WELCOME
BACK
ISSUES
|
By Rob Withers, WITHERRE@MUOhio.Edu
Blackboard's CourseInfo service enables instructors to create class web pages without knowledge of HTML or web programming languages. Default features included on CourseInfo web pages are sections for announcements, course information, staff information, external links, communication tools (including a web bulletin board, chat room, utility for creating web pages, email, and a course roster), and a suite of student tools (which enables students to check their grades, drop off files for their instructor, change their contact information, or consult a blackboard manual). In addition, CourseInfo allows the instructor to deliver online quizzes, create reports about the number of times individual parts of the course web page were accessed, and generate a list of students who have accessed a particular page. Instructors can upload previously existing files into their Blackboard account or enter data into forms provided by the blackboard control panel. Information entered into text boxes can be formatted, but only with HTML codes. Instructors who are unfamiliar with HTML are therefore unable to include formatting features such as bold/italicized font, line breaks, and double spaces. As a result, many instructors may find it easier to create web pages with a user-friendly HTML editor and then load these pages into CourseInfo. Likewise, the utilities provided for students to create web pages require knowledge of HTML. Instructors who lack the time or knowledge to tech students HTML tagging may want to rely on HTML editors to create web pages for class projects. Blackboard CourseInfo is most useful for creating dynamic resources (such as online quizzes, grade books, chat rooms) which could otherwise be created only with the use of sophisticated programming languages. Chat rooms and bulletin boards allow instructors to extend discussions outside the classroom. Utilities which track grades and quiz scores also reduce the time instructors must devote to such tasks. Blackboard employs a standard interface featuring buttons on the left side of the screen, so that users of multiple course pages always encounter a uniform navigation interface. While the common interface does make CourseInfo predictable and familiar to users, it also relies on frames. As a result, CourseInfo web pages may not display properly on smaller monitors, and users of text based web browsers may not be able to navigate at all. Individual users can set up trial accounts to Blackboard CourseInfo <http://product.blackboard.net/courseinfo/testdrive.htm>; these accounts are deleted roughly once every month. Individual institutions may install Blackboard CourseInfo and make it available to their faculty and staff. The software for Blackboard CourseInfo is currently available for most popular UNIX platforms and Windows NT starting at $4,500 per server per year for unlimited courses and users (academic pricing). Individuals may also obtain their own CourseInfo sites by registering online <http://www.blackboard.com/bin/courseinformation.pl>. Individual users can create free CourseInfo sites up to 5 MB in size, provided that they access the site at least once every 30 days, do not solicit individual students to take the course, and offer the course for free. For $100, individual users can create a CourseInfo site up to 10 MB in size and enjoy unlimited usage for up to one year. While CourseInfo does have
limitations and frustrations, it can help instructors who are not proficient
in HTML set up web pages, it ensures that all pages it creates contain
types of tools and navigation features, and allows instructors without
programming backgrounds to create interactive web pages.
Rob Withers is Electronic Information Services Librarian at Miami University. |