Blackboard Learn for REST and LTI Developers
Blackboard Inc | 3900.93.0Linux/Unix, Ubuntu Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS (Focal Fossa) - 64-bit Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
External reviews
External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
It works. That's about it
What do you like best about the product?
I like that blackboard has seemingly limitless features.
For a professor who is willing to put the hours into training and course building, it can be an amazing tool.
I would write more, but there's nothing more to write.
For a professor who is willing to put the hours into training and course building, it can be an amazing tool.
I would write more, but there's nothing more to write.
What do you dislike about the product?
Blackboard has so many features that new users would never figure out on their own. It is not especially user-friendly, and it is entirely horrid on mobile devices.
Blackboard can be, to a lazy professor, a great tool, because it is nearly impossible for them to build a really decent course without specific personal training.
Blackboard does not coordinate well across different devices, and is difficult for students to use unless they have the exact materials.
I wish Blackboard were easier to integrate into other popular learning platforms, such as Pearson MyLabs.
Blackboard can be, to a lazy professor, a great tool, because it is nearly impossible for them to build a really decent course without specific personal training.
Blackboard does not coordinate well across different devices, and is difficult for students to use unless they have the exact materials.
I wish Blackboard were easier to integrate into other popular learning platforms, such as Pearson MyLabs.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use blackboard to build online courses and organize group work across our campus(es). I enjoy that it has a lot of features, though it is not especially easy to find all the features for a new used.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Honestly, I would consider something else. Blackboard has a lot of work to do in order to catch up to 2018.
I would recommend, to all adopters, to have a very strong training program so that all users are aware of all features. Without this training, it would be nearly impossible to get your money's worth out of this platform. It is completely necessary to have good trainings in order to use BlackBoard's biggest strengths.
I would recommend, to all adopters, to have a very strong training program so that all users are aware of all features. Without this training, it would be nearly impossible to get your money's worth out of this platform. It is completely necessary to have good trainings in order to use BlackBoard's biggest strengths.
- Leave a Comment |
- Mark review as helpful
Blackboard review
What do you like best about the product?
Blackboard's easy integration with Zoom! Students had no problem easily navigating to the links for our meetings.
The Communication feature is so helpful for sending out announcements to the whole class! I cannot imagine teaching without this, in online, Zoom, OR in-person modalities.
Some people complain about the layout's not being intuitive, but I do think it is extremely easy to use! I also love the ability to weight grades by creating categories for different assignments--I tend to use "low-stakes" assignments that, combined, comprise 50% of the grade, with perhaps three "high-stakes" assignments comprising the other 50%. Setting this up right at the beginning of the semester is easy (though I always have to review Blackboard tutorials to remember how to do it--it's not intuitive to FIND, necessarily). It's also crucial to remember, then, to change assignment categories when they are created: if you are using the "low-stakes" and "high-stakes" categories, you have to be careful because a journal assignment will automatically be created as "Journal" while a SafeAssign post will always be called an "Assignment"--mathematically, this can wreak havoc on scores unless you are very mindful of changing the categories to correspond with what you've created at the beginning of the course.
The Communication feature is so helpful for sending out announcements to the whole class! I cannot imagine teaching without this, in online, Zoom, OR in-person modalities.
Some people complain about the layout's not being intuitive, but I do think it is extremely easy to use! I also love the ability to weight grades by creating categories for different assignments--I tend to use "low-stakes" assignments that, combined, comprise 50% of the grade, with perhaps three "high-stakes" assignments comprising the other 50%. Setting this up right at the beginning of the semester is easy (though I always have to review Blackboard tutorials to remember how to do it--it's not intuitive to FIND, necessarily). It's also crucial to remember, then, to change assignment categories when they are created: if you are using the "low-stakes" and "high-stakes" categories, you have to be careful because a journal assignment will automatically be created as "Journal" while a SafeAssign post will always be called an "Assignment"--mathematically, this can wreak havoc on scores unless you are very mindful of changing the categories to correspond with what you've created at the beginning of the course.
What do you dislike about the product?
The Groups feature is so much more complicated than it needs to be. I worked extensively with tutorials as well as my tech support team to implement this in Fall 2020 to no avail.
The home page is pretty lousy. It doesn't at all give students any kind of incentive to interact--I hear much better things about Blackboard's competitor, Canva, and wish my school would subscribe to it! I wish I could somehow copy journal and discussion board prompts from one class to another: it is so much extra work to edit these posts then copy/paste them into the current class.
I wish weekly folders came pre-populated--it makes sense for every single class and would truly take away a TON of student questions about organization if Blackboard had this kind of consistency in every department and every academic discipline across the College.
At the end of the semester, I suddenly could not create any announcements or posts--and then I realized that, for some reason, the "Edit" button was toggled to "off." This must have happened automatically when classes had ended, but since most instructors continue to use Blackboard's announcement feature to communicate with students during finals week, this could be confusing with a less experienced user.
The home page is pretty lousy. It doesn't at all give students any kind of incentive to interact--I hear much better things about Blackboard's competitor, Canva, and wish my school would subscribe to it! I wish I could somehow copy journal and discussion board prompts from one class to another: it is so much extra work to edit these posts then copy/paste them into the current class.
I wish weekly folders came pre-populated--it makes sense for every single class and would truly take away a TON of student questions about organization if Blackboard had this kind of consistency in every department and every academic discipline across the College.
At the end of the semester, I suddenly could not create any announcements or posts--and then I realized that, for some reason, the "Edit" button was toggled to "off." This must have happened automatically when classes had ended, but since most instructors continue to use Blackboard's announcement feature to communicate with students during finals week, this could be confusing with a less experienced user.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Minimize the paper load; easier to grade assignments online! This has been crucial with remote learning! Students can "talk" to each other, do peer reviews/editing, and debate/discuss on the discussion boards. I use the journals for almost everything else, such as midterm self-evaluations, final grade proposals, and quick formative assessment. I do really appreciate the archiving of previous classes taught and the ability to easily copy assignments from one semester to the next! I feel very lucky that I had already familiarized myself with Blackboard and its features prior to the pandemic: my colleagues who never used it were truly scrambling to have a way to organize content and communicate with students, but mine had a fairly seamless adjustment!
Blackboard Learn
What do you like best about the product?
I love the wide variety of options available on Blackboard. Blackboard is the premiere hub for online courses and training, from complex university courses to simple additional trainings for employees.
What do you dislike about the product?
The Discussion Board posting feature is difficult to use. I have found that I must copy and paste my entry from a Text Edit software, and then cannot edit it once I have pasted my entry, otherwise the formatting will seem fine but mess up as soon as I press "Post."
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Online learning and professional development
Recommendations to others considering the product:
I love Blackboard Learn!
Blackboard Learn
What do you like best about the product?
Blackboard is the industry standard. We have used it for years at the high school where I work and love it.
What do you dislike about the product?
Blackboard could benefit from some more interactive features, such as allow video posting with quiz inserts.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We are teaching students to learn online before they get to college.
Seems like a good idea
What do you like best about the product?
I like that I can set online exams and grade them. I like that I can create weighted columns dropping certain grades.
What do you dislike about the product?
There are too many bugs and limitations for such mature software. Here we go: exam reports (CSV files) are almost unreadable because they contain HTML; The weighted columns with drop are too inflexible and don't always seem to work correctly; It's impossible to copy gradable items from one course to another; re-using material, questions, announcements, etc. from one course in another is far too difficult (or impossible); certain types of test question can cause a lot of confusion if answers are shown in random order; it is not possible to have coding questions auto-graded; etc.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Supporting a university course; overall, it does save me a lot of time.
Experience with Blackboard
What do you like best about the product?
Recent upgrade is more visually appealing
What do you dislike about the product?
Application can be slow; it is not intuitive
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Communication of class content, grades
Helpful for storage of class information, but not the best organization
What do you like best about the product?
You can clearly see where the Announcements, Syllabus, Assignments, and any other miscellaneous categories that the Professor created.
What do you dislike about the product?
It is difficult to navigate what is put where. This is due to BlackBoard's style as well as the professor's personal design of their BlackBoard content.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Although it is difficult to navigate at times, it is definitely a way to organize a student's classes. BlackBoard will always notify and email me the moment a professor uploads content and grades.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
To have a more streamlined process that every professor and student must adapt to. It is difficult to find certain things due to the professor's liking; however, this problem may be fixed by giving fewer options to the professor. This way, things cannot be "hidden" from the student.
Needs Some Updates
What do you like best about the product?
Blackboard has a lot of options for managing classes, organizations, training, etc. I think overall it has a lot to offer. For our students, it provides a lot of options to manage their classwork, set appointments with staff members, and see other organizations and class activities. Students can add their activities and student organizations in, to make it easier to send emails and create events. Staff can also use it to work through self-paced trainings and to find trainings to take.
What do you dislike about the product?
It really has an outdated function and visual look. I used Blackboard in college almost 10 years ago and I feel as though it hasn't changed at all in it's appearance since then! I am not sure if that's because of the settings our college has it set on, but overall it just looks very out-dated. I think if Blackboard updated their look, such as better color schemes, more friendly links, etc., they'd be much more competitive.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I think it gives us a lot of options to offer our students, faculty, and staff. For faculty, it's easy to organize classes, manage grades, discussion boards, and tests. For staff, you can offer different trainings and manage organizations. For students, it provides "one stop shopping".
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Blackboard offers the ability to sync with other programs and widgets, such as Starfish. For our students, they not only can use Blackboard to manage classes, but they can also use it to make appointments with advisors and other individuals within the college.
Could be better
What do you like best about the product?
I think blackboard has a lot of available assets like calendars, announcements, grades, quizzes, message board, etc. I did like having all my grades in one place. Taking quizzes within blackboard was always easy and user friendly.
What do you dislike about the product?
I think the organization of tools could have been done better. And because different professors use it differently, this made it less of a useful system. Another issue was you did not always see notifications unless you logged in. If I didn't have a reason to log in to Blackboard one day and something was posted without my knowledge, such as an assignment, I would not have known it was there.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Blackboard Learn was used to keep most aspects of classes in one place in an effort to keep things organized and easy to use.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
If you choose to use Blackboard, try to have a consistent level of use across teacher, at least as much as possible.
Blackboard for Schools
What do you like best about the product?
It's very easy to use, we can keep track of all the current courses on the go. Also, we can submit our homework through the app.
What do you dislike about the product?
Sometimes doesn't update the latest scores on the app, have to check on the computer.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I'm a student and the university has given access to all the students to use it.
showing 421 - 430