As I began my graduate work last Fall semester, it was a bit of a culture shock for me as well as an adjustment period because so much of the communication between professors and students is dependent upon technology. I will now date myself when I say that I graduated from my undergraduate in 2000, which means I started college in the Fall of 1996. And things were so different then. The phenomenon called email had only recently been introduced and I hadn't even set up my own personal email account yet (which I later ended up signing up for Hotmail). I remember that having a computer, or even a laptop in your dorm room was this amazing and privileged status of which I was not a member. I had to go down and use the computer lab in the basement if I wanted to check my school email. Many times I had to sit around and wait or keep going back to check and see if one was free. Even though at the time our school (SUNY Potsdam) was considered the top "wired" SUNY school, utilizing the internet for everyday communications was still an anomaly.And there were many times when the severs were down and you couldn't even download your email. I remember patiently and anxiously sitting in front of the computer, watching the status bar as it downloaded my emails and wondering with excitement what was coming and who had written to me. Mostly those days it was email forwards from old High School friends, and the occasional boy.
Jump to Fall 2010 and I have begun my Graduate Studies at NYU. A few of my teachers kept mentioning this Blackboard item in class? What was that? And oh, by the way we might send you some assignments via email, but we won't mention that. Oh, thanks for letting me know! I missed more than one assignment that way. What happened to professors announcing the assignment before you left class? Humph. And it made me feel so old and outdated. Like when I went to visit m undergraduate school a year after gradating and every student had a cell phone? What happened to running back to your dorm to see if that cute guy you met the night before had left you a voicemail??
So back to Blackboard. Very interesting concept, and I think a useful tool to allow the teacher to communicate with the class, as well as providing a way for the class to communicate with the class. However, as often happens with technology, it is only as smart as it's user(s). I have had mixed experiences with using Blackboard. Some teachers really utilize some of the features very well. For example during my Inquiries Class I used it to post "blog" entries via the Discussion board which my classmates could respond to, I used it to communicate, via the Roster section, with my classmates, our teacher posted assignment and links and videos. It was very handy to have all those resources and features at your fingertips, though I have to say it is not very user friendly. I often was frustrated with the "logic" of what order I had to type, and post, and if I used my back button it would erase what I typed, or my NYU session would log out. So it is not without its drawbacks.
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