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Online course software or services are great tools for bringing library instruction to a broader audience, who can pursue learning at their own pace, and at the comfort of their own schedules and locations. We examined one such software and service, WebCT, in our 1998 issue (Yuan, Haiwang. “Using WebCT Software in Library Media Education.” Library Instruction Round Table News 21.1 (1998): 19-20.) Three years have passed since, and a number of sophisticated online course software and services have stood the test of usage. One that has emerged as easy to use and affordable to have is what many of us knew as CourseInfo by Blackboard.com.
As Blackboard Inc. grew, the company developed several products, covering almost all aspects of education, enabling individuals and institutions to offer and manage their education electronically. Its services now range from online course software to financial management systems. Among them are Blackboard.com &8482; , a free online course-creating service; Blackboard 5 &8482;, a commercial course and portal software; Blackboard CampusWide , a commerce access and finance management system; Resources Center, the Web-based gateway to journal articles and other materials needed by instructors, and Building Blocks - B2, a new initiative aimed at bringing together “education publishers and e-Learning tool vendors to offer content, learning applications, and third party tools.”
Which of the components should be utilized depends on the need and bud-get of a library. As most libraries, public libraries in particular, offer information literacy or research instruction free to their patrons, the Blackboard.com free course creation service is a recommendable option. It is free unless instructors start to charge their students. When it is free, it has almost all the functions one would find in its commercial product, the CourseInfo Server 4.0 or the current Blackboard 5 &8482;. Like WebCT, Blackboard.com requires little or no knowledge of HTML or other programming languages. Its intuitive interface of online forms allows instructors to easily input their teaching materials into the software. Tools built into the software even allow instructors to convert their multimedia files to Web-friendly audio and video files requiring minimum Web browser plug-ins. File management is straight forward, no more than a few clicks of the mouse, much easier that of WebCT. Since Blackboard Inc. is hosting and managing the software, it does not require downloading, configuration, and maintenance on the part of the instructors.
Although less sophisticated than in WebCT, Blackboard.com’s administrative tools — including grading, assessment, and reporting — are useful enough in helping the instructor manage students online. Its interface-customizing functions are flexible and yet effective. Its communication systems are powerful enough to encourage active interactions among students and between students and their instructors.
Signing up for a free course account is as easy as one-two-three. At <http://www.blackboard.com>, type a course name at the “Create a Course” slot, and you will be sent to a page to fill in an easy-to-follow form. Tell the software who you are, what you are going to teach, and what you want the interface to look like, and you are done! The service is free with 5 MB space so long as you access it once a month. However, for only a hundred dollars, you will be able to charge your students, and at the same time the storage space for your teaching materials will also be doubled.
Haiwang Yuan is Assistant Professor and Web Site & Virtual Library Coordinator at Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101 .
LIRT News, March 2001. Volume 23, number 3.
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