Fall semester Blackboard updates announced
More updates are coming to Blackboard tools in August that will require some instructors to rebuild content for fall courses as vendors continue to upgrade their technology.
This is the next phase of updates that began in May and are expected to continue between semesters through December 2023. These changes are being made by vendors to modernize their technology and enhance user experience, as needed.
Fall updates will be made August 17-19 to minimize interruptions during the semester. The impact to instructors ranges from no or minor updates (TopHat and WW Norton) to rebuilding content (Cirrus by Paradigm, Ebscohost, Flatworld Knowledge, Packback, Perusall, Wiley, and Zybooks) and retirement of tools with little or no usage (Alexander Street, H5P, Piazza, and Redshelf).
Instructors are invited to join the Teaching and Learning Technologies Advisory Community to learn more about Blackboard updates, and instructional technology consultations are also available to assist with selecting new tools if needed. Some publishers will also provide support through the transition.
An alphabetical list with details of expected updates and their impact are below. Additional details will also be added to the Blackboard Integration Updates page as they are received. If you have questions or concerns about any of these updates, please contact the IT Service Desk.
Alexander Street
Alexander Street will be retired based on low usage.
Cirrus by Paradigm
Course content will need to be recreated for fall with the new tool that will be available from Cirrus by Paradigm. Please contact your publisher representative for help with the transition.
Ebscohost
Updates from the vendor are expected later this summer. We anticipate that instructors linking to library content will need to relink their course content for fall with the new tool. (Updated July 2022: Confirmed that instructors will need to relink course content for fall.)
Flatworld Knowledge
Course content will need to be recreated for fall with the new tool that will be available from Flatworld Knowledge. Please contact your publisher representative for help with the transition.
H5P
H5P will be retired based on user feedback after the contract ends in August.
Packback
Instructors will need to recreate links to course content for fall, and the tool will be unavailable during the upgrade.
Perusall
Updates from the vendor are expected later this summer. Course content will most likely need to be recreated for fall using the new tool.
Piazza
Piazza will be retired based on low usage.
Redshelf
Redshelf will be retired based on low usage.
Top Hat
Updates from the vendor are expected later this summer, with minimal workload expected for instructors to update classes for fall. (Updated July 2022: These updates have been rescheduled for December 2022 due to the vendor’s timeline.)
Wiley
Course content will need to be recreated for fall with the new tool that will be available from Wiley. Please contact your publisher representative for help with the transition.
WW Norton
This publisher plans to upgrade their software for fall. No impact is expected for fall courses except for a brief outage while updates are made.
Zybooks
Course content will need to be recreated for fall with the new tool that will be available from Zybooks. Please contact your publisher representative for help with the transition.