Earlier this afternoon, I got to see a preview of the University's upcoming roll-out of a new version of the Blackboard course management system (better known on campus as Chalk). The new version of the software will not be massively different than what you might be used to, but it does look like there will be some nice improvements in usability when the new version is rolled out (ETA: August 1st).
The biggest changes will be visible primarily to instructors. Chalk's "Gradebook" feature has been completely overhauled and turned into the "Grade Center," which makes it far easier for instructors to enter grades, provide comments, generate mean/median grades, and so on. You can also tie your Chalk-based assignments and quizzes more easily to the Grade Center, and create self- and peer-assessment tools for your students.
From the student's perspective, it looks like the most significant change will be to the discussion boards. Besides some improvements to usability (such as a "replying with quotes" feature and a search feature, among others), it will now be possible to subscribe via email to forums and threads from your classes, so you'll know when your classmates have added their thoughts.
To learn more about the changes to Chalk, instructors should attend one or more of NSIT's Chalk Days (workshops and tutorials). Keep an eye out here for when they offer more of these workshops.