Learning Management Systems, whether we like it or not, are necessary tools of learning among college campuses in particular. A LMS is a software application utilized by students, faculty and administration to keep track of educational courses and student progress.
Blackboard is used by more than 17,000 learning establishments. From K-12 schools to reputable universities and colleges in the U.S., Blackboard is one of the most popular Learning Management Systems available.
Although I cannot speak for all Learning Management Systems, Blackboard comes with numerous positives and negatives.
The Good:
Coming from a high school that basically considered all forms of technology “evil,” my experience with online learning systems was zero to none. Since the University of Mississippi never actually taught students how to navigate Blackboard, I was on my own. I quickly found out that Blackboard is generally easy to navigate due to its simple web design.
Besides being easy to navigate, Blackboard has features like “My Announcements” and “My Courses” that are helpful for learning. By selecting one of the courses you are enrolled in, Blackboard brings you to a new page and offers options pertaining to that particular course. I think I speak for a majority of Blackboard users when I say that the “Content,” “Discussions,” and “My Grades” tabs have proven to be the most useful in the educational journey. The “Content” tab usually features the syllabus, class notes or power points, and major assignments. Having the syllabus available on Blackboard is very helpful for the many students who misplace the paper syllabus after the first week of classes.
Though I’m sure students pay for Blackboard in the form of tuition, another positive about this application is that it is free to enrolled students. After purchasing all of those expensive college textbooks, the last thing a student wants to pay for is access to a mediocre Learning Management System.
The Bad:
Everyone has that unpredictable and unreliable friend who is notorious for backing out of planned social gatherings at the last minute. Blackboard is that friend that you invite to everything and they tell you they are coming but over half of the time, they never show up. And when they do show up, its not “fashionably late” its annoyingly late.
If you have the Blackboard app downloaded to your smart phone, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You open the app, tap on one of the courses and watch that gray arrow go around and around while you wait. And then you wait some more. And then more. And if you’re one of the lucky ones, it will finally take you to the course. But if you are one of the unlucky ones, like I have been on many occasions, you will never see the course you had once hoped to view. When the course home page finally loads, you have to click on yet another tab, which involves the return of the dreaded rotating gray arrow. This gray arrow is the equivalent of the rainbow wheel of death that haunts Mac users everywhere.
I have witnessed numerous other occasions over the past three years when Blackboard has failed not just me, but everyone. There have been many times when professors have told students that something will be posted to Blackboard at said time, and yet, it never makes it onto Blackboard. This is not the fault of our professors though. This is the fault of Blackboard, and its inability to complete and carry out the simple tasks that our professors assign it perform.
The Ugly:
If you have ever had the privilege of viewing this particular Learning Management System, you are aware of its unimpressive and disappointing design. Although the app gives you the option to “Personalize” the page, the options are slim and there is not much you can do about it. There are 18 options of color to choose from, but even if you select one of these colors, it does not change anything about the web layout. Only the background color will change, leaving your Blackboard homepage looking just a little bit less unimpressive and disappointing than before.
I do have to admit, I would be incapable of functioning properly in college without Blackboard, but the app desperately needs work in many different areas. If changes were made to this Learning Management System, it would reduce the amount of precious time wasted and the amount of tears shed. Students, Professors and the Blackboard support team could finally live in a web world of peace and harmony.
