The UB Learns support team is committed to providing the most up-to-date educational resources that help instructors deliver innovative and engaging online content to their students.
Throughout 2020, UB Learns administrators will be implementing a series of updates that will improve the quality of the service and prepare it for Blackboard's more modern, intuitive interface called Ultra Experience.
Respondus Monitor, available in Respondus LockDown Browser, uses video analytics and a student’s webcam to deter cheating during non-proctored exams.
Blackboard has released a new course role to assist with the organization and administration of course tasks. Facilitator role privileges are similar to existing Instructor and Teaching Assistant roles.
Moving UB Learns to a cloud-delivery environment (also known as Software as a Service or SaaS) provides the foundation for future upgrades to UB Learns, including Blackboard's Ultra Experience. Instructors and students will still use UB Learns exactly the way they did during the fall 2019 semester.
Instructors can mark students present, late, absent or excused in the new Attendance tool page. The attendance records for each student appear in a single column next to other grades.
Instructors can copy files from their favorite cloud storage solutions when authoring Content Items or creating Assignments; students can submit assignments from their favorite cloud storage solutions.
Supported cloud storage platforms include OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, Google Drive (including G suite accounts), Dropbox and Box (UBbox).
Students now have greater flexibility to take their tests on the go on their mobile devices with question types that are better optimized for display on smaller devices. The Learning Modules tool has been optimized for mobile devices when using the Learn 2016 theme.
Regardless of configuration, the table of contents will always be pinned to the bottom of the page and can be expanded or collapsed. Settings such as forced sequence and allowing students to navigate using the table of contents are honored.
Instructor and graders can embed audio and video recordings with learner feedback allowing students to watch or listen to feedback alongside any included text.
