Information: Update to client Production environments (Published February 16, 2023):
An updated version of 3900.58.0 (full release number: 3900.58.0-rel.36+3daac77) is being applied to client Production servers on Thursday, February 16, 2023.  

Updates in this version include:

• Users Attempting to Access Files From the Alternate Content Domain May Be Asked to Log in Again- Article #77254
• File Response Questions Will Not Allow File to be Attached When Test is Set to Open in a New Window- Article #77333
• Next Navigation Does Not Load Group Submission Content Correctly- Article #77211
• BB Annotate Displays Wrong File When Navigating Between Group Submissions Using the Back and Forth Arrows in Ultra Courses- Article #77170

_______________

Update to client Production environments (Published February 9, 2023):
An updated version of 3900.58.0 (full release number: 3900.58.0-rel.32+ba3d86b) is being applied to client Production servers on Thursday, February 9, 2023.  

Updates in this version include:

• Margin-Right Spacing in <strong> Tags in Original Course's Test Questions and Surveys- Article #77289

_______________

Update to client Production environments (Published February 2, 2023):
An updated version of 3900.58.0 (full release number: 3900.58.0-rel.29+31f3d35 ) is being applied to client Production servers on Thursday, February 2, 2023.  

Updates in this version include:

• OutOfMemoryError sending Course Message in very large Enrollment Courses or Organizations - Article #77036

______________

Update to client Test/ Stage environments (Published January 31, 2023):
An updated version of 3900.58.0 (full release number: 3900.58.0-rel.27+2ba51b2) is being applied to client Test/Stage servers on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.  

Updates in this version include:

• Messages Tool In Courses Shows Too Much Data About Other Users If There are More Than 100 Enrolled Users - Article #77030

• In Original Course View, usernames could display to students even when the field was set by an administrator not to display to users. This would happen in a course with more than 100 users if a student was searching for other students in the Course Messages tool. We’ve corrected this.

 

• LTI Placement Course Tools Student Checkbox Selector is Controlling the Tool for Both Instructors and Students - Article #75790

______________

Update to client Test/ Stage environments (Published January 24, 2023):
An updated version of 3900.58.0 (full release number: 3900.58.0-rel.21+cb60724) is being applied to client Test/Stage servers on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.  

Updates in this version include:

• Learning Modules with LTI Items Generate an Error Message- Article #77210
• Students Get Error When Deleting Their Own Discussions- Article #77074

______________

Update to client Test/ Stage environments (Published January 17, 2023):
An updated version of 3900.58.0 (full release number: 3900.58.0-rel.16+57a4a1b) is being applied to client Test/Stage servers on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.  

Updates in this version include:

• Choices Missing in Original Assessment "Matching" Question type- Article #77229
• Columns Relied Upon by Gradebook Formulas Were Suppressed Inadvertently Causing Errors- Article #77108
• Updates were made on Consulting Central backend services to better support new cloud serverless architecture.
  •  An issue that prevented modifying the launch placement availability setting for Bb Assist when editing the visibility toggle within the Consulting Central Assist settings page was resolved. 

______________

Blackboard is pleased to announce the release of the 3900.58.0 (January 10, 2023) update of Learn SaaS for test and stage environments (full release number: 3900.58.0-rel.12+92ec3f0).  This update will replace the previous v.3900.56.0 release.
 

The February 2023 - 3900.58 release is robust with features in five areas:
 

• assessment and grading;
• data and analytics;
• groups;
• mobile app; and
• integration, extension, and management.

These improvements impact instructors, students, and administrators. Some features do require administrative action.

Instructors:

• Technical Preview: Improved attempt switching when grading student submissions with multiple attempts
• Gradebook List View – Gradable items sorting
• Progress Tracking: visibility filters for the Student Progress tab

Instructors and students:

• Exemptions
• Extra credit questions in assessments
• Hot spot question type – polygon shapes
• Show Course Group Members
• Progress Tracking: Ally alternative format views count towards progress

Students:

• Student Gradebook record sorting

All users:

• Mobile App: User Profile Card

 

Administrators:

• Login As
• Course Auto-Archive Retention Policy Change
• Retain third-party app icons defined in the Developer Portal

 

Assessment and Grading

Technical Preview: Improved attempt switching when grading student submissions with multiple attempts – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
 

Multiple-attempt assessments can be more complicated for instructors because there are more submissions. To switch between attempts for a student in the past, an instructor would have to close an attempt then select a different attempt. This wasn’t intuitive and required extra clicks. Now instructors can navigate directly between a student’s attempts. If a student has multiple attempts for an assessment, an instructor will see an option to switch attempts. This is more efficient.

When the instructor clicks a student name in the Submissions list, the most recent submitted attempt will be loaded.
 

The attempt selector displays information to help instructors select the desired attempt:

• Attempt number
• Submission time stamp
• File size
• Grade (if graded)
• Late indicator (if applicable)

For administrators: In the February release, this feature can only be enabled in test/stage environments for testing. In the March release, this feature will be available by default. In March, it will be possible to opt out of using this feature. At that time, you can set the feature to unavailable on the Ultra Experience Management page in the administrator panel. The feature flag will be removed in the May release and this feature will become permanent.

 

Exemptions – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students
 

There are times that instructors need to exempt students from assessments or activities in the course. Now instructors can provide exemptions. Students can view exempted items. A student is not expected to complete an exempted task. When exempted, a student’s overall calculation will adjust for them. The overall points possible or weighting for a student with exemptions may change compared to other students.
 

Instructors may exempt any gradebook item in two ways:

• From the submission list view, select the ellipsis menu of a student and choose to add or edit the exemption.
• From the student detail view, select the ellipsis menu of the item and choose to add or edit the exemption.

When exempting an item, the item will not be:

• included in the overall grade calculation,
• marked late for students who do not make a submission, or
• assigned an automatic zero.

Students can still supply submissions for exempted items. Instructors can grade and provide feedback for these submissions.

For administrators: This feature is enabled by default behind a feature flag. Administrators will have the possibility to turn it off at the institution level.

 

Extra credit questions in assessments – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students
 

There are times when instructors allow students to overachieve on an assessment. Some instructors may allow students to earn back points lost on other assessments or activities.
 

Now instructors can assign one or more questions as extra credit in an assessment. A correct answer results in adding the extra credit question points to the points earned for the assessment. Students are not penalized for incorrect answers to an extra credit question. In other words, points are not deducted because the question is excluded from the assessment’s possible points. If a student answers extra credit questions correctly, it may be possible for the student to earn a score greater than 100% on the assessment.
 

Students can discern how many extra credit points are available on the assessment. While students are taking an assessment, they can identify questions designated as extra credit. Students can also filter the test to find extra credit questions if present.


For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.


 

Hotspot question – polygon shapes – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students
 

Instructors may want to assess a student’s knowledge of visual content. The hotspot question type is popular for this type of assessment. This question type is also good for reducing the potential of cueing or guessing.
 

Hotspot questions present an image without any answer options for students to choose. Students must mark a certain area of the image that is within the area the instructor defined as correct.
 

Building on the initial hotspot question introduced in the 3900.52.0 release, we are adding two enhancements to this question type:
 

• A new polygon shape selector can be used to draw more complex shapes.
• Improved keyboard controls. Instructors can now create and place new hotspot shapes on the image canvas directly via the keyboard.

In Original Course View, instructors can only create hotspot questions using a mouse. In the Ultra Course View, instructors can create the hotspot question using a mouse or keyboard. Students may answer hotspot questions via a mouse or keyboard.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.

 

Gradebook List View – Gradable items sorting – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors
 

Instructors may want to sort the items in the Gradable Items view of the Gradebook. Sorting provides a more efficient grading experience. For example, instructors may want to sort by grading status to quickly locate items that need grading.
 

The sorting controls provide temporary changes to the sort order for all columns in the Gradable Items view. We have also moved the grade post status to a dedicated column.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.


Student Gradebook sorting – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Students
 

Students may want to sort the information in their Gradebook. Sorting may help students locate information more efficiently. For example, sorting by due date helps students discern items that are due next.
 

Now students can use sorting controls to temporarily change the order for all columns in the Gradebook.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed.


 

Groups

Show Course Group Members – 3900.58
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students

Instructors and students need to see group memberships. In the past, there was not an obvious way for instructors and students to see the members in a group.
 

From the Course Groups page, users may expand a group set to see a list of groups. Now each group has a "Show Members" option. Group members are listed alphanumerically in a panel. Users may search for a specific group member. A future release will provide profile cards and options for messaging group members from the search results.
 

Note: Students see only the groups and members for groups where they have membership.


For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed at the administrator level.

 

Data & Analytics

 

Progress Tracking: visibility filters for the Student Progress tab – 3900.58
Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors

The Student Progress tab helps instructors track individual student progress in a course. An instructor can see completed and outstanding tasks for each student. Now instructors can change the Student Progress view to see a student’s progress against everything on the Course Content page. This view includes the items not visible to the student. This helps instructors better understand students’ progress considering all course content.
 

Viewing with the “Visible to Students” filter:
 

• This is the default filter for the Student Progress tab.
• The view displays only items visible to the student.
• The display indicates items that the student cannot yet access because they do not meet release conditions.

 

Viewing with the “All” filter:
 

• This filter is new in this release.
• The entire Course Content page is displayed.
• Items the student cannot see are indicated with a not visible icon.
• An item can be hidden from a student’s view for two reasons:
  • It is not available to students.
  • Settings indicate the item should be hidden when release conditions are not met.

For administrators: This feature is available for all Ultra courses. There are no configurations needed at the administrator level.

 

Progress Tracking: Ally alternative format views count towards progress– 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Ultra Course View
Impact: Instructors, Students
 

An accurate representation of course progress is key for both instructors and students. With this latest addition, any Ally alternative format accessed by a student will reflect in their presented course progress.

Students will:

• See the progress indicator updated to “started” as they download an alternative format using Ally.
• Be able to mark an item as complete after accessing any alternative format.

Instructors will see the progress made by each one of their students based on access to the original file or an alternative format.

For administrators: Progress Tracking is available behind a feature flag. Administrators need to enable it first.

 

Mobile App

 

User Profile Card – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Mobile App
Ultra Experience
Impact: All users
 

In the Blackboard Learn mobile app, we now provide expanded options when viewing the user profile. Users will be able to view their information to the full extent, see the profile card, and play name pronunciation.

This is applicable to SaaS environments with Base Navigation enabled. This first iteration of profile improvements does not allow editing profile data in the mobile application. In a future release we plan to add editing options when allowed.


For administrators: This feature is available for all users of the Mobile App. No action is needed from users who have enabled automatic updates on their devices. Users who have disabled automatic updates on their devices must download the update.


 

Integration, Extension, and Management

Administrator Login As Tool – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Original Experience
Impact: Administrators
 

Institutions want a way to maximize support to their end users. This needs to happen without sharing or exchanging login credentials. In the past, Blackboard Learn administrators might have used a community-created Building Block (B2)—LoginAs and Impersonate are two examples. These allowed an administrator to impersonate an end user for troubleshooting purposes. This category of third-party add-ons had the highest adoption volume in our global client base. The request to add this feature to Learn was ranked #1 in our Idea Exchange for more than 12 weeks in 2022.
 

We prioritized client feedback and are happy to share that the ability for an admin to log in as a user is now available.
 

Administrators can:

• Search and select a user to login as.
• Add in a reason for logging in as that user for institutional audit purposes.
  • This is optional. Institutions may wish to determine a policy for the use of this feature.
• Start the session as that user.

 

To login as a user:

• Search for a user in Administrator Panel > Users.
• Open the dropdown menu for the user.
• Select the “Login As” option.
• When done, logout.

For administrators: This release has certain constraints:

- “Login as” is available only for the full System Administrator (Z) role. We have plans to support permissions that can be assigned to other support roles.

- Administrators can access log data, including who logged in as whom and reasons for login, using the Learn “Sessions” public API. Documentation is at https://developer.anthology.com/portal/displayApi . We have plans to provide access to this data in the admin user interface.

 

Course Auto-Archive Retention Policy Change – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Original Experience
Impact: Administrators
 

This change is part of a series of ongoing policy and product changes for automatic course archives in Learn SaaS.
 

Background on Automatic Course Archives
 

Learn SaaS creates archives for active courses every day. This process is automatic and lets administrators retrieve data deleted by accident. To align to Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Anthology has always required a minimum 30 days of archives since we released this feature.

In the past, administrators could choose to keep archives longer than 30 days. On large environments, setting a policy longer then 30 days could prevent the automatic backup process from running properly.

Also in the past, clients had to pay for storage for all course archives. We heard from clients that it was unfair to charge storage for the archives we required for the SLA. In response to this feedback, we stopped charging for course archive storage in April 2022. For storage use, we couldn’t distinguish between older archives and the 30-day archives we require for the SLA. Since April 2022, Anthology has also covered storage costs for archives older than 30 days. However, this situation is temporary pending product improvements.

We also found clients relying on older auto-archive packages for long-term, legally required data backups of learner activity. This was not intended and is not recommended. The auto-archive process creates new archives when there is new course activity. Changes to a course will overwrite prior archives after 30 days.
 

• Example: An instructor completes a course in 2022. The course is archived automatically. In preparing for teaching that same course again in 2023, the instructor accidentally deletes the student submissions in the 2022 course. In 30 days, the new archive for the 2022 version of the course will overwrite the backup made a year earlier. The student data is gone. Therefore, we recommend storing long-term course archives in a location not associated with daily backup overwrites.

 

Changes in this release:
 

• We removed the archive retention policy configuration in Admin Panel > Course Settings > Automatic Archive Settings. Now the behavior will be consistent on all SaaS environments.
• If a course still exists in Learn, the process always removes archives older than 30 days.
• If a course no longer exists in Learn, the process will retain the final archive. This behavior will change in a future release. Administrators should move older archives to another location for long-term storage.
• If a course is deleted, the process will still create and retain an archive. This behavior will change in a future release. For now, administrators should move these archives to another location for long-term storage. Once copied elsewhere, administrators should delete these older archives.

Future plans:

We plan to continue to improve the auto-archive process. In the next phases, we will make it easier for administrators to manage archives and move them to external storage. We will also require older archives to be removed or they will count against storage use. These changes will be announced before they happen.

 

Retain third-party app icons defined in the Developer Portal – 3900.58

Blackboard Learn SaaS
Ultra Experience
Original Experience
Impact: Administrators

LTI icons help users better differentiate between third-party app content (LTI tools). In the December 2022 release (3900.54), we began displaying icons selected by the third-party app provider or configured by the administrator.

Now, when a tool provider or an administrator sets an icon in the Developer Portal, administrators cannot change it.

For administrators: Administrators may continue to configure icons for LTI tools that do not have default icons configured.

 

Highlights:

Maintenance Fixes

You can view maintenance items for 3900.58 on Behind the Blackboard.  Our Known Issue articles provide information for individual bug fixes, and may include bug descriptions and which Learn versions were affected. You can filter bug fixes by SaaS release for easier navigation. Here are highlights of issues fixed in this release: 
 

• The First Answer in Multiple Choice Questions Cannot Be Selected Using the Korean Language Pack - Article #75726
• The "Cancel" and "Save" buttons do not work Normally While editing HTML in Chrome 105 and Edge 105 Only - Article #76876
• java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: No Index Value Error Occurs when Attempting to Add Question to Test - Article #75218
• Changing Text Formatting from Bulleted List to Paragraph Doesn't Result in Spacing Between Them - Article #76662
• Course Content Tool LTI Placements in Ultra Courses Missing the Additional Tools/Align Goals Option - Article #76261
• Deleted Image Breaks Future Editing - Article #76984
• Download Only is not Enforced for Files in Ultra Courses - Article #76742
• Files with Special Characters in the Name are not Converted and Uploaded to Blackboard Annotate - Article #74927
• Grade Center Column Names Change when Downloading Grades - Article #76700
• Greek Text in Assignment Comments are Transcribed After the Student Submission - Article #75995
• Due Date and Grade Details are not Copied With Granular Course Copy from Original to Ultra courses - Article #76282
• LTI Placement Course Tools Student Checkbox Selector is Controlling the Tool for Both Instructors and Students - Article #75790
• Learn Doesn't Record Login Attempts in the Authentication Logs When Accessing a File Link From an Email Notification - Article #75987
• Overall Grade Column is Appearing with "G" in Lower Case (Overall Grade) When Grid View is Chosen on Gradebook - Article #76824
• SCORM Progress Bar not Available with Launch in Frameset - Article #76244
• Announcements are Displayed on Activity Stream and Ultra Pop-up According to Creation Date Instead of Scheduled Post Date - Article #77042
• Sorting by Role in the Original Course Roster Only Applies to the Users Listed on the Current Page - Article #76885
• Students Selected Answers Change When Attempting a Test with Randomize Answers Enabled - Article #77134
• Administrators Cannot Launch LTI Tools in Ultra Courses Without Being Enrolled - Article #76245
• The Created Archive when Converting an Original Course View to Ultra View is not Removed - Article #76901
• Total Calculation in Points Cannot be Used as a Release Condition in Ultra- Article #77019
• Assignment's Exception Due Date is not Shown Until the Release Condition Time is Met- Article #76926
• In Ultra an Unsupported "Discussion Analysis" User Interface Displays and it is Yet Inoperable- Article  #76772
• In Base Navigation a User With the System Support Role Cannot Access a Test as Student- Article  #76932
• When a Student is Allowed a Second Attempt on a one Attempt Auto-Graded Ultra Test, the Gradebook Status for the test Shows "Nothing to Grade" for the Instructor- Article  #75553
• When a User's Record Contains a Birthdate With an Invalid Year the REST API Endpoints for That User Break-  Article #76357
• Filters in the My Grades Course Tool Link Are Not Keyboard Accessible - Article #76999
• URL Contained in Group List Export Email Directs Users to the Default Learn Hostname - Article #77008
• Link in New Items in [Course Name] Notification Emails Don't Honor Last Login Domain - Article #77048