Blackboard Upgrade 2016

· Adam Massey

BbMH MaintenanceOur annual upgrade is scheduled to begin on July 26th 2016.

Blackboard Managed Hosting will begin the upgrade at 2300 BST, it will take up to 16 hours. See details for other timezones.

Blackboard will be unavailable while the upgrade is taking place.

After the work is complete, we will be running Blackboard Learn Q2 2016, which is the latest release of Blackboard. Here’s what’s new:

Notifications

Notifications are currently switched off as they were unreliable, and could cause the server to crash. This issue has been fixed, so we’ll be switching this on after the upgrade.

Changes to supported browsers

Google Chrome Logo 128x128Microsoft Edge and Chrome OS are now officially supported.

Note that the only version of Internet Explorer now supported is version 11.

If you’re unsure, you can find out what browser you’re using.

Integrations

At the same time of the Blackboard upgrade, we will enable access to the Turnitin Feedback Studio and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, and switch off Equella.

Equella

Any Equella items still available to students in your Blackboard courses will cease to work. They are identified by this icon

Equella item in Bb

See the post from last year for more information.

Turnitin

When using Turnitin to mark work, you can click a link to enable the new Turnitin Feedback Studio (you will also be able to opt out again, should you wish).

Visit the Turnitin site to find out more about Feedback Studio, and to try a demo.

There are many other bug fixes, including one for the occasional errors that students may see when trying to view their feedback.

Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

chat_tl_naheSay goodbye to the Collaborate Launcher, and just use your web browser to moderate and participate in sessions.

If you would like to access Collaborate Ultra in your Blackboard courses, email collaborate@aston.ac.uk.

Note that if Collaborate Ultra is enabled in a course, you will be unable to create Collaborate Classic sessions alongside.

Minor enhancements & bug fixes

  • Announcements are no longer date restricted by default
  • Navigate between discussion threads without returning to the main Discussions page
  • Fixed Spell checker freezing certain browsers when editing content
  • Fixed Can’t run course reports with large number of students (1000+)
  • Fixed Clicking on reconcile grades results in no students returned
  • Fixed Retention centre can show the wrong information for last access
  • and more…

If you have any questions about the upgrade, email blackboard@aston.ac.uk.