Blackboard developments summer 2021

This summer, our Blackboard system will be developed in two significant ways: the software will be upgraded to the latest version, and the whole system will be migrated onto cloud servers. Blackboard will be performing this work, supported by IT Services and the Digital Education Office, between 9 pm on Friday 30 July and 9 am on Tuesday 3 August. Our Blackboard system will therefore be unavailable during this time, and we apologise for any inconvenience this will cause. The developments will bring several benefits, which are outlined below.

Software upgrade

The software upgrade will bring many incremental improvements and bug fixes, along with big changes to the Content Editor – the ‘text box’ tool that you see whenever you are creating or editing an item in Blackboard. These enhancements include:

  • Better copy-and-paste – Pasting content from Word, Excel, and websites is improved. You can choose to remove extra HTML but retain basic formatting.
  • The ‘Plus’ – One easy menu for adding content from your computer, cloud storage, or integrated tool. The Content Editor will automatically recognize the kinds of files you add.
  • Better for all devices – The editor is better suited for all devices, small screen or big. Pop-ups are gone for a better mobile experience.
  • Improved accessibility – The editor is more accessible, and a new accessibility checker helps authors make content more accessible, complementing our use of Ally.
  • Display computer code – Authors can now share formatted computer code snippets.
  • Easy text wrapping – Flow text next to images by selecting an image and choosing left- or right-justification. The text will wrap next to the image using the ‘float’ style, which is both mobile responsive and accessible.

A new feature in Bb Annotate, the Content Library, allows individual markers to have a bank of reusable comments which they can use when marking assignments in any of their Blackboard courses.

Cloud migration

The cloud migration will move our Blackboard system from its current location on Blackboard’s servers in Amsterdam onto a 'cloud' infrastructure based in Frankfurt, provided by Amazon Web Services. This will allow our system to automatically scale to meet demand and will also enable us to receive bug fixes and upgrades regularly throughout the year, rather than having to wait for the summer upgrade. Consequently, you may occasionally see small changes to Blackboard during the academic year, but the Digital Education Office will test these before they go live and provide supporting materials and guidance in advance of any changes. Finally, the migration will also eliminate the need for any scheduled downtime in the future, as upgrades and fixes can be performed without taking our system down.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.