What's new in Blackboard?
Each month Blackboard updates follow a four-week cycle that includes a staging release, testing, changes, and finally a production release. Some of these updates are mandatory, while others are optional and can be decided upon by the institution. Currently, Academic Technology Services may not immediately release new Blackboard features to production when they become available to the broader Blackboard community. We may require additional testing both externally and internally to ensure that these changes have minimal negative impact on our instructors. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we strive to provide a stable and effective teaching environment. For more information, please read this document:
Please note that at this time, Blackboard Ultra does not have any integrated AI tools.
June 2025
New features
Perform Bulk Category Changes in Item Management: Instructors can now bulk change Gradebook item categories via Item Management in the Gradebook.
Create Jumbled Sentence Questions: Instructors can now create jumbled sentence questions for online tests. This question type allows instructors to have a question with one or more blanks for students to complete.
Updates to existing features
Enhance student engagement with discussion activity indicator: The Discussions page link now has an unread Discussion post count.
Add resizable dividers to Documents: Instructors can add dividers in Documents to indicated related and unrelated sections.
Student Activity Log - Simplify review of student content access: The filter LTI Item Access has been added to the Student Activity Log. For example, instructors can filter for Kaltura media gallery engagement.
Note: The Content Access filter is not working as designed and will be removed in the July release.
Enhance grading workflow with better navigation and layout: Bookmarks can now be added for quick navigation between pages and the comment box now appears at the bottom of the screen for low resolution or zoomed in screens.
Enhanced overall appearance and usability of Knowledge Checks: Several changes were made to the appearance and usability of Knowledge Checks in Documents.
 Prior to the update |  After the update |
Fixes to existing features
Navigate the Gradable Items tab in the Gradebook: The Gradable Items tab in the Gradebook can now be navigated by keyboard and screen readers.
Enhance stability and usability of commenting tools: Several bug fixes were made in BB Annotate.
May 2025
New features
Qualitative rubrics with no-points option: Instructors can now create no-points rubrics for qualitative evaluation of assessments.
Gradebook accessibility enhancements: In the Gradebook, keyboard users can now move across rows or columns using arrow keys and screen reader uses can now hear both header and row announcements.
“View submission one time” test results setting: Instructors can now allow students to review their submission content one time. However, the time they can view the content is not customizable.
Text-based columns in Gradebook: Instructors can add text-based columns in their Gradebook of up to 32 characters. Text-based columns cannot have points, due dates, a category, or be used in calculations or the Overall Grade.
Updates to existing features
Enhancements to discussions: Several updates have been made to discussions including updated wording ("Reponses" are now called "Posts"), and there is now an indicator to identify the instructor's posts.
April 2025
New features
Content Designer - Print Document: Instructors and students can now print Documents or save them as PDFs.
Indicator if student has or has not reviewed feedback: On the student overview page, instructors can now check whether a student has reviewed the feedback for a given assessment. When a grade is posted, there is a label of Not reviewed. When the student reviews the feedback, the status updates to Reviewed.
Pop-out rubric when evaluating an attempt (now working as designed): When grading with rubrics, there is now an option to pop-out the rubric for assignments.
Updates to existing features
Enhanced grading experience for group submissions: The grading view for group submissions has been enhanced and now mirrors the individual test and assignment experience. However, per question feedback for tests and pop-out rubrics for assignments are not yet available for groups.
Replace Feedback column with actionable Results column in student Gradebook: In the student view, the Feedback column has been renamed ‘Results’ and the purple converation bubble has been replaced ith a ‘View’ button.
Activity indicator color changed to purple: The color of the indicator for discussions, journals, and conversations has changed from blue to purple to match the colour scheme of Blackboard.
Fixes to existing features
Improved student experience when test or assignment is changed to Hidden from Students: When an instructor changes sets the visibility of a test or assignment while a studnt is actively taking the assessment, the student can continue working on it without interruption. However, if the student refreshes the screen or gets kicked out, they will not have access to the assessment.
Moodle conversion: Improved support for embedded multimedia: Embedded audio, video, and images in Moodle courses now convert and transfer correctly to Blackboard.
March 2025
New features
Change folders to learning modules or learning modules to folders (now available): Instructors will be able to change a folder to a learning module and vice versa. Note that changing a learning module to a folder and then back to a learning module will not revert back any thumbnails.
Pop-out rubric when evaluating an attempt (undergoing testing): When grading with rubrics, there is now an option to pop-out the rubric for assignments.
Copy Banners Between Courses: Users now have the option to copy banners between courses when doing a granular copy. Previously you had to do a full course copy to copy the course banner.
Updates to existing features
Anonymous discussions - New privilege to reveal author: Administrators can now reveal the identity of an anonymous discussion post or reply.
Release conditions panel - Due dates now included: In the release conditions panel, the due date for the item is now stated below the Date/Time release condition option. Users no longer have to go back to the content item to check the due date.
Show/hide calculation columns in the gradebook: Users can now make calculation columns in the Gradebook hidden in the Item Management tool in gradebook settings.
Course Access user experience improvements: Previously to close your course, you had a green toggle switch which was confusing to some users. This has been changed to radio buttons.
Usability improvements for discussions: Posts now have a grey background for better visibility and long posts no longer have a scroll bar. Instructors can now access participation metrics and directly edit posts with a pencil icon instead of via the three dots.
New student submission review page for tests: The submission review page for students is now more streamlined with feedback clearly laid out.
AI Design Assistant - Energy-saving image generation improvements (not turned on): Instead of generating four images at a time, the AI image generation tool now just generates one. If you generate an additional image, the previous ones are saved and can still be selected.
AI Design Assistant - Learning module generation improvements (not turned on): When images do not get generated for learning modules, there is now an option to generate again. If you get an image you don't like, you can also regenerate the specific image.
Fixes to existing features
Canvas conversion - File upload improvements: Previously file conversions from Canvas with special characters in names and files did not convert correctly. This has been resolved.
February 2025
New features
Change folders to learning modules or learning modules to folders (delayed until March): Instructors will be able to change a folder to a learning module and vice versa. Note that changing a learning module to a folder and then back to a learning module will not revert back any thumbnails.
Kaltura - Move an item to the recycle bin: There is now a trash can option next to media in your My Media page. The media will be retained and is retrievable for 30 days.
Updates to existing features:
Mask access code for an assessment: When proctoring exams with an access code, the code is now masked with stars (******).
Upload images to documents using the new image block: In Documents, there are now image blocks when adding content.
Improvements to grade entry for discussions and journals from the Grid view or Submissions page: Discussion and Journal grades can now be entered directly into the Grades view or Grades & Participation page in the Gradebook without having an Override label.
Improved accuracy when uploading grades and feedback: When uploading grades and feedback, there is now more accuracy when it comes to having override and Needs Grading labels.
Assignments with Single Attempts
Ungraded Attempts. When an ungraded attempt is found, the grade is stored at the attempt level, the Needs Grading and New Submission flags are cleared, and any auto-zero is removed.
Graded Attempts. If the attempt is already graded, the existing grade is updated accordingly.
Existing Overrides. If an override already exists, only the override is updated. No changes are made to the attempt grade.
No Submission. If a student has not submitted an attempt, the grade is stored as an override.
Assignments with Multiple Attempts
Ungraded Attempts. If all attempts are ungraded, the grade is assigned to the appropriate attempt based on the aggregation model.
Single Graded Attempt. For a single graded attempt, the existing grade is updated.
Multiple Graded Attempts. If more than one attempt is graded, the grade is stored as an override. The Needs Grading and New Submission labels remain unchanged.
Existing Overrides. If an override already exists, the override grade is updated.
No Submission. For students with no submission, the grade is stored as an override.
Discussions and Journals
Ungraded Submissions. For ungraded submissions, the grade and feedback are added to the submission, and the Needs Grading and New Submission flags are cleared.
Graded Submissions. If the submission is already graded, the grade and feedback are updated.
Overrides. If a student has an override grade, the override grade and feedback are updated.
Improvements to avatar size and time stamp positioning for discussion replies: Discussion avatars and the position of time stamps have been adjusted so that replies to posts are now easier to identify.
AI Design Assistant (under review):
Set a larger maximum number of generated questions and learning modules: You now have the option to exclude AI generated module descriptions.
Exclude descriptions from learning modules generated by AI Design Assistant: You now have the option to exclude descriptions from learning modules generated by the AI Design Assistant.
Video Studio (under review):
Edit captions and transcripts : Captions and transcripts can now be edited in Video Studio.
Video Studio – Add video content within the Course Content page: Video Studio audio and video content can now be added directly to the Course Content page.
Video Studio - Download recording transcripts: Users can now download transcripts for content created using Video Studio.
Fixes to existing features
Enhancements to course groups: Groups created within a content item (ie: an assignment) will now appear in the Groups tab. Previously, groups created within content items were one-time use only and could not be reused or viewed in the Groups tab.
Improvements to grading interface: The grading interface has been improved. The Previous/Next student navigation has been moved to the top and the student's name and submission information has been condensed, creating more space to view the student content.
Conversion of existing assignments to the new assignment workflow: Assignments created before August 2024 will get converted to the new assignment design. This means that older assignments will now have a new instructions box, streamlined settings only for Assignments, no options to add questions, and attempts are only created when students interact with the assignment. Old assignments that had questions will not get converted.
Improved performance for assignment file submissions: When students upload files before the timer runs out on a timed assessment, the upload will finish before the attempt is auto submitted. In addition, if a file doesn't upload correctly, students can re-upload it easily.
Excluded attempts removed from Need Grading count: Excluded attempts in the grading workflow now do not appear in the Needs Grading tab.
Test Settings usability improvements: The following assignment-specific options have been removed from tests:
Collect submissions offline
Use grading rubric
Maximum points
2 grades per student
Peer review
Improvement to rendering in Bb Annotate & Improvement to rendering of uploaded files: Files such as PowerPoints, Excel worksheets, and PDFs now render so that they display with the same format in Blackboard Annotate and in content items (ie: Documents).
January 2025
New features
Show/hide columns from instructors in the gradebook: Instructors can now hide items in their Gradebook and Overall Grade. The student view is unaffected.
Updates to existing features
Add submission attempts for release conditions: Instructors can now release content when an item is submitted. Students do not have to wait until a grade is posted to view an item.
Manage course access from Course Settings: Instructors can now mark their courses as Closed or Completed via the Course Settings.
Set default automatic zeros to off in the gradebook for new courses: Automatic Zeros for Past Due Work is now default off for newly created courses.
Improvements to AI Design Assistant Outputs (under review): AI Design Assistant has faster and more complex outputs for Assignments, Discussions, Journals, Test questions, Learning modules, AI Conversation avatars, and Unsplash.
Improvements to AI Design Assistant Image Generation (under review): The quality of images generated by the AI Design Assistant has improved to make them more realistic.
Expanded language Outputs for AI Design Assistant (under review): The following languages are now available for AI workflows: Greek, Catalan, Croatian, Irish, and Slovenian.
Fixes to existing features
Direct grade entry for assignments from the Grid view or Submissions page: Grades entered directly via the Grades, or Submissions page for Assignments will not trigger an override, will not appear in the Needs Grading, and will not have New Submission flags. However, the override label persists if: no submission has been made, grades are entered via a file upload, there are multiple graded attempts, or an override already exists (and therefore will be overwritten by the new grade).
Improvements to file uploads for Content Designer - Documents: The default option when instructors upload files to documents is now View and Download. In addition, the Undo and Redo functions are now be used when uploading files.
Improvements to content blocks for Content Designer - Documents: When instructors create or edit a document, the content block no longer closes when they collapse the menu. When editing table settings, the editor no longer closes.