Blackboard’s Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered tools are designed to enhance teaching and learning with meaningful educational value. Key features like the AI Design Assistant and AI Conversation Tools work together to create more engaging, responsive, and impactful learning experiences.

AI Design Assistant

Blackboard Ultra’s new AI features revolve around the AI Design Assistant, which streamlines course creation and content generation. These features include tools for generating learning modules, rubrics, test questions, assignment prompts, and images.

Course Structure Suggestions

Create outlines for course modules, providing titles, descriptions, and suggested images.

Connecting wooden gears link three horizontal blocks on a green background, symbolizing teamwork and collaboration. The scene is organized and harmonious.

Rubric Generation

Generate rubrics for assignments, ensuring fairness and consistency in grading.

A robotic hand and human finger touch a glowing Earth, symbolizing technology and connection. A checklist icon overlays the globe; the background is a digital blue.

Assessment Creation

Generate test questions, assignment prompts, and discussion prompts based on course content.

Three emoji faces on a peach background: red sad face, yellow neutral face, and a blue happy face being picked up, conveying varied emotions.

Image Generation

Generate course banners and learning module images based on descriptions.

A silhouette of a person in profile against a gradient blue background, overlaid with digital data and images, suggesting technology and innovation.

Content Generation

Generate content for assignments, discussions, and journals for idea generation and to save time and effort.

A hand reaches towards a glowing microchip labeled "Generative AI," set against a dark circuit board background. The scene conveys technology and innovation.

Auto-Generated Modules

Suggest a list of modules with titles, descriptions, and images.

A woman in a blue blazer interacts with a virtual touch interface, smiling confidently. Transparent rectangular icons float in front of a dark background.

AI Conversations

The new AI Conversations tool, built into Blackboard Ultra, is designed to facilitate deeper learning through interactive dialogues that simulate those conversations which may take place in personal, academic, and professional contexts. From a subject perspective, it provides faculty with the opportunity to create AI-driven conversations around discipline-related topics or scenarios, encouraging students to engage in critical thinking and reflective learning across a wide variety of pedagogical contexts.

Role-Playing

Allows you to create simulated conversations and scenarios for students to enhance learning through practice.

A focused man works at a computer with code and a digital brain image on dual screens. Colleagues in the background add a collaborative vibe.

Socratic Questioning

Engages students in Socratic dialogue, prompting them to think critically and explore concepts in depth.

A woman with glasses focuses intently on a laptop, surrounded by virtual screens displaying AI and neural network graphics, conveying a futuristic tech vibe.

Reflection Prompts

Prompts students to reflect on their experience, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and potential biases.

A man with glasses and a contemplative expression works on a laptop. He wears a brown shirt, with modern office lighting in the background.

Instructor Review

Allows instructors to review conversation transcripts and student reflections to assess understanding and provide feedback.

A woman with brown curly hair, wearing glasses and a vest, uses a smartphone while smiling at a laptop. She is seated in a cozy, rustic cafe.

Pedagogical Benefits

 

Building powerful, learner-centered experiences for the modern workforce

The integration of the AI Design Assistant into the course-building workflow has significantly streamlined the instructional design process. By automating routine tasks—such as content generation, rubric creation, and question formulation, instructors, instructional designers, and subject matter experts can now focus more deeply on pedagogical intent, which reduces course development time and ensures that learning experiences are aligned with cognitive and affective learning objectives.

 

Fostering more dynamic and personalized learning experiences for students

Three students in Sargent College focus on using a stationary bike in a course context. One rides, while the others observe, one with a notepad, conveying teamwork and concentration. AI-supported instruction fosters more dynamic and personalized learning by offloading routine course tasks, allowing educators to focus on pedagogy. With foundational elements managed by AI, instructors can design authentic, context-rich learning experiences that mirror real-world challenges and cultivate higher-order thinking. The time reclaimed can be strategically invested in developing adaptive learning pathways, embedding formative assessment, and implementing active learning strategies that deepen student engagement and support meaningful learning outcomes.

    Now that you’ve learned a little bit about AI in Ultra, check out more key features of Blackboard Ultra!

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