Curriculum and Instructional Support Center: Blackboard Updates

Enhancements to Discussions

• Updated wording: We used to call discussion contributions "responses" and "replies." We changed this to "posts" and "replies." 

• Improved input field text: Previously, the text within the input field was "Type a response." The text within the input field is now "Post a response to the discussion." 

• Avatar update: We previously included the user's avatar beside the input field. We removed the avatar to increase the area for adding content to the discussion.  

• Streamlined response entry: The text field for entering a response is now directly below the discussion topic for a more intuitive experience. 

• Instructor indicator: When an instructor posts in a discussion thread, an indicator beside their name now identifies them as an instructor.  

• Aligned draft indicator: The Draft indicator is now aligned with the user's name, enhancing clarity. 

• Enhanced search field: The search field for participant names now includes a magnifying glass icon for better visibility.  

• Simplified group discussions: The large banner beneath group discussion posts has been removed. Users can now directly select their group without distraction.  

“View submission one time” test results setting

Watch the View Submission One Time video (4 minutes) to see this in action.

To access this setting option, select Available after submission in the Assessment results section of the Assessment Settings, then select View submission one time from the Customize when the submission content is "visible to students" dropdown. This dropdown is available only if Allow students to view their submission is selected. 

Students benefit from immediate feedback on their test performance in a secure and limited timeframe. Restricting access after the review session balances the need for meaningful insights with the importance of maintaining academic integrity. 

No Points Rubric Option

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. 

Instructors can select No Points as a rubric type when creating or generating a rubric. This option is available alongside existing percentage and points-based rubrics. Instructors can also edit rubrics to switch between different rubric types, including percentage, points range, and no points. 

Custom Text-Based Gradebook Column

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: 

• Create text-based columns via the Add workflow in both the grid view and Gradable Items page; 

• Name the column, control student visibility, and add a description; 

• Add and edit text information for a specific student using an inline edit workflow. 

Text-based columns exclude the following: 

• Points values (automatically set to 0 points) 

• Due dates 

• Categories 

• Gradebook calculations and related calculation UIs 

Content in text-based columns auto-posts and supports sorting functionality within the Gradebook grid view. Instructors can also download and upload text-based columns using the Gradebook's upload/download function. 

Students can access text-based columns and associated information in their Gradebook when the column is set to Visible to students. 

AI Design Assistant: Auto-generate AI Conversations

The AI Design Assistant can now auto-generate AI Conversations. AI Conversations are conversations between students and an AI persona.  

• Socratic Questioning: Conversations that encourage students to think critically through continuous questioning. 

• Role-play: Conversations that allow students to play out scenarios with the AI persona, enhancing their learning experience. 

To streamline creating personas and topics, the AI Design Assistant can generate three suggestions at once. You can select what the AI Design Assistant generates. You can choose to generate:  

• AI Conversation title 

• AI persona 

• Reflection question  

These suggestions provide inspiration for an AI Conversation. Instructors can refine the AI Design Assistant’s suggestions in several ways: 

• Provide additional context 

• Adjust the complexity of the question 

• Select context from the course 

• Manually revise the question