Blackboard Learn will receive an important update to include exciting new features and improvements to existing functionality, accessibility and responsiveness. 

The update will begin at 11 p.m. Friday, May 25. Blackboard will be unavailable for up to 24 hours during the upgrade. See the IT Status Monitor for more information about planned outages. 

Improved Accessibility

The update expands the accessibility of Blackboard Learn and focuses on a new, more mobile-friendly design.  The update includes improved structure and definition of the page layout, specifically designed to assist users with screen readers in navigating elements of the page.

New Learning Tools 

Faculty, staff and students will have access to two new tools within Blackboard Learn. Instructors can add Collaborate Ultra sessions to Groups, allowing access to features like whiteboarding, recording, and content sharing. 

Students and instructors using the math editor will have access to new, chemistry-specific tools. 

Grade Display and Cleanup

My Grades and other gradebook columns will support up to five decimal points without rounding. The grade will be consistent across all display types including score, percentage and letter grade. 

Instructors will be able to clean up their grade books more efficiently with multiple-column deletion. Selected columns will be removed completely and cannot be recovered. 

Rubric Auto-save

When grading with rubrics, selected levels of performance and feedback will be automatically saved to the attempt as a draft when the rubric is saved. 

Blackboard Support

The Blackboard support team on campus offers open lab hours to assist faculty with setting up their Blackboard courses. Don't wait to start making great courses! Assistance is available in the Gibson Annex from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.  Can't make it to Gibson Annex? Support can come to you, email tips@uark.edu to schedule an office visit. 

If you have any questions or problems following the upgrade, contact the IT Help Desk by calling 479-575-2905 or visiting help.uark.edu.