The new features in Blackboard’s July upgrade are available now. This month’s upgrade includes the following new/improved features to Ultra courses:
- New NILE courses for the 24/25 academic year now available
- New option to generate a Turnitin similarity report when using Blackboard assignments
- Improvements to the grading interface for Blackboard assignments and tests
- Improvements to printing tests and assessments
- Improvements to announcements
- Enrolling students onto NILE courses
- Uploading video and audio files to NILE
- Increased adverts on YouTube videos (from 1st August)
- End of life for guest access to NILE, including welcome courses and organisations, and removal of old Original courses and organisations (from 31st December)
New NILE courses for the 24/25 academic year now available
Creation of new NILE courses for the 24/25 academic year has been completed, and staff are now able to enrol on and begin setting up their new NILE courses.
If content needs to be copied into a new NILE course from an old one, please ensure that the correct process is followed as this will reduce the likelihood of problems occurring later on in the new course, especially around non-functioning assignment submission points. More information about the course copy process is available from: Learning Technology Team – How do I copy content into a NILE Ultra course?
Full guidance about enrolling on and setting up new NILE courses is available from: Learning Technology Team – Getting your NILE course set up and ready for teaching
Following the move to the SITS student records system, NILE Course IDs are now in four parts, not three. e.g., PHI1001-SUN-2425-S1. The first part of the course ID is the module code; in this case, PHI1001. The second part of the course ID is the session code, in this case SUN. SUN (Standard University of Northampton) is a common session code and denotes that the course is delivered on campus here at the University of Northampton. The third part of the course ID is the academic year; in this case 2425, denoting the academic year 2024/2025. The final part of the course ID refers to the semester in which the course is taught; in this case S1, semester one. More information about the new NILE course IDs is available from: Learning Technology Team – How do I decode my NILE course ID?
Please note that, following new guidance issued to UK HEIs by the Office for Students, the NILE Design Standards have been updated this year, with the addition of the following items to section A: ‘Availability of course content in NILE courses’, and; ‘Availability of student assessment, grades and feedback in NILE’.
New option to generate a Turnitin similarity report when using Blackboard assignments
A popular request from staff has been the ability to use Blackboard’s assignment submission tool, but to also generate Turnitin similarity reports for work submitted. Prior the July upgrade this was not possible, and staff had to choose between generating a Turnitin submission report, or using Blackboard’s more flexible and feature rich assignment tool. However, following the July upgrade, and along with the switch to the new and improved flexible grading interface for Blackboard assignments and tests (see below), a new Turnitin integration has also been enabled in NILE allowing Turnitin similarity reports to be generated when using a Blackboard assignment.
More information about using Turnitin with Blackboard assignments is available from: Blackboard Help – Turnitin
Improvements to the grading interface for Blackboard assignments and tests
The gradebook in Ultra courses has been upgraded to Blackboard’s new flexible grading interface. This will not affect staff assessing Turnitin assignments, but staff marking Blackboard assignments and tests will notice a marked improvement in the grading interface, which is more intuitive and which allows for quicker and easier access to all Blackboard’s grading tools.
More information about grading assignments using the new interface is available from: Blackboard Help – Grade Assignments With Flexible Grading
More information about grading tests using the new interface is available from: Blackboard Help – Grade Tests With Flexible Grading
Improvements to printing tests and assessments
Following on from last month’s upgrade, which introduced the option for staff to print Ultra tests and assignments, this month’s upgrade adds the option to select whether to include both the questions and correct answers (where specified), or just the questions.
Improvements to announcements
Prior to the July upgrade, staff were not able to select both the ‘Schedule announcement’ and the ‘Send an email copy to recipients’ options when creating an announcement. Following the upgrade, it will be possible for staff to both schedule an announcement, and to send a copy via email at the time the announcement is scheduled. Previously, students were notified by email of scheduled announcements in a digest email sent the following morning, but staff now have the option for the email notification of the announcement to be sent as soon as the scheduled announcement is live.
Enrolling students onto NILE courses
Following the introduction of the SITS student records system, all enrolments onto and removals of students from module-level and programme-level NILE courses will be handled by a new SITS/NILE integration, which replaces the previous QL/NILE integration. Because of the need to ensure that the NILE student enrolment record and the SITS student enrolment record remain synchronised at all times, there is no longer any option for staff to manually enrol students onto NILE courses, or to remove students, change their role, or change their availability. Where a student is not enrolled on a NILE course but should be, this can no longer be fixed by manually enrolling the student; instead, the reason for non-enrolment must be identified and remedied in SITS, following which the student will be enrolled on the NILE course.
As a result of these changes, staff will no longer have access to view the ‘Member information’ panel in NILE, meaning that students’ UON email addresses are not viewable to staff in NILE. However, staff can still send emails to students via the announcements and messages tool. Where staff need to know a particular student’s email address, this information is available in the new Student Record View (SRV) tool, which is the SITS replacement for OASIS. For training on SRV please see: Staff Development: SRS -SRV Training
Staff still retain the ability to enrol themselves and other instructors onto their NILE courses, and to enrol their external examiners and other members of UON staff who are supporting their students.
Uploading video and audio files to NILE
Prior to the July upgrade there have been multiple methods of uploading a video or audio file to NILE, and it has not been clear as to the best method to use. Following the upgrade, staff and students will now be advised to use Kaltura, the University’s dedicated media streaming system, when uploading audio and video files to NILE. In order to assist with this process, if a video or audio file is being uploaded to NILE via a different method, staff and students will see a helpful pop-up screen prompting them to use Kaltura instead, and providing links to support materials which explain how to do this.
There are several advantages of uploading media files to NILE using Kaltura. Of particular importance, and unlike other upload methods which are subject to a maximum file size limit of 1024MB (1GB), there are no file size limits for uploads to NILE via Kaltura. This is especially useful for video files which can and often do exceed the 1024MB limit. Additionally, video files uploaded via Kaltura are transcoded to multiple streaming formats, allowing for the best viewing experience across different devices and different Internet connection speeds. This allows the viewing of video files in full HD quality on devices with large screens and good connection speeds, while also allowing videos to be viewed on devices with slower connection speeds without frequent stops to the playback while loading the video. And to aid accessibility, all Kaltura media is also auto-transcribed/captioned, and where auto-transcriptions are manually checked and edited for accuracy, they meet the required standards for accessibility.
More information for staff about Kaltura is available from: Learning Technology Guides – Kaltura
More information about video accessibility and transcription/captioning is available from: Learning Technology Guides – Captioning Collaborate lectures, Kaltura recordings, and other video and audio content
Increased adverts on YouTube videos (from 1st August)
YouTube videos embedded in NILE are currently subject to the same advertising policies as videos viewed directly on YouTube. This includes pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll adverts. Google, who own YouTube, have announced that starting August 1st 2024, the number of adverts shown in embedded videos will increase, meaning more interruptions during video playback. As an alternative to YouTube, staff may like to consider making use of Box of Broadcasts (BoB) to source media content.
More information about BoB is available from: Learning Technology Team – Box of Broadcasts (BoB)
End of life for guest access to NILE, including welcome courses and organisations, and removal of old Original courses and organisations (from 31st December)
In order to implement necessary security measures, from the 1st of January 2025 guest access to NILE will no longer be possible. This means that only logged in users will be able to access NILE. Guest access to Ultra courses has never been possible, however, some old Original courses, including welcome courses, may still be available via guest access and the information they contain may need to be relocated.
Additionally, please note that while most NILE courses are regularly archived and removed from NILE in accordance with the NILE Archiving and Retention Policy, some old Original courses and organisations remain on the system and will continue to be removed from NILE on a rolling ten year basis. Currently, all Original courses and organisations created before 01/01/2014 are no longer available on NILE, and courses created before 01/01/2015 will be no longer be available from 1st January 2025.
Staff who are concerned that they may be affected by either of these matters are encouraged to contact Robert Farmer, the Learning Technology Manager, to discuss their requirements. Where information needs to be available to people who do not have a NILE login, it will be necessary to use another platform to provide this. However, where using NILE is still the best option, we will be happy to provide a new Ultra course or organisation to replace the old Original one.
More information
As ever, please get in touch with your learning technologist if you would like any more information about the new features available in this month’s upgrade: Who is my learning technologist?
Staff, student, and PGR researchers conducting online interviews and focus groups are now able to use Teams, rather than Collaborate, for this purpose. However, researchers currently using Collaborate do not need to make the switch immediately as they will still have access to their Collaborate rooms until 31 December 2024.
This change was approved by the University’s Research Ethics Committee on 13 June 2024, and additional information from REC is provided below.
“From June 2024, ethical approval can be given for online interviews to be conducted, recorded, and transcribed/translated in MS Teams. Use of MS Teams is only allowed when used in the way specified in the UON LLS guide on Recording Online Interviews [see link below]. Using this procedure, staff, students, and PGRs can set up and record online research interviews and focus groups in compliance with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act (2018) and with University policy. This guidance only concerns the making of video and/or audio recordings in Teams of online interviews and focus groups where the recording is needed temporarily in order to create an anonymised transcript, after which the recordings will be permanently deleted. This guidance does not apply to recordings which are intended for permanent or long-term storage.
From July 2024, ethical approval will no longer be given for conduct of online interviews in Blackboard Collaborate. Researchers with existing ethical approval to conduct interviews in Blackboard Collaborate can continue to use that platform until 31 December 2024, after which it will be necessary to transfer to MS Teams. Researchers with existing ethical approval for research in Blackboard Collaborate can transfer to use of MS Teams immediately:
- UON staff with ethical approval for interviews in Blackboard Collaborate should notify the ethics committee which gave approval. Requests to transfer to use of MS Teams will be reviewed immediately as a Chair’s Action.
- PGRs with ethical approval for interviews in Blackboard Collaborate should notify the Research Ethics Committee via the ‘significant amendment’ button in the approved ethics application in Gateway. Requests to transfer to use of MS Teams will be reviewed immediately as a Chair’s Action.
- UON colleagues responsible for undergraduate and Master’s research should update dissertation/project guidance to enable use of MS Teams, as per the UON LLS guide on Recording Online Interviews [see link below] for 2024/25 onwards.”
More information
Setting up and Recording Online Interviews: A guide for researchers
Interviews with presenters and exhibitors from the 6th annual innovation showcase event, Merged Futures 6 in the UON Learning Hub on Friday 14th June 2024 by Learning Technologist Richard Byles.
As part of a longitudinal study into student perspectives of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Learning Technologists Richard Byles and Kelly Lea, along with Head of Learning Technology Rob Howe, have published the results of their second student survey, launched in February 2024.
This 2024 report reveals a significant shift in the role of GenAI in students’ academic lives and their changing motivations to engage with these technologies. Notably, the survey highlights a marked increase in student use of GenAI since the 2023 survey with distinct differences in usage and views between UK and international students.
Key findings indicate a growing awareness among students about both the benefits and limitations of GenAI. Many students appreciate its ability to assist with summarising content, generating ideas, and editing text. However, they are increasingly questioning where data is gathered from and its reliability. Students remain ethically aware and want to ensure academic integrity when using these tools.
The full report can be viewed below.
Report Link (PDF): Exploring Student Perspectives of Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools at the university of Northampton: A survey-Based Study
R Byles, K Lea, R Howe
The Learning Technology Team would like to say a very big thank you and many congratulations to all the members of academic staff who are due to receive a NILE Ultra Course Award at the University’s Learning and Teaching Conference on Thursday 19th June.
The 2024 winners are:
- Kiran Kaur for BUS2900: Research, Trends and Professional Directions
- Abdul Hye Miah for CJS2007: Crime and Criminal Investigation
- Cleo Cameron for CJS3012: Cyber Crime
- David Meechan & Samantha Weekes for EDU2033: Education and Technology
- Erica Morris & Winnie Pui for EDUM128: Research and Enterprise for Enhanced Academic Practice
- Tanya Richardson & Candiece Spencer for EYS1118: Personal, Academic, and Professional Development 1
- Peter Goy, Candiece Spencer & Robin Sturman-Coombs for EYS2117: Safeguarding and Child Protection
- Carey Allen for PSY1011: Positive Psychology
- Alexia Achtypi & Brenna Farrow for SENM026: Understanding the Autism Spectrum
- Gus Lusack for SLS2041: Cellular Pathology & SLS1039: Biomedical Laboratory Practice
The Ultra Course Awards recognise staff who have created excellent Ultra courses for their students, and each course submitted for an award is reviewed by a panel of experts to ensure that it meets the award criteria, which are that the course:
- Follows the NILE Design Standards for Ultra Courses (https://libguides.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/staff/nile-design/nile-design-standards);
- Is clearly laid out and well-organised at the top level via the use of content containers (learning modules or folders), and that content items within top-level content containers are clearly named and easily identifiable for students, using sub-folders where necessary to organise content within the top-level content containers;
- Contains a range of content and activities for students to take part in.
In addition to reviewing the nominated courses, this year the panel also looked at students’ NILE engagement statistics to see whether courses that met the award criteria were used by students more than other courses. Comparing students’ engagement in NILE courses that received an Ultra Course Award in 2023 or 2024 against the average of all NILE courses, we found that students’ interactions with content in award-winning courses were typically just over twice the average, and that students were spending around 80% more time in the award-winning courses than the average. Clearly, there are likely to be many reasons for students spending more time and being more active in award winning courses than average, but it is, we hope, heartening for Ultra Course Award winners to know that the time spent designing and maintaining their NILE courses may have had a positive effect in this regard.
Nominations for the 2025 Ultra Courses Awards will be open from 1st October to 31st December 2024, and the winners will be announced at the 2025 UON Learning and Teaching Conference.
Information about the 2023 Ultra Course Awards can be found at: NILE Ultra Course Award Winners 2023
In this short film, Dr Mu Mu, Programme Leader for the AI and Data Science course, and students discuss a new project that aims to improve student access to information through the development of a new AI chatbot.
Dr Mu Mu explains that students often have common questions about their schedules, deadlines, and accommodation. To address these needs, second-year students are tasked with creating an AI chatbot. Three BSc Artificial Intelligence & Data Science students share insights into the development process.
Dr Mu Mu emphasises the broader learning outcomes: “It’s not only about the technical challenges, but also thinking about ethics, legal issues, and how to make the chatbot more personalised.”
The practical experience gained from this project has led the students gaining successful placements and internships in prestigious UK organisations. This project exemplifies how our programme not only equips students with technical expertise but also prepares them to navigate and address real-world challenges.
The new features in Blackboard’s June upgrade will be available on Friday 7th June. This month’s upgrade includes the following new/improved features to Ultra courses:
Post announcements immediately
Following feedback from staff, June’s upgrade will make posting announcements in Ultra courses easier and more intuitive. Currently, an announcement has to be saved and closed before it can be posted from the announcements panel. However, this sometimes causes confusion, as the save button does not actually post the announcement. June’s upgrade will add the ‘Post’ button directly into the panel in which the announcement is created, allowing staff to compose and post the announcement in the same panel. The option to compose the announcement, save it, and post it later will still be available though.
Print Ultra tests and assessments – staff only
The June upgrade will introduce a print button which will allow a PDF copy of an Ultra test or assignment to be generated, or for a printable copy of a test or assignment to be sent to a printer. The print button is available to staff only, and there are no plans to make the print button available to students.
Please note that there are certain limitations with the initial release of the print functionality, specifically that when a question pool is used as a question type, these are not included in the print.
More information
As ever, please get in touch with your learning technologist if you would like any more information about the new features available in this month’s upgrade: Who is my learning technologist?
The following report provides an overview of the findings of the Generative AI Staff Survey which was available to all staff at UON from the 12th of Feb to 12th of April 2024.
The purpose of the survey is to explore staff understanding and use of Generative Artificial Intelligence tools, and their impact on staff roles at UON.
Author: R Howe. Researchers: K Lea, R Byles.
The new features in Blackboard’s May upgrade will be available on Friday 2nd May. This month’s upgrade includes the following new/improved features to Ultra courses:
Improved gradebook navigation
There are currently three different views of the Ultra gradebook which are available under two gradebook sub-tabs, one of which has a grid/list selector. These views are:
- Markable items (list view)
- Markable items (grid view)
- Students
As this can make navigating the gradebook rather confusing, May’s upgrade will provide each gradebook view with its own sub-tab as follows:
- Markable items (list view) will become Markable items
- Markable items (grid view) will become Marks
- Students will remain as it is
Supporting multiple performance criteria in release conditions
Staff can currently set performance-based release conditions for items in Ultra courses against only a single performance criteria (i.e, a gradable item for which students have a grade in the Ultra gradebook). For example, if there are three tests in a course and staff want to make an item available only to students who have scored above a certain score in each test, this is not possible. As a workaround, staff can use cascading release criteria, e.g., releasing the second test when the first is passed, the third when the second is passed, and the content item when the third test is passed. However, using cascading release criteria is not always what is desired, and they can be complicated to set up.
Following the May release, staff will be able to set release conditions against multiple performance criteria, allowing staff to selectively release content in Ultra courses to students who have fulfilled multiple conditions. Where staff want to continue using a series of cascading release conditions they can continue to do so, but will no longer have to use them as a workaround. When setting up performance-based release conditions, staff can set content to be released to students who have scored n points/% or higher, or can specify custom ranges.
Release conditions can be especially useful for staff who want to automatically release content to students based upon their assessment scores. For example, releasing one set of content designed to support students who have failed an assessment, another set to students who have passed the assessment, and more challenging content to students who have performed exceptionally well.
More information about using release conditions in Ultra courses is available from: Blackboard Help – Content Release Conditions
More information
As ever, please get in touch with your learning technologist if you would like any more information about the new features available in this month’s upgrade: Who is my learning technologist?
Catch up with the latest news, case studies, and other interesting stories from the Learning Technology Team.
Download the Learning Technology Team Newsletter – Semester 2, 2023/24 (PDF, 560 KB)
