Blackboard

Blackboard is an online teaching, learning, community building and information sharing application. Students and faculty may benefit from course management systems such as the Blackboard learning system. It includes potential benefits that increased availability, quick feedback, improved communication, tracking, and skill building. According to article which I read, Blackboard is hard to learn because Faculty members found course management systems “time-consuming and inflexible.” The study also found that despite expectations, many students were not proficient with the technology. On the other hand, The Blackboard Learning System provides the opportunity for students to use the familiar environment of the internet for educational purposes. The argument is made here that the use of Blackboard as a curricular tool is good from the standpoints of both student learning and faculty instruction. It provides a medium to present curricular materials in a way that promotes the development of students’ organizational, communication, and time-management skills. However, critics point to the pedagogically restrictive nature of Blackboard, its internet inefficiencies, its need for troubleshooting, and most significantly, its increasing cost. Viable alternatives are being found in open-source learning management systems.

Reference: http://uupinfo.org/research/working/bradford.pdf