When we upgrade Blackboard this summer, there will be a number of updates to the user interface.  Blackboard has listened to feedback from users who found the user interface too cluttered.

The main theme of the new interface is to only see icons when you need to, rather than seeing them all the time.

Watch this video to find out about the updated interface with a focus on the action button.

Below follows more detailed explanation and screenshots.

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When we upgrade Blackboard this summer, there will be a number of valuable improvements to the Groups feature. The Groups feature allows instructors to place students into groups and give them a dedicated group area where they may use blog, journal, wiki, calendar, task management, file exchange, and discussion board functionality. Adaptive Release rules can be set so that groups see different content within their Blackboard course based on which group they belong to.

With the upgrade new functionality will be available that improves the administration of groups for Instructors.

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When we upgrade Blackboard this summer, one of the benefits will be a new text editor.

The headline features of the new text editor are:

– proper copy and paste from Word without needing to use the “paste from word” mashup.
– new equation editior with MathML support.
– “true HTML” editing – although some aspects will be automatically stripped in order to enforce security best practice.
– more options for aligning graphics around text
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When we upgrade Blackboard this summer, one of the benefits will be a newly designed discussion board. The look and feel of the discussion board has been refreshed and looks much more contemporary. User avatars are shown beside discussion board posts. These avatars will also be shown beside blog posts and in a few other areas.
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