New Year, New UI: Blackboard’s Refreshed Course Experience Delivers Results

New PDF Quick Fixes Guide!

Using Asynchronous Discussions in Face-to-Face Courses, Bret Sikkink, Drake University
Is Anyone Out There? Cultivating a Sense of Belonging through Instructor Presence
Carol Westcamp-Sessums. 

Innovative Educator Series - The One Where Everyone Has a Voice - Feb 13 2026

From Passive Viewing to Active Learning: Embedded Knowledge Checks Now Available in Video Studio

Wisconsin Blackboard User Group

Ultra Power-Ups: Automate, Motivate, and Elevate Your Course

Innovative Educator Series - The One Where Learning Feels Like a GameThis session explores how gamification can be used to promote engagement, problem-solving, and deeper learning through purposeful course design. Using examples such as escape-room-style activities in Blackboard, presenters will share practical approaches that make learning interactive without losing academic focus.Speaker 1Applying escape room principles to create engaging contentPeter Boorman, Learning Designer, University of Southampton. In this session Peter will demonstrate how he incorporated escape rooms principles and elements of gamification to create an ‘escape room’ module in Blackboard Ultra. The module is designed for staff to become familiar with Blackboard Ultra in a unique and fun way. Acting as a student, staff must navigate through different areas to find information, discover clues and solve puzzles. This presentation is designed to generate ideas for how you could apply escape room principles to your own course and use Blackboard Ultra features to create engaging content.

Innovative Educator Series - The One Where Learning Feels Like a Game

We are pleased that we can now confirm the dates and venues. The 2026 conference will be held in the Teaching &amp; Learning Centre in Durham. For a change, the evening conference dinner will be held in a venue we last used in 2001 - the Dining Room of Hatfield College (a converted Georgian Coaching Inn on the historic Bailey).The optional pre-conference workshops will be on the afternoon of Wednesday the 22nd of April in the Teaching &amp; Learning Centre from 2 to 5pm. The full two day conference will be on Thursday the 23rd and Friday the 24th of April, with the evening conference dinner on Thursday night.<h2>Little things that make a big difference</h2>Recent discussions about technology and education have been dominated by generative AI. Indeed we have contributed to this debate ourselves through past conference themes and presentations. This year we are not trying to deny the existence of LLMs and their ilk, but rather emphasising that learning and teaching is a human endeavour and focussing our attention on the role that individual students and teachers can play.As such, the theme for this year's #durbbu is Little things that can make a big difference.It is designed so you can interpret this in multiple ways. You could talk about the positive impact of small acts by staff or students, or a feature of a tool that really makes a difference to learning and teaching today. Or you could turn it on it's head and identify small changes that would make a process simpler or more effective. This is a user-led event, so feel free to call for change if it is needed!One of the reasons behind the longevity of this conference is the range and strength of user presentations. As ever, the theme is only a prompt for ideas. If there is something else that you'd like to share with delegates that relates to learning and teaching with Blackboard and other tools (at the chalk-face or behind the scenes) then please submit a presentation or workshop proposal on that too!

Durham Blackboard Users' Conference (In-Person)

The One Where AI supports Learning This session explores how AI tools in Blackboard — including the AI Design Assistant, Anthology Virtual Assistant (AVA), and conversational AI are shaping course design, student support, and assessment

Innovative Educator Series - The One Where AI supports Learning

Innovative Educator Series - The One Where Everyone Has a VoiceExplore how instructor presence and asynchronous discussion tools in Blackboard Ultra can foster belonging, boost engagement, and support student success across online, hybrid, and face-to-face classrooms.Speaker 1 Using Asynchronous Discussions in Face-to-Face Courses Bret Sikkink, PhDThis presentation explores how well-structured asynchronous discussion board assignments can be used in traditional classroom or blended course models to increase access to discussions for all students, support active learning strategies during and between class meeting times, promote the scaffolding of constructive projects, and increase student-to-student interaction throughout the term.Speaker 2 Is Anyone Out There? Cultivating a Sense of Belonging through Instructor PresenceCarol Westcamp-Sessums, Professor, University of Arkansas–Fort SmithStudents enrolled in an asynchronous online class often feel isolated and lonely, which often negatively impacts their retention and success in the class. In order to help students feel a sense of belonging and to view their instructors as “real humans,” instructors can create a social presence in their classes. There are many articles discussing strategies for creating an instructor presence in the online classroom, and this presentation will discuss the strategies that have worked well for me, including developing an authentic instructor persona, as well as using various tools in Blackboard Ultra to help communicate with students to build trust, empathy, and authentic communication.

Innovative Educator Series - The One Where Everyone Has a Voice

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