Blackboard Learn Ultra Base Navigation

Blackboard has introduced a new Base Navigation called Ultra Base Navigation (UBN) and a new Course View called Ultra View*.

The new navigator UBN will be:

• Mobile Friendly
• Intuitive Navigation
• Quick Access to important information and links
• * The Course Ultra View detail will be explained a later stage.

Ultra Experience

Ultra experience includes the below 3 options:

• Ultra Base Navigation
• Original Course View

• Ultra Course View
  

What is LAU Using?

• Ultra Base Navigation
• Original Course View*

* All your Blackboard courses will stay on the Original Course View, on the same layout and format as you have built them.

Ultra Base Navigation

• Modern, intuitive user experience
• Designed to improve user efficiency
• Minimizes clicks
• Aggregates important info such as calendar, messages and grades/grading –now consolidated into one global view

• Works well on mobile devices
  

The First Time Logon Using UBN

• Scroll through introductory pages

• Click get started
  

Activity Stream (Default Landing Page)

This is the default page when you logon to blackboard on UBN

• Up-to-the-minute action on most important info for all courses
• Grouped into 4 categories: (Important, Upcoming, Today and Recent)
• Students always see reminders about overdue work in the important section
• Activity stream video

• Activity stream help
  

Important (Activity Stream)

Students

• Overdue Assignments, Tests, Graded discussions, other Graded Items
• Messages From Instructors 

Instructors

• Course messages from co-instructors and teaching assistants (messages from students will be in today or recent)
• Number of items in important is shown by “activity stream” in left navigation
• When dismissed from activity stream – will not be available again here. But the original content will be unaffected in its original location. You just remove the notification from the activity stream

Upcoming (Activity Stream)

• Top 5 events for next 7 days
• Does not appear if nothing matches this criteria
• Click “show more” for complete list

Today (Activity Stream)

• Everything happening and due in the next 24 hours
• Includes institution level announcements
• If you added course level announcements, they’ll be here for students (or in recent)

Recent (Activity Stream)

• Applicable when you haven’t checked in for awhile
• View stream items that were previously in the today section over the last seven days
• Students always see reminders about overdue work in the important section rather than recent  

Course Events that Trigger Notifications in STUDENT’s Activity Stream:

• New courses available
• Your instructors added content to your courses, such as assignments and tests
• You added a new blog, journal entry, or wiki page
• Your instructors posted grades for your work
• Your instructors added events to your courses
• You received a course message or reply
• Items that are due today
• Items that are due soon
• Items that are past due
• Events that are happening today
• Events that are happening soon

Course Events that Trigger Notifications in INSTRUCTOR’s Activity Stream:

• Content you added to your courses, such as assignments and tests
• New blogs, journal entries, or wiki pages students added
• Student-submitted items that are ready for grading
• Course messages or replies you received
• Alerts for students falling behind
• New courses available
• Events you added to your course
• Announcements you added
• Events that are happening today
• Events that are happening soon

Activity Stream

Notifications on the Activity Stream can be filtered or change their settings

Filters

• Show all
• Assignments and tests
• Grades and feedback
• Messages

Settings

• Stream notifications (affects what is fed to activity stream)

• Email notifications
  

Activity Stream Icons

Profile

• Select your name in the list to edit your online persona
• You may be able to edit some information with a pencil icon upon hovering
• Includes: 

1. Profile photo
2. Gender
3. Prefix
4. Privacy settings
5. Other editable information
6. Some important information may be non-editable to be changed
7. Profile Video

8. Profile Help
   

Profile Photo

• We encourage you to upload a photo of yourself so it shows in the activity stream and other applicable locations in your courses
• If students upload a photo, you will see it not only in activity stream, but also in tools such as grade center and attendance

• If you encourage students to upload a photo, you may want to offer the option to use an avatar as an alternative

Courses

• You have the option to see your courses as images
  

• You have the option to see your courses as list
  

• Ultra Course Page Help
• Navigate to past, present, and future courses.
• Defaults to:

1. List of “current courses” in which you’re enrolled
2. Organized by semester (plus assorted dates at the bottom)

• Arrows at top to move between courses

• Favorite courses (starred), appear at top of applicable filtered lists
  

• Make course private: students will see it on course list, but won’t be able to access.

• Hide Course: hide the course from your course list
  

• Can filter and search to help locate desired course
  

Calendar

• View course events and due dates for all your courses.
• Color-coded by course ( course name shows in the event details)
• Add personal events (which only you would see)
• Day & month views
• Due dates view vs. Schedule view
• Due dates based on due dates within assignments, tests, grade center columns, etc.
• View course events and due dates for all your courses.
• Plus icon:

1. Add event – can apply to all, personal, or any course calendar(s)
2. Edit course schedule – can add multiple course schedule items to the same course (such as one for the time/days for the lecture meetings and another for the labs)
3. Add office hours – can apply to all, personal, or any course calendar(s)

• Edit event - select the title of an event you added to change its details.
• Drag & drop events in month view
• Settings (gear icon) – to select which course’s calendar details you wish to display in the global calendar

• Calendar Help
  

Messages

• Course messages are private and secure text-based communication that occurs within your course among course members
• Shows how many total messages you have in each course
• The most recent messages for each course appear first
• Messages also appear in Activity Stream
• Use plus icon to quickly send messages to all students about important deadlines and schedule changes
• Messages activity remains inside the system
• Use the arrows to navigate to another time period. (For example, view messages from past courses that you want to reuse.)

• Message Help
  

Grades - Students

• See a list of recent grades and overall grade for each course
• Select any item in any course to view details

• Can also see newly posted grades in activity stream
  

Grades - Instructors

• Displays only info on which you need to take action, globally for all your courses
• See items that are ready to grade or which assignments, tests, and graded discussions are overdue for how many students
• See the average course grade
• Original course view – most links go to grade center in the course
• View all coursework – expands to list all columns from grade center in the course card

• Grade Help
  

Blackboard Ultra Base Navigation Resources

• Help icon (lower right corner on bb ultra nav pages)

• Bb learn help for ultra base navigation: Https://help.Blackboard.Com/learn/administrator/saas/user_interface_options/ultra_experience/base_navigation