With outdated technology, Blackboard Learn for Frederick Community College students is giving students another obstacle to overcome within their education.
Blackboard Learn, referred to as Blackboard, is an online educational system used by educational institutions, universities, and schools to facilitate online learning, including here at Frederick Community College.
Blackboard Learn was first introduced in 1997 for online learning and knowledge sharing. Hundreds of colleges across the country use Blackboard to help professors connect with students and ensure students do the required work, according to Blackboard.
Blackboard Learn has been an accessible educational system for years but has become a costly platform. The starting price of Blackboard Learn is $9,500 with no free version, according to Blackboard. Colleges and schools estimate the average cost to cover a college or school using Blackboard Learn is around $160,000 a year with the full Blackboard Learn package according to Blackboard. With an expensive online educational system for students, why don’t schools look for cheaper educational platforms that are up-to-date?
Blackboard Learn has seen few updates to the site and has been written off as outdated. With many other platforms to use for students in their education that are updated and more accessible to maneuver, many students are wondering why Blackboard Learn.
While Blackboard Learn is a popular educational system, some students were unsatisfied with the features Blackboard Learn has to offer.
“Blackboard is OK, but I definitely have used better educational sites in the past,” said Carly McCarthy, 19, a second-year FCC student. “I can remember my first few weeks using Blackboard. I was very unsure of where to find my assignments and what my grade was throughout classes.”
She then went on to say, “Throughout my schooling, we used Schoology, and I miss using this site.”
McCarthy said she used to use the program Schoology, which was made by four college students in 2007. The creators felt online sources were hard to maneuver and did not allow students to access their education in the way they wanted to, according to Schoology. Schoology supports online activities and remote learning, and gives students learning opportunities to expand to give students control over how they learn.
“I really enjoyed using Schoology because it was easy to access, and I could actually tell what my grade was throughout the school year,” she said.
Blackboard’s learning management system issues are a problem for students attending school. Blackboard has learning management system performance problems when too many teachers and students are on the site at once. Blackboard Learn will run slower than usual and will even shut down if too many people are on the educational platform at one time, according to students.
