ULEARN ULTRA RESOURCES FOR FACULTY
Johnson & Wales University will transition all ulearn courses to Blackboard Ultra in 2026. This change ensures that our learning environment remains fully supported ahead of Blackboard’s retirement of the Original Course View on December 31, 2026. Throughout 2026, IDT will provide interactive workshops and resources to support a smooth transition.
What's Changing?
Ultra provides a modern, streamlined teaching and learning experience that helps faculty work more efficiently while supporting students more effectively. Its updated design offers a simplified course structure with progressive disclosure, a mobile-friendly layout, and improved navigation.
The new interface also includes features such as drag‑and‑drop organization, inline editing, built-in accessibility guidance, and enhanced content display, making it easier to create, update, and manage course materials.
Tools you will no longer see in Ultra include Blogs, Tasks, Wikis, Glossary of Terms, and Portfolios.
| Original | Ultra |
| Customizable left navigation menu | Top navigation bar with key tools |
| Item | Document |
| Content Folder | Folder |
| Pools | Question Banks |
| Surveys | Forms |
| Grade Center | Gradebook |
| Adaptive Release | Release Conditions |
| Date Management | Batch Edit for due dates and visibility |
| Contacts | Roster |
| Retention Center | Course Activity |
| Performance Dashboard | Student Progress |
| Reports Area | Analytics |
Click the links in each section below to access step‑by‑step instructions on commonly used ulearn Ultra features.
New Ultra resources are added on an ongoing basis. Please check back periodically to explore the latest updates.
Johnson & Wales is committed to ensuring digital accessibility to students across all of our course offerings as required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The Course Accessibility Report is a built-in tool for identifying and resolving accessibility issues in course content. Access and utilize the report to enhance the course for all learners, with step-by-step tasks to complete directly in the report.
Each image posted in ulearn must include Alternative Text in the alternative description text box. Screen readers use this text to describe the image to users with visual impairments.
Be sure to visit our Course Accessibility page for additional resources.
For further guidance on creating accessible content, reach out to IDT by emailing idt@jwu.edu or calling 401-598-2389.
Post a syllabus in the Syllabus & Course Info: Start Here area that includes a course schedule.
Make the Course Available to students by the first day of the semester. Courses taught fully online are automatically made available in ulearn three days before the semester starts.
Set Release Conditions to make weekly modules, individual items, or assessments visible to students automatically.
Add due dates for all graded items in your course, including tests, assignments, discussions, and journals.
Use the Batch Edit tool to edit existing due dates, access dates, and item visibility from one central location.
Coming Soon: Set accommodations for individual students to extend due dates and/or time limits for assessments.
The Student Preview feature allows an instructor to experience the course exactly as students do.
Coming Soon: Course Analytics pulls data from ulearn and presents reports to gauge overall student performance and summaries of assessment results.
The Details & Actions menu on a course homepage provides several tools for managing the course.
Use the Calendar tool to streamline your course schedule, office hours, and due dates in one place. The calendar allows you to customize your display and add individual events. For more information or assistance using the Calendar, reach out to IDT by emailing idt@jwu.edu or calling 401-598-2389.
To get started, if you have a pre-populated Learning module you can edit that or you can Create an Item.
The Create a document (page) user guide walks you through adding content and images, uploading or converting files, and incorporating a knowledge check.
Coming Soon: The Math Editor creates accessible mathematical formulas, equations, and other components.
Reminder: When adding content, items are Hidden from Students by default.
Coming Soon:
Add audio and video files to your course to enhance the content.
With Kaltura, you can upload, create, and embed media directly in ulearn to enhance student learning. Kaltura My Media functions as your personal media library, allowing you to upload, store, edit, caption, and manage your files from one convenient location.
Coming Soon: Assignments allow you to assess students’ understanding of course concepts.
Coming Soon: Create a Rubric to outline the criteria and performance levels for a graded assignment, helping ensure consistency and transparency in evaluation.
The Test tool is used for delivering quizzes or exams. Some question types are automatically graded, while others require manual grading by the instructor.
Use Forms to survey or gather feedback from students. For example, ask students which research topic they prefer. Forms can be graded or ungraded and support the following question types: Essays, Likert, Multiple Choice, True/False, Text, and File. For more information or assistance using Forms, reach out to IDT by emailing idt@jwu.edu or calling 401-598-2389.
What is Turnitin? Turnitin is a service available in ulearn to all faculty to aid with verifying originality of student work.
When using Turnitin in a class, faculty must follow the Turnitin: Faculty Guidelines, which are part of the university’s licensing agreement with Turnitin.
Coming Soon: Add a new Turnitin Assignment to your ulearn course.
Discussions give students a space to engage with course topics. Instructors can create graded or ungraded discussions, require students to post before viewing others’ responses, and attach rubrics to ensure grading is consistent and transparent.
Coming Soon: Journals provide a private space for students to reflect on learning, share personal insights, and connect course topics to their experience. Only instructors and individual students can see journal entries. Journals can be graded or ungraded.
Coming Soon: Create AI Conversations to engage students with Socratic questioning and role-play exercises.
Coming Soon!
The AI Design Assistant supports instructors in course building and development using artificial intelligence.
- Course structure automatically generates weekly modules with titles and descriptions.
- Document layouts automatically assist with the design of visually appealing pages for documents that include text, images, knowledge checks, and headings.
- Auto-generate knowledge check questions within a Document.
- Insert images from a stock photo database or the AI image generator.
- Auto-generate assignment, journal, and discussion prompts.
- Auto-generate test questions in a specific test or the course question bank.
- Auto-generate rubrics for grading.
- Create AI Conversations to engage students with Socratic questioning and role-play exercises.
Note: The AI is trained via content from Azure AI open source from Microsoft. The Blackboard AI will only use the content in the course to fill the prompt for the Auto Generation.
For more information or assistance with Ultra, reach out to IDT by emailing idt@jwu.edu or calling 401-598-2389.
IDT staff are available Monday through Friday during standard business hours. In‑person assistance is also available at the Richmond Building on the Providence Campus.