{"id":9266,"date":"2026-08-28T09:51:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T09:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/?p=9266"},"modified":"2026-08-28T09:51:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T09:51:49","slug":"blackboard-upgrade-september-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/2026\/08\/28\/blackboard-upgrade-september-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackboard Upgrade \u2013 September 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new features in this month\u2019s Blackboard\u2019s upgrade will be available from Friday 4th September. This month\u2019s upgrade includes the following new\/improved features to Ultra courses, etc:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#restrict\">Ability for staff to restrict accepted file types for Blackboard assignment submissions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"restrict\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ability for staff to restrict accepted file types for Blackboard assignment submissions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just one change to NILE this month, an update to Blackboard assignments allowing staff to restrict the types of file that students can submit. By default all file types can be submitted, so Blackboard assignments will continue to work as normal where these new settings are unchanged. However, where staff wish to do so a list of accepted file types can be added to a Blackboard assignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To specify which types of file students can submit, staff can add these in the assignment settings panel, under &#8216;Submission details&#8217;. Common file extensions can be selected from a drop down list, but staff can add their own too. Where this feature is used, we strongly recommend that students are informed of this well in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"392\" height=\"531\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/08\/restrict-file-types-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/08\/restrict-file-types-1.png 392w, https:\/\/blogs.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/08\/restrict-file-types-1-221x300.png 221w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 392px) 100vw, 392px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>\u2022 Blackboard assignment submission settings with &#8216;Permitted file types&#8217; highlighted<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More information about setting up Blackboard assignments can be found in: <a href=\"https:\/\/libguides.northampton.ac.uk\/learntech\/sage-ultra\/blackboard-assignment\/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Learning Technology Team &#8211; Ultra Workflow 2: Blackboard Assignment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning technology \/ NILE community group<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><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 class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new features in this month\u2019s Blackboard\u2019s upgrade will be available from Friday 4th September. This month\u2019s upgrade includes the following new\/improved features to Ultra courses, etc:<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"#restrict\">Ability for staff to restrict accepted file types for Blackboard assignment submissions<\/a> Ability for staff to restrict accepted file types for Blackboard assignment submissions <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just [&#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-9266","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 September 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\/08\/28\/blackboard-upgrade-september-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 September 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 4th September. 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