Winthrop University is receiving a major upgrade to the Blackboard Learn interface on May 10. The upgrade, called Blackboard Learn Ultra, includes a brand new landing page and theme for users, as well as Blackboard Ally, an easy access tool.
Blackboard Ally will allow students to have greater accessibility to their course materials and work by providing access to download alternate formats such as a Word document or digital braille.
The team behind the move to Blackboard Learn Ultra has been working for the last couple of years to make this upgrade happen successfully and is ready to share the program with students and professors alike.
“I’m excited about it. I’ve been wanting to move to this for, I think, over two years now, and then all the COVID stuff kind of pushed it back. So I feel like we’ve been in this ‘we’re ready to go’ phase for a while but haven’t had the right span of time to deliver it all,” said Thomas Cornelius, the instructional designer for Winthrop’s Office of Online Learning.
While one of the biggest changes students will notice on May 10 is the new landing page with a unified color scheme throughout the interface, most of their courses will not begin to change until the fall. Professors and their departments will have the option of whether or not to start using the Blackboard Learn Ultra style of courses.
Students should expect to see some courses using the Blackboard Learn Ultra style and some continuing to use the current interface, creating a mix of classes using both styles. While there will be some significant changes to Blackboard implemented, the changes will not be difficult for students or faculty to understand or learn how to navigate.
“I think students are going to have an easier time navigating it because it behaves like the rest of the internet does at this point. So things are going to be a little bit more standardized, in the way that you navigate and access materials, and it is going to be more streamlined,” Cornelius said.
With all the new modifications within the interface, there are still many changes students are hoping to see when they upgrade to Blackboard Learn Ultra.
“I would like the calendar to put all my assignments and tests in there so I don’t have to put them in there manually,” said Alexandra Elliot, a freshman exercise science major.
Emilee Kellett, a junior theatre performance major said, “I’m looking forward to seeing if I will be able to access Blackboard easier on all platforms because I’ve had issues with accessing certain content on devices like my phone.”
Faculty and students alike will be affected by the switch to Blackboard Learn Ultra and other updates coming along with the interface. The hope is that it becomes an easier platform to use and that everyone is excited and looking forward to the changes that are taking place with a more user-friendly interface.
Graphic by Anna Sharpe and Tate Walden
