Blackboard 9.1 Update 1: September 22, 2011
Colleagues,
UAA will be upgrading to Blackboard 9.1 in December/January. You won’t have to do
anything special with your Blackboard courses for the upgrade. Your files will still be
there and still work in the new version. *
Key Features of Blackboard 9.1:
Friendlier interface – less clicking
Quicker access to control panel
Drag and drop reordering of announcements, navigation menu, and content
New “Mashup” tool allows easy addition of YouTube videos
A focus group of UAA faculty members tested Blackboard 9.1 this summer and their
response has been positive – though they recognize that the changes to the interface
take getting used to.
Here’s the timeline for the upgrade:
1. IT Services will create the Spring 2012 shells in mid-October in Blackboard 8.
You will be able to copy all content from your previous Blackboard shells to your
Spring 2012 shells just like you always do. The work you do on your shells will
migrate to Blackboard 9.1. One caveat: Blogs and wikis will not upgrade to
Blackboard 9.1.
2. Blackboard will be unavailable from December 23 through January 8 for the
upgrade. Plan to work on your spring shells in Blackboard 8 during the fall if you
are concerned about not having enough time between January 8 and the start of
your class.
3. When you login to Blackboard after January 8, 2012, all your courses will be
there with their content in Blackboard 9.1. You can do the final polishing and add
any blogs and wikis to be ready for classes to start on January 17, 2012.
We will provide the following support:
A sample Blackboard 9.1 shell to explore will be available by late October
Workshops on Blackboard 9.1 in November, December, and January
Documentation for you and your students
Blackboard shell for student orientation will be available in December
More of these updates
If you have any questions or concerns about the upgrade, please use this form
(http://tinyurl.com/3gk3qxn).
*Blogs and wikis will not upgrade. There are new blog and wiki tools in Blackboard 9.1.
Faculty view of Blackboard 9.1 Announcements page