Blackboard Ultra

Blackboard Ultra offers a streamlined, intuitive interface and workflows created for maximum efficiency, with new functionality and enhancements added regularly. It is also fully responsive for optimal use on any device and offers improved tools for teaching and interacting with students that support student success. 

All faculty (both full-time and adjunct) will receive two development shells in Ultra course view: a blank shell named “Ultra Development Shell”, and a shell named “Ultra Development Template” with template content, so you don’t have to start from scratch. You will be able to find both by navigating to your Courses page in Blackboard and either entering “Ultra” in the search box or navigating to the Development term. The purpose of these two shells is to give you full control over your development preferences while still providing guidance on where to get started.  

Want more? You can request additional development shells. A development shell is identical to a course but is not connected to Colleague and has no student data or dates attached to it. Fill out the form below and we’ll get you set up! 

• Request an Ultra development shell. We will create a shell and you will receive an email as soon as the process is finished-- along with Ultra Course View resources and information.
• Not sure where to start? Request access to a course template.

Ready to transition your live courses from Original to Ultra? You can request that we convert your courses to Ultra. Be mindful that we can’t un-convert them once they are Ultra courses.

• Request Course Conversion

Get to know Ultra! We offer training to help you learn the basics, transition your courses, maintain your gradebook, and dig deeper into tools unique to Ultra.  

• Ultra Space Camp Fall 2024 Training Schedule
• Join the Faculty Ultra Resources & Support organization where you can learn all about Ultra and how to use it successfully.
• Request a small group training
• Register for an Asynchronous Online Course about Ultra. We're offering self-paced Ultra Basics and Ultra Gradebook courses. You can take them for PDH or just to learn more about Ultra. 

We also have a collection of resources for support: 

• Blackboard Ultra Support in the LT Knowledge Base
• Don’t see what you need, get further help from Blackboard: Blackboard Learn Help for Instructors
• Finally, check out faculty member Christine Monnier’s posts about Ultra! She shares where to start, her reactions to Ultra changes, and more! 

If you have students who need support, they can get help through:

• Student Blackboard Resources
• Blackboard Student Support Organization
• Emailing us: studentultrahelp@cod.edu

We’ve been working on getting Ultra rolled out for a few years. Here’s what we’ve done and what you can expect through the 2026 spring term: 

Spring 2023

Base Navigation launched at the start of this term, modernizing the navigation tools in Blackboard. 

Spring 2024

The Ultra Courses pilot tasked 15 faculty members in a wide range of disciplines with using Ultra in their courses, providing feedback and gathering feedback from students.

Summer 2024

All courses for adjuncts and new faculty are created in Ultra. Soft launch of Ultra with 31 faculty and 84 courses in Ultra.

Fall 2024 through Fall 2025

During this time, we will be transitioning courses to Ultra on a voluntary basis for current faculty.

Spring 2026

Course transition to Ultra will be complete—ALL courses at the College will be taught in Ultra Course View. 

More and more faculty are making the switch! Check out our Ultra adoption stats so far:

Spring 2024

Ultra Pilot: 15 faculty and 50 courses

Summer 2024

Soft Launch:  31 faculty and 84 courses

Fall 2024

Soft Launch: 122 Full-time/Adjunct faculty and 131 Dual Credit instructors with ~840 courses being taught in Ultra (~350 Dual Credit, 392 Traditional, and 40 Continuing Education Courses).

Want to hear from your fellow faculty about using Ultra? We have a collection of testimonials! 

• Faculty Ultra Testimonials