From our ongoing research into various MEM programs around North America, it seems that 75% of schools interviewed admit to using the platform. Though the interview list is not exhaustive, it does suggest a pattern.
The program offers a standardized portal into course content ensuring that students don’t have to learn the portal before they learn the course. Today many schools offer their own online course portals which means that the school requires a team dedicated to ensure the service doesn’t fail and that kinks are constantly worked out. Blackboard seems to alleviate these issues.
“It seems many of our military students are familiar with the program, which makes their life easier” said Dr. Tim Hardin, Program Director at the University of Louisville. “The consistency of the course designs allows that if you finish one course with Blackboard, you will not need to relearn the platform the next time around.”
The system allows instructors to easily distribute various different content types, including video lectures, course readings and grades.
“Lecture slides, videos, syllabus, discussion board and assignments are delivered through Blackboard. Students then access the information and submit the assignments to the school through the very same system,” explained Sandy Lieske, Program Coordinator at the University of Idaho.
The system also allows for various student/student, and student/instructor interactions. Discussion boards and quick videos can be sent to the student for content discussion, studying, encouragement, extra help or even office hour questions.
“We use Blackboard as an online medium; it is a typical classroom management tool universities employ. With it you can post a variety of things. Our discussion boards are particularly active,” said Jeffrey C. Woldstad, Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
What is more, the system also works to limit cheating on online assessments.
“Within blackboard, you can create a large pool of questions. When students access the quiz or exam they get random questions from the pool. You don’t know which one will come up so you can’t tell your friends to choose ‘c’ on question three. Students also have a time limit for the questions to ensure they are not looking the material up online,” explained Chris Morse, Program Manager at Drexel University.
It seems that the Blackboard program is rather all encompassing then, and it certainly is an improvement to many of the school-specific online platforms I saw two to five years ago.
Sources Blackboard 1