New look & feel Blackboard due to update
On 28 July, Blackboard will get an update that will give a new look & feel to the navigation and landing page for all users. In addition, some functionalities will change. You can read what this means for teachers in this post. Blackboard will be unavailable in the evening of Sunday 28 July between 18:00 and 22:00 because of the update.
New look & feel
When you log into Blackboard on Monday 29 July, you will see that the login page and navigation look different. Your course environment has not changed and looks just as you are used to. You can see what this so-called ‘Ultra Based Navigation’ will look like here.
The main change is that by default you will enter on the ‘institution page’, where you will find any announcements about new Blackboard features and ‘quick access’ links, such as the support page and other frequently used applications. The ‘activity stream page’ shows recent activity in your courses. You can configure which activity you want to see here. Your course overview and the overview of communities can be found in the left menu bar. Within course environments, nothing else changes and the look & feel remains as it was.
We understand that the new look and feel will take some getting used to. However, we cannot stop this update of Blackboard. This update is also completely separate from the transition to UU's new Learning Management System (LMS), Brightspace, to which all UU initial education will move in September 2025.
Phasing out of reporting functionality in Blackboard
From 29 July, the following functionalities will no longer be available in Blackboard:
- Course Reports
- Performance Dashboard
- Retention Centre
These functionalities do not comply with UU's Learning Analytics policy and are therefore being deactivated. The UU Learning Analytics team is working on alternative functionalities, which do comply with the policy and can be deployed in a secure and transparent way. This is expected to be ready in autumn 2024. Are you interested in using this? Then get in touch via learninganalytics@uu.nl. We will then work with you to see how learning analytics can be integrated into your education.
Possibility to add pronouns in Blackboard
As of 29 July, it is possible to add your pronouns/prefixes, which will then be displayed in various places in activities and name lists in Blackboard. Here you can read how to add pronouns and where they will be shown in Blackboard.