Blackboard expands North Greenville University’s horizons
Posted by The Skyliner on September 16th, 2009Jennilyn Howell
Copy Editor
In an effort to expand the school’s academic and professional reach, North Greenville University has recently implemented Blackboard, an Internet-based course management system that is more reliable, user friendly and flexible than other systems the school has used in the past.
Why switch to Blackboard?
The university has previously used an open source system named Moodle, which is called iDEAL on campus. Because the system was maintained by the school, no outside technical support existed.
“Reasons for changing away from iDEAL include a perceived weakness in the system, a lack of a full array of functions and the need for a higher level of system reliability,” Dr. Bill Stuermann, chair of modern languages and linguistics, said. He has been testing Blackboard and teaching other faculty members to use the system.
NGU also made the switch because one management system would be more efficient and effective than several. Campus community, iDEAL and Sharepoint will all be phased out.
“The adaption of Blackboard indicates a higher level of professional operations at NGU,” Stuermann said.
He also indicated that the new system will allow NGU to grow technologically.
“Once the use of a course management system is in place, then it is easy to integrate other technologies which enhance the learning environment, such as the use of podcasting to capture individual class meetings so that they can be easily replayed for students who missed the class,” Stuermann said.
Stuermann and Chris Sloan, academic technology support specialist, both agree that the main benefit of using Blackboard is that the system is centrally supported and there is access to outside technical support.
“The greatest advantage is the stability and reliability of Blackboard and the fact that it is supported by a highly competent and trained team of IT experts,” Stuermann said.
The system is also beneficial for students and faculty because it is much more user friendly than other systems.
“It’s a more organized piece of software for anybody,” Sloan said.
Why is Blackboard better?
Both students and faculty will experience more flexibility with Blackboard.
The company recently made it easier for students to study and organize assignments with the release of an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch (visit iTunes to download).
Blackboard helps with student organization as well.
“The course management system makes available to all users the documents and assignments within a course. There are no more lost syllabi, mistaken assignments, etc,” Stuermann said.
The system will help faculty grade assignments quickly and easily. Blackboard SafeAssign watches for plagiarism, while Acxiom checks the identity of test takers.
“Acxiom uses public records on the Internet to put together a series of questions that only you would know,” Sloan said. This will cut down on students taking tests and doing assignments for other students.
Blackboard also “seems to be more robust than iDEAL in that it can accommodate different … methods of teaching,” Sloan said.
Professors and students can also keep track of grades with just a few clicks.
“Using course management software … provides users with the ability to immediately and constantly track grades in classes and to verify that those grades have been entered correctly,” Stuermann said.
Are there problems with Blackboard?
So far, no major problems have been encountered. The main frustrations are “making sure user logins are correct, making sure courses show up—things you would expect to happen when you first start up. Those are holes we are quickly patching,” Sloan said.
Stuermann says the feedback from students and faculty has been mostly positive.
“[Students and faculty] are glad to have a system which they consider to be heavier duty, which won’t tend to fail as frequently. There have been the usual complaints about changing systems which always arise during such a transition,” he said.
What’s next for NGU and Blackboard?
With the addition of Blackboard, NGU will be able to offer more online classes. It is not clear when new online courses will be implemented, however.
And because Blackboard gives NGU a new aspect of professionalism, more potential students could consider attending.
“The use of course management software by an institution indicates a level of technological awareness and sophistication which strengthens the institution.
On the one hand, the institution must reach a particular level to effectively employ the technology; on the other hand, the use of course management software by the institution tends to draw new and more students to the institution as opposed to those institutions which do not use course management software. The latter find it increasingly harder to compete for the better prepared students,” Stuermann said.
Blackboard is another step forward for North Greenville, both professionally and technologically.
“[It] is merely just another building block to making teaching, learning and communication more effective and efficient,” Stuermann said.
Tags: Fall 2009, Vol. 109 - Issue 2