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 Ratings
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| Reviewed: |
Jul 24, 2002 by Teacher Education |
| Overview: |
This site provides a lot of information about BlackBoard 5.5 and how to use the
BlackBoard system for online instruction. The site provides several examples
and explanations about how to develop instruction and place different types of
files and activities within the program. The site also includes basic
instruction and information about how to introduce BlackBoard 5.5 to students.
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| Learning Goals: |
The goals for this site include providing local information for help for
instructors at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and generalized information about
how to use BlackBoard.
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| Target Student Population: |
Faculty at other institutions who are creating web-based or web-assisted courses
can use this site to help them learn how to use BlackBoard. The site can also
be used in courses in which students are required to develop web-based
instruction of their own in BlackBoard. The student portion of the site can be
used to provide students in web-based or web-assisted courses with information
about how to operate within BlackBoard 5.5.
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| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
Instructors and students should have basic computer and internet skills. Some
information about how course management tools operate is helpful but not
essential.
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| Type of Material: |
Resource/Reference
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| Recommended Uses: |
The site has several possible uses for faculty who are in the process of
developing BlackBoard based materials, students who are learning how to use
BlackBoard, and students who design instruction in BlackBoard as part of a
course requirement.
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| Technical Requirements: |
Internet connection and Browser. Note: BlackBoard works best with Internet
Explorer
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| Strengths: |
This site offers extensive information for instructors and students that is
generic for all instructors considering or already using BlackBoard and specific
to UW-Oshkosh faculty. Both instructor and student information provides
individuals with appropriate topics that can help both groups learn how to
function within the online environment in BlackBoard. The explanations are short
and clearly written. The basic information is good and can help an individual
get started in BlackBoard 5.5. The information is well organized and can be
accessed according to need. The coverage is relatively complete in that course
organization, copyright (and fair use regulations), concerns about ADA
compliance, and how to develop content are all addressed. Under Basic
Information, there is a sample BlackBoard course available, which is helpful for
those new to this particular course management tool. The section on Students
and Other Users includes some good tips for instructors about how to introduce
BlackBoard to students in a lab, in a classroom, or though a handout. The
section on Files, Materials, and Multimedia has a link to important information
about evaluating web resources that is useful for both students and faculty.
There is also very helpful information about how to add different media (images,
PDF, PowerPoint, audio, and video) to a BlackBoard course. Additional tips are
provided about the Discussion Board/Forum and about Quizzes and Surveys features
in BlackBoard. Information is also provided about problems that may be
encountered when using BlackBoard 5.5 (for example ? problems students may
experience with the quizzes). The final section,
called Teaching Online,
contains suggestions for how to develop Virtual Fieldtrips that take students
outside of your course to use the web as learning resource and research tool.
This section also includes a set of links to additional articles and online
resources about online teaching.
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| Concerns: |
Unfortunately, the link to a Blackboard course about accessibility issues is not
accessible to the general public the way the sample course is. This would be
very useful to instructors who want to learn how to make their BlackBoard course
ADA complaint. Information on course organization and design is limited and
does not go into depth, although it can be a useful introduction. Some topics
apply only to the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. As long as the user
realizes that getting courses set up is specific to one?s institution and the
contact persons are different for different sites, the site is still very
useful.
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
Rating:   |
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| Strengths: |
This site is most useful to instructors who plan to use, or are already using,
BlackBoard as a course management tool. However, some material at this site
could be useful to students enrolled in BlackBoard courses, to graduate students
studying instructional design, and to students or staff who might be helping
faculty design their online courses. As a guide one of the features that is very
appealing is the way that the information is categorized. The topics are easily
accessed and the user can choose what he/she needs to learn about. Instructors
can easily select information they want read more about. Some sections might be
useful for them to point their students to, such as the orientation to
BlackBoard unit, information on copyright, how to evaluate web resources,
and
citing online sources. The information on accessibility, ADA compliance, and
ways to incorporate different kinds of media in a BlackBoard course seem most
useful for Instructional Design students. The author of this site says that
users are free to link to and use the files at this site when creating training,
seminars, or online assistance. The author will even send a zip file of the
entire site upon request, as long as she is acknowledged in any new pages based
on files from this site.
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| Concerns: |
This site is not at all interactive. It is set up to provide information in a
straightforward, didactic manner. There appears to be no place to ask questions
and no way to join a discussion group about BlackBoard, if a user would desire
such interaction. Individuals outside of the University of Wisconsin cannot
access some areas.
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
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| Strengths: |
The structure of the site provides a good model for how an informational website
should be laid out. The links are clearly labeled and the use is intuitive, if
one is familiar with the way links work on the web. Topics are clear and easy
to follow. There is plenty of white space with not too much text on the screen
at one time. The look of website is consistent throughout, and such
predictability is comforting. Navigation is simple and straightforward.
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| Concerns: |
Individuals using other versions of BlackBoard may become confused when there
are differences between the versions. Some of the links are broken. The broken
links are not the ones that connect the user to information about topics but to
some of the examples.
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| Other Issues and Comments: |
This is an excellent resource when the user keeps in mind that some of the
instructions apply to a specific institution.
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