Resource Lists (Talis Aspire Reading Lists) update

Detailed instructions about how to create new Resource List links in Blackboard Original courses, using the updated Talis Aspire tool, can now be found on the Library website (support guide 5: “Publishing and sharing your list”), alongside contextual information on creating and managing the lists themselves. If you need support with updating your links, or with Resource Lists in general, please contact lib-resource-lists@bristol.ac.uk, including the unit code and name of your unit in the message.

To create new Resource List links in Blackboard Ultra courses, please follow the DEO guidance.

The old links are still working, allowing you to refer to these while creating your new links, but will stop working by the end of September, so please create the new links as soon as possible. Note that the Resource Lists themselves do not need to be updated – these will still work fine – it’s only the links to the Lists from inside Blackboard that need updating. Any links created by the old method, such as those copied from a previous year’s course, should be deleted once the new links have been created.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.

Talis Aspire Reading Lists changes

As part of the improvements to the ways other tools are integrated with Blackboard, the Talis Aspire Reading Lists integration has been upgraded, so the links in this coming year’s Blackboard courses to Talis Aspire Reading Lists (or Resource Lists) will need to be updated accordingly. Note that the Talis Lists themselves do not need to be updated – these will still work fine – it’s only the links to the Lists from inside Blackboard that need updating. Unfortunately, there is no way to automatically convert the old links to the new format, so the links will need to be re-added, following our guidance. Any links created by the old method, such as those copied from a previous year’s course, should be deleted.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.

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

Service Improvements from the DEO

Each year, the Digital Education Office delivers a plan of work on our digital education environments and systems. This plan includes any significant system changes or software upgrades, but also includes more minor changes to systems and processes, ensuring everything works well for the next academic year.

We have updated the Service Improvements page, documenting and advertising completed work and letting you know what to expect in terms of improvements before the start of term. Any major changes will also have been announced via other channels, such as this blog and the staff bulletins.

Important update on marks extract from Blackboard to eVision/SITS

We are currently working on enhancing the marks extraction tool that transfers marks from Blackboard to eVision/SITS. During this time, you might encounter issues with transferring marks for assessments that have due dates/times. We are actively working with our service provider (Anthology) on resolving these problems and expect to have them fixed by September 6. Marks for assessments with a due date/time that need to be transferred out of Blackboard before September 6 should be manually entered into eVision/SITS.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

If you have any queries, please contact digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

DEO drop-ins and webinars for staff

To support you in teaching and assessment online, the DEO is continuing to run daily drop-ins as well as subject-specific webinars for colleagues who teach or support teaching.  These can be found by logging into Develop and using the topic “Learning and Teaching” or by entering “Digital Education Office”  in the search box.  Alternatively, if you are interested in a specific course simply enter the name in the search box.

Upcoming sessions include:

  • Blackboard basics
  • Re/Play: managing video content
  • Turnitin for administrators

We also run a number of self-paced courses.  These include:

  • Digitally Ready for administrative staff
  • Mentimeter – learn how to engage your audience and create exciting presentations
  • Multiple Choice Questions: principles and practice
  • Multiple Choice Tests in Blackboard: uses, ideas and hands-on practice

You can find details on how to access drop-ins on our Events page.

If you have any queries, please contact digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

SafeAssign Maintenance, Monday 26 August

On Monday, 26 August, between 10:00 and 13:00, SafeAssign will undergo a maintenance update.

SafeAssign users may experience disruptions for up to two hours while the service is temporarily unavailable. Once the maintenance is complete, Blackboard submissions using SafeAssign will be processed with a delay. However, no data loss is expected.

This downtime is necessary for a backend infrastructure update as SafeAssign transitions to a new system.

If you have any questions about this update, please refer to the Blackboard status page, or email us at digital.education@bristol.ac.uk.

 

[Resolved] Turnitin AI detection interruption of service

Earlier this month, we discovered that some AI writing detection reports in Turnitin had not been generated. Upon investigation, Turnitin confirmed that this was due to an error at their end, and that the issue occurred between 31 July and 5 August.

Today, Turnitin engineers reported that they have regenerated the AI reports for submissions made during that period.

We have spot checked some of the affected submission points and can confirm that the AI reports have now been successfully generated.

We apologise for the inconvenience caused and are grateful for your patience while we were working to resolve this issue. If you have any queries, please contact digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

[Resolved] Turnitin service incident, 9 August

The service has now been restored.

Between 7 August at 21:00 and 9 August at 17:15, Feedback Studio users may have experienced intermittent access to Similarity Reports, encountered issues with downloading copies of the reports and/or digital receipts, or noticed that Similarity Reports were stuck in processing. Further information is available on the Turnitin status page.

If you have any concerns or questions, please contact us at digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

[Closed] Turnitin service incident, 9 August

Turnitin has informed us that the Feedback Studio is currently experiencing an unexpected service incident.

During this time, users may intermittently find that Similarity Reports are stuck processing or encounter issues when attempting to download a copy of a Similarity Report and/or digital receipt.

Further information is available on the Turnitin status page.

If you have any concerns or questions, please contact us by emailing digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.