Fall 2025 courses in Blackboard have been set to Instructor Choice, which gives instructors the ability to convert their shells from Blackboard Original to Blackboard Ultra.

Instructions

When you log into your Fall 2025 courses in Blackboard, you will see either a pop-up window or a new orange-colored pencil icon appearing in the upper right-hand area next to the Student Preview icon. Clicking the pencil icon lets you select between the Original view you’re used to and the Blackboard Ultra Preview mode to see what your course would like in Ultra. If you choose to try the Ultra Preview, do not make any changes to your course after entering the Preview Mode  until you've either:

A) decided to fully convert your course to Ultra for the fall semester or

B)  decided not to convert to Ultra and revert to Original Course View

This decision is permanent: UAA IT cannot change your course view once you’ve confirmed Ultra for that course.

Support

Instructors may reach out to UAA Instructional Designers at uaa_design@alaska.edu.

Additional resources:

• UAA Ultra information webpage
• Teaching in Blackboard Fall 2025 one-page guide
• How to keep Original (video)
• How to try Ultra (video)

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