Evaluation of
Blackboard Course Sites
Blackboard Course Sites - Top Five Strengths
Strengths:
Blackboard Course sites have many tools that are available to users. The following five aspects are the most useful for new creators.
#1. Blackboard Course sites provides an easy setup for constructing the basic tools needed in an online class. This includes creating groups, discussion boards, topics, content folders and assignments. An instructor just learning this LMS will be able to create these items will little difficulty.
Blackboard Course sites have many tools that are available to users. The following five aspects are the most useful for new creators.
#1. Blackboard Course sites provides an easy setup for constructing the basic tools needed in an online class. This includes creating groups, discussion boards, topics, content folders and assignments. An instructor just learning this LMS will be able to create these items will little difficulty.
#2. The use of a rubric in an online course is essential. Blackboard has a rubric component that is easy to use and allows for creation/modifications with only a few key strokes. It is wise to have the rubric built prior to entering the information, this will allow you to build the correct number of levels and criteria.
#3. There are many resources outside of the LMS that can be utilized to better help students understand given topics. Using video clips from YouTube is an excellent way to engage students, place emphasis on the topic being discussed or studied, and allows students a place to return to for additional views if they need assistance.
#4. Effective online courses have a homepage that is visually pleasing, easy to navigate, and contains all of the essential items for the course. Blackboard offers creators many options for building a homepage. Many widgets are available for creators to utilize, either as they exist or in a modified form.
#5. Managing the LMS is a critical component for an online instructor. This includes many processes, such as viewing statistics of the users, deactivating the course, or making modifications to existing assignments or assessments. Blackboard
Blackboard Course Sites - Top Five Weaknesses
Weaknesses:
Blackboard's LMS contains several areas that may present significant challenges to new users. While there are at least 10 that this reviewer considers important to discuss, this list will contain only five that are significantly different from other LMS systems being reviewed.
#1. With the amount of writing and research completed in many courses, having an anti-plagarism program built into the LMS is a huge benefit for the instructor. Having this tool is also important to show students that this form of cheating is taken very serious. Blackboard Course Sites does not have this software attached to the LMS. There is capability of adding one, however that comes at a cost to the user.
Blackboard's LMS contains several areas that may present significant challenges to new users. While there are at least 10 that this reviewer considers important to discuss, this list will contain only five that are significantly different from other LMS systems being reviewed.
#1. With the amount of writing and research completed in many courses, having an anti-plagarism program built into the LMS is a huge benefit for the instructor. Having this tool is also important to show students that this form of cheating is taken very serious. Blackboard Course Sites does not have this software attached to the LMS. There is capability of adding one, however that comes at a cost to the user.
#2. Blackboard offers several different outside content providers such as McGraw-Hill and NBC. These providers offer specific information that takes the user several steps to access. Depending on the type of course using the LMS, it may or may not be helpful. When trying to add outside providers such as Atomic Learning there is a significantly difficult process involved. This aspect is not user friendly, even to the experienced instructor.
#3. An important aspect of creating a course is to have a clear and easy to access contact page for the instructor. This page should contain all relative information to allow students to be able to have multiple ways to contact the instructor. This LMS forces the creator to go to a separate page in order to view the information. A solution is put a note in the news section explaining how to get to the contact page. However, this is not an intuitive way to reach the information and will likely cause confusion and frustration for students.
#4. Working in the LMS grade book is an essential part of an instructors role. So, having a grade book that is easier to utilize is critical. Blackboard's grade book has many tabs to offer choices for instructors. However, deciding how to utilize these tabs can be very difficult. As demonstrated in the video below, the various assignments are listed in the appropriate tab. This is not like a typical format for a teacher's grade book. When trying to add items, it is a confusing process and does not provide quality assistance for completing the task
#5. Another aspect of the grade book that is an issue in Blackboard is the process for finalizing grades. There is no clear method for completing the grades for the course. When using the help area, general descriptions are given but they are not the same as what the instructor sees on the page. The video below illustrates the help issue and finalizing grade issue in general.
Evaluation of Desire to Learn (D2L)
Desire To Learn - Top Five Strengths
Strengths:
The LMS named Desire To Learn (D2L) contains many tools that teachers will be able to adapt and utilize in creating an online course in the K-12 system. Here are five of the many advantages of D2L.
#1. For a new user, creating the basic course items such as groups, discussion boards and assigning roles are critical to understand. D2L has a very intuitive system that takes only a few steps to complete each of these processes. New creators will be able to follow these steps in a sequential manner to establish the components needed in an online course.
The LMS named Desire To Learn (D2L) contains many tools that teachers will be able to adapt and utilize in creating an online course in the K-12 system. Here are five of the many advantages of D2L.
#1. For a new user, creating the basic course items such as groups, discussion boards and assigning roles are critical to understand. D2L has a very intuitive system that takes only a few steps to complete each of these processes. New creators will be able to follow these steps in a sequential manner to establish the components needed in an online course.
#2. Adding course content is one of the most important components for the design of an online course. D2L has the tools in place to allow a course creator to add many different types of content simply by following a few steps and clicks. The following video shows the simple process needed to add a few different types of content.
#3. Another aspect that is essential for students in an online course is the instructor's contact information. Typically, this information will be included in the homepage of the course. This allows for easy access to the information and quick reference if the information is needed by the student. The video below shows this information displayed on a sample course page along with the ease of editing the information as needed by the instructor.
#4. Creating a rubric for online activities, assignments, or assessments is a tool that instructors must have at their disposal. D2L allows the creator to have several options when creating a rubric. Even if the rubric has not been created ahead of entering the levels and criteria into the LMS, the process for revising the rubric is very simple and intuitive.
#5. D2L offers many easy processes for managing the course. An instructor must be able to adequately maneuver around the management side of the LMS to monitor activity views, monitor student activity and change roles as needed. D2L, as you can see in the video below, provides all of these processes in a fairly simple manner. More intricate processes can be adopted and learned by the user as their knowledge of the system grows. But for basic needs, this system has processes in place to accommodate nearly all users.
Desire to Learn - Top Five Weaknesses
Weaknesses:
Desire To Learn's LMS has some areas that may present challenges to new users. Below are five areas that are difficult for some users and need to be considered when reviewing the system as a whole.
1. Creating a quiz in D2L is a fairly intuitive process. However, the number of steps involved in creating a quiz and the processes needed to use a variety of types of questions may be overwhelming to a new user.
Desire To Learn's LMS has some areas that may present challenges to new users. Below are five areas that are difficult for some users and need to be considered when reviewing the system as a whole.
1. Creating a quiz in D2L is a fairly intuitive process. However, the number of steps involved in creating a quiz and the processes needed to use a variety of types of questions may be overwhelming to a new user.
2. Creating a homepage is essential for any instructor. D2L offers a variety of widgets to use or the ability to create your own widget. However, during the process of creating a homepage, the creator must make a copy of the homepage under the course administration tab. This is not an intuitive step for a creator to easily identify. Watching help videos is definitely needed or a summary of the steps highlighting this particular area would be helpful.
3. The data reports in D2L are basic, in terms of the information you can gather in a few quick key strokes. After researching more about this, there are other options but none that can utilized without additional training. This is a little bit of a concern as we need better breakdowns of the student's grades, participation, etc, in order to identify areas of need.
4. A tool that is becoming more useful and important to have in an online course is some type of HTML editor. D2L has this capability, however it is not as intuitive for a new user or a user inexperienced in HTML. There are many steps involved in the process for utilizing the HTML editor and a user will need assistance. Either watching a help video or having a set of written instructions is necessary in order to complete this process.
5. To finalize grades in D2L, there are many steps that the instructor needs to follow. Several of these steps are easily missed if the instructor is not careful. Due to this large amount of steps in the process, this is a concern for the LMS. For example, once you have completed the first several steps, you have a box that must be clicked before finalizing or you will receive errors for grades. There are also several different tabs with actions available. Again, without knowing the process, this is a challenge.
Final LMS Recommendation
After reviewing nearly 20 LMS components of both Blackboard Course Sites and Desire To Learn, it is clear to me that D2L is the LMS for our district. While Blackboard may be the most popular LMS, D2L has the greatest capacity for our district. We need a system that is robust and adaptable for the future. Unlike some users in higher education, K-12 districts cannot afford to change this type of system every couple of years. Rather, we need an LMS that we can grow into and that will be able to adapt as needed. This is Desire To Learn.
As stated above, the overall biggest concern with D2L is the number of steps some processes take to complete. However, with the proper training and help manual that we can put together for teachers, the system is fairly close to the Progress Book grade system we currently use and more friendly than the iLearn Ohio system our pilot courses are being run in at Fairborn High School. With any new program, professional development for staff will be the key to successful implementation.
Desire To Learn is more intuitive for teachers and offers a great variety of tools to incorporate into courses. This will lead to better designed courses. Another positive not mentioned above is the ease with which an instructor can modify assignments, quizzes and tests to meet any special needs of our students. With our high percentage of IEPs, this is another good aspect of the LMS.
D2L is a system that will be most familiar to our teachers. While there will be some learning involved, many of the processes resemble those being used in our current systems. In summary, I would highly recommend that Fairborn City Schools adopt the Desire To Learn LMS system.
As stated above, the overall biggest concern with D2L is the number of steps some processes take to complete. However, with the proper training and help manual that we can put together for teachers, the system is fairly close to the Progress Book grade system we currently use and more friendly than the iLearn Ohio system our pilot courses are being run in at Fairborn High School. With any new program, professional development for staff will be the key to successful implementation.
Desire To Learn is more intuitive for teachers and offers a great variety of tools to incorporate into courses. This will lead to better designed courses. Another positive not mentioned above is the ease with which an instructor can modify assignments, quizzes and tests to meet any special needs of our students. With our high percentage of IEPs, this is another good aspect of the LMS.
D2L is a system that will be most familiar to our teachers. While there will be some learning involved, many of the processes resemble those being used in our current systems. In summary, I would highly recommend that Fairborn City Schools adopt the Desire To Learn LMS system.