This month on What's New in Ultra – TILT'Ed, Thomas and Dani celebrate the podcast's first anniversary while exploring the July 2026 Blackboard Ultra release. They discuss new description fields for discussions and journals, flexible time limits for AI Conversations, Favorites in the Course Switcher, and the long-awaited Rubric Evaluation Report that brings powerful assessment analytics to Ultra.

They also share an important reminder for all FHSU faculty: with Blackboard Original content becoming read-only at the end of the year, now is the perfect time to schedule your transition to Ultra. Tune in for practical tips, workflow improvements, and everything you need to know to prepare your courses for the upcoming semester.

In this episode of What's New in Ultra: TILT'Ed, we explore the June 2026 Blackboard Ultra release, featuring updates that enhance flexibility, communication, and feedback workflows. Learn about locked answer positions for randomized assessments, improved rubric grading workflows, student-level announcement tracking, enhanced feedback reminder automations, and answer-level feedback for multiple-choice questions. Plus, discover how these refinements can help you create more meaningful assessments, provide richer feedback, and streamline everyday teaching tasks.

In this episode of What's New in Ultra: TILT'Ed, we explore the May 2026 Blackboard Ultra release, focused on streamlining everyday workflows and improving the user experience. Learn about the redesigned Groups Management interface, enhanced discussion due date visibility, inherited release condition transparency, group grading workflow improvements, document accessibility updates, and the new course switcher search feature. Plus, discover how these updates can save time, reduce confusion, and support more efficient and inclusive teaching.

In this episode of What’s New in Ultra: TILT’Ed, Dani and Thomas break down the April 2026 Blackboard Ultra updates, highlighting improvements designed to simplify workflows and enhance usability. From clearer discussion due date visibility and AI conversation message limits to streamlined assignment submission options and more flexible group grading, this release focuses on real instructor and student needs. They also explore accessibility-focused updates like video playback controls, improved discussion analysis labeling, and better announcement email previews. Tune in to see how these thoughtful enhancements can improve your course design and teaching experience.

In Part 2 of this special accessibility series of What’s New in Ultra: TILT’Ed, we focus on practical steps faculty can take to improve course accessibility before the upcoming course-copy cycle. This episode explores how to use Blackboard Ally to review your Course Accessibility Report, prioritize fixes, and address common issues such as missing alt text, inaccessible documents, and video captions. We also discuss realistic strategies for remediation and highlight resources and workshops available through TILT to support faculty as they work toward WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance.

In this special edition of What’s New in Ultra: TILT’Ed, we begin a two-part conversation about digital accessibility and the upcoming April 24, 2026 compliance deadline. In Part 1, we discuss what the WCAG 2.1 Level AA standard is, why the difference between accessibility and accommodations matters, and what the new Department of Justice regulations under Title II of the ADA mean for course content delivered online. This episode focuses on understanding the expectations, the legal context, and how FHSU is approaching accessibility in a strategic and manageable way. Part 2 will explore how to use Blackboard Ally to review course accessibility and prioritize improvements.

In this episode of What’s New in Ultra: TILT’Ed, we highlight the March 2026 Blackboard Ultra release (version 4000.10). Learn about improved Course Message threading, larger SafeAssign file uploads, flexible discussion participation requirements, and updates to assessment tools like partial credit and anonymous grading. We also explore new AI-generated Knowledge Checks that help embed comprehension checks directly into course documents.

In this episode, we break down the February 2026 Blackboard Ultra release (version 4000.8), featuring two thoughtful updates designed to reduce friction for instructors. We explore smarter automations that can automatically remind students to review unread feedback—helping close the feedback loop without extra manual follow-up—and new Document layout enhancements that allow blocks to be stacked vertically for cleaner, more flexible, and mobile-friendly course content. We also share updates on the launch of the new TigerLearn.FHSU.edu resource hub and where to find continued support, ideas, and community inspiration. Whether you’re focused on efficiency, design, or student engagement, this release brings practical improvements you can use right away.

In this episode, Dani Reilley and Thomas Mathews Horne kick off 2026 with a deep dive into Blackboard Ultra’s 4000.6 release, featuring a completely refreshed user interface. Learn how the new full-screen course experience, redesigned navigation, and improved accessibility aim to reduce friction and make everyday workflows more intuitive for instructors, students, and administrators. The episode also covers document layout improvements, enhanced test and assignment options, gradebook refinements, and new automation activity logs. Tune in for a practical overview of how these updates focus on polish, usability, and a smoother teaching and learning experience in Ultra.

In this month’s episode, Thomas and Dani walk through Blackboard Ultra’s December 2025 release—version 4000.4—which brings clearer workflows, more instructor control, and thoughtful quality-of-life updates. Highlights include setting release conditions on any content item, adjusting group memberships mid-project, seeing accurate submission counts in the Gradebook, enjoying a consistent tabbed grading interface, setting participation requirements for discussions, managing AI originality reports, improved audio/video feedback playback, an instructor view of the Learning Module table of contents, and enhanced MathJax support. Thomas and Dani agree: this release focuses on flexibility, consistency, and helping instructors guide students through courses more smoothly than ever.