- \n
- The Home<\/strong> page has links to sources of help, and is also where we’ll alert you to new features in Blackboard, or when systems are undergoing maintenance work. Staff and students will see different content, as will users in the Henley Business School and at UoR Malaysia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- On the Courses<\/strong> page you can filter by the courses you teach, filter by academic year, search for a particular course, and mark courses as favourites so they stay at the top of the list.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Customise the images on your \u2018grid view\u2019 course cards by adding a banner to your course.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Choose which Activity Stream<\/strong> notifications you receive by choosing the settings icon in the top right hand corner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Explore the sections below to learn about the different parts of the Ultra Navigation and how they work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n- \n
- Homepage<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Activity<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Profile Page<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Courses<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Organisations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n- \n
- Calendar<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Messages<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Marks<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Tools<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Admin<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2026\/02\/image-11.png\")
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\n\n\n\nHomepage <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The first thing you see when you log on to Blackboard is the Home page. In Blackboard\u2019s documentation this is referred to as the Institution page, but we have rebranded it as Home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is where both you and your students will be able to find links to our Blackboard help pages, and to the Service Desk to log tickets<\/strong>. There will also be links to various university services displaying on this page. We are able to customise what appears on this page, based on the role that each user has within the system. So we may choose to display different content to staff and to students<\/strong>, or to students at different campuses<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Activity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Check here for an overview of recent activity via the courses activity and activity stream. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2026\/02\/image-12.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCourses Activity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The courses activity<\/strong> each course will display three different icons with numbers next to each. These indicate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Assessment to mark
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/07\/2025-07-07_10-58-50-1.png\")
<\/li>\n\n\n\n - Messages
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/07\/2025-07-07_10-58-50a-1.png\")
<\/li>\n\n\n\n - Student alerts
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/07\/2025-07-07_10-58-50b-1.png\")
– student alerts can be set up in the Gradebook settings<\/a> panel or the Analytics tab<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe courses activity area will show a selection of your courses<\/strong> that have had recent activity – click on the View all courses <\/strong>button to jump directly into the courses area where you can filter and search your course list. Alternatively use the forward arrows to flick through the pages of courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2025\/07\/image-32.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nActivity Stream<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Activity stream<\/strong> show notifications under the headings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Important<\/strong>: Students are alerted to overdue assignments, tests, and graded discussions that need their immediate attention. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Upcoming<\/strong>: Access your top five events that will happen in the next seven days. Select Show More for a complete list. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Today<\/strong>: Access everything happening and due in the next 24 hours, including institution-wide announcements about emergency notifications and updates. If you added course announcements, they are here or in the Recent category for students.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Recent<\/strong>: If you haven’t checked in for a bit, access activity items that were previously in the Today section over the last seven days. Students always receive reminders about overdue work in the Important section.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In the activity stream you can use the filter to focus on Marks and Feedback or Assignments and Tests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2025\/07\/image-21.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCustomise notifications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The activity stream will add notifications from particular activities<\/strong> on courses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- New course content added<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Work ready to be marked<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Announcements from courses and organisations<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- System announcements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
You can choose which notifications<\/strong> you would like to be added to the activity stream from a list available via the settings cog<\/strong> in the top right-hand corner of the screen. See the Blackboard help page on Notifications<\/a> for further information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nProfile page<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Some of the information here is pulled in automatically from other systems and cannot be edited. On this page you can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Edit your notification settings<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Upload a personal image – see the Blackboard Profile help page<\/a>, or this very short video showing how to edit your profile image<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCourses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Users have a choice of two views, as a list or as tiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\nCourses page list view<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"screenshot](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2024\/04\/navigation-2-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nCourses page displayed as titles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"screenshot](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2024\/04\/navigation-3-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n- \n
- If your course doesn\u2019t have a banner, Blackboard will automatically assign an image for your course in this view.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- If your course does have a banner, it may not display correctly here. The recommended size for banners is 1200 x 300 pixels, with a maximum height of 400 pixels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Finding your courses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Because we retain Blackboard courses for several years, all the courses which you still have access to will be listed under ‘Current Courses’, but you can use the drop-down list to select a specific academic year<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- You can also use the Filter<\/strong> to show \u2018Courses I teach\u2019 \u2013 this equates to the courses where you are an instructor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- A particularly useful feature is the ability to search for courses<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Courses which you want to access most often can be added to your Favourites<\/strong>, so that they always appear at the top of the list.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Please note: Hiding a course<\/strong> simply hides it from your list, not from other users enrolled on the course.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Private \/ unavailable courses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Any courses shown here as \u2018Private\u2019 are unavailable to students. You can quickly make them available from this page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
List view<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2024\/04\/navigation-8.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTile view<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n![\"Private](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/07\/Private-course-tile-view.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n![\"Make](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/07\/Make-course-available-tile-view.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFor more, see the Blackboard help page: Find your courses<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organisations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Organisations display in much the same way as courses. For teaching and learning Organisations are used for school or department level information for students or for external examiners. There are also some Organisations for student services such as careers and study support. Please see our guide Blackboard Organisations<\/a> for more information including how to request an Organisation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organisations are not associated with an academic year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calendar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You can create Calendar events for your course, and most course items with an associated date will appear here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Due dates appear here, although it’s worth stressing to students that they should not rely on the Blackboard Calendar for their assessment due dates and should always check these in the course itself. The Calendar will show all assessments for the course \u2013 including those which the individual student may not need to submit to (for instance post-deadline assignments when the student has already submitted on time, or where there are assignments with rolling deadlines).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See our article on the Blackboard Calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Messages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Messages display only within <\/em>Blackboard. And although new messages are clearly flagged in the navigation menu, for anyone who is enrolled on more than a handful of courses it is very difficult to locate which course the new messages have come from, in this area it is clear to see which course each message is from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tool has been configured so that students cannot create or reply to messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For staff<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
This area provides you with access to the Gradebook for your courses, and shows student submissions which require marking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Click on the assessment to be taken directly to the submission inbox for that assessment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2025\/07\/image-31.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFor more, see our guide on Marks page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For students<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
- You can also use the Filter<\/strong> to show \u2018Courses I teach\u2019 \u2013 this equates to the courses where you are an instructor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Because we retain Blackboard courses for several years, all the courses which you still have access to will be listed under ‘Current Courses’, but you can use the drop-down list to select a specific academic year<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Upload a personal image – see the Blackboard Profile help page<\/a>, or this very short video showing how to edit your profile image<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Edit your notification settings<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Upcoming<\/strong>: Access your top five events that will happen in the next seven days. Select Show More for a complete list. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Important<\/strong>: Students are alerted to overdue assignments, tests, and graded discussions that need their immediate attention. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Messages<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Activity<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- On the Courses<\/strong> page you can filter by the courses you teach, filter by academic year, search for a particular course, and mark courses as favourites so they stay at the top of the list.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/TEL-Support-Staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2025\/07\/image-29.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n