Case Study: University Of Leeds saves instructors' time and enhances teaching with Anthology's Blackboard Learn Ultra AI Design Assistant

How the University of Leeds, Anthology, Microsoft, and AI Combined to Help and Inspire Instructors

University Of Leeds, a leading public university in Leeds supporting nearly 40,000 students, faced rising instructor workload and lost teaching time as online and hybrid course production grew more complex. As a long‑time Blackboard Learn partner, the university worked with Anthology to find learning‑technology solutions—specifically Blackboard Learn Ultra—to simplify course production and give staff back time for direct student engagement.

Anthology, working with Microsoft, launched the AI Design Assistant in Blackboard Learn Ultra (Sept 2023), providing AI‑generated course structures, test questions, assessments and rubrics. University Of Leeds participated in development and enabled the tool immediately; instructors reported dramatic time savings (anecdotally reducing tasks from a full day to minutes) and in‑app feedback showed 95% of users said it saved time and 92% would recommend it, demonstrating clear efficiency gains from Anthology’s solution.

University Of Leeds

Paul Cave

Digital Education Manager