Training Opportunities for Blackboard Ultra Courses
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Ultra Information Day – October 30
Faculty are invited to a Blackboard Ultra Information Day on October 30, a special event designed to help you get the most out of Ultra Course View. Whether you’re new to Ultra or looking to deepen your expertise, this day will offer practical sessions and insights into using Ultra effectively
🗓 Date: Thursday, October 30, 2025
🕒 Time: 10am – 4pm
📍 Location: River Campus, LeChase Hall, Genrich-Rusling Room (2nd floor)
Throughout the day, you can join focused sessions on these topics:
- 10am Blackboard Roadmap
- 11am University of Rochester Online Symposium – University faculty share their Ultra experience
- 12noon Office Hour with Anthology (Lunch available, please RSVP below)
- 1pm Accessibility and Ally
- 2pm Ultra Gradebook
- 3pm Advanced Tips in Ultra
RSVP for all sessions you are attending
Join us for an exciting session where we’ll unveil the roadmap for Blackboard , highlighting both current and upcoming features designed to enhance your teaching and learning experience. Discover new tools and updates that will streamline your workflow and engage your students. The event will be hosted by Anthology representatives.
Anthology Ally in Blackboard/Remote
Join us for a session on Anthology Ally in Blackboard, led by Dr. Katie Grennell, Product Engagement Manager, Ally at Anthology, and Adjunct Instructor at Hilbert College. This session will highlight how Ally supports inclusive teaching by providing students with alternative content formats, giving instructors real-time feedback to improve course materials, and offering valuable reporting tools to track accessibility progress. Through an overview, demonstration, and Q&A, faculty will gain practical strategies for using Ally to enhance digital accessibility and create a more supportive learning experience for all students.
This session explores Blackboard Gradebook’s features—from weighted grading to bulk edits and performance tracking. Learn best practices to streamline grading, reduce errors, and enhance transparency for students. The event will be hosted by Anthology representatives.
Explore your course with Blackboard Ultra, and we’ll explore content layouts, easy-to-use communication tools, and student engagement features like Progress Tracking. Whether you’re teaching online or in person, this session will help you build a course that’s organized, interactive, and easy to manage. The event will be hosted by Anthology representatives.
Self-Paced Training Options
An Ultra self-paced Blackboard course is available to guide you through the different functions and features of Ultra courses.
Click to Enroll (login required)
You can also explore our Video Playlists
- Blackboard Student Experience
- Course Communications
- Adding Content to your Ultra Course
- Creating Effective Discussions
- Grading Student Work
- Exploring the Content Market
Assistance with any use of Blackboard or associated learning tools is always available. Submit a ticket at UnivITHelp@rochester.edu.
Mini Workshops to Enhance Your Blackboard Courses
Are you looking to learn more about Ultra Courses, enhance your course, or learn how to use a new tool that is available within Blackboard? These workshops are for you! These workshops are meant to be short (20-30 minutes) and focused on specific topics.
Workshops to Support your Teaching within Blackboard
These hour-long workshops are meant to help you learn new tools and techniques for your teaching.
Rubrics Workshop – November 4 at 11:00 am
Are you using rubrics to assess your students’ work? Do you want to learn how to add rubrics to your course in Blackboard? This workshop will cover the how-to of creating and grading with rubrics in Blackboard. This workshop is designed to be a follow-up to Designing Effective Rubrics offered by the Teaching Center on October 24. Learn more.
Using Blackboard AI to Streamline Course Design
Blackboard Ultra courses have a number of AI tools built in that help you streamline your course design and development. Join us for this workshop to see how the tools can be used to save time and streamline your course design.
December 2 at 12:00 pm Register to attend
December 3 at 2 pm Register to attend
Workshop Series for Faculty Transitioning to Ultra
Workshop #1 – Building and Organizing Content in Ultra Courses
This workshop will help you learn how to organize your Ultra course best. It will also cover how to copy content from your Original course into Ultra.
- Tuesday, December 9 at 12 noon Register to attend
Workshop #2 – Setting Up Graded Items in Ultra Courses
This workshop will cover using all of the Graded Items (Discussion, Journal, Tests, Assignments) in Blackboard Ultra. It will also briefly discuss how to connect to the external tools that the University has available for use with Blackboard.
- Thursday, December 11 at 12 noon Register to attend
Workshop #3 – Teaching in Ultra Courses
This workshop will cover things you need to know as you begin teaching your course in Ultra, including sending announcements, messages, progress tracking, and setting up your overall grade column.
- Thursday, December 18 at 12 noon Register to attend
Creating Content
- Workshop Slides from November 2024 (PDF)
- Blackboard Ultra Course Structure (Video, about 11 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra Content – Creating Containers (Video, about 5 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra Content – Creating Informational Content (Video, about 16 minutes)
- Copying Content INTO Ultra Courses (Video, about 3 minutes)
Creating Gradable Items
- Workshop Slides from November 2024 (PDF)
- Blackboard Ultra Discussion Boards, Journals, and Surveys (Video, about 12 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra Assignments (Video, about 7 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra Tests (Video, about 10 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra Test Question Types (Video, about 5 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra – Setting up the Gradebook (Video, about 7 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra – Access to non-Blackboard Tools (Video, about 4 minutes)
Teaching in Ultra
- Workshop Slides from January 2025 (PDF)
- Blackboard Ultra Communications with Students (Video, about 8 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra Progress Tracking and Analytics (Video, about 7 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra Grading (Video, about 5 minutes)
- Blackboard Ultra Setting the Overall Grade (Video, about 7 minutes)