will enable incoming students to enjoy the most contemporary experience for the duration of their time here. In addition, high impact courses that reach larger numbers of students will be prioritized selectively for early transition regardless of level.
ITS and CETL will collaborate with and assist you throughout this transition, but courses are your intellectual property, and you must invariably be deeply involved in every part of the process. Very simple courses can often be migrated automatically requiring minimal cleanup by faculty. More involved courses might require additional corrections. Highly complex courses that use advanced features often do not migrate well using available tools. In these cases, rebuilding the course in Ultra may be your best approach.
We will prioritize resources to provide as much assistance as is practical to better address varying needs and meet proposed deadlines. However, we highly recommend initiating the switch while customer demand is lower and support availability is higher. Additional information can be located by navigating to the following website.
This site is actively maintained and will continue to be developed with best practices and other information as the migration unfolds. You may initiate a conversation or course conversion with the ITS and CETL teams by going to the following form and clicking the button for an Ultra discussion:
https://s.uconn.edu/courserequest
Please contact us if you have comments, questions, or concerns about the timeline or process for this transition.
Regards,
Michael Mundrane
VP Information Technology and CIO
Information Technology Services
Amit Savkar
Associate Vice Provost
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
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April 8, 2024 email update:
Colleagues,
We are writing to provide additional information about the HuskyCT migration from Original to Ultra.
All 1,000 and 2,000 level courses that are offered starting Fall 2024 and higher-level courses that are offered starting Fall 2025 are currently scheduled to be delivered in Ultra. While this represents a substantial number of courses, many of them can be converted automatically from Original with only minor touchups. It may also be desirable to transition very large courses, regardless of level, as this will confer immediate benefits to a greater number of students. The focus for the 2024 academic year will be 1,000 and 2,000 level courses and selected large courses where practical.
We will prioritize resources to provide as much assistance as is practical to better address varying needs and meet proposed deadlines. However, we highly recommend initiating the switch while customer demand is lower and support availability is higher. Additional information is available at the following website.
This site is actively maintained and will continue to be developed with best practices and other information as the migration unfolds. You may initiate a conversation or course conversion with the ITS and CETL teams by going to the following form and clicking the button for an Ultra discussion:
https://s.uconn.edu/courserequest
Please contact us if you have comments, questions, or concerns about the timeline or process for this transition.
Regards,
Michael Mundrane
VP Information Technology and CIO
Information Technology Services
Amit Savkar
Associate Vice Provost
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning