Xerte upgrade and downtime 27th April

Xerte Upgrade Monday 27th April

Following recent advice from the Xerte Development Team, IT Services will be upgrading Xerte to version 3.8.5 between 8am and 4pm on Monday 27th April.

This upgrade contains important and essential security updates. We apologise for the late notice and timing; however, the upgrade is essential to ensure Xerte remains a safe and secure tool for staff and students.

In addition to the security improvements, this upgrade will bring us up to the most recent version and brings the following benefits:

  • New page types including ‘Text Correction’.
  • Sub-templates and Learning Designs.
  • Improved tracking of Project Plays.
  • Improved and accessible Hotspots.
  • Better integration with Mediasite (Re/Play) video content in Media Lessons.
  • Improved Display Modes.
  • Improved accessibility.
  • Improved Audio Player

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

Turnitin service disruption: 19th April and 20th April

Please be aware that Turnitin encountered two service disruptions on the 19th and 20th of April. The details and times these issues occurred can be found below.

19th April: BST 01:30 – 05:50

Users may have experienced issues with uploading and viewing submissions.

20th April: BST 17:00 – 18:45

Users may have experienced slow log in and uploading times.

Both these issues have now been resolved. Please see the Turnitin Status page for more information.

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

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.

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.