Blackboard Ultra – Students
Blackboard is the William Paterson University’s Learning Management System. Blackboard Ultra is the systems’ most significant change and improvement in terms of functionality and user experience in recent years. To better support teaching and student learning at WPU, the university has begun the gradual transition from Blackboard Original to Blackboard Ultra. The first step of this transition is to enable the Ultra Base Navigation, which we activated in May 2022. The next step is to transition from Original Course View to Ultra Course View, which is to be completed by fall 2023. This page is to help the university community smoothly and successfully complete this transition.
What is Blackboard Ultra Experience?
Blackboard Ultra is a new user interface that allows students to access the same content that could be created by instructors in the Blackboard Original experience but now with revised and streamlined features.
The Ultra Base Navigation (the left toolbar shown on the first page after completing login) is an Ultra feature that has already been implemented for all William Paterson students. The Ultra Course View is still being gradually implemented, but all courses will be converted to Ultra Course View by the start of the Fall 2023 Semester. See the images and video below for further reference.
| Ultra Base Navigation | Original Course View (Available until Fall 2023) |
Ultra Course View (Required after Fall 2023) |
|---|---|---|
Introduction to Blackboard Learn with the Ultra Experience for Students
Similar to the previous Original Base Navigation, the Blackboard Ultra Base Navigation is a toolbar on the left side of the screen with all the most important Blackboard features. Course shells and content will open on top of it and show in layers with part of the base navigation always visible at the bottom. Due dates, announcements, and other time sensitive items can be viewed in Activity Stream, Calendar, and Gradebook.
| Navigation Panel | Ultra Base Navigation Menu Items | Ultra Base Navigaiton Video |
|---|---|---|
 Profile: Select your name in the list and make changes to your online persona.  Activity Stream: See up-to-the- minute action for all of your courses.  Courses: Navigate to past, present, and future courses.  Organizations: Access the organizations that you lead or are a member of.  Calendar: View course events and due dates for all your courses.  Messages: View and send messages in all courses.  Grades: See what needs grading across all your courses.  Tools: Access global functions outside of your courses. |
See more functions and features in the Base Navigation videos below:
| Edit Your Profile | Activity Stream | Notification Settings | Use the Calendar | Messages |
For more about Ultra Base Navigation, please visit our Ultra Base Navigation page.
Ultra Course View
Assessments are nested within the course content page just as modules are; this way, information about them can be easily expanded and collapsed either by viewing the brief descriptions displayed when expanding a module or clicking on the assessment to view more details in a sidebar. If a rubric is being used to grade an assessment, it will be listed under “Details & Information” here. This is also where SafeAssign options to check for plagiarism will appear if enabled by the instructor. Click “View assessment” at the bottom of a sidebar to open one and submit an attempt. Reference images and a video are included below.
Ultra Tests and Assignments (Assessments)
Assessments are nested within the course content page just as modules are; this way, information about them can be easily expanded and collapsed either by viewing the brief descriptions displayed when expanding a module or clicking on the assessment to view more details in a sidebar. If a rubric is being used to grade an assessment, it will be listed under “Details & Information” here. This is also where SafeAssign options to check for plagiarism will appear if enabled by the instructor. Click “View assessment” at the bottom of a sidebar to open one and submit an attempt. Reference images and a video are included below.