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We hope you have a wonderful break. LT will also be taking a break and will be closed from December 24th through January 4th. We look forward to seeing you all in the new year! Make sure you're Ultra ready for spring 2026!
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Final Grades Support and Information
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The Fall Term is almost done--that means it's time to submit Final Grades. If you're new to submitting grades or you just need a little help, we have some support resources that explain the process. For any technical issues related to submitting grades through the ARI tool in Blackboard, call or send us an email ASAP so we can assist you and make sure grades get in on time!
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You can find instructions for entering grades on our knowledge base.
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If you're using Ultra, here are instructions for entering your Final Grades.
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Here you'll find a list of the grades due dates for FA25.
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We have all of our ARI support in one place.
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Final grades are due TODAY, December 17th for second 8 week classes and December 24th for 16 week and second 12 week classes.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The College is CLOSED on December 24th, so while that is the due date, neither LT or Grades will be here to assist you if something goes wrong. We strongly recommend that you attempt to input grades prior to that date.
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Level Up Your Accessibility Over Winter Break
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Ally Is Live in Blackboard!
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You now have access to Ally, Blackboard’s integrated accessibility tool. Ally allows students to download alternative formats of course content as well as making it easier for instructors to see what elements of a course need modifications to improve accessibility.
Ally's First Week
In our first week of having Ally we've seen:
- 742 Alternative format document downloads from 272 unique courses. This number is very exciting-- it shows students are using Ally!
- 161 Instructor Feedback Launches with 38 fixes and 42 Course Accessibility Report Launches. Faculty are trying Ally, too!
This is a great start to our Ally launch, and we hope to see even more usage in the Spring 2026 term!
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Use some of your free time over break to learn more about the Ally Accessibility Report! You can choose from two versions-- one offers PDH (perfect for faculty looking for PDH hours) and one doesn't. Information and registration information can be found below.
Blackboard Ally - Course Accessibility Report Training (Deliverables)
This training introduces faculty to practical methods for identifying, resolving, and prioritizing accessibility issues in their course materials using Blackboard Ally. It highlights common barriers for students, quick wins, and strategies for utilizing the Course Accessibility Report, empowering instructors to make steady, meaningful progress on accessibility without becoming overwhelmed.
*Full Time Faculty: To earn 1 hour of PDH (Score value of 60), participants create a brief Accessibility Plan for one of their courses.
Blackboard Ally - Course Accessibility Report Training (No Deliverables)
This training introduces faculty to practical methods for identifying, resolving, and prioritizing accessibility issues in their course materials using Blackboard Ally. It highlights common barriers for students, quick wins, and strategies for utilizing the Course Accessibility Report, empowering instructors to make steady, meaningful progress on accessibility without becoming overwhelmed.
*Full Time Faculty: This training has no deliverables and is ineligible for PDH.
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Recordings from Level Up Your Accessibility Day
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Couldn't make it to an accessibility training? We've got you covered with recordings from all of our Zoom-based sessions.
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New: Book an Appointment for Accessibility Support
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Working on improving the accessibility of your courses? We can help! Our Learning Experience and Digital Accessibility Designer, Lara Tompkins, offers consulting on accessible and inclusive course design as well as help with auditing and remediating materials and media so that they meet digital accessibility standards and remove barriers for students.
You can book a 30-minute session for either online or in-person support using the booking link below.
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Register for Spring 2026 Foundations
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Spring sessions for Foundations of Online Teaching are now open for registration! You can choose from Part 1 or Part 2.
Foundations of Online Teaching Part 1
This five-week, online course is designed to promote instructor development and enhance instructor engagement whether you are teaching NET, Hybrid, or VCM courses. Participants explore techniques and best practices for online course development and instruction.
This course is highly participatory in nature, combining practical hands-on learning with engaged discussion.You will be required to complete independent activities due each week, develop a course module, and participate in weekly discussions to successfully complete this course.
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Foundations of Online Teaching Part 2
April 6, 2026 to May 10, 2026
This five-week, hybrid course is designed to build on the skills that were developed in Foundations of Online Teaching Part 1 but can also be taken if you would like to enhance a course you have already developed.
Using the OSCQR Rubric, participants will develop their entire course structure and complete at least two units of work. This course will tackle more advanced topics regarding content development and assessment building.
This hybrid course is highly participatory in nature, combining practical hands-on learning with engaged discussion and meet twice on Zoom on Thursday at 6pm of weeks 2 and 4.
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FINAL REMINDER: Course Removal Starts January 2026
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With the move to a SaaS model of Blackboard, the College gained more room to store Blackboard courses. However, this storage, while larger than before, isn't unlimited and in order to stay within our storage limits, we will need to resume the process of removing old courses from Blackboard.
Going forward, we will only be storing seven terms of courses and will be removing courses at the end of each term to stay within this limit (don't worry, we'll always let you know when this will be happening). We are currently planning to remove the following from Blackboard:
- All Blackboard course shells from FALL 21 to SPRING 23
- Old/Unused zDev shells
This cleanup will happen between terms the first week of January 2026. If you would like to see if you have any courses that will be removed, we have created a term in Blackboard called "To Be Removed." Sort your course list by this term. If you cannot see this term as an option, you have no courses slated for removal.
If you DO have courses that will be removed and would like to preserve them, you can export your course content.
Once exported, you can use this file to copy content into a new course or zdev shell or simply store it for your personal records.
If you have any questions or need assistance with this process, please let us know!
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Ultra Training and Updates
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December 2025 Updates to Ultra
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Ultra has some new updates and improvements for December! Here are a few that we think you'll notice and appreciate:
- Updates to Discussions: Instructors can mandate a number of posts/replies per Discussion topic, with automatic progress tracking tied to Gradebook and Progress Tracking. Students view requirements and their status in real-time, fostering accountability.
- Learning Module Table of Contents: Adds a collapsible Table of Contents panel in Learning Modules, mirroring the student view for easier navigation without Student Preview. On small screens, settings move to a header cog icon.
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Be Ultra Ready for Spring 2026!
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All Spring 2026 courses will be Blackboard Learn Ultra. We will be providing many more training opportunities for Ultra at Kickoff and throughout the Spring Term but we strongly advise you to start preparing your courses in Ultra before then.
You can take advantage of our asynchronous training to help you learn the basics and start working on setting up your courses over the break. We will be here to support you starting January 5th. We cannot stress enough that we have limited staff and preparing your courses ahead of time will allow us to have time to support you before classes start.
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Ultra Asynchronous Training
Want to learn about Ultra but can't make it to one of our trainings? You can now register for one of our asynchronous online courses! You can choose from a PDH option or one that offers the same information without the PDH component.
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Blackboard Ultra Open Lab
LT Open Labs are ready for all your Ultra questions this fall.
From August 27 through December 19 find us in SRC 3013 on:
- Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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Make an Appointment with an Instructional Designer
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Need a little extra help with structuring your courses or have specific questions about course design in Ultra? We've got Instructional Designers for that! We now have a request form that allows you to book a 30-minute session (either virtual via Teams or in-person) with one of our Instructional Designers.
Before booking a 30-minute appointment with an instructional designer, we strongly encourage you to complete Blackboard Ultra training (available in both ). These sessions will give you the foundation you need so our meeting time can focus on your specific questions and course needs.
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New Posts on the LT Blog!
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Christine Monnier is back to blogging for the Fall Term! Check out her latest posts (most recent at the bottom, newest are bolded):
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Contact Learning Technologies
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