January’s blog article provided an overview
of learning management systems (LMSs). A learning management system serves as a
platform for teaching and learning by offering features and tools for
communication, instruction, assessment, and collaboration. Blackboard Learn is one of the most
popular and widely implemented LMSs adopted by administrators at
colleges and universities (Gomez,
2015; Washington, 2019). Other LMSs, such as Desire2Learn, Canvas,
Moodle, and Sakai, are similar to Blackboard Learn with only core LMS functionality. This article focuses on the
original platform of Blackboard Learn and provides an overview of its features
and tools.
Blackboard Learn is a learning management
system developed by Blackboard Incorporated with functionality to support fully
online, hybrid/blended, and face-to-face courses. Developed as an educational
technology, there are several features and tools within Blackboard Learn for
teaching and learning. There are available features and tools for course
delivery, course administration, interaction and collaboration, communication,
and assessment. As part of course delivery and administration, instructors can
provide course materials, such as a syllabus and schedule along with
instructional materials, such as lectures. Instructors can organize the course
content and provide students with timely released course information. The
discussion board is an asynchronous collaboration tool for holding discussions
online. Consisting of forums and threads, instructors and students can build an
online learning community to collaborate and communicate among each other (Osman, Nasir, & Alzoubi, 2017).
Blogs and wikis are two other collaboration
tools within Blackboard Learn. Instructors must first create a blog or wiki for
student participation. A blog is an area for students in the course to express
ideas in a more informal setting. Blog content, also referred to as entries, is
presented in reverse chronological order with newer content appearing first on
the page. Entries are text, images, links, multimedia, and attachments.
Comments are responses or remarks to the blog entries. Instructors can create a
blog for the course, individuals, or groups. A wiki serves as a repository of knowledge
complied by users. Instructors can create a wiki for all students or for
specific groups of students. Students share content and collaborate among each
other and the instructor by contributing to and modifying one or more web pages
(Osman, Nasir, & Alzoubi, 2017).
Email, messages, and announcements are communication
tools within Blackboard Learn. Through
the Send Email feature, instructors can communicate with students one-on-one or
as a group. Email is sent externally to the email address specified within
Blackboard Learn. Email messages are not stored in Blackboard, but instructors
can choose to receive a copy. Using course messages, students can communicate
with the instructor or other students within the course. Course messages are like email except
students and instructors must log in to the Blackboard course to retrieve and
answer any of the course messages.
Instructors can post announcements within the course and choose the
option to have the Blackboard system send an announcement to students via email
(Washington, 2017).
Although blogs, wikis, and discussions can serve as assessments, assignments and tests are specific assessment tools within Blackboard. Instructors can allow students to submit assignments, such as papers, for grading using a rubric within Blackboard. Also, instructors can create quizzes and tests using different question types, for example, essay, multiple choice, true false, and fill-in the blank. Blackboard has the ability to automatically grade certain question types (Washington, 2017).
Summarily, Blackboard Learn provides a variety of features and tools to
facilitate teaching and learning. This article provided a quick overview of the
features and tools associated with course delivery, course administration, interaction and collaboration,
communication, and assessment. In the next blog article, I will dive deeper
into using features and tools in Blackboard Learn based on a recent research
study.
References
Gomez, J. F. (2015). Higher
education faculty use of a learning management system in face-to-face classes
(Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
database. (UMI 1687759824).
Osman, I., Nasir, M., & Alzoubi,
R. (2017). Blackboard Usage: An Investigative Study among CCSE Female Faculty
Staff and Students at University of Hail. International Journal of Economic
Perspectives, 11(2), 508–515.
Washington, G. Y. (2017). Learning
management systems in traditional face-to-face courses: A narrative inquiry
study (10639584) (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations
& Theses Global. (10639584)
Washington, G. Y. (2019). The
Learning Management System Matters in Face-to-Face Higher Education Courses. Journal
of Educational Technology Systems, 48(2), 255–275.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239519874037
Cite this blog:
Washington, G. (2020, February 29). Blackboard Learn Learning Management System [Blog post]. Retrieved
from https://pedagogybeforetechnology.blogspot.com/
