The issue with Blackboard Assist has been rectified and the service is now functioning correctly.

If you have any questions, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

We are aware that the Blackboard menu item “Assist” is currently unavailable, we are working with Blackboard to rectify this issue as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

Due to an upcoming depreciation of the current mode of creating a link to Talis Reading lists we will be upgrading to the Talis Aspire Reading List LTI in the week commencing 29th Jan. This will involve a slight change in the way you set up and access the reading lists within your course.

Currently you can add a reading list as a tool link within the course menu or as an item link within the content area, both with the link title “Resource List” These two options will continue but with a change of title to “Talis Aspire Reading List”. The content area link will move from the content Tools menu to the Build Content menu.

The current content area links

The updated content area link.

All existing resource links will continue to work once we have moved to the LTI connection.

If you have any questions, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

Blackboard has a scheduled Amazon Web Services maintenance window on Tuesday, 12 December, starting at 1 am GMT, with a duration of 1 hour. During this window, there is a possibility the Blackboard home page may be unavailable and users may see a “503 Service Temporary Unavailable” error message.

If you have any questions, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

Changes to the way you access McGraw Hill content.
Due to McGraw Hill upgrading the integration between Blackboard and their content we will be upgrading to LTI Advantage in the week commmencing 6th Nov. There will be a slight change to the way you have to set up and access the McGraw Hill content within your course.

Currently there are a couple of ways to add/enable content from McGraw Hill, but this will be changing to a single link which will be visible via the Build Content menu.

McGraw Hill LTIA link example

With the upgrading of the integration come the following:

• Users will be able to access the tool from the Build Content menu rather than the Partner Content menu or Tools menu. Users will no longer have to create an account as this will be automatic for new users.
• Consistent LMS integration functionality for McGraw Hill Connect®, which includes single sign-on (SSO), assignment-level linking, and gradebook sync (no more manual syncing!)
• Easier setup for both students and faculty
• Improved Connect grade sync functionality with re-sync at student and assignment level and automatic ‘0’ after due date
• Meets industry-wide standards and roadmap for easier updates to stay current with the latest technology

Current users will be aided in pairing McGraw Hill content by representatives from McGraw Hill, who  will provide documentation for students accessing Connect from Blackboard.