No, this will not be possible. Ultra courses will be created afresh with a simple templated structure (similar to the current Original templates) and it will not be possible to convert or copy existing Original courses directly into new Ultra courses.
Ultra courses can, however, be easily copied into other Ultra courses, so once you have populated your new Ultra course(s) with content and activities you will be able to copy them across into the following year's Ultra course.
Because it won't be possible to automatically convert Original courses to Ultra courses, Ultra courses will be created some time before they are required. For example, during the spring term of the 2020/21 academic year we plan to create Ultra development courses for all Level 4 and Foundation modules being taught from September 2021.
NILE module-level and programme-level courses will be created as Original or Ultra courses according to the following UMT approved timeline:
| Undergraduate NILE Sites | Postgraduate NILE Sites | Programme NILE Sites | ||||
| For delivery to students in: | Level 4 & Foundation Modules |
Level 5 Modules | Level 6 Modules | Level 7 Modules | Level 8 Modules | Programme Sites |
| 2020/21 Academic Year | Original | Original | Original | Original | Original | Original |
| 2021/22 Academic Year | Ultra | Original | Original | Original | Original | Original |
| 2022/23 Academic Year | Ultra | Ultra | Original | Original | Original | Original |
| 2023/24 Academic Year | Ultra | Ultra | Ultra | Ultra | Ultra | Ultra |
No, you don't need to do anything. NILE module-level and programme-level courses will be created as Original or Ultra courses automatically based on the timeline approved by UMT.
Yes. We have put a complete Ultra course together as an example of what such a course might look like. All staff have been enrolled on this course, and you will be able to find it in the Organisations section of the NILE main menu. If you have a lot of NILE organisations you can find it quickly by using the search box. The full title of the organisation in 'CRIT101_ULTRA: Blackboard Ultra Demonstration Course (CRIT101: Critical Thinking - A Practical Introduction)'
If for any reason you have not been enrolled on the course and would like to be, please use the following form to request this.
Yes. All academic staff have access to their own Ultra organisation that can be used to try out Ultra and learn more about it. Your personal Ultra organisation can be found by logging into NILE, and selecting 'Organisations'. If you have a lot of NILE organisations you can find it quickly by using the search box. The full title of your personal Ultra organisation will be 'yourNILEusername_ULTRA: 'Your Name's Ultra Development Organisation'.
If for a reason you do not have a personal Ultra development organisation, please use the following form to request one.
Yes, there is a template for Ultra module-level NILE courses which is similar in structure to the template used in Original courses. Your personal Ultra demonstration organisation has been created from this template so that you can see what it looks like. Also, the UON Ultra demonstration course follows the Ultra template too, so you can see an example of how this might be used in practice.
Many professional services department have staff-facing NILE organisations. Examples of these include Staff Development's SD101 and Waterside Teaching Room Training sites, and APO's various Partner Resource Centres. While we are happy to provide and support and training to any professional services department, etc., to help them recreate their Original organisations as Ultra organisations, there is no immediate need for any of these organisations to become Ultra organisation.
If you have a question about Ultra that has not been answered here, feel free to use this link to submit your question.