
There are many positive features of Bb like Gradebook and posting documents allowing easy student accessibility, but just recently, I have begun using a feature that has really enhanced student learning: journals.
In contrast to Discussion Boards which are public--and that students complain about, students actually enjoyed doing the journals where in my case, they commented on each chapter of the books they read. It was easy for me to reply and they loved getting all the feedback (privately). When it came time to grade the journal entries as a totality, I was able to review all of them in one place, easily and expeditiously.
Furthermore, with information communicated in this mode, it lent itself to a low stakes environment, where I did not feel compelled to correct their grammar (rather only conceptual errors). I also was surprised by the quality of the content and its variety. Students seemed to really enjoy having what was an informal , private dialog with me (their professor); many specifically mentioned how much they looked forward to my comments on what they said. It probably also helped that I didn't grade each individual entry, but only did so periodically. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
It makes me crazy that when I pull up Bb, I can't set the default to match the number of students in the class, but rather each time, I have to adjust the number of rows visible for entering grades.
I also don't like how sometimes the left side menu bar disappears, and then I have to move the cursor around to find the arrow to show the toggle it so that the menu bar is visible again. It's really frustrating and wastes time.
Finally, the formatting when I post documents is really crazy. The spacing that I see on screen is often very different from what it looks like when I press submit. So I often will post both the document so students can easily see it, AND post it as an attached document. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Blackboard's easy integration with Zoom! Students had no problem easily navigating to the links for our meetings.
The Communication feature is so helpful for sending out announcements to the whole class! I cannot imagine teaching without this, in online, Zoom, OR in-person modalities.
Some people complain about the layout's not being intuitive, but I do think it is extremely easy to use! I also love the ability to weight grades by creating categories for different assignments--I tend to use "low-stakes" assignments that, combined, comprise 50% of the grade, with perhaps three "high-stakes" assignments comprising the other 50%. Setting this up right at the beginning of the semester is easy (though I always have to review Blackboard tutorials to remember how to do it--it's not intuitive to FIND, necessarily). It's also crucial to remember, then, to change assignment categories when they are created: if you are using the "low-stakes" and "high-stakes" categories, you have to be careful because a journal assignment will automatically be created as "Journal" while a SafeAssign post will always be called an "Assignment"--mathematically, this can wreak havoc on scores unless you are very mindful of changing the categories to correspond with what you've created at the beginning of the course. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The Groups feature is so much more complicated than it needs to be. I worked extensively with tutorials as well as my tech support team to implement this in Fall 2020 to no avail.
The home page is pretty lousy. It doesn't at all give students any kind of incentive to interact--I hear much better things about Blackboard's competitor, Canva, and wish my school would subscribe to it! I wish I could somehow copy journal and discussion board prompts from one class to another: it is so much extra work to edit these posts then copy/paste them into the current class.
I wish weekly folders came pre-populated--it makes sense for every single class and would truly take away a TON of student questions about organization if Blackboard had this kind of consistency in every department and every academic discipline across the College.
At the end of the semester, I suddenly could not create any announcements or posts--and then I realized that, for some reason, the "Edit" button was toggled to "off." This must have happened automatically when classes had ended, but since most instructors continue to use Blackboard's announcement feature to communicate with students during finals week, this could be confusing with a less experienced user. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I like that I can easily access my courses and interact with my professors. It can receive feedback on my assignments and know what grades I have received instantly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I wish there were ways for students who have preferred names to show that on their account profile for the professor and other classmates to see. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I have used blackboard both as a student and as a grader and I love the ease and convenience it provides. As a student, I like how I can go through my lecture notes, assignments, exams, and grades all in one place. As a grader, it's convenient to just open the grading center and easily grade all the students. Overall, an excellent product in the field of education. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The one thing I didn't like about Blackboard was its not so impressive UI. It's sometimes not as responsive and interactive as I would like it to be. Also, from a grader perspective, it would be great if a few exam proctoring actions are added to this platform to improve the exam conducting capabilities of this application. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
It is a valuable method for keeping up with the activities in class. This is a one-stop shop for assignments, seminars and contact with teachers and student colleagues. The layout of the course is simple and easy to use. I like how teachers can break classes and divide them with students into sub-categories. When assigning an option to a squad, no instructor has to attend any class separately. Both my reviews I like to see on the website. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The design isn't really intuitive, you just need to know what the board is looking for. It becomes very confusing and causes training and assignment issues when not tagged. Without a guide, I don't understand how to use so many choices or services. I like whiteboards interactive solutions. You have a lot of bugs, and before you get used to them, it's tough. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The format of Blackboard is great. You can share screens. make others a moderator so they can share screens. You can put people into groups and set a timer for them to come back into the main group. you can also add assignments and grades in BlackBoard. Can not ask for a better system for instruction, group meetings, breakout sessions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I have not seen anything that I dislike about BlackBoard. It does many things that help instructors teach. I wish that our district would not set limits on what each instructor is allowed to do. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Course organization is simple, easy to navigate. No complexity involved. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Instructors have a different view and often gets confusing on their end especially in controls what students should see and what not to. Gets a little mess, while creating questions for quizzes and assignments when not tagged. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The structure of the course is clear, and easy to navigate. Involved in no difficulty. I like the way I can see what the students can see from your hand. I enjoy the ease of setting up tasks and organizing the Grade Centre. The class can be divided into sub-categories and bonded. No teacher needs to join each class individually when a team is assigned to pick an alternative. I like students having all their grades on the website as it's really easy to write the code. I like to know how to send e-mails directly from the app to the students. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Instructors have a different perspective and are often confused on their part, particularly in regulating what should and should not be seen by students. When it's not labelled it gets a little messy generating problems for testing and assignments. I don't like whiteboard accessibility technologies and without a guide, I don't understand how to use too many choices or resources. You have a lot of mistakes and it is difficult to handle them until you get used to them. Blackboard can be designed to make navigation easier for learners. In the first week of school this is a major concern. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Enables people to be understood. It offers a marvelous resource for students to exchange knowledge and class notes, whether in school or online. I like the structure of my classes at all times. All classes, syllabs, assignments, grades and other content posted by teachers can be viewed by the students. Tasks and comments can also be applied. At any time throughout the semester I like that students are able to monitor their performance and receive feedback on assignments and tests. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I got no aversion. I have found Blackboard to be the best solution to meet students and teachers requirements compared to other learning management systems. It could, however, also cause important technical problems, such as web failure or application blockage. I believe that after they're done, your courses and your material disappear. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I like how I can see from your side what students will see. I appreciate how easy it is to set up tasks and coordinate the Grade Center. You can separate and bind the class into sub-categories. No teacher needs to enter each class individually when selecting an option for a team when a team is assigned. I like students seeing all their grades on the platform, as they write the code it's very easy. I like to know how to send e-mails directly to students from the app. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I don't like how difficult it is to navigate the problems, the accessibility of technology on blackboards, and I don't understand how to use too many options or tools without a tutorial. You have a lot of bugs, and before you get used to them it is difficult to manage them. Blackboard can be designed to make it easier for students to navigate. This is a major complaint in the first week of classes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Blackboard can be a valuable tool for educators and students. There are a variety of platforms included in Blackboard Learn such as virtual classroom, custom content display, and unique set-up by teachers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
While Blackboard Learn has a lot of great features like copying previous classes to current academic years, it is very complicated to understand how to use the features and many of the tutorials supplied by Blackboard are not user friendly. Blackboard needs to be compatible with other educational platforms like Google Suites. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Blackboard made it easier for people to understand. Whether it is in the classroom or online, it offers a wonderful resource that helps students to exchange knowledge and class notes. I like how my classes are structured throughout. All classes and programs, tasks, grades and other content published by professors can be viewed by students. They are also able to apply tasks and comment. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
It may also cause significant technical difficulties, such as not working the web properly or crashing the application. I think their courses and material will vanish once they have finished. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Blackboard is an ideal Learning Management System (LMS) that meets all of my academic needs. Some of the features that I enjoy most are, the ability to store
a reasonable amount content (i.e. Powerpoint lectures, assignments, files, videos). Through the use of Blackboard i am also able to create an inviting virtual space to enhance student engagement via the Discussion Board tool. I often use the discussion feature to introduce relevant course content that may also be controversial. I have found that this is the best way to engage students.
Additionally, it is a useful LMS for the facilitation of assessments (e.g. tests and quizzes) and it integrates seamlessly with third party content providers (e.g Cengage, Pearson).
Students have shared that they like that they are able to monitor their performance at anytime during the semester and they are able to receive feedback on assignments and quizzes immediately. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I do not have any dislikes. Compared with other learning management systems I have found Blackboard to be the best in meeting both student and professor needs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
You may split the class into sub-categories (teams) and bind them. When there is a team assignment, no teacher needs to enter all classes individually by selecting an option for a team. I like all of my grades at one point and it's very easy once I get the code down. I also like how you can directly send emails from the app to teachers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
You have many bugs and you will find it hard to manage before you get used to them. Blackboard can be streamlined so that students can navigate more quickly. In the first week of classes, that's a major complaint. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
They contact me sometimes and I know that BlackBoard is closed for some time ( usually a couple of hours overnight) so that they can update them. As a consequence, BlackBoard has never been ineffective and can still be used. For my entire college career I used BlackBoard and it was never a problem. The best aspect of Blackboard has to be to quickly fulfill the mission, to know that it is delivered and to be able to use resources such as SafeLearn, which can see how well the work blends in with another person's work. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I guess the only thing that I don't like about Blackboard is that you can't change it too much. I'm on the internet for several hours most days and I want my backdrop to be more than just a few bland colors. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The students grades can be monitored and their grades can be seen online. You can also import directly from the blackboard a list of student emails or contact students. For uploading content, it's also quite easy. Saving time and easy to access is a great way. You can engage very easily with your students. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Functionality organization is not intuitive. Even fundamental tasks often involve multiple clicks and page updates. The loading and navigation takes a long time. Sometimes it may be slow, and when you register a student, it may take time, and student messages may be delayed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The organization of blackboard is great. Both teachers and students do well with the ease of use and organization of blackboard. It is great how blackboard contains everything. You can upload videos, pictures, messages, have discussions, and so on. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
There is no google drive feature that would potentially allow for multiple people to collaborate on a document. It can also break down sometimes which can be frustrating. It doesn't let you upload videos frequently due to a cut off on file size. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
While exploring Blackboard Learn there is a complete guide. The basic and very helpful research to check off is very easy to use and teach. Saving time and easy access is a great way to save. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I don't like it when they do some updates on the platform because it's happened that things change places and it takes a while to adapt again. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Streamlines education, especially during a time when nearly every university is operating virtually. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Could be a fluke on my end, but I find the program glitches often and doesn’t display tasks/information correctly Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I like how I can preview what students will see on their side. I love how easy it is to create assignments and ability to organize the grade center. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I dislike how it is difficult to navigate issues, technology accessibility concerns on blackboard meeting, and having too many options or tools that I don't understand how to use without a tutorial. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.