What is happening?
In an effort to streamline the Blackboard course creation workflow, a new automated process will be implemented in 2026 which will mean that all Blackboard Si-Net scheduled courses will be created ~6 months before teaching commences. At the point of creation, all content and staff enrolments will be automatically copied from the last complete teaching period, e.g. semester 1 content will be copied to the semester 1 course for the following year.
In addition to the automated copy process, a self-serve tool will be implemented which will allow staff to manually correct content and staff enrolments if these are required from a different teaching period to the default. For example, if content is needing to be copied from the last time an academic taught their course, they can nominate which teaching period they wish content and staff enrolments to be copied from. The self-serve tool will also provide staff with the opportunity to identify if their course requires merging, or needs a connected UQ Extend site.
When will this be happening?
The course copy automation is predicted to be in place by July 2026, with Summer Semester 2026 courses to be the first teaching period to be created and populated using the new workflow.
Initiation and consultations
This project was requested to be undertaken by UQ faculties in April 2025, and was then endorsed by the DVCA in June 2025 and the Digital Learning Sub Committee in August 2025.
The eLearning Operational Forum was then consulted in September 2025, where the proposed solution was endorsed by faculty representatives.
Considerations
The following are points of consideration, and will be updated as new items are discovered throughout the project:
- The new automation will only apply to Si-Net scheduled courses. Non Si-Net courses, and organisation/community sites will continue to be created manually via the existing process.
Communications
Completed:
- preliminary demo to eLearning Operational Forum 12/05
Planned:
- pre go-live demo to eLearning Operational Forum 29/06
- go-live scheduled for 13/07, for Summer Semester course creation on 27/07
- eLearning staff guide to be ready for go-live
- eLearning Newsletter article to go out on 13/07
- email notification to all teaching staff to go out on 13/07
- UQ Update notification 13/07
- Teams notification to eLearning Operational Forum on 13/07
- go-live announcement at July ELOF meet 14/07
FAQs
Q. Will I need to submit a request for content to be copied into my new Blackboard course?
A. No, from Summer Semester 2026 courses, all course content and staff enrolments will be automatically copied from the most recent complete iteration of your Blackboard course, eg., S1 2026 content will be copied into the S1 2027 course.
Q. What if I need content copied from a different offering/course than the automatic copy?
A. A self-corrective copy tool will allow for teaching and faculty staff to make manual adjustments to the copy process. This includes copying content from a different iteration of the course (eg., copying content from S2 2025 -> S1 2027), copying content from a different course code, requesting a merge course, and requesting an associated UQ Extend site.
Q. How will courses that run on a different schedule be affected by this process (eg., School of Medicine courses that begin slightly earlier than regular semester courses)?
A. Blackboard course shells will continue to be created on the same schedule they have always been, the new tool will simply mean that content is automatically copied immediately after the course shell is created. Any courses running on a different schedule will still be created and populated without an issue.
Q. How will I know if someone has already made a manual adjustment to my course?
A. To prevent staff from inadvertently adjusting content and affecting a colleague's work, each course will be provided with one manual adjustment, after which any further adjustments will be submitted as adjustment requests to the eLearning Support Team for review. When these additional adjustment requests are submitted, the staff member submitting the request will be notified that a previous adjustment has already been completed on X date by X staff member for full transparency.
Q. Can I make a manual adjustment to a live course?
A. No. Each semester from O-week, all courses within that semester will be locked to prevent inadvertently adjusting the content of a course. Any adjustment requests will be submitted to the eLearning Support Team for review.