What do students complain about?

What can be done to address these complaints?

What other problems might come about as a result of these new changes?

-- Upload existing course materials to Blackboard and let students know where to look for them (e.g., Assignments, Course Documents)

-- Post course materials in a timely and consistent manner so that students can easily access them when they need them

-- Provide assignment & project due dates using the Course Calendar and Course Tasks features of Blackboard

-- Students may not read the syllabus if you don’t deliver it to them in print form and discuss it with them

-- Students may not remember that materials are online unless you remind them several times, particularly at the beginning of the semester

-- Once any material is up on the web, it’s a candidate to be reused in unpredictable ways, so you’ll need more homework problems, more quiz questions, more exams

-- Establish a course site on Blackboard so that your students only have to go to one place to access all their courses

-- Even if you have an existing web site, simply link to it from within your Blackboard course web site - that way your students still have the convenience of one portal for all their courses

Not enough technology employed in course (or) too much technology getting in the way of the learning experience

-- Clearly establish your expectations for your students early in the semester – on the first day if possible

-- Also, explain your rationale for the choices you have made

-- Even if you clearly explain your expectations with students, if you do not clearly support the choices you have made in employing technology (or not), students may not accept the rationale and may not meet your expectations

Not knowing how to use the tools

-- Design an online survey using Blackboard's Assessment Manager to assess student technology skills and comfort level

-- Provide an in-class demonstration/overview of Blackboard

-- Point students to the online document, How to Get Started

-- Encourage students who are already proficient to share their expertise with others

-- If you underestimate or overestimate student knowledge about the tool, you may have trouble teaching effectively

-- Students may over-report their skills and competencies

Not having faculty members involved in online discussions

-- Monitor the Discussion Board to ensure postings are appropriate and on topic

-- Make it a point to make your presence on the Discussion Board known

-- Communicate your expectations up front

-- Tell students when you will or won’t be checking the Discussion Board (e.g., "I’ll only check once a day, at the end of the day.")

-- You can’t control what happens in an online discussion group, but you have even less control if you never check in. (e.g., Students may assume that the final exam is on May 3, not May 5, because it’s on the Discussion Board and you haven’t disagreed.)

Not having access to the right kind of equipment (or slow modem speed) to be able to complete online assignments

-- If students don’t have immediate access to computer equipment and/or live off campus, agree that you will not distribute anything that they have to respond to immediately

-- Students may be reluctant to say that they don’t have access to equipment–so figuring out how to assess may be difficult

Having to use technology tools when the course isn’t inherently technological

-- Explain your rationale for using the technology and the benefits that you believe will accrue as a result of using these tools

-- Communicate early on what demands you will and won’t make on students – allowing them the time to find out whether or not they will be able to switch sections if they are unhappy

-- Even if you explain your rationale, they still may resent your "forcing" them to learn something they didn’t want to learn

Having problems with the technology

-- If possible, give them some recommendations about how to avoid known problems - point them to the Blackboard FAQ

• encourage students to problem solve and be the first to identify potential problems with the technology

-- If students encounter difficulties early in the semester, one possible result is that they will never completely "trust" the tool.