Blackboard Learn Software

Pros

I love the ease of access and way it enables everyone to be on the same page and use time and resources effectively.

Cons

Not as many people in my office are familiar with Blackboard, so there is a learning curve, but if you can devote the time, it is very helpful.

Pros

The interfaz of the web page is quite useful, it makes a really good job for the purpose to be, the features to engage the user are meaningful.

Cons

It requires a lot of time to develop an activity because you have move from a lot of links inside the tasks.

Blackboard is a great tool for any training manager who is looking to develop e-learning courses for annual employee training requirements. It is easy to use and comes with lots of features.

Pros

Very rich features for managing course content, discussion boards, grade center.

Advice to Others

Compared to other products, Blackboard stands out as a leader of cloud-based LMS software solutions!

I have had the pleasure of using this product in many of my life aspects. And I can say, without a doubt, I have loathed every minute of it.

Having used Blackboard extensively, I can say that it is an unnecessarily bloated software. It is replete with links and features that you don't want and will never need.

That's not to say it's bad. It can do everything you need it to. It's just not very pretty while it's doing them.

It's also prone to blackouts on a monthly-ish basis.

Pros

lots of options

Cons

bloated
unnecessary fluff
service goes down occasionally

I have been using Blackboard for about ten years to support classroom lectures. None of these classes have involved distance learning. I primarily use "Content" to post documents, "Discussions" to exchange information with students, in the "Tools" section I post announcements, send emails, and track tasks, and I use the "Grade Center" to update the students regarding their progress. Because this is in a university setting our IT department has been responsible for customer support and software purchases. Overall my experience with Blackboard has been very positive. However, my university regularly updates the software and it is often difficult to locate features when the version changes. Small differences in the interface can make finding a particular feature difficult.

Learned about this software in a professional development course I was in and a fellow teacher showed me it. Very easy to use. lots of good features....

Pros

Offline mode.

Cons

Looks like it's from the early 2000's.

The Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) for Business has the pedigree of a well-established education company behind it but, much like its Education-based software, lacks many of the bells and whistles of its competitors. Unlike its competitors, it lacks a modern interface and is largely unintuitive, if not overly complex to use. While it lacks in overall usability, it does has a number of useful tools, as well as a number of third-party extensions developed through strategic partnerships. Another strength is interoperability, making it easy to integrate with CRM management tools such as Salesforce. There are a number of other providers out there, including some that are free, that may meet the needs of those looking for entry level, non-enterprise software. I'd recommend dipping your toes in the water with one of them prior to making an investment in Blackboard to see if they better meet your needs. With a somewhat hefty price tag, it may be better than making the long term investment!

Pros

Interoperability, software extensions, and ability to build and scale coursework.

Cons

The software is somewhat unintuitive, with a cumbersome and clunky interface. The user interface and user experience is in dire need of a facelift.

Advice to Others

Be sure to take a test drive prior to making an investment. Don't rely solely on a sales demo to answer the questions you may have.

Great product for when your company doesn't have internal tech support. The company took care of everything for us. Unfortunately there were lots of limits and everything had an extra cost.

Pros

· Diverse approaches to problem-solving.
· Common language for interaction.
· Efficient storage of information
· Flexible representation of information.
· Iterative approach to problem-solving.
· Organized participation.

Cons

Expensive.
Long wait times for tech support.

Blackboard is a great portal for students where they can submit and review feedback from assignments. When information is uploaded from the professor, it is inputted into the system automatically. It is also great for class discussions and journal entries. You can view responses from students and create a dialogue between the two submissions.

Generally a great tool, user interface could be cleaner. Love the social and collaborative aspects! sometimes LMS can silo or hinder the ability to be creative with learning paths

Great product. Integrates perfectly with my education goals. I would highly recommend to anyone!!!

Quick background, was in high tech sales and marketing for many years prior to teaching and heavily involved with custom Computer Graphics systems since Time Arts Lumena was around (predecessor to Photoshop). Check out my LinkedIn profile for more details.

On to the product review -- I've been using Blackboard for *many* years, and have been teaching (and doing) Web Design and Development since 1993. I'm retiring shortly, so I can be absolutely frank and honest about my experience with this app without fear of upsetting IT folks or admins that I would have to work with in the future.

Truthfully, the ONLY reason I use this app is because I have no alternative at the College where I teach and it gives the students easy access to information, but so would any LMS (Learning Management System).

The UIX (User Interface Experience) is incredibly archaic and counter-intuitive. It's also painfully slow to use, as it does constant server requests (just paste the URL for a Blackboard connection into http://www.webpagetest.org/ for testing).

Sometimes one single click every 15 seconds is all the system will react to when I'm using the grade book, etc. -- in the "real" world, without captive users, no one would ever return to a site with those response times. To be fair to Blackboard, part of that may (or may not) be our schools network or Blackboard interface setup.

As far as usability, Blackboard needs to let the User Interface and UIX designers (if they even had any) direct the techs and coders. It's *very* obvious that it's been the reverse, . They should 'steal' some Apple UIX people and give them some *real* power to direct how the app works and what it looks like.

I've just finished using Blackboard for 3 hours+ doing things that should have taken 1 hour or less had the interface been optimized and more thought out. For example, under the 'Assignments' and 'Course Documents' sections there is no easy way to reorder or batch select using something basic like check boxes or a multi-select hot keys.

Also, any NEW assignment or document post goes to the BOTTOM (the absolute reverse of a Blog post) So I need to drag it back to the top (where it logically should go). However, even that is awkward, since when I drag to the top of the browser the window does not auto-scroll. I have to hold the left mouse button at the same time as I use my middle finger to roll the mouse wheel -- duh!!.

There IS a small text window pop-up accessed via an archaic icon to reorder posts, however, that shows only 5 assignment titles at a time (no window resize function to show more than 5). I can reorder them there, but need to do a single mouse click each time it moves up one position, but again, with no way to see more than 5 and no way to multi-select. So, if I have 50 course documents and want to shift 5 new documents to the top (where they belong) that's almost 250 mouse clicks to re-position 5 documents to where they should be in the first place - duh!!

In Gradebook it only shows 10 students listed by default. I can change the setting up to 50 but the next time I go back it's back or need to refresh something -- it's back to 10. It doesn't save defaults or give me a choice. This may seem to be nit-picking, but over the period of a 14 week semester that's a lot of wasted time time and clicks.

I'm going to end my review here as I have more work to do, but when I saw a 4 star review for this LMS being the solo review I had to balance it out. Bottom line is, the concept is good -- many, many modules/tools in a LMS bundled package but the execution is absolutely awful.

Just Google search 'Blackboard sucks' or 'I hate Blackboard' if you want real faculty and user opinions sans any marketing spin. Other telltale signs are when a company start to lose long-term clients. Ryerson University in Toronto just did a switch from Blackboard after "a multi-year consultation process". More on that process is here http://lms.blog.ryerson.ca/

Hopefully that last paragraph doesn't get censored, because that's the source of raw truth.

Pros

1. it's an LMS and something is better than nothing.
2. It's full of examples I can show my students on how not to do UI and UIX
3. Well established company is behind it
4. Modular front-end
5. Many bells and whistles

Cons

1. Counter intuitive, clunky, awkard UI (User Interface) - improve it by hiring UI/UIX experts and giving them actual control over the app interface and functions.
2. Slow (even when on the same network node or high speed cable connection) - needs a code rewrite/optimization.
3. Ancient aesthetics (although some design elements are now "flat design-ish") - hire UI and UIX designers and actually allow them to direct the final interface.
4. Many glitches (I've a folder full of screen-shots, if you want proof) - again a code rewrite needed, or ideally a complete start-over with newer code philosophies and methods.

I am consulting for two institutions - the one a large higher education institution - 45 000+ Blackboard users - self hosted and the other - smaller business school - 1000+ Blackboard users - hosted.

I present training and support to the faculty on how to use the LMS. Although one can discover a lot for yourself using the Blackboard help site, there are a few tips and tricks that make life a lot easier which is not always that intuitive.

Problems that we are trying to solve: changing the faculty's teaching philosophy from traditional lecture based teaching to a more active learning environment. Blackboard certainly address that well - as long as you plan your activities properly, you can get excellent feedback for example let the students read or view a video on a specific concept and then let them write a pre-test before they come to the lecture. This will help you to identify where the gaps still exist which you can address then in class. Also using a flipped class room approach - Blackboard can be used to assist you in flipping your class room where you can also monitor and track which of your students engaged beforehand.

I have been using WebCT and then Blackboard.

Pros

Everything is in one space - lots of tools - the sky is really the limit.
I also like the Best Practice parts of the help site - it helps you to get ideas of how you can use the tools.

Cons

In terms of support from Blackboard, sometimes the person who receives the inquiry do not read properly or English is a second language because we often have to explain again and again before they understand - that is the only frustration I currently have with the support.

It is unfortunately a very expensive product since the institutions are not based in the USA and therefore we are subjected to the exchange rate.

Had a good experience using blackboard. I liked how it was organized

I've used Blackboard both during my time at school and at my business. I have to say that it kept me very organized with helped me to find the tasks that I needed to do and complete them. If you're a student or work for a higher education facility, don't hesitate to get Blackboard.

I used blackboard as an online central hub for each class during my first couple years at the University of Mary Washington. Blackboard provided each teacher the ability to create diverse classes through their use of online tools such as blogs, online collaboration, and easy communication between professors, classmates, and participants in other classes of the dame subject. These tools that Blackboard provided could have created an amazing classroom experience at home. However, blackboard was so complicated to use and had so many bugs that it became more of a hassle than a tool to be utilized. Posted materials would disapear or be locked out of no where. Blogs wouls stop refreshing. One time, a professors whole page was reset to blank over night. These things would always be quickly fixed but annoying none the less.

Blackboard puts differently formatted information - pdf, simple data, hyperlinks, etc. - in one spot, but it can be more user friendly. The tools sections, in particular, is so full that it makes looking for the most basic thing a chore. Why, for example, are grades in the tools section? Emailing all members of a class is not prohibitively complicated, accessing course materials is not hard (though they tend to be organized in ascending order from the first thing posted to the last, which is annoying because typically a student would be looking for the latest course material first and not last), and all of the most necessary links - except for grades - are conveniently located on the side bar.

Overall, Blackboard gets the job done. It's frequently inconvenient and irrelevant, but it serves its purpose. The learning modules are frustrating for the student because downloads begin automatically, which is annoying. The app is inconsistent at best and incomplete at worst. The grade-viewing feature needs more options to break down assignments, students should be able to sort assignments into categories such as projects, tests, homework, etc... The announcement feature is nice.

I used blackboard as a student at Georgetown. Professors differed in how the used the program - some would post a syllabus and forget about it, while others would post everything from grades to homework to multimedia and made ample use of features like the discussion board.

Overall, I found it useful. Blackboard streamlined communication between me, my professors, and my classmates. I think Blackboard does feature a lot of "noise", in the sense that it offers many tools both I and my professors never had a purpose for.