What is blackboard format

[SparklyUnicorn]

as it pertains to on-line courses?

 

 

[Amy in NH]

Blackboard is an online portal where you can share document and videos, turn in assignments, and hold private discussion forums.

[Arcadia]

This

http://www.blackboard.com/online-collaborative-learning/blackboard-collaborate-features.aspx

[hornblower]

& just FYI, it's not only for online courses. All of dd's irl college courses use blackboard. That's where the course powerpoints are uploaded, instructor announcements and marks are posted etc.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[G5052]

Yes, Blackboard has both course management (gradebook, quizzes, asynchronous discussion, etc.) and live online classroom capabilities.

 

I use it at the college level and have taught how-to faculty seminars on using it for several years now.

 

One of my other contracts uses Schoology as the course management system and Adobe Connect for the live classroom. OK, but I prefer Blackboard. Blackboard has more capabilities and is more reliable for me.

[regentrude]

One of my other contracts uses Schoology as the course management system and Adobe Connect for the live classroom. OK, but I prefer Blackboard. Blackboard has more capabilities and is more reliable for me.

Interesting to hear that you like and prefer it.

I strongly dislike BB; it is often unreliable, and the grade spreadsheet is poorly executed (really: five different clicks before I can download a file??) and does not have the calculation capabilities my excel gradesheet has.

We are fighting on campus to be allowed to switch to a different LMS; in pilot studies all involved faculty have expressed a strong preference for Canvas. Alas, the administration....

 

What do you like about it?

[G5052]

Interesting to hear that you like and prefer it.

I strongly dislike BB; it is often unreliable, and the grade spreadsheet is poorly executed (really: five different clicks before I can download a file??) and does not have the calculation capabilities my excel gradesheet has.

We are fighting on campus to be allowed to switch to a different LMS; in pilot studies all involved faculty have expressed a strong preference for Canvas. Alas, the administration....

 

What do you like about it?

 

I think that part of it is that our state manages Blackboard centrally for the entire state community college system. They have a very experienced team, and it's rarely down for us. I think because they are also one of the largest installations in the U.S., we have a lot more features than most. Even when we go to a new version, very rarely are there any problems. For my online classes, I have a contact who has been using it for 15+ years and regularly speaks at their conferences. She always knows a work-around. 

 

I like how it integrates media, how the gradebook works including weighted grading, their tools for quizzes, drag-and-drop features, more advanced features for copying content, and the online classroom controls which are more dashboard-oriented versus the menus of Adobe Connect.

 

That said, the contract is coming up for renewal, and I hear that Canvas is in the running. We'll see what they choose. I don't know anything about Canvas.

 

Schoology requires way too much clicking IMHO, and I have to do a lot of cut-and-paste work between sections because the copying isn't as robust. This year I'm teaching five sections total of three different classes, and the Schoology end of it drives me bonkers. Next year will be four sections of one class. Much better.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I was looking at courses at the local CC and a few of the on-line courses had a line about the class being delivered in blackboard format.  So I wondered what that was. 

Thanks!

 

 

[G5052]

I was looking at courses at the local CC and a few of the on-line courses had a line about the class being delivered in blackboard format.  So I wondered what that was. 

Thanks!

 

That's odd terminology to me though. I'm not quite sure that they mean by "Blackboard format."

 

In my state all community college classes, whether online or face-to-face, are required to use Blackboard. For face-to-face classes, the minimum is to post a syllabus, use it for announcements, and to keep the gradebook. Of course more is expected for entirely online classes.

 

The college classes I teach online are asynchronous, meaning that students log in any time to do their assignments and participate in discussion activities. The only time I use the online classroom feature is for online office hours and exam study sessions. I use a camera on me during those sessions and record them.Those are optional of course.

 

In my other "gig," I teach live classes with a camera on me. Those would be synchronous classes because they're expected to show up.

 

So I'm not sure with the term "Blackboard format" means. I assume that they're logging in on their own time and using the materials in Blackboard? Or is a live online class within the classroom feature. Not sure. I'd ask that.

[Arcadia]

I was looking at courses at the local CC and a few of the on-line courses had a line about the class being delivered in blackboard format.

That usually means whatever you use should be able to run the online blackboard. So my kids can't use their iPads or Kindles but can use their laptops and a windows tablet (if they want to squint at the small screen). My kids have been using blackboard since 2011 and sometimes system goes down so we always stay ahead of online tests deadlines just in case.

[SparklyUnicorn]

That's odd terminology to me though. I'm not quite sure that they mean by "Blackboard format."

 

In my state all community college classes, whether online or face-to-face, are required to use Blackboard. For face-to-face classes, the minimum is to post a syllabus, use it for announcements, and to keep the gradebook. Of course more is expected for entirely online classes.

 

The college classes I teach online are asynchronous, meaning that students log in any time to do their assignments and participate in discussion activities. The only time I use the online classroom feature is for online office hours and exam study sessions. I use a camera on me during those sessions and record them.Those are optional of course.

 

In my other "gig," I teach live classes with a camera on me. Those would be synchronous classes because they're expected to show up.

 

So I'm not sure with the term "Blackboard format" means. I assume that they're logging in on their own time and using the materials in Blackboard? Or is a live online class within the classroom feature. Not sure. I'd ask that.

 

Yeah I have no idea.  I doubt it is a live on-line class. 

 

 

[G5052]

Yeah I have no idea.  I doubt it is a live on-line class. 

 

I do too. In my experience, most colleges use Blackboard for the content, but the student does it on their own time.

 

One college in my state pioneered live satellite classes some years ago, and then went to live online about 3 years ago. 

 

All of the others I know of only use live sessions for office hours, review, and some of the language studies have mandatory conversation sessions.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I do too. In my experience, most colleges use Blackboard for the content, but the student does it on their own time.

 

One college in my state pioneered live satellite classes some years ago, and then went to live online about 3 years ago. 

 

All of the others I know of only use live sessions for office hours, review, and some of the language studies have mandatory conversation sessions.

 

Yeah this was for a math class.  I am sure they have minimal required log in times, but I can't imagine them requiring stuff like group discussions.  So maybe they are referring to the way in which the content is delivered.