Migrating from Original to Ultra

The university is gradually shifting from the Blackboard Original Course view to Blackboard Ultra Course view, which is the next generation of the Blackboard Learn learning management system. Bb Ultra is a revamped version of the current system. In Bb Ultra, it has a more minimalist design and easier to access tabs as compared to the current version (Bb Original). The Bb Ultra Experience is more personalized, proactive, and intuitive for faculty and students and is the first completely cloud-based system from Blackboard, representing a new focus on improved workflows and deep integrations to support teaching and learning.

Migrating a Blackboard Learn course from Original to Ultra means one of three things:

1. Switching an existing Original course into the Ultra format.
2. Creating a new course that is a copy of the Original course in the Ultra format.
3. Creating a new blank course in the Ultra format and manually copying over content from the Original course.

For the first option, it is strongly recommended that migration begin in advance of the academic semester when the course will be taught. You should not plan to migrate a course currently being taught to the Ultra platform. You are encouraged to start planning the platform transition from Original to Ultra at around the same time that you would be planning out your course for the next semester, if not sooner.

A good timeline for course site migration is as follows:

1. Far in advance of the start of the academic semester, review the content of your course and identify if you use any types of content that cannot be automatically migrated, appear differently in the Ultra format, or aren’t available in the Ultra format at all.
   • If you have questions about your specific content or aren’t sure about how the migration will affect your content, contact the IT Help Center.
2. If you are interested in learning more and being trained on Blackboard Ultra, you can sign up for an informational session here. These sessions are dedicated to helping you get started with the Ultra platform and answering your questions.
3. If you would like to try out the Ultra format and functionalities without working with your content directly, you can submit a request to the IT Help Center for an empty “sandbox” Ultra course that will never be made available to students.
4. Two months before the academic semester starts (or as soon as possible), submit a request to the IT Help Center for one of three* things:
   1. A copy of your most recent Blackboard Learn Original course site switched over to the Ultra format (recommended) OR
   2. A copy of your most recent Blackboard Learn Original course site that you can update with content for the next semester OR
   3. A blank Blackboard Learn Ultra course site that you will need to manually migrate your content to
      • If you choose this option, you can skip the next two steps and start building your content in your new Ultra course!
5. If you chose the second of the three options above, once you have updated all of your content in the Original format you can then submit a request to the IT Help Center to have your site switched to the Ultra format.
6. Once you have your site switched over to the Ultra format, if the IT Help Center switched over your site’s content then you should start to review what (if any) content did not migrate automatically from Original to Ultra.
7. Continue to build out the content in your Ultra course and get used to how your usual pedagogy functions are now set up (e.g. grading using the Gradebook instead of the Grade Center), and it is recommended that you have all of that semester’s content created at least three weeks before the start of the semester.
   • This is especially important to make sure that you don’t need to find alternatives partway through the semester for features/types of content that aren’t available in Ultra (e.g. you typically use Blackboard Wikis for your course’s final project, which are only available in the Original format).
8. At least two weeks before the semester starts, review your course in Student Preview mode, so that you can view your Blackboard Ultra course site from the perspective of your student users before they have access to it. This allows you to know what the student experience of your course will be, and will show if there is any content that is currently visible to students that you intended to have hidden.
9. If for any reason you have not been able to migrate all of your content and don’t anticipate being able to migrate all of it by the start of the semester, it is recommended that you request a copy of your most recent Blackboard Learn Original course site and build out the semester’s content in that and save the Ultra course for the following semester.

* There is a fourth option for getting a version of your course site in the Ultra format, which is to have your existing Original course site with all current content switched over to the Ultra format. This does not make a copy of your site and does not preserve the Original version, and is therefore not recommended, especially during the school year when students have access to that course site.

The amount of time it takes to get your content fully migrated depends on which option is chosen for your content to be moved to the Ultra course format, and when you submitted your request to the IT Help Center.

• Creating a copy of an existing Original course site in the Ultra format usually takes about three business days to complete, depending on how much content is being transitioned.
  • Some content will not be automatically turned into the Ultra format, and therefore will take extra time (usually for the instructor) to manually recreate/substitute.
• Creating a copy of an existing Original course site in the Original format can take about three business days, and then once the content has been added to it by the instructor it can take about one business day to have the site switched over to the Ultra format once that request is received.
  • Additional time may be needed to consult on any content that is not compatible with the Ultra format and needs to be substituted.
• A blank Blackboard Ultra course site usually takes about one business day to complete. Manually adding content to the site is then done by the instructor.

Note: The recommended timeframe to submit a Bb course request is multiple weeks ahead of the target semester, and any later than that may mean that there may be delays in answering your request due to high volume. 

Yes, you can migrate your existing Blackboard Learn Original course to Ultra, even if your course utilizes certain features that are not the same as they are in the former. Some features that you might use in Original that are not yet (or are not planned to be added) in Ultra include:

• Wikis
• Blogs
• Glossaries

For a full list of differences between Original and Ultra, please visit this page.

If you use integrated tools and applications (also known as “LTI Tools”) within your Blackboard Learn Original environment, these should not stop you from migrating your content over from Original to Ultra. However, some tools require extra steps to be brought to the Ultra format, and some are not offered in Ultra yet which would require alternatives to be found for the same functionalities.

Review the section below on key considerations for integrated tools, and reach out to the IT Help Center if you need assistance transitioning any current applications / vendor integrations to your new Ultra course.

Yes! If you are unsure about how your content will appear in the Ultra format or how you will navigate the platform as an instructor, you can request a sandbox course site that behaves the same as a regular Blackboard Ultra course site without being connected to any of your courses.

Please contact the IT Help Center online at www.bu.edu/help/blackboard (or by clicking on the Help button on any screen in Blackboard), by email at ithelp@bu.edu, or by phone at 353-HELP(4357) to request a Blackboard Ultra course sandbox.

The amount of content in a course and the different kinds of content being used will affect the transition process from Original to Ultra. For instance, if the existing Original course has any content that is organized in more than 3 levels of folders (such as a document that sits inside of a folder that is inside a second folder inside a third folder, all within a fourth folder) this will not migrate properly. Since Ultra courses only allow up to 3 levels of folders, it is highly recommended that any content organized in more than 3 levels be revised in the Original format before attempting to transition to Ultra, to ensure that no content is lost and to minimize any unexpected formatting.

The following types of content will not translate from Original to Ultra during any migration process.

• Achievements
• Blogs
• Contacts
• Course Links
• Course Menu Module Page
• Course Menu Tool Links
• Course Menu Course Links
• Course Menu Subheader
• Course Menu Divider
• Glossary
• Grading Color Codes
• Grading Periods
• Module Page
• Question Types
  • File Response
  • Jumbled Sentence
  • Opinion Scale/Likert
  • Ordering
  • Quiz Bowl
• Self And Peer Assessments
• Smart Views
• Surveys
• Syllabus
• Total Column
• Weighted Total Column
• Wikis
• Standalone Groups

Integrated tools (also known as “LTI tools”) are very useful for curriculums and classroom content that can be hosted through Blackboard. Whether that means using an integrated app like Pronto to facilitate conversations, employing a grading platform like Gradescope for additional assignment control, or even providing remote office hours via Zoom, these utilities can expand the boundaries of the Blackboard Learn platform.