7/10/23 - Email to Faculty

Email to Faculty  - July 10th, 2023

Dear Faculty,

This note is an update regarding our gradual transition to Ultra. As I mentioned before, your timeframe for moving to the new interface is flexible. The transition plan will accommodate both those who enjoy the challenge of new technology and those who prefer to wait before adopting new applications.

Training  - In-person and face-to-face training are underway.  Most of the feedback from this training tells us that people like the new interface. Although not mandatory, we highly recommend attending the training to discover the exciting possibilities of the newer interface, especially if you want to explore using Ultra this fall. To access the registration information, click this link Registration Information.  Offerings for September through December will be added before the fall semester begins.

K-16 Solutions At the end of April,  I mentioned that K16 Solutions would migrate courses for us.  They have finished their work, and we are currently adding your enrollments to these master site courses.  We are especially pleased that the tests and assignments you had in your Original courses migrated well during this process.  

There are things on these sites that will need adjustments.  

For example:

• The tools from the Original Interface are on the Content Page on these sites (Announcements, Discussions, Send Email, and the Student Gradebook link). They do not work; you should remove them if you use the site.

• Tools on the course menu that integrate with outside products such as Course Feedback Surveys, Course Materials, and the TCC Library link, must be deleted and recreated.

• You may need to reorganize your content.

The great news is that managing these tasks is quick and easy in the Ultra interface. You can read more and view videos abut how to complete the tasks above.

Specific information about the K16 Solutions Migrated Site with Directions to Manage the Tasks Above.

The nice thing about these K16 sites is that they are master sites.  You can use them if and when have a need for them.

Updates: Anthology (Blackboard) continues to make nice enhancements to Ultra.  Following the July updates,  you can now resize images, assign complete/incomplete grades, and there are enhancements to the Student Progress tool as well. Release Notes.

Student Information: TCC’s online tutorials and student resources now include resources to explain Ultra.

Overall, we are pleased with the new Ultra interface and the faculty’s enthusiasm toward adopting it.

Jennifer Campbell, Ph.D.
GKFF Endowed Chair for Online Learning
Professor of Health Sciences
Tulsa Community College
918-595-7018

About Instructor Choice view

New Blackboard courses for Fall 2023 will automatically be added in Instructor Choice view. That means you will be able to choose whether to continue using Blackboard Original for your course or change it to Ultra to preview it. Don't worry--if you don't like Ultra, you can change it back! You can learn about Instructor Choice view in our Knowledge Base article "Using Instructor Choice view to preview Ultra."

Ultra Cheat Sheet

Online Learning has added an Ultra Cheat Sheet to our Knowledge Base. You'll find links to information directly from Blackboard, as well as links to our own Ultra articles as we add them.