Blackboard Ultra - any hints?

unknown

Hi all from Tasmania! We are about to embark on a migration from Fronter to Canvas and an upgrade from Blackboard Collaborate to Ultra for our video conferencing software. Are there any users out there with any tips/hints for using Canvas with Blackboard? 

kenneth_rogers

Hi, reeven‌!

We use Bb Collab both inside Canvas as well as outside of Canvas. We "upgraded" to Ultra last summer and went through quite a bit of training/implementation with Bb over the course of several months with multiple people across our district (we are a community college district made up of five individually accredited schools).

Because we previously ran the "Classic" version of Collaborate, we chose to run both versions of Collaborate concurrently inside of Canvas. A year later and we still have the classic version running (both inside of Canvas and outside of Canvas). 

Internally, we created a help guide for the transition: https://alamo.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/4pdicfKZ7Mn5yb/html. It's pretty specific to the Alamo Colleges, but hopefully it will provide a pretty decent framework. Also, I previously started a discussion on accessing Collaborate Mobile from Canvas. It's a bit of a pain because it involves using the Bb Student app, but it's possible. Check out the discussion: "Integration" with Bb Collaborate Ultra Mobile 

BUT - Bb's help guides/site is actually pretty good. For our internal documentation, we actually link to these help guides as they are updated with new releases and links generally remain static. You can drill down based on role for what you're looking for: Collaborate: Ultra Experience | Blackboard Help 

Maybe one of the more important things, though, is staying up with their release notes. They don't do a good job of announcing changes like Instructure does for Canvas, and they aren't always major, but every now and then you get hit with an update that will change how you used to interact with the interface (usually for good). Check them out: Release Notes for Collaborate Ultra | Blackboard Help 

Let me know if you have any specific questions or hurdles. I'm more than willing to help out!