Blackboard Instructor Survey - Winter 2006

How did Blackboard enhance learning in this course?

It cut down on the number of copies of the syllabi, changes in the course, etc that I would have had to have made. It allowed rapid communication with all the students if there were changes in my office hours etc. Gave all students access to "edtited" lecture notes.

Really couldn't live w/ out it--or teach as effectively, that is.  It is so useful for communicating, posting course material, organizing this content, and keeping up with grading/assessment, and this means there is more time for other useful sorts of interactions and learning (adapting course content, updating course materials from semester to semester). 

Students were reminded of assignments, guest speakers, etc., through the Announcements each week.  Students posted three annotated bibliographies for their research, and other students were allowed to include five of these (Cut-and-paste), along with their own three, in the final capstone case study paper.  Students also critiqued material from the text on the Discussion Board.

I was able to contact all students and it also saved me printing class documents.

It proided great communication between myself and students.

Blackboard allows students to remotely work on assignments and track weekly progress via gradebook.

Blackboard is great in that I can post assignments and provide additional support materials for students. My course meets once per week and if any students are absent they may be unprepared for assignments due the following week. With Blackboard I know that even if they were not in class they can still be responsible for completing their assignments.

Posting of assignment information and presentation slides.  Easy ability to email students.

It made documenmts readily available to students and helped to communicate important messages to them.

I use it for all aspects of the course. 

I almost never use discussion features, but rely heavily on Blackboard for posting documents.  It really cuts back on the number of hard-copy handouts I used to give out.

Takes away any excuses. Students can be absent and get caught up. We can run out of time and continue after class. Students can work together out of class time.

I could acomplish assignments that were not conducive in the classroom, ie analysis of situations and concept application ( not enough time for thought in class). I could get new information out quickly via announcements. I could answer questions in a timely manner. I could post course documents and make them available to students at all times.  If they lost something they could reprint it instead of having to ask me. The gradebook saved me many unnecessary questions.

Able to communicate quickly with all students and able to post lecture materials easily

Easy posting of announcements.  Easy posting of syllabus and quizzes (for make-ups).  Easy email communication.

Reduced amount of time and paper needed for course materials.  Provided students 24 hour a day support and access to course mateirals.

Provides a means of more frequent and systematic contact with my students.

The music the students needed to study (Musical Analysis class) was on Blackboard in streaming audio.  They could have gone to the library or bought their own CDs, but this was most convenient.

could post information and keep in touch with students easily

I have problems setting up groups on blackboard where only the group members can access it

It was very helpful in facilitating communication.  Announcements could be posted, an e-mail sent, or gradebook updated, and I knew everyone would receive the information.  When such routine info. is presented in class, you have to keep track of and follow up with those who were not in attendance.  The calendar was also extremely helpful.  Students are assigned to classrooms throughout the county for field experience.  I'm then required to schedule an appointment with each student.  By using the calendar, students could check on my availability, confirm the date with the host teacher, and then send me an e-mail requesting a specific time.  Appointments were scheduled in the order the e-mail requests were received and it was easy to reply to the e-mail confirming an appointment time.  This really streamlined the process. Gradebook is outstanding because students can see their scores as they are posted and let me know immediately if there was is a concern. 

Student assignments and reminders were posted every week. Also, grades were posted weekly in the Grade Book. This kept students up to date on class assignments and made it easier for me to teach when we were in the classroon.

It helps me be more organized. It makes communication with students much easier.  It enhances the clarity of the course. It makes grading easier to record/track.

All the quizzes and gradebook are on BlackBoard. All course documents which include the schedule, assignments, etc. are on BackBoard. Additionally all the handouts and how to documents and on BlackBoard so I do not give any handouts in paper form.

I have them do assignments that requires them to participate. This is the first semester where I did not not hand assignment directions out in claas but had students download instructions from Blackboard. Instructions were shown in class as well. FOr a long time, I have had students develop asynchronous study groups by summarizing class lectures online and posting them on a discussion board. Each student must post at least one summary. Postings are organized around the exam schedule.

Centralizes course material for all students to access (whether in class or missing).  Specifically aided in practice speech session where students were put in groups, used a webcam to record their speech, and could view posted files to improve their speaking skills, and offer feedback to each other (if desired) about their performances.

Allowed students to discuss course content with each other outside of class.