Blackboard Academic Suite
Communication
There are multiple ways to communicate through Blackboard (Bb). You can hold a synchronous or asynchronous class session by saving archives on the site for students to access at any time if they missed the live class. The video and sound capabilities come through the class which we’ve used wimba and adobe connect alongside with Bb and I’m sure others can be used as well and housed on Bb. The website states that it can reach students or instructors in minutes through Bb connect by email, text message or voice capabilities. Communication is very strong with Bb.
Content Organization
There are many tools available to organize the content on the course website. There is an easy navigation system on the side of the screen to easily label where different items will go. The administrator can create folders and move them around with ease.
Content Development and Course Delivery
Bb has just released a new version, 9.1. They use a Web 2.0 interface that allows all different software and interfaces connect with it. It is easy and very intuitive with organizing and adding the content that the administrator wants to create. You can create a syllabus and a course calendar that is easily viewable to the learners.
Likes and Dislikes
I like the easy layout and functions of Bb. It seems like an easy system to work with and create the course that the instructor envisions. The dislike is the cost. It is a very expensive program to implement in a school when funding is low.
Usability
Blackboard is a very usable tool. It is easy for both instructor and student to navigate and post what is desired. The ease of using the tool probably contributed to the high cost because of high demand since it is so easy to use. I have seen Bb used for K-12 and higher education but I could imagine it to be very usable in government and corporations as well with online training courses needed for different jobs.
Desire2Learn
Communication
Desire2Learn has multiple different ways to communicate asynchronously such as e-mail, blogs, discussions, chat and pager, and locker. The learners have different tools, like discussions and chat, that allow them to discuss and collaborate with each other. Desire2Learn thought of multiple different ways to allow for communication and collaboration between students and instructors for ultimate personalization and minimizing transactional distance. You can also hold synchronous class sessions.
Content Organization
The drag and drop feature that Desire2Learn implements allows for easy organization. You can always reorganize the order of modules or topics within items that you already created. The administrator can also create folders and subfolders for optimal organization.
Content Development and Course Delivery
Desire2Learn implements a drag and drop interface that allows the instructor to easily create the course in the system. The online overview boasts that the drag and drop feature allows the administrator to customize each addition at any time and add timing features of when each item will appear on the course to the learners. Instructors can create content that has links to files, web pages or other learning environment tools.
Likes and Dislikes
I really like the course organization and content development features of the drag and drop. It also looks easy to create different modules and content to organize and link together. The course looks very easy for the instructor to create and manage. From the tutorials online, I can’t see any dislikes. The LMS seems very well thought out on all ends.
Usability
The course seems very usable to the administrator and learner alike. The navigation is also easy to use and the user comments on the website are positive. Overall, a very usable and easy LMS for all users.
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