How do Impact contexts work differently in the Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience?
Blackboard Learn Ultra has a unique integration framework that presents some differences in the way Impact content, contexts, and monitors are experienced. Because the Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience is a locked-down system from Blackboard, Impact Building Block can’t be loaded in an Ultra environment. Due to this limitation, Impact has a slightly different integration compared to other LMS environments. If your LMS is the Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience, there are several differences in how you will experience Impact messages, support, and contexts. This article explains the key differences in context use within Ultra environments and how Impact has created a new framework to prevent any unwanted behavior with contexts.
To ensure proper setup, visit How do I install the Impact integration in the Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience?
You will also need to download the Impact Expert Tool plug-in from Google Chrome to activate the inline editor in your Ultra environment.
For instructions on how to download the plug-in, visit How do I activate the Impact Inline Editor within Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience?
How does Impact work with the Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience?
Due to the closed integration system which prevents the Impact Building Block from loading, Ultra does not let you scan pages for elements with the Impact inline editor. This changes the process of defining contexts.
To prevent the majority of limitations, Impact has collaborated with Blackboard to develop a framework for Ultra users, called the Ultra Extension Framework. There are several differences in this framework compared to other LMS environment frameworks. These differences are explained below.
Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience Page Definition
In the Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience, users are not able to use the free select mode to select page elements. The way Ultra is set up limits the amount of unique information Impact can use to classify pages and page elements. For example, a test button and an assignment button on an assessment page could appear the same to Impact due to the unique way Ultra Pages are defined with Route IDs and Analytics IDs. Given the complexities of Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience, All possible Ultra contexts have been created Out-of-the-Box in Impact.
How does Impact help?
Impact has defined all of the pages in Ultra as Out-of-the-Box pages using partial Route IDs to avoid any incorrect behavior or limitations that could occur with very specific Route IDs. This results in your Define button is hidden when you use your inline editor unless you are on an LTI page.
LTI pages are the only pages on which the Define button is visible and when you can define a context manually. To learn how to define LTI pages in Ultra, visit How do I use Impact to define LTI pages in the Blackboard Learn Ultra Experience?
