November 7, 2024

Your Guided Transition to Blackboard Ultra: Collaborating with TILT for Success

Starting in Fall 2025, all Blackboard courses at Fort Hays State University will be delivered in Ultra Course View. To ensure a seamless transition, the Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies (TILT) team is ready to offer robust support and resources. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to transition to Blackboard Ultra early. Doing so will familiarize you with its intuitive, user-friendly interface and allow you to fully integrate its enhanced features into your courses. An early start will not only improve your instructional strategies and elevate student engagement but also prevent the potential stress of adjusting to new technology under time constraints. By transitioning early, you’ll benefit from personalized guidance and workshops, setting you up for success well ahead of Fall 2025

Transition Process:

The TILT team has developed a comprehensive plan to assist you in migrating from Blackboard Original to Blackboard Ultra. TILT instructional designers are here to guide you through the course transition with a one-hour individual consultation. We have provided the following steps so that you and the instructional designed can come to the consultation meeting prepared and ready to have a productive meeting 

Step 1: Choose a Course to Transition
To transition to Blackboard Ultra, start by selecting the specific course shell on Blackboard that you aim to transition. Once chosen, proceed to schedule a one-hour consultation with a TILT instructional designer. You can easily set up this consultation by utilizing the provided scheduling link.
Schedule Here
Step 2: Preparation for Consultation
When scheduling your consultation, keep in mind that there's a minimum 10-day window before the meeting. This buffer gives both you and the instructional designer enough time to go over the transition project's details and get ready for the session. Make sure to send over essential information like your syllabus name, section number, course ID, and current syllabus when you schedule your appointment. This way, the instructional designer can customize the consultation to suit your needs. Before the meeting, the designer will review all the materials you've provided to make sure the consultation time is used effectively.
Step 3: In-Depth Consultation
During the one-hour consultation: Collaborate with the instructional designer to create a new Blackboard Ultra course shell, design an initial module, and integrate any necessary TILT- supported software
Step 4: Ongoing Support
After your initial consultation, we strongly encourage you to take advantage of centralized hub on the Tiger Learn Blog to further develop your Blackboard Ultra. This resource center also offers organized materials specific to your transition needs, interactive forums for peer support, and regular updates to keep you informed and engaged. We also celebrate successes and share tips through our "Kudos to Early Adopters" section. At that link you will find: Workshops on specific Ultra Topics, Resources and Articles, A Self-Guided Blackboard Ultra Course
Click Here
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Comprehensive Department Initiatives: If your department or program is interested in making this a collaborative effort, we can help with that as well. We have already begun working with departments to make that happen. 

Ready to Get Started?

We are eager to assist each of you in this important transition. Starting sooner rather than later will ensure a smooth shift to Blackboard Ultra, aligning with our goal of complete migration by Fall 2025. Please reach out to the TILT team with any questions or to begin your transition process.