What's New in Ultra: TILT'Ed

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.

In this episode of What’s New in Ultra: TILT’Ed, Thomas and Dani celebrate a major milestone with the Blackboard Ultra 4000.1 release. This update focuses on practical, time-saving improvements that make teaching and grading more efficient. Highlights include the long-awaited ability to bulk edit question points in tests, simplified gradebook navigation with consistent “View Submissions” options, the option to include hidden items when downloading the gradebook, and new automated student messaging that helps instructors encourage or support students without extra effort. Each feature addresses real challenges instructors face daily, making Ultra even more intuitive and impactful for teaching and learning.

In this month’s episode of What’s New in Ultra: TILT’Ed, Thomas and Dani dive into the October Blackboard Ultra release (3902.1), packed with thoughtful refinements that make teaching smoother and communication clearer. From the sleek new Course Messages redesign—with chat bubbles and avatars—to consistent Save and Cancel buttons, smarter question tagging, and improved fill-in-the-blank formatting, this update is all about polish and usability. Tune in to hear how these updates enhance both instructor workflow and the student experience.

The September 2025 Blackboard Ultra release (3900.125) is one of the most significant updates yet, with improvements spanning instructional design, grading, assessments, communication, and accessibility. In this episode, Thomas Mathews Horne and Danielle Reilley break down the highlights, including:

New block styling options for Documents

AI-powered feedback features (Summarize & Rewrite)

Question management updates and QTI v2.1 export

Enhancements for group work and rubrics

Accessibility and gradebook improvements

Most features are live now in Ultra courses, with AI tools available at no cost until June 2026. Tune in to learn how these updates can streamline your teaching and improve the student experience.

In this episode of What’s New in Ultra: TILT’Ed, Thomas and Dani break down the August 2025 Blackboard Ultra release (3900.123), featuring new document styling options, Video Studio in Announcements, improved Learning Module navigation, accessibility upgrades with semantic HTML tables, and streamlined course management tools like enhanced LTI handling and group conversions—all designed to make teaching and learning more engaging, accessible, and efficient.

In this jam-packed episode of What’s New in Ultra: TILT’Ed, Thomas and Dani break down the feature-rich 3900.121 release in Blackboard Ultra. From time-saving grading enhancements and QTI question imports to long-awaited upgrades like image captions, MathJax support, and retroactive achievements, this release is all about improving workflow and teaching flexibility. Whether you're deep into course design or just trying to keep up with the latest tools, this episode highlights what matters most for instructors.

In this episode, Dani and Thomas walk through the latest Blackboard Ultra updates from the 3900.118 release. From new jumbled sentence question types (including AI-generated ones!) to improved discussion tracking and streamlined Knowledge Checks, this month’s enhancements are all about smarter assessments, clearer communication, and better mobile usability. Tune in for practical tips and quick takeaways to help you make the most of these new features.

In this inaugural May episode of What’s New in Ultra: TILT'Ed, Thomas Mathews Horne and Danielle Reilley from the TILT team at Fort Hays State University dive into the latest Blackboard Ultra release (3900.116). Discover how the new AI Design Assistant feature streamlines interactive learning, explore the long-awaited option for qualitative rubrics without points, learn about the new “view submission one time” test setting for secure assessments, and get the scoop on enhanced Learning Object Repository search functionality. Whether you're faculty or support staff, this episode breaks down what’s new and how it can improve your course design workflow.