The Ultra Course View is clean, modern, easy-to-use, and powerful, but it is also significantly different from the Original Course View. Before switching a course to the Ultra Course View, we recommend experimenting with using a Shell.
We strongly discourage previewing or converting your Course from Original Course View to Ultra Course View after it has begun. It is possible that student submissions to the Discussion Board, Assignments, Tests, Blogs, Wikis, and Journals may be lost in the process. It can also cause confusion for your students when the course structure changes suddenly.
A Shell is identical to a Course, but it is not connected to a scheduled course in MyNIU. Shells allow faculty to develop course materials in Blackboard without affecting the Course that students can access.
To request a Shell:
Return to your Courses list to find and access your Shell.
Once you have requested your Shell, you can use Course Copy to copy an existing course into the Shell, and then convert it to the Ultra Course View to see how an existing course would look and function. To try building a new course, request a Shell, then convert it to the Ultra Course View while it is still empty.
815-753-8100
servicedesk@niu.edu