Core Infrastructure & Tiers
Data Strategy: Illuminate functions as a data warehouse using Snowflake to store and filter data from Blackboard and other sources via ETL processes.
Core vs. Premium:
Core: Provides 30 simplified "views" for general reporting and long-term data warehousing even after records are purged from Blackboard.
Premium: Adds 180+ raw Blackboard tables (refreshed every 4 hours) and custom reporting/dashboarding via AWS QuickSight.
Key Technical Features
Ultra Events: A powerful "activity accumulator" that tracks every user click and interface tag, regardless of course enrollment.
Integrations: Professional services can ingest data from student information systems like Workday or Banner into the Illuminate model.
AI Tools: Features include an AI Adoption Report (tracking AI use in courses) and a Data Q&A tool that converts natural language into SQL.
Operational Updates
Institutional Hierarchy: A webinar series is launching soon to help schools organize data for distributed administration and outcomes integration.
Ally Integration: The team is actively developing an accessibility model to bring Ally data directly into Illuminate.
Authentication: Users can sign in using Blackboard credentials or institutional SAML/Single Sign-On.
