Blackboard Learn AI Course Design Assistant

As the landscape of education continues to evolve, the integration of cutting-edge technology into the classroom has become more vital than ever. The advent of generative AI tools is poised to revolutionize the field of higher education, transforming the virtual classroom into a dynamic and responsive environment. The potential for positive impact on productivity and efficiency for faculty is significant, opening new doors for innovation in teaching and learning as well as course development.

Developed to assist faculty in streamlining course preparation, the AI Course Design Assistant tools include:

A course-builder assistant. Create sample learning modules, titles, and descriptions.
Image suggestion and creation. The assistant can draw from the Unsplash stock image library and suggest thumbnails for illustration in learning modules or identify an image for the course banner. Functionality also includes AI-generated image creation based on course name and keywords.
Content-based test generation. AI-powered algorithms analyze an Ultra document's content or inputted learning objectives and quickly generate a diverse set of questions for a test or question bank.
Rubric creation. Drawing on an assessment or discussion prompt’s content, the AI can analyze and streamline the rubric creation process according to specific learning objectives and assessment criteria.

Informed by Anthology’s Trustworthy AI Approach and seamlessly embedded into Ultra’s workflows, the AI Course Design Assistant tools are opt-in and the instructor is always in control of the content generated. Faculty can choose when, where, and how to leverage the tools in their Ultra courses.

AI Course Design Assistant Features

Review the following Blackboard resources for examples of AI Course Design Assistant Features:

Course structure suggestions ↗︎
Rubric generation ↗︎
Test question generation ↗︎
Question Bank generation from Ultra Documents ↗︎

Learn more about the AI Course Design Assistant functionalities, key facts, intended use cases, trustworthy AI, reliability, accuracy, fairness, privacy and security, safety, intellectual property, and more. ↗︎

Need Help?

Webinar Recording

Aug 23 - AI Course Design Tools for Ultra Courses - Panopto Recording [myUMBC login req'd]

How does the AI use course & personal data?

Only limited course information is provided to Microsoft for the Azure OpenAI Service.

Generally the prompts do not include personal information except in cases when included in course titles, descriptions and similar course information
Any information the instructors chooses to include in the prompt will be accessible

All course data used for the input and all output generated by the AI tools is stored in our existing Blackboard database.

Exceptions:

Prompts and output are reviewed by Microsoft for content filtering to prevent abuse and harmful content generation, and stored for up to 30 days.
Anthology uses the information collected in connection with the AI tools to provide, maintain and support the AI tools and where they have the contractual permission to do so in accordance with applicable law.