The issue causing the Turnitin service disruption earlier today has been resolved. This lasted from 10.41 to 11.49, and may have led to you being unable to view Similarity Reports. Please accept our apologies for any disruption caused.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Blackboard Ally Scheduled Maintenance – January 12th 2020
Please note that Blackboard Ally will be unavailable Sunday 12th January between 11am and 1pm. During this time Instructor Feedback and Alternative Formats will be unavailable.
Important update for Mac and Re/Play Desktop Recorder users.
In the autumn Apple are releasing the latest version of their operating system ‘Catalina’ as part of this release they are withdrawing support for 32bit applications. At the current time the Re/Play Desktop recorder is one of these applications. We have been informed by the supplier that they are developing a new version and this should be with us by the end of TB1.
In the interim we would advise staff to not update the operating system until this is release if they wish to use the Desktop Recorder. If you have any questions please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk
Blackboard upgrade completed, 30 July 9am
The Blackboard upgrade has been completed ahead of schedule, and Blackboard is available again now. The Digital Education Office has tested all key functionality, and is continuing with further in-depth testing.
If you come across anything that isn’t behaving as you expect it to, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.
Further details of the upgrade, and other DEO developments, can be found on our website.
Reminder – Blackboard will be unavailable 7 pm 29 July 2019 up to noon Tuesday 30 July
The Blackboard upgrade will start at 7 pm Monday 29 July 2019. Blackboard will be unavailable up to midday on Tuesday 30 July. We will announce completion of the upgrade through this blog.
Blackboard Upgrade and Course Rollover 2019
Blackboard Upgrade
The Digital Education Office will be upgrading Blackboard from 7pm on Monday 29th July 2019. Blackboard will be unavailable until midday on Tuesday 30th July.
This update brings general improvements to Blackboard, including audio/video feedback for submissions. Keep an eye on the blog for updates.
Course Rollover
Course rollover and new course creation for 2019/20 will take place on Monday 5th August 2019. Blackboard will continue to be available as normal during this process. Staff enrolments will roll over from 2018/19 or 2017/18 courses as applicable. For any issues with new course enrolments, please contact your school admin team in the first instance.
Chance to try a new Blackboard tool to upload digital feedback for your students
If you are interested in marking offline eg using Word, would you like to try out a new tool which allows the upload of feedback for a whole cohort or for groups of students? The Digital Education Office is running our third hands on session on the 22nd May where you can have a go. The session will be suitable for markers or administrators who support marking.
Book online to attend a session
Alternatively we will also be running a Webinar demonstration/Q&A on the 24th May. This session will be recorded.
Book online to attend the Webinar
More information on the tool
In order to better support markers who mark offline, the Digital Education Office has been working with Blackboard on development of a tool which allows Instructors to:
- batch download assignments, including by group (eg if you are marking a subset of students within a unit)
- mark offline eg annotating an assignment or completing a separate feedback sheet in Word
- batch upload marks and feedback files.
This video provides an overview of how the tool works. Please note that currently the tool can only be used where students have submitted an assignment in Blackboard.
Try a new Blackboard tool to upload digital feedback for your students
If you are interested in marking offline eg using Word, would you like to try out a new tool which allows the upload of feedback for a whole cohort or for groups of students? The Digital Education Office is running three short hands-on sessions where you can have a go. The sessions are suitable for markers or administrators who support marking.
Book online to attend a session
More information on the tool
In order to better support markers who mark offline, the Digital Education Office has been working with Blackboard on development of a tool which allows Instructors to:
- batch download assignments, including by group (eg if you are marking a subset of students within a unit)
- mark offline eg annotating an assignment or completing a separate feedback sheet in Word
- batch upload marks and feedback files.
This video provides an overview of how the tool works. Please note that currently the tool can only be used where students have submitted an assignment in Blackboard.
If you have any queries please contact the Digital Education Office.
Turnitin is available again
Turnitin is now available again. The system suffered an outage between 14:52 – 07:06 GMT on Feb 15-16, 2019 due to an unexpected database issue. Users will not have been able to submit or mark during that time.
Digital Education Office Unavailable Friday 14th December 2018
Due to an Education Services festive event, the Digital Education Office will be unavailable on Friday 14th December. Please email Digital-Education as usual and we will respond as soon as possible. If you experience urgent problems during this time (for example, a service is unavailable), please contact the Service Desk on (0117 92) 87870.