I think Blackboard is an excellent educational tool. Not only does it allow students to have constant access to documents and Powerpoints from class, but it allows a student to catch up quickly if they're absent for class one day. It's also a great communication device, which I've used in two ways: first, the professor or any student in the class can email all students enrolled in the class at once, which is very convenient and efficient. Second, the discussion board is a great tool for students to share their ideas and discuss questions or issues.
Blackboard is far from perfect, though. Personally, I think it takes too many steps to log in to Blackboard. I also think the layout is somewhat inefficient at times. If I do have issues, there is no customer service help; I have to contact NYU itself, which rarely knows how to fix the issue (such as a class not showing up or my login being blocked).
I also think the discussion board is one of the most powerful tools but currently is not used very efficiently. First of all, it's far removed from the Blackboard home screen, and its physical layout is sometimes difficult to maneuver. I also have to manually check it to see if anyone posted anything, or if someone responded to my post. It would be a great addition if they added an email notification feature, so that I'd know immediately if someone responded to my post.
Overall, I think Blackboard is a great tool. But I think since it was invented, technology has increased greatly. I think Blackboard can benefit from looking at some of these technological improvements, and incorporating them into their software.
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