Blackboard update 21-23 June 2019

Blackboard will be unavailable from 5pm on Friday 21 June 2019 due to a critical security update. The University constantly monitors and acts on advice/updates from suppliers to ensure the security and performance of all SHU systems and this is part of that work. Unfortunately this particular security update will require a greater period of downtime…

New Blackboard Module Site Home Page Channels

This article is part of a series explaining changes introduced as part of this year’s Blackboard rollover. We are automatically adding a series of new channels to all 2019/20 Blackboard module site home pages. These channels provide both students and staff with a consistent set of important information about that module directly from data held…

Colour grades now switched off in the Blackboard App

Blackboard has switched off the colour-coding of the grade pills in the live Blackboard App. Users will need the latest version of the App to see it. Marks showing in a black pill link to further information about that assessment. Marks showing in a grey pill indicate an assessment item type that is not supported…

New in Blackboard: Audio and video feedback

You can now embed audio and video recordings (of up to five minutes in length) along with text-based feedback on any  gradable item in Blackboard (such as assignments, grade columns, wikis, blogs, discussions, tests). It’s a relatively easy process to create recordings. All you need is a built-in or external microphone or headset for audio-only recordings and…

Reminder: Blackboard upgrade 18-20 January

This is a reminder that an upgrade to Blackboard is scheduled to take place during the weekend of 18-20 January 2019. The upgrade will begin at 5 pm on Friday 18 January and continue throughout the weekend. We anticipate that Blackboard will be available again during the afternoon of Saturday 19 January but it is…

Updated student organisation enrolment tool

The tool for enrolling students on or removing students from an organisation site will be updated during the Blackboard upgrade scheduled for 18-20 January 2019. This updated tool will now instantly enrol students on or instantly remove students from an organisation site. There will no longer be a delay while the system updates site enrolments.…

New in Blackboard: Site availability toggle

This article is part of a series explaining the enhancements that will be introduced as part of the Blackboard upgrade scheduled for 18-20 January 2019. There is now an alternative way of making Blackboard sites available (and also a useful indicator to see the availability status of a site). The site availability toggle can be…

New in Blackboard: Visual improvements for Grade Centre (and more tools optimised for mobile devices)

This article is part of a series explaining the enhancements that will be introduced as part of the Blackboard upgrade scheduled for 18-20 January 2019. Blackboard have introduced visual improvements for Grade Centre, as well as continuing to develop tools that they are visually ‘responsive’ and better optimised for use on mobile devices. Visual improvements…