Scheduled Maintenance – Blackboard Collaborate Ultra 12th August

Blackboard Collaborate has advised us that there will be scheduled maintenance taking place on Thursday, August 12tth, between midnight and 4 am. During this time, users will experience intermittent availability. The purpose of the maintenance is to update Collaborate to version 21.14. You can read about improvements to functionality on the Collaborate Release Notes page.

During the maintenance, you can check Blackboard’s service status page.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any questions, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

Please check the IT service status page to see how the University’s systems and services are working and for planned maintenance information.

Scheduled Maintenance – Blackboard Collaborate Ultra 8th July

Blackboard Collaborate has advised us that there will be scheduled maintenance taking place on Thursday, July 8th, between midnight and 4 am. During this time, users will experience intermittent availability. The purpose of the maintenance is to update Collaborate to version 21.12.

During the maintenance, you can check Blackboard’s service status page.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any questions, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

Please check the IT service status page to see how the University’s systems and services are working and for planned maintenance information.

Scheduled Maintenance – Blackboard Collaborate Ultra 10th June

Blackboard Collaborate has advised us that there will be scheduled maintenance taking place on Thursday, June 10th, between midnight and 4 am. During this time, users will experience intermittent availability. The purpose of the maintenance is to bring improvements to mobile use of Collaborate.

During the maintenance, you can check Blackboard’s service status page.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any questions, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

Please check the IT service status page to see how the University’s systems and services are working and for planned maintenance information.

My Re/Play connection issues – 21 May

Further to yesterday’s post about connectivity issues to My Re/Play via Blackboard, we have added a temporary link for staff to access their Re/Play materials onto the My Re/Play tab.  

When you click on the My Re/Play tab, you will now see a link which should give access to Mediasite (the software for Re/Play).  

If prompted to, click on the grey ‘Authenticate’ button. You will be taken to the University’s Single Sign On page where you can log on using your normal UoB credentials. Once you have located the presentation you wish to share, click the ‘title’, then ‘share presentation’ and then the green ‘copy’ button next to ‘quick link’. You can then share this via email or as a direct link in Blackboard. 

We are working with Blackboard and Mediasite to fix this issue and will provide updates via this blog. 

Improvements to Collaborate Ultra video gallery

Collaborate A preview of the improved video gallery.Ultra has recently been updated to provide a richer video gallery. Three new views are available:

  • Gallery – displaying 25 attendees, with arrows allowing scrollable pages for larger groups.
  • Speaker – current speaker displayed as a large window at the top with other users as smaller windows below.
  • Tiled – current speaker displayed as a large window to the left with smaller windows for other users to the right.

In addition to the visual improvements, Moderators can select an individual attendee’s video or avatar window, to change their role or send them a message.

The new gallery is currently only active for Moderators and Presenters but will be rolled out to students soon.

You can read advice and guidance on using the new video gallery and views here: https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Moderator/Moderate_Sessions/Video

 

Xerte upgrade and downtime Wednesday 14th April

IT Services will be upgrading Xerte to version 3.9 between 8am and 1pm on Wednesday 14th April. During this time Xerte resources will be unavailable to staff and students.

This upgrade brings security updates, and improved functionality including:

  • Accessibility enhancements
  • Stand-Alone pages
  • Page enhancements
  • Media sub-folders

We will blog again when Xerte is available for staff and students.

 

Scheduled Maintenance – Blackboard Collaborate Ultra 8th April

Blackboard Collaborate has advised us that there will be scheduled maintenance taking place on Thursday, April 8th, between midnight and 4 am. During this time, users will experience intermittent availability. The purpose of the maintenance is to update Collaborate to the latest version. The new version will provide an improved video gallery for instructors.

During the maintenance, you can check Blackboard’s service status page.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any questions, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

Please check the IT service status page to see how the University’s systems and services are working and for planned maintenance information.

Issues with File Upload in Blackboard Collaborate

We are aware of an ongoing issue with the File Upload function in Collaborate. The issue presents as uploaded files failing to convert after an extended period.

We have reported this problem and can confirm Blackboard are currently investigating.

In the meantime, you can use the Share Content > Share Application/Screen function and choose either Share Entire Screen or Share Application options during your session.

We apologise for any inconvenience and will update here as soon as the issue has been fixed.