Course Requests Open in SPIRE
Summer and Fall 2023 course requests are currently available in SPIRE for Moodle, Blackboard, and Canvas.
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:
As part of a multi-year process the campus will be moving to a single LMS – Canvas. You can request a Canvas course instead of a Blackboard course in SPIRE. Some useful information for making this decision:
The IDEAS Team is running series of webinars to introduce Canvas and give you hands-on experience and practice.
All instructors have access to a Canvas Sandbox course and Canvas Training and Resources Course.
Instructors can request concierge migration services of their courses from Blackboard to Canvas for Fall 2023. Requests for migration close Friday, June 16, 2023 for Fall courses.
Blackboard Student Assignment Submission Page Update
The student assignment submission page has been updated to reduce confusion and easier for students to navigate. The new submission page is separated into three distinct sections (Instructions, Submission, Assignment Information) with three submission actions they can perform: Create Submission, Upload Files, and Add Comments.
Blackboard Tip of the Month: Anonymous Grading for Student Assignments
Did you know that there are options for Assignments in Blackboard to prevent a grader from seeing the names of students until after they are graded? Anonymous grading in Blackboard allows graders in your course to grade assignment submissions without seeing the names of students attached to the submissions. Instead, randomly generated participant numbers are displayed when grading submissions. After grading, graders reveal student names and release grades to students.
Planned downtimes
There are no planned downtimes for Blackboard this month.
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.