{"id":9077,"date":"2026-05-07T14:22:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/?p=9077"},"modified":"2026-05-07T14:22:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:22:35","slug":"blackboard-upgrade-may-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2026\/05\/07\/blackboard-upgrade-may-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackboard Upgrade \u2013 May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The new features in this month\u2019s Blackboard\u2019s upgrade will be available from Friday 8th May. This month\u2019s upgrade includes the following new\/improved features to Ultra courses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#course-switcher\">Improved search and navigation in course switcher<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#discussions-due-date\">Second due date for discussions visible in gradebook<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"course-switcher\">Improved search and navigation in course switcher<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the introduction of the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2026\/01\/08\/blackboard-upgrade-january-2026\/#navigation\">new navigation in the January 2026 upgrade<\/a>, the May upgrade will bring in an improvement to the course switcher, allowing staff and students to search for courses. At present, the course switcher allows staff and students to move from their current course to one of their four most recent courses (displayed in the &#8216;Recent courses&#8217; section of the course switcher window). Following the upgrade staff and students will see a search box, making it possible to switch between any two NILE courses without closing the current NILE course and returning to the main NILE courses menu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"678\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/course-switcher-search-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9084\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/course-switcher-search-1.png 678w, https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/course-switcher-search-1-300x194.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><sup><em>\u2022 Course switcher and new &#8216;Search courses&#8217; option marked<\/em><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><sup><a href=\"#top\">Back to top \u2191<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"discussions-due-date\">Second due date for discussions visible in gradebook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the December 2025 and March 2026 upgrades, which, respectively, brought in the options to <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2025\/12\/04\/blackboard-upgrade-december-2025\/#participation-requirements\">specify participation requirements<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2026\/03\/03\/blackboard-upgrade-march-2026\/#second-due-date-discussions\">add a second due date<\/a> when using marked discussions, May&#8217;s upgrade will, where a second due date has been set, allow staff to view both discussion due dates in the gradebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1022\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/discussiondue-dates-in-gradebook.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9085\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/discussiondue-dates-in-gradebook.png 1022w, https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/discussiondue-dates-in-gradebook-300x70.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/discussiondue-dates-in-gradebook-768x180.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1022px) 100vw, 1022px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><sup><em>\u2022 &#8216;i&#8217; info button highlighted with a pop-up showing due dates for a marked discussion <\/em><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><sup><a href=\"#top\">Back to top \u2191<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning technology \/ NILE community group<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Staff who are interested in finding out more about learning technologies and NILE are invited to join the Learning Technology \/ NILE Community Group on the University\u2019s Engage platform. The purpose of the community is to share information and good practice concerning the use of learning technologies at UON. When joining the community, if you are prompted to login please use your usual UON staff username and password. By joining the Learning Technology \/ NILE Community you will receive calendar invitations to our regular live community events:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/engage.cloud.microsoft\/main\/org\/northampton.ac.uk\/groups\/eyJfdHlwZSI6Ikdyb3VwIiwiaWQiOiIyMjU1MTMzNDA5MjgifQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Join the Learning Technology \/ NILE Community Group<\/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:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/libguides.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/staff\/nile-help\/who-is-my-learning-technologist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Who is my learning technologist?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new features in this month\u2019s Blackboard\u2019s upgrade will be available from Friday 8th May. This month\u2019s upgrade includes the following new\/improved features to Ultra courses:<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"#course-switcher\">Improved search and navigation in course switcher<\/a> <a href=\"#discussions-due-date\">Second due date for discussions visible in gradebook<\/a> Improved search and navigation in course switcher <\/p>\n<p>Following the introduction of the [&#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":[39,40,305,304,253,212],"class_list":["post-9077","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-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 May 2026 - 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\/2026\/05\/07\/blackboard-upgrade-may-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blackboard Upgrade \u2013 May 2026 - Learning Technology Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The new features in this month\u2019s Blackboard\u2019s upgrade will be available from Friday 8th May. This month\u2019s upgrade includes the following new\/improved features to Ultra courses: Improved search and navigation in course switcher Second due date for discussions visible in gradebook Improved search and navigation in course switcher Following the introduction of the [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2026\/05\/07\/blackboard-upgrade-may-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Learning Technology Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-07T14:22:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-07T14:22:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/course-switcher-search-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"678\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"438\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/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=\"3 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\/2026\/05\/07\/blackboard-upgrade-may-2026\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2026\/05\/07\/blackboard-upgrade-may-2026\/\",\"name\":\"Blackboard Upgrade \u2013 May 2026 - 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