New Blackboard Features to be Demonstrated

By Keith Hautala July 16, 2012

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 17, 2012) — Blackboard users at the University of Kentucky are encouraged to attend a "UKIT Talks Tech" presentation by UK Information Technology from 11 a.m. to noon on Thursday, July 26, in the UK Center Theatre at the Student Center.

Learning Systems Support's Buddy Hall will provide a brief demonstration of the new features found in the planned August upgrade of Blackboard in In "Say Hello to Ocho: What’s New in Blackboard 9.1 SP8?" The new features include:

Automated Regarding: The most requested new feature in SP8 saves time and makes correcting problem questions in assessments easier. Instructors can drop questions, give full credit, change point value, or change which answer is marked correct. The system will re-grade submitted assessments gracefully and provide notification about what has changed.
New User Interface: The focus on user experience is evident with the new, yet familiar user interface. Providing a clean and uncluttered experience, users will notice easier navigation and task completion.
Course Themes: In addition to the new Default Theme, over 50 professionally designed themes are available to match courses to the subject, color preference, or current mood. Changing the course theme is as easy as selecting an item from the drop-down menu.
Quick Setup Guide: The Blackboard Learn platform supports all pedagogical methods. Different courses require different structures and designs. The new Quick Setup Guide makes it easy to choose an appropriate theme and structure for the course. Therefore the instructor can spend less time designing and more time on teaching.
Task-Based Navigation: Task-Based Navigation allows the user to jump from one course to another, retaining the context of the page, to perform the same task across multiple courses, saving time and frustration.