Fall 2023 Course Requests Open in SPIRE Wednesday, April 19
Fall 2023 course requests open in SPIRE on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.
Summer 2023 course requests are currently available in SPIRE, so you can get an early start on your course building.
If you have not done so already, you can still request your Spring Blackboard courses in SPIRE as well. Don’t forget that each semester you will need to request Blackboard for the courses you are teaching.
For detailed instructions, see:
Blackboard Tip of the Month: Use Group Assignments to Streamline Grading
Did you know the Group tool in Blackboard can be used for more than just Assignments? The Group tool allows an instructor to split students in multiple smaller sections to do things like facilitate peer-to-peer instruction in forums, collaborate on Wikis, and more.
Planned downtimes
There are no planned downtimes for Blackboard in March 2023.
You can check the status of Blackboard, Zoom, and other supported teaching technologies on the IT Services Status for Remote Teaching and Learning page.
Blackboard help and resources for instructors
To learn more about Blackboard or to get help, you can:
- Review our Blackboard Support Articles.
- Contact the Instructional Media Lab (instruct@umass.edu) with a question, or to set up a time for a one-on-one consultation.
- Join our Instructor Support Zoom room Monday-Friday between 10am and 3pm to meet with a staff member. Please note that wait times depend on the volume of requests.
- Contact the 24/7 Blackboard Helpdesk. The helpdesk can also assist students directly.