Ultra: What's new in the Ultra Experience?

Content Management

Release conditions for non-assessment activity

Instructors can now control access to content based on whether a student has opened or started a prerequisite content item. Key options for release conditions:

• Unopened: The student has not accessed the item.

• Opened or Started: The student has accessed the item.

Content Management

Learning Module Table of Contents (instructor view)

Instructors now have access to a collapsible Table of Contents panel in Learning Modules, mirroring the student experience and supporting consistent navigation across roles. Instructors can quickly move between module items and access content that isn’t yet available to students – without switching to Student Preview or changing availability settings.

Anthology Virtual Assistant (AVA)

AI Responses to Student Messages

When a student sends a message to an instructor, AVA scans the course from the student’s perspective to find a relevant answer. Instructors can review and clarify AVA’s responses if needed. AVA can respond to questions about:

• Due dates, grades, and course content that is visible to the student

• Accommodations and exceptions

• Direct links to relevant course information

• Learner progress within modules, if progress tracking is turned on 

Exceptions for using AVA:

• AVA cannot read or extract content from uploaded documents, third-party tools, or external websites.

• AVA responds only when the message is sent to the Instructor role or a role marked as “Treat Users with this Role as Instructor.”

• AVA does not respond if the message includes more than one student or other roles.

• Instructors must enable this setting in the course. It is not turned on by default.

Available until June 30, 2026

Communication & Engagement

Discussion requirements

Instructors can now make clear participation requirements to students. The initial release adds participation requirements to the existing due date(s) for discussions. Instructors can set:

• Requirements on the number of required posts (and/or)

• Replies for a student to fulfil the requirement.

Grading

Improved Audio & Video Feedback

Instructors can now use the full Video Studio workflow when giving assessment feedback or working in Flexible Grading. They can record or upload video and audio directly in the feedback editor, using features like captioning, transcription, and editing to deliver clear, personalized communication.

Assessment

Bulk change question points in Tess

Instructors can now efficiently update point values for multiple questions in tests using new bulk editing options. This enhancement supports:

• Selecting all questions at once, with the option to deselect specific questions if desired, or selecting specific questions for targeted point value adjustments.

• Selecting questions by type (e.g., all True/False questions) to apply consistent point value changes across that question type.

• Selecting questions by type AND specific questions.

NOTE: After students open the assessment or make submissions, instructors CAN make these changes:

• Edit the text of questions and answers

• Edit the point value

• New grades are recalculated for all previously submitted assessments

• Give everyone full credit for a question

• Change which answers are correct

• Change the scoring options for Multiple Choice and Matching questions

• Align questions with goals, from the assessment only

After students open the assessment, instructors CANNOT make these changes:

• Add new questions and answers

• Delete a question

• Delete answers in Matching and Multiple Choice questions

• Change the number of blanks in a Fill in the Blanks question

• Move the content, such as switch the order of questions, answers, or additional content

• Add or remove questions from a question pool or delete a pool from an assessment 

Learn more: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Ultra/Tests_Pools_Surveys/Edit_Tests_and_Questions

Communication & Engagement

Automations

Instructors can now create automations that send congratulatory or supportive messages to students based on custom rules set at the course level. Instructors define the score thresholds and write the messages. These automations help instructors deliver timely, personalized feedback throughout the course, boosting student engagement and saving time.

N/A

Communication & Engagement

Customize Achievement badges

Instructors now have three new options for customizing Achievement badge: AI-generated images, choose from a selection of stock images from Unsplash, and manual image uploads. Students will see the badges selected or created by their instructors, enhancing personalization and recognition.

N/A

Assessment

Tag questions with metadata

When creating or editing a question, instructors can turn on Question metadata, then create or apply a tag to the question. Created tags become available in the Enter question tags search results, allowing instructors to apply that tag to other questions without needing to create them again. 

Metadata is visible during question creation or editing and can be used to filter questions when reusing or adding to pools. Question metadata for tests and pools is preserved when copied from Original.

Metadata is not visible to students.

Learn more: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Ultra/Tests_Pools_Surveys/ULTRA_Reuse_Questions/ULTRA_Question_Banks#

Assessment

Consistent Save & Cancel Settings

To improve usability and consistency, Blackboard standardized the Save and Cancel actions across several assessment settings pages.

• Timer settings: Removed the X icon and added Save and Cancel buttons.

• Access code settings: Replaced Close and Continue with Cancel and Save.

• Learning Outcome Measurements: Removed the X icon and added Save and Cancel buttons.

N/A

Content Creation

Style blocks

Instructors can select styling options for Document blocks to create more engaging content. These style options are available from a dropdown menu that appears in Edit mode and feature both color and icons for

• Question

• Tip

• Key points

• Next steps

N/A

Assessments

Add & manage question titles

Instructors can now add, view, edit, and delete optional question titles when working on questions in tests, forms, and banks. Titles appear when:

• Creating or editing questions in tests, forms and banks

• Viewing or selecting questions via the Reuse questions workflow in tests, forms and banks

• Adding questions to pools (Add Question Pool workflow)

• Viewing questions in a pool (View Questions workflow)

Titles do not appear when the instructor views or grades the test and form submissions. Students do not see the question titles when they take a test or review their submission.

Assessments

Export question banks in QTI v2.1 format

Instructors can now export question banks in the QTI v2.1 format.

Anthology Virtual Assistant (AVA)

AI Feedback Summaries from Rubric

Instructors can generate overall feedback for student submissions based on the rubric criteria, the selected performance levels and their descriptions, and any criterion feedback provided. Instructors can accept, reject, or regenerate the summary.

• Accepting the summary then allows the instructor to directly edit and further refine the summary.

• Rejecting reverts the summary to the original.

• Regenerating the summary prompts a newly written summary.

Available until June 30, 2026

Anthology Virtual Assistant (AVA)

AI Feedback Revision

When an instructor is providing overall feedback on submissions in Flexible Grading, the Rewrite option using AI becomes available when the instructor adds at least 30 characters. Instructors can accept, reject, or regenerate the suggestion.

• Accepting the suggestion allows instructors to continue editing the revised feedback directly in the rich text editor.

• Rejecting or canceling the suggestion restores the original input.

Instructors can use the Rewrite option multiple times on the same feedback to refine their message further.

Communication & Engagement

Record video announcements

Instructors can record or upload video and audio to the course announcements (up to 5 minutes) with automatic captions and transcripts to ensure accessibility.

NA

Course Management

Learning module table of contents (students)

A collapsible Table of Contents is available in the Learning Module for students to improves navigation, orientation, and progress tracking. Assessments will now open in a full panel instead of a smaller panel. Students can check off completion as they work through content, navigating either the table of contents or previous/next buttons.

Learn more: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student/Ultra/Content/Learning_Modules

Content Creation & Accessibility

Image Captions

Captions provide context and support understanding, helping students engage more deeply with visual content. 

Instructors can now add captions above or below image blocks in Documents. This does not apply to images uploaded as files.

N/A

Content Creation & Accessibility

Render math with MathJax

MathJax offers a more precise rendering style preferred by many STEM instructors. When activated, MathJax will automatically render LaTeX code entered directly in the Content Editor across supported areas of Blackboard. Wiris is still available as the default to render formulas for the Content Editor. If MathJax is not activated, Wiris will render formulas. 

MathJax feature only supports $$..$$ delimiters at this time. MathJax rendering does not apply to the Math Editor (which is opened by selecting the plus button, then the Insert Math option in the Content Editor). Formulas created in the Math Editor continue to be rendered by Wiris.

Visit Blackboard Help: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Ultra/Course_Content/Create_Content/Create_Course_Materials/Math_Editor

Communication & Engagement

Review student engagement with announcements

Instructors can now verify which students have marked an announcement as viewed. By selecting the viewer count on the main Announcements page, instructors can open a list showing who has and hasn’t acknowledged the message. From this list, instructors can send a message to follow up with students who haven’t viewed the announcement or confirm that key information was received.

N/A

Assessments

QTI import to question banks

Instructors can import QTI v2.1 formatted questions into banks efficiently, maintaining compatibility with industry standards. Questions that are supported include:

• True/False

• Multiple Choice

• Multiple Answer

• Fill-in-the-blank

• Essay

During the import process, users will receive notifications indicating the upload progress, success, or failure. If any individual questions cannot be converted due to unsupported types or behaviors, the system will provide clear feedback, ensuring instructors are informed of limitations.

Visit Blackboard Help

Gradebook

No Category

Instructors can now remove a graded item from a category when it's not needed, without automatically assigning it to another category. The No Category option appears in the Grade Category dropdown menu for all items, making it easy to keep grading structures clean and organized.

Visit Blackboard Help: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Ultra/Grade/Grading_Tasks/Grade_Categories

System Management

Updated Activity Page for Instructors

• Course Section: The updated Activity page now includes a course section that outlines new activity in current, open courses since an instructor last logged into Blackboard.

  • Shortcuts: New shortcuts have been added to enhance instructor efficiency.

    • Go to items that need grading

    • Find courses with new messages

    • Access the Course Activity report directly to review students with alerts

• Announcements: Read important institutional announcements. 

Visit Blackboard Help: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Ultra/Getting_Started/Navigate_Outside_a_Course/Activity_Stream

Assessments

Jumbled Sentence Question Type

Instructors can now create jumbled sentence questions for online exams. This question type also supports distractors to challenge students. Variables can include letters, digits, periods, underscores, and hyphens. Instructors can also use AI to generate jumbled sentence questions. Answer options are displayed in a random order, ensuring fairness in the assessment experience.

Visit Blackboard Help: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Ultra/Tests_Pools_Surveys/Question_Types/Jumbled_Sentence_Questions

Grading & the Gradebook

Bulk Category Changes

Instructors can select one or more gradebook columns on the Item Management page and assign them to an existing category.

This feature allows instructors to efficiently organize and manage gradebook items. Changing the category of a gradebook item updates the category label for display purposes without altering the item itself. The process follows the familiar Bulk Edit interface pattern, where instructors can select items, select Change Category, and use the modal to view and select available categories.

NA

Reporting

New Filters for Student Activity Log

Content Access Filter: The Student Activity Log now includes a filter for content access, recording information not available elsewhere, such as third-party tools, which allows instructors to easily review students' access without needing to download and manually filter CSV files.

Enhanced LTI Access Filter: The LTI access filter now includes all types of LTI items, including LTI placeholders, which provides instructors with more detailed insights into how students interact with LTI elements in their courses.

View Blackboard Help: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Ultra/Performance/Student_Activity_Log

Content Creation & Management

Resizable Dividers for Ultra Docs

A new divider block is available in Ultra Docs to improve the readability and structure of educational materials. Dividers can be resized across up to four columns, providing flexible options. 

NA

Content Creation & Management

Updated knowledge checks

Blackboard made several adjustments to the appearance and responsive behavior of Knowledge Checks to enhance the visual effects and usability for both instructors and students. 

NA

Communication & Engagement

Unread discussion post indicator

The Discussions page now shows the number of unread discussion posts from anywhere in a course. This addition encourages student engagement and makes it easier for instructors to track student activity. 

NA

Grading & the Gradebook

No Points Rubrics

Instructors can now create and use no-points rubrics for qualitative evaluation. This rubric type allows instructors to assess student work based on criteria and feedback, rather than numerical values. In addition, the AI generation option now supports no-points rubrics, providing a streamlined method to create detailed evaluation criteria.

Visit Blackboard Help: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Ultra/Grade/Rubrics

Grading & the Gradebook

Text-Based Columns

Instructors can now create text-based columns in the Gradebook. These columns allow instructors to record up to 32 characters. The column is not restricted to text input. Instructors can control student visibility and add a description. Text columns can be sorted while in Grid view, and will be downloadable.

Text-based columns exclude points values (automatically set to 0 points); due dates; categories; and gradebook calculatioins.

Visit Blackboar Help: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Ultra/Grade/Navigate_Grading

Communication & Engagement

Auto-generate AI Conversations

The AI Conversation tool can generate three suggestions at once including:

• AI Conversation title

• AI persona

• Reflection question 

Instructors can refind the AI Conversation by providing additional context, adjusting the complexity of the question, selecting context from the course, and/or manually revising the question.

Visit Blackboard Help:

Discussions (for instructors), Discussions (for students) 

Communication & Enagement

Discussion Enhancements