Blackboard recently released a fairly detailed development roadmap. Below are links and details some of the newest feature improvements added to Blackboard Ultra web conferencing, as well as a short list of features under development or in early planning stages.
To keep up on all recent updates and bug fixes for Blackboard Ultra, see the Blackboard Ultra Release Notes and Known Issues web page.
Recent April/May/June 2017 Updates and Additions:
- Detachable Participants panel allows session attendees the ability to view the Chat channel at the same time
- View Chat in session recordings and navigation by chat message
- Private Chat
- Firefox WebRTC native support (no more flash needed for Firefox!)
- Support up to 500 concurrent participants in a session
- Real-time feedback via Set Status and Feedback feature as part of My Settings
- Brief in-session tutorial via the Tell me about Collaborate option in the Session menu (hamburger option in upper left)
In Beta Testing (unknown release date):
- Instructor mobile experience
- Support up to 1,000 concurrent participants in a session (requires notification to the vendor to ensure necessary service capacity)
Features in Development (unknown release date):
- Private chat – individual and group
- Telephone-only access to sessions
- Timer
- Dynamic bandwidth adaptation to improve user experience
In early Research & Design Planning:
- Whiteboard improvements: persistent annotations, ability to save, multiple whiteboards, share with breakout group
- Display videos as content
- Accessibility improvements: sign language interpreter, caption recordings post-session
- Learning analytics
- Basic editing of recordings
- MS Edge WebRTC support