Blackboard Learn (Learn) is the University of Edinburgh’s main virtual learning environment (VLE) and home to over 5000 courses that are being actively taught at any given time – comprising of both undergraduate and postgraduate (online and on-campus). With up to 75,000 logins every day, it provides a home for the learning materials, resources lists, recorded lectures, virtual classrooms, feedback and assessments our students use every day. It integrates with timetabling and identity management to ensure that the right materials are available to the right students at the right time.

Ongoing investment in the VLE Excellence programme ensures that the hub and core of our University’s digital teaching estate, Blackboard Learn, provides an equally excellent experience; giving our students and staff a robust, secure, accessible, and modern digital teaching and learning environment that integrates flexibly with a range of related services. Learn VLE is essential infrastructure for on-campus, blended, hybrid and distance teaching.

The Learn Ultra upgrade forms part of the VLE Excellence programme, which underpins key aspects of the University’s 2030 Strategy, Digital Strategy and Curriculum Transformation. By providing an upgraded platform that takes universal design and accessibility as central principles, as well as improved support for a range of digital devices, it will support teaching that is both inclusive and accessible. This will enable ‘more user-friendly processes’ and an efficient system to support our teaching and learning work.  The Learn Ultra Upgrade programme addresses feedback received from both student surveys, and school reports – especially critical of the ‘clunkiness’ of the older Learn Original interface.

This project relates to the technical supporting work being undertaken to support the upgrade programme.