Ultra Training Sessions -- In-Person and Online
- Will White
We hope that your summer is going well. As we announced in the Spring, all courses in Scholar are now all in the Ultra experience. Ultra provides several advantages, including:
- Simplified, mobile-friendly course design
- Easier copying of materials
- Feature-rich and easy tests
- Easy to use Gradebook
- Active development with new fixes/improvements available monthly.
We'd like to thank the over 25% of faculty who have already made the switch and helped us with the transition. If you haven't yet taught in Ultra, or if you just need a refresher, we're offering both in-person and online training sessions for Ultra courses.
In-Person Training
Our in-person training will be held in McMurran 110 on Wednesday, August 14th. We'll hold training sessions on the various aspects of Ultra, which you can sign up here for.  Additionally, we'll have drop-in consultation hours available for your Ultra questions. There is no need to sign up for the drop-in consultations, simply come by. The schedule for our in-Person Ultra training is:
9:00 - 9:50am -Â Intro to Ultra
10:00 - 10:50am - Collecting Assignments in Ultra
11:00am - noon - Drop-in Ultra Consultations
1:00 - 2:20pm - Creating Tests in Ultra
2:30 - 3:20pm - Ultra Gradebook
3:30 - 5:00pm - Drop-in Ultra Consultations
Online Training
If you can't make our in-person training sessions, we'll be offering the same sessions online as well. The full schedule is below, and you must SIGN UP HERE to attend the sessions. Links will be sent out the day before the online training session.
Intro to Ultra Courses
Blackboard Ultra is a new modern interface for your Scholar courses. It provides a consistent structure, a mobile-friendly look and feel, and enhanced tests and grading tools. However, it's completely different from the old Original courses. Join us for an intro session on Ultra to begin planning your move to Ultra.
In-person: Wednesday, August 14, 9:00-9:50am
Online: Tuesday, August 6, 9:00-10:00am
Online: Monday, September 9, 2:00-3:00pm
Collecting Assignments in Ultra
Collecting and grading assignments with Scholar has several benefits for your classes. It saves paper, effortlessly organizes the assignments, communicates grades and feedback to students, and can assist in checking for plagiarism. This session will give you the information that you need to begin taking advantage of Scholar’s assignment features.
In-person: Wednesday, August 14, 10:00-10:50am
Online: Wednesday, August 7, 2:00-3:00pm
Online: Tuesday, September 10, 9:00-10:00am
Creating Tests in Ultra
Tired of Scantron? Scholar allows faculty to create tests, administer them to students, and have most question types automatically graded. Whether you want to give a low-stakes reading quiz, or make your final exam grading easier, Scholar can help. This workshop will teach you how to create questions, set up your test and grade it.
In-person: Wednesday, August 14, 1:00-2:20pm
Online, Thursday, August 8, 9:00-10:30am
Online: Wednesday, September 11, 2:00-3:30pm
Ultra Gradebook Basics
The Grade Center/Gradebook module in Scholar can save you a lot of time and effort. It automatically incorporates test or assignment grades issued through Scholar, performs all calculations, and immediately communicates that information to students. This session will show faculty members how to set up columns in their grade center/gradebook, incorporate existing assignments, and use calculated columns for unit of final grades.
In-person: Wednesday, August 14, 2:30-3:30pm
Online: Friday, August 9, 2:00-3:00pm
Online, Thursday, September 12, 9:00-10:00am