Online Campus Faculty News

In our May 2025 edition of Online Campus News You Can Use, we advise you of important tool updates, tasks, and upcoming events to help faculty deliver high quality online instruction.
 

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Blackboard Ultra Updates
The following new features and fixes will be available with our update to version 3900.116 by May 3, 2025.

Update YuJa Software Capture
If you use YuJa Software Capture on a Mac or PC, be sure to update it to the latest version for best performance.
Cengage Partner Cloud Migration to LTIA

Cengage Partner Cloud Migration Coming May 29th
The Cengage Partner Cloud tool will be removed from Blackboard after the Spring 2025 term. We’ve recommended switching to the new Cengage Content Tool before the semester started, and we thank you for preparing for this change. On May 29, 2025 6:00 PM CDT, Online Learning will migrate any remaining Cengage Partner Cloud links in Blackboard to the Cengage Content Tool. We’ve identified the courses that will be affected and will be sending out more details to those faculty members soon. We expect the transition to be seamless with minimal next steps for faculty.
 
Delay adding Cengage materials to your Summer 2025 Blackboard sections until after June 1, 2025 to ensure a smooth transition. 
Collaborate Maintenance Coming Soon

Class for Web Collaborate Maintenance Coming June 2nd
Recordings of Class for Web virtual meetings created before December 1, 2024 will be deleted from the Collaborate server on June 2, 8:00 AM CDT. This is necessary to maintain the tool's availability. Recordings are automatically backed up to your YuJa media library through the Collaborate Connector. To preserve recordings that are not already in your YuJa library, transfer them to YuJa before June 2, 2025. If you need assistance, refer to our walk-through instructions and demonstration videos.

Blackboard Login Page Updates Coming June 6th
By June 6th, MATC’s Online Learning and IT teams will update the Blackboard login page. After the update, you’ll log in using your full MATC email address—just like you do for the MyMATC Portal. This change makes logging in easier and more consistent across MATC systems. More information will be announced as we get closer to this date.
Career Essentials Assessment Tips

Career Essentials Assessment Update for June 2025
Based on faculty feedback and survey data shared with MATC’s Professional Learning Communities, all Summer 2025 Blackboard course shells will include a Career Essentials Folder. This folder will provide resources and assessment templates to introduce, reinforce, and assess Career Essentials skills. Check with your department and Course Outcome Summary in WIDS to identify which Career Essential skill and assessment type applies to your course.
  • Introduce and Practice Reflection (NEW!)  - This is an ungraded survey for students to share how they are learning and applying Career Essentials skills in your course. Use this to collect formative feedback to support how you introduce and reinforce Career Essentials. No goal or rubric alignment occurs with this assessment.

  • Career Essentials Assessment - This is a dynamic graded assignment that you will align to a goal and rubric. Use this to assess student mastery of a specific Career Essentials skill. This assessment's scores are automatically collected in analytical reports every 24 hours and sent to Institutional Research.

Carefully read the faculty instructions in your shell's Career Essentials Folder for guidance on preparing students for the assessment and customizing settings as needed. For additional information about Career Essentials, see the Career Essentials FAQ.

AI Literacy Essentials For Students Micro-Credential
AI Literacy Essentials For Students: A Micro-Credential For Maximum Impact is a comprehensive six-part micro-credential series designed to equip college students with a fundamental understanding and practical knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This program covers everything from basic concepts and ethical considerations to the application of AI tools in academic and professional settings. Each 15-minute session is tailored to enhance students' AI literacy, preparing you for both academic success and future career challenges. Available through our Online Orientation's Student Success Workshops page. 
 

Upcoming Special Events

Anthology Innovative Educator Series

Anthology's Blackboard Modernization Webinars
Join experts from Anthology to discuss key topics in designing high-impact courses. Click the links to register for free upcoming sessions available May through June!

Anthology's Innovative Educator Webinars
Revolutionize your teaching with cutting-edge strategies and technologies. Sessions are live and recorded for on-demand viewing.

Training for Teaching Online in Summer 2025
To teach online, blended, virtual, hybrid, or hyflex courses, instructors must complete Introduction to Blackboard Ultra (ZERD-190), Online Instructional Quality (ZERD-219), and meet the 21st Century Classroom Level 2 standards. See our Summer & Fall 2025 Training Schedule. Open Registration for Summer 2025 in Self-Service has started. Watch our demonstration video to learn how to register. For help, email register@matc.edu.

Ultra Support

Faculty Resources
For one on one consultation regarding the use of Blackboard to design and deliver courses that meet MATC's 2st Century Classroom Standards, contact your faculty coach in the Center for Teaching Excellence or schedule an appointment with Online Learning's Faculty Liaisons. For high-level troubleshooting of errors or activity that requires investigation, Contact the Online Learning. A Blackboard administrator will be in contact with you.
 
For self-directed or just-in-time training on Blackboard Ultra or other educational technologies, see these resources:

Student Resources - Share with Your Students!
See our Staff Resources Guide to Blackboard Ultra to review the training and support options we provide to students. In addition to options for live and self-paced online learning orientations, students can access support through the Student Online Learning Support Site.
 
Share our self-paced Online Readiness module and live orientation webinar schedule with your students to help them learn about the tools, tasks, and strategies to start their studies strong. If you share the Online Readiness module as a link in your course, use this specific URL: https://www.go2orientation.com/learn/course/matc-online-readiness?client=matc. This will take the student to an MATC login page where the student will log in with their MATC network account!
Online Readiness Module
Log into the Online Orientation with an MATC network account to access a self-paced overview of the tools and processes successful online students use in their classes.
Student Success Workshops
When logged into the Online Orientation, click on the Student Success Workshops link for on-demand training on generative AI, study skills, life skills, and more!
Student Blackboard Orientations
RSVP to join a Google Meet session lead by experts in the Online Campus. These sessions are perfect for viewing a live demonstration of Blackboard navigation and asking questions.

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Online Campus
Milwaukee Area Technical College
onlinelearning@matc.edu
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