Blackboard

Blackboard is UND's Learning Management System connecting students, faculty and staff both inside and outside of the classroom. It is used for courses, organizations, committees, departments and groups. There are now two course environment options - Original course view and Ultra course view.

Please choose the link below for the course view you are using to access the help pages.

Blackboard Original Course View

Blackboard's Original Course View is the current version that UND faculty and students have been using for the several years.

Blackboard Original Course Experience

Blackboard Ultra Course View

Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV) is the new and more modern course experience for students and instructors. UND will be transitioning to UCV gradually over the next several semesters and we do not expect a full transition until sometime in 2025. UCV can be enabled upon request on a course-by-course basis so instructors will be able to determine the timing of when the Blackboard site is moved to Ultra.

Blackboard Ultra Course Experience

Interested in Trying Blackboard Ultra?

Faculty who are interested in an Ultra sandbox site or would like to develop a future course in Ultra may submit a Blackboard Ultra Site Request. TTaDA is here to help with this transition and will provide Instructional Design consultations and group training sessions starting this summer. Training will continue throughout each semester until we have fully transitioned all courses to Ultra. Please contact TTaDA if you have any questions.

Why transition to the new version of Blackboard?

The redesigned version of Blackboard is more user-friendly and mobile-friendly. Blackboard Ultra has a modern design and simplified workflows to make it easier to teach and engage students online.

Here are some of the highlights of Blackboard Ultra:

New and improved user experience with intuitive workflows. Learn Ultra offers a user experience that features a modern, intuitive, and consistent interface on any device. The features and workflows have been redesigned to be more efficient and save you time.

Below are screen shots of the landing pages in original and ultra course views.

Original Course View

Ultra Course View
Simplified navigation. Everything is just one click away. The new Ultra Base Navigation provides immediate access to the most critical information you need to be successful.
Use on any device. Faculty and students will be able to easily access Blackboard from any device – including tablets and smartphones – using either the mobile web browser or the Blackboard mobile apps.
Content creation has never been easier. Simply point to where you want to add content and a plus sign appears. You can even drag and drop content to upload. With just one click, you can reorder, edit, or delete content.
Streamlined grading. The grading workflow has been simplified. On the new Grades page, instructors have immediate access to grading tasks for all courses. See the Streamlined Grading video for details.
Learning analytics. Embedded predictive analytics and alerts for instructors and students help drive student success. See the Predictive Analytics video for details.

More Information

To learn more and view a tentative timeline, please visit our Ultra transition webpage. We encourage you to also visit these helpful Blackboard websites:

Instructor Tutorial Videos: Check out the new design and workflows within Blackboard Ultra.
Blackboard Instructor Help: Assistance using the new Blackboard Ultra Course Experience.
Ultra Course Experience: Learn more about navigating within an Ultra Course.