Course Requests Open in SPIRE
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 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.
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.