Blackboard April 2025 Release
March 24, 2025

What’s New in Blackboard – April 2025

We’ve got robust new features and enhancements to Blackboard® coming this month! The Blackboard 3900.114 release, out in April, is full of features in the areas of Instructional Design, Gradebook, Mastery Learning and Learning Pathways, Communication and Collaboration, and more. These improvements will benefit instructors, students, and administrators. Read on to learn more about the upcoming Blackboard release!

Note: The below updates pertain to customers using the Ultra interface. For complete release notes, visit the Blackboard help site.

1. Gradebook - Indicator if Student Has or Has Not Reviewed Feedback

Impact: Instructors

Instructors 
In the Gradebook, instructors now have enhanced ability to monitor student engagement with assessment feedback. An indicator on the student Overview page now displays whether a student has reviewed the feedback for a given assessment.

When a grade is posted, the indicator includes a label of Not reviewed with the existing Completed label in the Status column. When the student reviews the feedback, the status updates to Reviewed with a review timestamp.

If the new grade indicator is reset for the assessment, such as when a grade is updated or if the assessment has multiple attempts, the timestamp updates when the student reviews the feedback again. If all attempts are deleted, the Not reviewed or Reviewed label is removed.

Image 1: Instructor Gradebook view has “Reviewed“ and “Not Reviewed“ labels in the Status column. 
Image 1: Instructor Gradebook view has Reviewed and Not Reviewed labels in the Status column.

Administrators  
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses  
Activation: None needed  
Configuration: None needed

2. Instructional Design - Content Designer: Print Document

Impact: Instructors and Students

Instructors and students can now print Documents or save them as a PDF, providing more ways to engage with content. This new option allows users to: 

  • Review content offline
  • Share content with students or peers
  • Physically archive content 

To print a Document, select Print. Use the browser’s print options to select the following: 

  • A printer or the PDF option
  • The page range
  • The layout

When printing from a mobile device, the Document prints as displayed on a desktop web browser. 

Depending on the size of some content (for example, images), items may shift to the next page depending on the page layout and scale. 

Instructors  

  • Knowledge check blocks print with all the question and answer options
  • All other blocks print as displayed outside of editing mode

Students  

  • Knowledge check blocks appear in the same way as they do on the Document page when the student chooses to print
    • If a student hasn’t answered a knowledge check, the block prints as unanswered
    • If a student has answered the knowledge check, the block prints as displayed along with any instructor feedback

Image 1. The new Print button for Documents is now available for students. 
Image 1. The new Print button for Documents is now available for students.

Administrators   
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses  
Activation: None needed  
Configuration: None needed

3. Instructional Design - Learning Object Repository

Impact: Instructors and Administrators

The new Learning Object Repository is an institutional repository designed to centralize resources across courses and organizations. Administrators can upload objects to the Learning Object Repository for instructors to copy into their courses. 

  • Updates to objects in the Learning Object Repository are automatically applied to all associated courses and organizations, saving instructors time and maintaining consistency.
    • Changes aren’t applied to courses that are marked complete or with an end date/term end date in the past.
    • Only the title, body, and description are synced for objects in the Learning Object Repository. All other settings are set to the default. For example, if the object is set to Visible in the Learning Object Repository, the object will default to Visible in every course. Instructors can override settings unrelated to title, body, and description if they have the associated permissions.
    • For students who were marked incomplete and need to regain access to a course, we recommend extending the student's enrollment date instead of the course enrollment date. Extending the student's enrollment date prevents changes to course objects from the Learning Object Repository when objects are updated. 

This is the initial release of the Learning Object Repository. The capabilities of this release are best suited to reusing institutional content. Program or department uses will be better suited to future planned updates. 

Good candidates for objects to keep in the Learning Object Repository include: 

  • Technology requirements
  • AI policies
  • Course etiquette
  • Academic integrity policies 

At this time, only Documents are available for the Learning Object Repository. File uploads are coming in a future update. We'll add other objects in future releases. Administrators can access the Learning Object Repository through the Tools page in Blackboard. 

Image 1. The new button for the Learning Object Repository is on the Tools page. 
Image 1. The new button for the Learning Object Repository is on the Tools page.

Managing objects   
By default, users with the System Administrator (Z) role are the only users who have access to the Learning Object Repository to manage objects. To create a custom role or give someone access to the Learning Object Repository, users must be granted the following system privileges:

  • Individuals with this privilege can view the Learning Object Repository from the Tools page
  • Individuals with this privilege can create, edit, and delete objects in the Learning Object Repository
  • Individuals with this privilege can insert objects from the Learning Object Repository into courses and organizations 

Inserting objects   
By default, users with the Instructor, Course Builder, or System Administration roles are the only users who can insert objects from the Learning Object Repository into a course or organization. To give a user access to insert objects from the Learning Object Repository, administrators must grant the following privileges: 

  • Course/Organization (Content Areas) > Create Materials
  • Individuals with this privilege can insert objects from the Learning Object Repository into courses and organizations

Instructors   
Instructors access the Learning Object Repository through the More options menu on the Course Content page. Instructors can copy an object from the Learning Object Repository, but certain attributes are locked down. For example, instructors are locked out from editing the title, description, and body of a Document. 

Image 2. Instructors hover over the Information button to be informed that a Document is managed by their institution, and they have no editing privileges. 
Image 2. Instructors hover over the Information button to be informed that a Document is managed by their institution, and they have no editing privileges.

Administrator   
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses  
Activation: None needed  
Configuration: Access to the Learning Object Repository is controlled by privileges. Instructor and Course Builder roles have access to the Learning Object Repository by default. Administrators may want to remove those privileges until their institution is ready to use the Learning Object Repository

4. Instructional Design - Copy Objects into the Learning Object Repository

Impact: Administrators

Administrators can copy objects to the new Learning Object Repository. Many institutions already have objects that are candidates for this repository, such as institutional policies, support information, technology requirements, and more. This feature allows administrators to copy existing objects directly into the Learning Object Repository, removing the need to create new objects from scratch and saving valuable time. To access the Learning Object Repository, select the Learning Object Repository button on the Tools page. To copy items, select the More options menu. 

At this time, administrators can copy only Documents into the Learning Object Repository. We’re adding file uploads in a future release. 

Image 1. The option to copy items is in the “More options” menu of the Learning Object Repository. 
Image 1. The option to copy items is in the “More options” menu of the Learning Object Repository.

Administrators  
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses  
Activation: None needed  
Configuration: Access to the Learning Object Repository is controlled by privileges. Instructor and Course Builder roles have access to the Learning Object Repository by default. Administrators may want to remove those privileges until their institution is ready to use the Learning Object Repository

5. Mastery Learning and Learning Pathways - Achievements in Course Copies

Impact: Instructors and Administrators 

Instructors  
Achievements are now included with course copies. Previously, instructors had to create new Achievements for each course. Copying Achievements has multiple benefits: 

  • Saves instructors valuable time
  • Helps instructors provide students with a more engaging educational experience
  • Standardizes the use of Achievements between courses 

Achievements can only be copied with whole course copies. Achievements can't be copied in a granular copy where content is selected individually. 

Achievements carried over with course copies also includes badges from Anthology® Milestone. 

Administrators  
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses  
Activation: None needed  
Configuration: None needed

Explore these updates and more in the full Blackboard 3900.114 release notes.

Topics: LMS