Take this list for what it’s worth.
1. Should show new announcement for every week
2. The course is very well organized with logical structure of folders
and the contents are clear and clean. There should not be too much
course materials shown as text or graphics on one web page.
3. The students should be able to access the contents from the opening
page with easily followed links.
4. The course contents are engaging and are made up of various different
kinds of activities.
5. Active student/teacher interaction in Discussion Board
6. Gradebook demonstrates plenty of feedback
7. Teacher contact information is clear and obvious
January 13th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Good reminders, all, Glen. I have a question about #6. Do you mean there is an option for feedback in the GB or that there should be multiple categories graded that demonstrate feedback.
If the former I may need advice.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I’d interpret #6 to mean that each graded item includes copious feedback to the student about why they earned what they earned. How that feedback is presented to the student is independent of the courseware software being used.
Specific to Blackboard, instructors can attach a comment to any graded item. The mechanics for doing so are a bit clumsy in this version (7.3), but it’s still an option. Please contact the Academic Computing Helpdesk at myusf@acomp.usf.edu if you would like assistance learning how to do this.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:21 am
As a student, I would like to add the importance of the professors being available to meet in person being that sometimes the online help sessions are not always the most helpful in explaining complex or abstract ideas.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Also as a student (a different Jennifer!), I think it is helpful if professors allow us to work at our own pace. It is difficult when professors only have the assignment open during certain dates. I completely understand having a due date, but allow us to work on it ahead of time. I like to work ahead so I can finish the class before the end of the semester when things get crazy in regular classes.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Jennifer L makes a really good point, I too like to be able to work on future assignments when my workload is low, rather than having to wait when I have a million things to do and have everything piled on.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:58 am
I’m hoping to develop an online Composition class for the fall. Does anyone know if blackboard - or any other site - has a real time discussion tool that my students and I could use for interactions?
April 29th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Blackboard includes a basic tool they call Virtual Classroom, which is a simple online, realtime chatroom. It is located in every Blackboard coursesite under Communication Tools.
For more advanced online chat requirements, please check with Neil Gomes with Education Outreach at USF. Outreach runs a service called Elluminate, which is a very robust online chat tool and includes features like desktop sharing and voice chat. Time on Elluminate currently needs to be scheduled, so check with Neil. ngomes@cte.usf.edu
August 6th, 2008 at 9:35 am
For the most part, blackboard has been very easy to use. I have a couple of observations:
It seems that materials are not posted in a timely manner. In a couple of semesters, the weekly discussions ave not been posted to blackboard on the date/time promised. As a full-time-employed distance learner relying on BB, I schedule time to print materials and when those materials are not made available, there is a lot of churn and rechecking to look and see when the materials are ready.
In a few situations, multiple versions of the syllabus and course schedule have been posted during the semester. Quite a few times the due dates in the calendar are different from the due dates in the syllabus and/or announcements. This also causes confusion.
Finally, I have experienced 2-4 week delays before grades are posted for assignments. More timely posting of grades is very desirable especially towards the end of the semester when trying to decide on what grade you are going to get. Or trying to find out if you are satisfying instructor expectations with written assignments.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:36 am
A follow-up to this would be what makes for a BAD online course. . .
In my experience?
– Instructors who ask students to TELEPHONE them, instead of replying via email and the BB discussion board.
– Instructors who cannot communicate clearly via the online medium. Watch out for poor grammar and spelling (not just typos!)
– Discussion board questions which are close-ended and require just one answer, instead of questions which prompt the students to interact with the material, the teacher and one another.
These may seem obvious, but I’ve had them happen in online courses — and they neither facilitated the learning process nor reflected positively on the instructor.
September 1st, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I have none at this point