The last time I used Blackboard was for a class that barely used it. The teacher just posted assignments and then there were some problems then the teacher ditched it. But that was ages ago. How is it these days? Is it a reputable distance learning software? Is it a good sign if a program bases their entire curriculum using Blackboard?
I did my MAT at West Alabama totally on Bb. It was fine. I have, and still do, teach several courses per year on Bb. I actually don't like the new grade book and I think that some of the site navigation is a bit awkward, but all in all, it is OK. I like it better than Moodle and consider it about equal to Angel (I think Bb bought out Angel). I actually prefer eCollege to Bb.
I did my Bachelor degree at Troy University was totally using Blackboard. My degree from Southern Methodist University; most professors rarely used Blackboard. Instead they have their own website for the contents, most of the communication via email or office phone calls. Georgetown University uses Blackboard as feeding the documentations and communication between classmates since they don't give out individual student email addresses. BTW, these are not distance learning classes. I really like the Blackboard as a supplement for the face-to-face lecture; especially for those miss class lectures due to business travel.:baby:
They use it at Liberty, it's great. The layout is not as intuitive as some of the other platforms, but once you know where everything is, it's just fine. It has been in existence for many years and I believe they have refined it to be well-suited for most online classes.
I have used BB at TESC it was fine except for the exams. They only worked well with browsers other then Internet explorer. when I used firefox no problems with Bb.
As Michael mentioned, I found BB's layout unintuitive when I used it. It's UI could be improved a lot ... however it had a lot of functionality packed into it. I haven't used any of its competitors so I can't say whether it's better or worse.
I've designed and taught courses on Moodle, been a Blackboard administrator, and trained students to use eCollege. Of them, I like Blackboard the least. It's clunky and unintuitive, and has a really dislikable implementation of threaded discussion. This may not concern most students, but the Blackboard company's tech support for administrators is very unresponsive. I really am much more impressed with either of the others I've used. -=Steve=-
I don't have any experience with any of the other platforms. I have taken, and am currently taking, quite a few classes that were (are) either exclusively based on Blackboard, or that use(d) it to supplement other course material. It's fine. No problems. As previously mentioned here, it's not always friendly with IE, but seems to work fine with firefox and google chrome.
Yes, even the newest version has the same unlikeable BB function. Since you are required to post a certain number of threads in a class, you would like to be able to know how many you have posted, but it does not have any thread count function. It's difficult to look at all of your threads at once so, if you want to quickly determine if you have posted enough to a particular thread, there is no easy way to look at only your own threads (at least I can't find a way). So you have to sort through and entire forum, post by post, to see if you have replied. I have a number of other gripes about the BB function but they are all just convenience oriented issues. The whole system functions, it's stable, reliable and it can do most anything an online instructor or student would require. It's just not that easy or convenient to use.
