The myCourses system is currently unavailable through Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 12:00noon.
At the end of the fall 2020 semester, the myCourses system will be switching over to a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) environment. The move to Blackboard SaaS will not change the way you currently use Blackboard and all instructor course content from fall 2018 forward will move over into the new SaaS environment.
What Faculty Need to Know
- There is no change to the look and feel of your courses.
- All of your course sites from Fall 2018 forward will be moved over for you into the new cloud based SaaS environment.
- All Winter and Spring 2021 course sites have been automatically created for you. Don’t see your course listed? Please use the myCourses Site Setup Tool to request your course or site combination.
- Please submit your grades by the due date, Saturday, December 19, 2020.
- The myCourses to COIN grade sync will operate until December 20, 2020 for Fall 2020 grade submissions.
- Please plan accordingly and download any files you may need during the myCourses outage prior to December 21, 2020.
- Certain 3rd party tool integrations and services cannot be fully activated until the switchover to the new cloud-based system has been completed and fully tested. These tools include, Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, Echo 360, ExamSoft, Qwickly Attendance, Pearson, WebAssign, and McGraw Hill.
What Students Need to Know
- There is no change for users of the myCourses system and no change in how you access myCourses. You will continue to access myCourses from the myUMassD Portal at: https://my.umassd.edu/
- Monday, December 21, 2020 – myCourses is unavailable for an extended outage to switchover to the new cloud-based SaaS environment.
- Students gain access to Winter and Spring 2021 courses on the official course start date.
- Access to Fall 2020 completed course work will be available to students in early January.
Timeline
- Thursday, November 19, 2020 (Completed)
Instructors should pause working on any future course development. Instructors and students continue working in Fall 2020 courses. - Monday, November 23, 2020 (Completed)
Instructors can access Winter and Spring 2021 courses and development courses in the new cloud-based SaaS environment using the login below. - Sunday, December 20, 2020 (Completed)
All Fall 2020 course work and grading in myCourses should be completed.
The myCourses to COIN grade sync will operate until Sunday, December 20, 2020 for Fall 2020 grade submissions. - Monday, December 21, 2020
myCourses is unavailable for an extended outage to switchover to the new cloud-based SaaS environment. - Tuesday, December 22, 2020 by 12:00pm or sooner
Instructor access to Winter and Spring 2021 courses resumes through the UMassD http://my.umassd.edu portal. Instructors will have temporary access to Fall 2020 courses through a separate URL login until the completed Fall 2020 course work and data is copied over to the new cloud-based SaaS environment in January.
Why are we moving to the Cloud?
- The cloud-based SaaS environment reduces downtime. Most maintenance updates happen without ever taking Blackboard offline.
- Higher quality. Because we will receive continuous software updates, we will always be running the latest bug fixes from Blackboard.
- Faster access to new features. The SaaS model allows us to receive new features faster than we have in the past.
- Blackboard’s experienced hosting team will be on-duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- Prepares us for the next generation Blackboard LMS .
Temporary login to Winter and Spring 2021 courses
- Visit https://umol-dartmouth.blackboard.com/
- Click “Sign in with third-party account” -> “Click HERE to login”
- Login with your UMass Dartmouth credentials
- You will then be redirected to the new myCourses environment.