Note

All software purchases are required to be reviewed by the software review committee prior to purchase regardless of the dollar value for the software.

A wide range of technologies and resources are available to faculty at UMBC to support teaching and learning in various online or hybrid modes in synchronization with Blackboard. Trends and tools evolve quickly, and DoIT recognizes faculty interest in exploring or using these newer technologies.

Departments and faculty may request the installation of Blackboard integrations for new third-party technologies, products, and services to support teaching and learning. New instructional technologies must be evaluated by DoIT staff, Procurement, and the software review committee before they can be adopted, especially if they must be integrated with Blackboard through Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI).

Before submitting your RT to request a new tool integration, please review the steps and resources below.

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Third-Party Tools in Blackboard

NOTE: Review Requirements & Anticipated Timeframe

All software purchases are required to be reviewed by the software review committee prior to purchase regardless of the dollar value for the software. Please see Procurement for more information.

Please allow adequate time for your request to be evaluated and implemented. A full semester is preferred for implementation to ensure the tool or resource is ready and functional. A new tool cannot be installed 2 weeks before a semester starts or in the middle of a semester.

In addition to ensuring the tool will function as designed within Blackboard, DoIT staff require additional time to evaluate the authentication process with myUMBC, validate the security and privacy of student information and grades passing between Blackboard and the third-party tool, to secure training for instructional technology staff, and to prepare appropriate documentation for the users.

Requests may be closed for the following reasons:

Identified issues related to tool functionality, security, privacy, or accessibility
The institution already supports a tool with similar functionality
Lack of funding for the tool
Requestor withdraws tool integration request
Other issues impacting tool integration

STEP 1: Review Current Tool Integrations

Review the list of current integrations to ensure we have not already adopted the tool or have an existing approved tool that may also meet your needs.

STEP 2: Submit Your Initial Request to Instructional Technology

Please open an RT ticket with Instructional Technology, add "New Tool Integration Request" in the subject line, and provide the following information:

Name of the tool or service
Version number (if available)
Vendor and website URL
Sales rep contact information (name, email, website)
Cost, if known, and responsible party for payment (Department, Division, etc.)
Target semester or date the tool is needed
Date(s) available for testing
Purpose of the tool or service, and how the tool will enhance your teaching
Courses(s) and instructors who will use this tool or service
Approximate number of students in the course(s)
Whether the requested tool is connected with a course materials request through the UMBC Bookstore
References for other institutions that use this tool or service (preferably within the University System of Maryland)

STEP 3: Gather Information

After Instructional Technology receives your initial request, we will coordinate with you and the vendor to gather information about the requested tool/integration.

DoIT staff should be involved during your demo and evaluation process so we can ask vendors questions about any possible Blackboard integration. Our staff will also be able to evaluate the tool and provide you with an honest assessment of its functionality for your expected use case.

During the evaluation and implementation process, the instructor who requested the tool or resource will be designated as the point of contact with Instructional Technology staff and will be asked to:

Assist with testing the tool or resource
Communicate with instructional technology staff and the vendor as needed
Notify students about using the tool or resource
Provide feedback on workflow and documentation

Common General Questions for Vendor

How do students register for this tool? Are they required to...

Purchase a license?
Create an account separate from Blackboard?

How long do students have access to the platform after class ends?
What happens if a student switches sections or drops the course?
Who do we contact if your platform doesn’t work or stops working?
How do students obtain after-hours support for your platform?
What training and support do you provide faculty and instructional technology staff?
How does your platform support accessibility
What is the cost for UMBC?
What other institutions use your platform?

Common Technical Questions for Vendor

How is your integration developed?
Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) compliant with IMS Standards NOTE: If the tool is not LTI 1.3 / LTI Advantage compliant, we cannot install it
What information does your integration send from Blackboard to your tool? (e.g., first/last name, email, username, role, courseID)
How do faculty add your integration to their course sites? (e.g., tool link or content links)
Does your integration support deep linking to content, activities, assessments, etc.?
Does your technical integration team provide custom LTI links to faculty each semester to place into the course shell?
Does your integration support passing of grades back to the LMS grade book?
How often does this data exchange happen? (e.g., daily vs. manual)
Does your integration support master course templates, course copy, and parent-child course enrollments?
Does your integration work with Blackboard’s SaaS environment?
Does your integration support the Blackboard's Ultra Experience? If not, what is your roadmap? NOTE: This includes both the new Ultra dashboard interface and course view (as appropriate for the tool)
Where is your integration hosted?
Does your integration support single-sign-on (e.g., Shibboleth)?
What analytics does your integration provide institutions?

STEP 4: Campus Coordination & Review

This next step requires additional campus coordination and review of the integration.

You should also plan to involve the Office of Student Disability Services to ensure the integration complies with accessibility requirements.
If students are expected to purchase the integration as part of a textbook bundle or in lieu of a textbook as a digital resource, please contact the UMBC Bookstore to ensure the ISBN is listed and/or to see if your integration may benefit from the Course Materials Initiative.

STEP 5: Procurement Review

Third-party integrations for Blackboard are typically hosted solutions, some involving an institutional contract and/or licensing fee. You must follow all procurement and legal requirements. DoIT works closely with procurement and legal services to review all cloud service applications to ensure they meet applicable requirements and regulations, such as FERPA. If you have questions, please contact Procurement.

STEP 6: Testing & Implementation

Instructional Technology will coordinate with the vendor to support tool testing and implementation. The vendor should expect to offer a certain level of support to faculty/students and to DoIT system admins throughout testing and implementation. In addition, the vendor should offer support in the event the integration suffers a failure. Time estimates for implementation are influenced by vendor and instructor response times. We will do our best to meet a requested deadline, but lack of feedback, support, and unforeseen issues can impact the implementation timeline.

Removing Tool Integrations

There are circumstances when we will disable or uninstall a tool. We will make every effort to notify the campus community if this must happen.

If the tool no longer works with the latest version of Blackboard.
If we determine that the tool negatively impacts critical components of the system it is intended to otherwise support.
If Blackboard advises us that a tool is causing compatibility issues within the cloud infrastructure.
If the tool is no longer supported or the institution migrates to another tool with similar functionality and features.