What’s New in Blackboard – October 2025
Exciting updates are coming to Blackboard® this month! The Blackboard 3902.1.0 release, launching in October, introduces powerful new features in Test and Assignments, Instructional Design, Premium, and more.
These enhancements are designed to impact students, instructors, and administrators, supporting better engagement, streamlined workflows, and an improved learning experience.
Stay ahead of the game—explore how the Blackboard 3902.1.0 release can elevate teaching, learning, and system management at your institution.
Note: The below updates pertain to customers using the Ultra interface. For complete release notes, visit the Blackboard help site.
1. Test and Assignments - Tag Questions with Metadata in Tests and Question Banks
Impact: Instructors
Instructors can now tag questions with metadata when creating or editing questions in tests, forms, and banks.
Questions can have multiple tags of the same type. Metadata is visible during question creation/editing and can be used to filter questions when reusing or adding to pools. Metadata is not visible to students during test taking or review.
Supported metadata types include:
- Category
- Topics
- Levels of difficulty
- Keywords
Image 1: Instructors can create and apply a tag to questions. 
Image 2: Tags appear as filters in the question bank. 
Administrators
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses
Activation: None needed
Configuration: None needed
2. Tests and Assignments - Improved Student Experience with the Fill in the Blank Question Type
Impact: Students
We enhanced the student experience when answering fill in the blank questions in tests. Fill in the blank questions now display the blanks in line with the surrounding text, whether the question is presented as a sentence, paragraph, or table. We also added hidden ARIA labels to blanks to improve screen reader accessibility.
Image 1: Before this update, the blanks appeared below the question. 
Image 2: After this update, the blanks appear in-line with the question. 
Administrators
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses
Activation: None needed
Configuration: None needed
3. Instructional Design - Manage Files in the Learning Object Repository
Impact: Administrators
Administrators can now upload files into the Learning Object Repository, and instructors can insert those files onto the Content page in their courses and organizations. This provides the ability for institutions to manage files centrally from the Learning Object Repository, saving time and maintaining consistency throughout the institution.
The following attributes and settings are synced and locked down in courses and organizations:
- Title
- Description
- Visibility
- Uploaded file
- Display options
- Goals
Image 1. Administrators can now use the Upload button to add files to the Learning Object Repository. 
By default, users with the System Administrator (Z) role are the only users who have access to upload files to the Learning Object Repository. To give a user the ability to upload files, administrators must grant the following privilege:
Base Navigation > Tools > Learning Object Repository > Upload
Administrators
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses
Activation: None needed
Configuration: None needed
4. Instructional Design - Locked Attributes and Settings for Documents in the Learning Object Repository
Impact: Administrator
We locked the following attributes and settings for Documents in the Learning Object Repository:
- Visibility settings
- Class conversations
- Goals and standards
In September, we updated all existing Documents associated with the Learning Object Repository to support syncing of the identified attributes and settings. That update ensured that settings could be managed directly from the repository before locking them.
Now, any setting an administrator can modify in the Learning Object Repository will reliably sync and remain locked in associated courses. Previously, it was unclear which attributes were synced and enforced. With this update, it’s clear: if it is editable in the Learning Object Repository, it is synced and locked.
In the future, institutions will have the flexibility to choose which attributes are locked or unlocked. These changes lay the groundwork for further improvements in upcoming releases.
Administrators
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses
Activation: None needed
Configuration: None needed
5. Premium - Course Catalog: Use Flywire to Pay for Courses
Impact: Students
We added Flywire as a payment service provider. This gives students the option to use Flywire to purchase courses from Course Catalog, giving them more flexibility in how they pay.
When students select Buy for a course, they will now see Flywire as one of the payment options if it is implemented by their institution.
Administrators
Availability: Available for all Course Catalog courses
Activation: None needed
Configuration: To set up the Flywire integration, you will need to access support through a support case, engaging Anthology Professional Services along with the Flywire Account Executive and Implementation Manager
Explore these updates and more in the full Blackboard 3902.1.0 release notes.