{"id":8180,"date":"2023-01-05T15:42:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T15:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/?p=8180"},"modified":"2023-05-04T14:18:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T14:18:03","slug":"blackboard-upgrade-january-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2023\/01\/05\/blackboard-upgrade-january-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackboard Upgrade \u2013 January 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The new features in Blackboard\u2019s January upgrade will be available from the morning of Friday 6th January. This month&#8217;s upgrade includes the following new features to Ultra courses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Prevent students from editing or deleting Ultra discussion posts after the due date<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Model answer question type supported in Ultra tests<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improvements to Ultra test randomisation options<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prevent students from editing or deleting Ultra discussion posts after the due date<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to the January upgrade, students could continue posting to Ultra discussions after the due date had passed. This created problems for staff when grading discussions. Following this month&#8217;s upgrade, staff can automatically lock the discussion after the due date has passed. When &#8216;Stop discussion activity after due date&#8217; is selected, students can\u2019t create, reply to, or edit posts after the due date. Students with a <a href=\"https:\/\/help.blackboard.com\/Learn\/Instructor\/Ultra\/Interact\/Roster#ultra_exempt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">due date accommodation<\/a> can continue to create, reply to, and edit posts after the due date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/stop-discussion.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8184\" width=\"331\" height=\"469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/stop-discussion.png 441w, https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/stop-discussion-212x300.png 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>\u2022 Ultra discussion settings<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find out more about setting up and using discussions in Ultra courses at: <a href=\"https:\/\/help.blackboard.com\/Learn\/Instructor\/Ultra\/Interact\/Discussions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blackboard Help &#8211; Ultra Discussions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Model answer question type supported in Ultra test<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the January upgrade, when adding an essay question to an Ultra test, staff will be able to include a model answer. The model answer will always be available for staff to view when marking the test, and staff can also configure the test settings to allow students to see the model answer once they have taken the test. As would be expected, regardless of how the test is set up, the model answer cannot be seen by students while they are completing the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/add-essay-question.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8181\" width=\"343\" height=\"334\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/add-essay-question.png 457w, https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/add-essay-question-300x292.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 343px) 100vw, 343px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>\u2022 Adding an essay question<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/add-essay-question-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8182\" width=\"674\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/add-essay-question-2.png 899w, https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/add-essay-question-2-300x118.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/add-essay-question-2-768x302.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>\u2022 Adding a model answer<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The option for students to view the model answer is controlled by the &#8216;Correct Answers&#8217; setting in the &#8216;Assessment results&#8217; section of the Ultra test settings panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/correct-answers.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8183\" width=\"287\" height=\"335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/correct-answers.png 383w, https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/correct-answers-257x300.png 257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 287px) 100vw, 287px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>\u2022 Assessment results panel<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please note that the essay question must be marked in order to display the model answer to students. Therefore, where staff are using model answer questions in a formative test in which students are required to judge their own response(s) against the model answer(s), a quick option for staff would be to assign 1 point per model answer question, and to award the point to everyone who submitted an answer, thus revealing the model answer to students who view their test results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find out more about setting up and using Ultra tests at: <a href=\"https:\/\/help.blackboard.com\/Learn\/Instructor\/Ultra\/Tests_Pools_Surveys\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blackboard Help &#8211; Ultra Tests<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Improvements to Ultra test randomisation options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to the January upgrade, staff were not able to randomise test questions if the test contained text blocks, files, or images. Following the upgrade, staff will be able to enable randomisation when the test has text blocks, files, or images, as these non-question elements will be locked in place, and the test will randomise the questions between the non-question elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Staff will also be able to randomise questions in a test that contains page breaks, as the questions will randomise within their assigned page. If a page contains non-question elements, the questions will randomise between those elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When there are pages for the test, staff can also randomise page order. If staff randomise the page order, they can also choose to lock the first page into position. This is particularly important if the first page of the test is a cover page or contains test instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find out more about randomising Ultra tests at: <a href=\"https:\/\/help.blackboard.com\/Learn\/Instructor\/Ultra\/Tests_Pools_Surveys\/Test_and_Survey_Options#ultra_randomize\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blackboard Help &#8211; Ultra Tests: Randomising questions and answers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s upgrade: <a href=\"https:\/\/libguides.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/staff\/nile-help\/who-is-my-learning-technologist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/libguides.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/staff\/nile-help\/who-is-my-learning-technologist<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new features in Blackboard\u2019s January upgrade will be available from the morning of Friday 6th January. This month&#8217;s upgrade includes the following new features to Ultra courses:<\/p>\n<p> Prevent students from editing or deleting Ultra discussion posts after the due date Model answer question type supported in Ultra tests Improvements to Ultra test randomisation options [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12,261,290],"tags":[39,40,305,135,319,269,304,253,212],"class_list":["post-8180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learntech-news","category-nile-update","category-uon-ultra-project","tag-blackboard","tag-blackboard-learn","tag-blackboard-upgrade","tag-nile","tag-nile-ultra","tag-ultra","tag-ultra-upgrade","tag-update","tag-updates"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Blackboard Upgrade \u2013 January 2023 - Learning Technology Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2023\/01\/05\/blackboard-upgrade-january-2023\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blackboard Upgrade \u2013 January 2023 - Learning Technology Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The new features in Blackboard\u2019s January upgrade will be available from the morning of Friday 6th January. This month&#8217;s upgrade includes the following new features to Ultra courses: Prevent students from editing or deleting Ultra discussion posts after the due date Model answer question type supported in Ultra tests Improvements to Ultra test randomisation options [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2023\/01\/05\/blackboard-upgrade-january-2023\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Learning Technology Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-05T15:42:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-04T14:18:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/01\/stop-discussion.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert Farmer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert Farmer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2023\/01\/05\/blackboard-upgrade-january-2023\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2023\/01\/05\/blackboard-upgrade-january-2023\/\",\"name\":\"Blackboard Upgrade \u2013 January 2023 - 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