Blackboard Learn for REST and LTI Developers
Blackboard Inc | 3900.89.0Linux/Unix, Ubuntu Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS (Focal Fossa) - 64-bit Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
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Blackboard Pros and Cons
What do you like best about the product?
Blackboard is great for organizing and planning a course and making sure all the files and tools your students will need are available. It is also great for a course that you teach every semester or multiple sections in one semester, as you can copy a course's materials from section to another. This is a huge time saver and really helps with continuity in a course.
What do you dislike about the product?
Blackboard has a fairly clunky grade center that could be a lot more user friendly. I find it frustrating that I cannot rearrange the assignments in the order I like and there are predetermined orders that you can choose from for display that are not always ideal. These predetermined orders also have to be reset every time you click on the grade center and are not permanent. Another issue with grading that presented itself is when a student submits it via the Blackboard portal, once the assignment is graded it disappears and you as an instructor cannot re-access it. The only record you have of it besides the grade is if you remembered to download the submission. I did not realize this when I first used the feature and because I needed to access those papers again at a later date, the students had to email me the file separately. Also, the inability to cut and paste with right click is infuriating.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Blackboard is a great way to share information not only for courses, but I also use it for student groups or trips as a centralized way to store and share information or discussions. It also serves as a great record on how your course may have evolved in the semester and allows you to make adjustments for the next offering without revinventing the wheel.
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Extensive experience
What do you like best about the product?
The ease of use and innovative features. I have not yet tried the social media aspect that Blackboard has produced, but I want to.
Blackboard is very flexible, and allows instructors to provide high-quality online content in a single location.
Blackboard is very flexible, and allows instructors to provide high-quality online content in a single location.
What do you dislike about the product?
The large number of versions makes it difficult for instructors to be familiar with which version is being used at which school. For me, I was using BB Learn 9.0.1 at one school and in my masters program we were using BB Learn 9.0.2.1. This meant that while I could do some things at one institution, I couldn't do them at the other.
The controls are not as intuitive as I would have liked.
The controls are not as intuitive as I would have liked.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The need for students to have access to course material in a higher ed setting.
Blackboard Review
What do you like best about the product?
Once you understand how Blackboard works, it becomes quite a useful tool to provide your audience/students the information required.
What do you dislike about the product?
The UI is not the most intuitive or most user-friendly. There's a HUGE learning curve to using the platform. While it can be extremely useful, you have to switch to a million different places in order to do things properly, instead of everything being in a more logical spot.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Easing communication with audience/students.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Take your time learning how to use the platform. It's very useful but it does have a very steep learning curve that requires leaning the software completely.
User-Friendly Program for Online Classes
What do you like best about the product?
Blackboard provides a basic template for your course site, but allows for customization with the tabs, colors, and design layout. It is a straightforward way to deliver academic content to your students and enables you to grade work, track student progress, and monitor discussions all from within the program. Through the discussion board feature, I am able to participate in dialogue with my students throughout the semester and prompt further exploration of our module topics. Sending announcements and updates via Blackboard initiates an email to my class, which helps remind them of upcoming due dates or check-ins required in our course.
What do you dislike about the product?
In the gradebook, it can be difficult to arrange the assignments/tests/papers in the order you desire. Transferring content from a previous course to a new course can be a tricky task, as some content and functions must be clicked individually in order to be transferred to a new Blackboard course.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Using Blackboard, I have been able to work remotely for a university and connect with online students throughout the United States. I have been able to communicate with my students, utilize tech support at a distance, and build course content that carries over from course to course through the transfer of the course shell to a new semester's page.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Prior to implementing Blackboard as your primary means of communication with students, take time to learn about the functions of the program through the Help section and Tools section. Turning your "edit" mode to "off" enables you to see your Blackboard site through the eyes of a student, which can help you realize broken links or a missing component of your page.
Using Blackboard in a University
What do you like best about the product?
I use Blackboard at a private University to support classroom lectures. I use "Content" to post documents and slides and "Discussions" to exchange information with students. In the "Tools" section I post announcements, send emails, and track tasks. I use the "Grade Center" to update the students regarding their progress. Because Blackboard allows me to provide immediate updates and feedback to students, I find it quite useful and use it in most classes, graduate and undergraduate. Overall my experience with Blackboard has been very positive.
What do you dislike about the product?
It takes time to learn to efficiently learn. I want to add distance learning features but keep delaying because of the time investment needed to produce a professional product. In addition, my university regularly updates its software packages and it is often difficult to locate features when the version changes. Small differences in the interface can make finding a particular feature difficult.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Teaching undergraduates to prepare them for future professional activities and mentoring graduate students. Blackboard helps in the provision of content material.
great most of the time
What do you like best about the product?
Ease of connecting with students and teachers. Easy posting and quick speed
What do you dislike about the product?
I like it well. I dont like when I cant access transcripts of videos but otherwise its great
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
connecting with students, teachers.
Useful Tool for Course Management
What do you like best about the product?
Blackboard allows students to stay up-to-date on their course requirements. It is a great way to download lectures, take online quizzes/tests, participate in group discussions, and submit assignments. Most importantly, students are able to see the work they have submitted and current grade. I also like the ability to see the average of a particular exam, so you know how you compare to the rest of the students in your course.
What do you dislike about the product?
As with many tools, not all tools/functionality in the Blackboard system are utilized with each course. Because the lecturer/professor can customize their course landing page, it does take some adjusting when looking at different courses. Also, the homepage does get cluttered, so it would be nice to be able to quickly and permanently hide tools, announcements, etc. that are not needed. It would also be nice if the "My Grade" section automatically calculated the overall course grade given the weight that had been designed for each assignment (quizzes worth 10% of overall grade, homework worth 25%, etc.).
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Engaging with Blackboard is typically a requirement for my courses. It is very helpful to be able to upload assignments and also take online quizzes/tests. Also, lecturer/professors are busy people, so having all necessary paperwork loaded on the site is very helpful so you do not need to email them about the syllabus, PowerPoints, notes, review sheets, etc. In addition it is key to have instructor notifications emailed to me based on my settings so I was informed of changes to due dates and other documents available ASAP.
Lackluster product suit that lack customization and crashes often.
What do you like best about the product?
The suite allows my school to host online classes and blog posts. This is a platform that has mobile and desktop solutions depending on the users needs.
What do you dislike about the product?
It often crashes on my school. Not reliable for education. Slow response times plagued my school for the first 2 weeks!
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Online tool for teaching. This gives a suite of tools for teachers to use and analyze their class.
My love/hate relationship with this product
What do you like best about the product?
Blackboard is a highly complete LMS. It can do pretty much anything you want and lets you customize the system to suit your teaching style, communication requirements, and grading criteria. As an instructor, I use it to send announcements, post weekly online reading quizzes, foster communication with students, post lecture slides, labs, useful links, and keep track of grades and student progress. It's pretty much "one-stop shopping" for my educational needs.
Another thing I like about it is its support for third-party integrations that allow best of breed products to pick up where Bb leaves off. I use the TurningPoint clicker in my classroom and their integration permits a seamless student registration experience.
Another thing I like about it is its support for third-party integrations that allow best of breed products to pick up where Bb leaves off. I use the TurningPoint clicker in my classroom and their integration permits a seamless student registration experience.
What do you dislike about the product?
Blackboard suffers from some serious design and usability problems. It's obvious they put a lot of effort into making it easy to use, but it seems they've missed the mark in several key areas. I'm sure that a complete redesign and UX upgrade would be an expensive undertaking but it would be well worth it if they want to dominate in the LMS space.
Another problem I have with Bb is that it tries to be all things to all educators and institutions. The result is a fragmented software package that feels over-featured at times and doesn't seem to do any one particular thing well. I realize that that's not the case, but I think Bb would benefit from deprecating features. That said, it does allow me to hide features from students.
Another problem I have with Bb is that it tries to be all things to all educators and institutions. The result is a fragmented software package that feels over-featured at times and doesn't seem to do any one particular thing well. I realize that that's not the case, but I think Bb would benefit from deprecating features. That said, it does allow me to hide features from students.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Keeping students up to date on class announcements, posting slides, syllabi, labs, and grades. The biggest benefit is that it's a centralized location to keep all class-related information. Since I don't like the idea of fragmenting my students' experience by sending them to different apps for different purposes, I appreciate Bb's consolidation. I just wish it did the job a little more elegantly.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
I've never been able to use another LMS so I'm afraid I don't have anything to compare Bb to. I will say that it's very complete in its capabilities, and worth the learning curve.
Awesome product that helps keep life organized
What do you like best about the product?
The fact that the pages are so clean and easy to read
What do you dislike about the product?
The fact that sometimes it is difficult to navigate
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
solving the issue of having my whole team on the same page and collaborating
Recommendations to others considering the product:
I highly recommend using it as setup is very easy as well
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