Over the coming six months a pilot investigative project will be implemented. Following evaluation of these two strands, recommendations will be made at the end of the six months. It is envisaged Blackboard will be available to University staff over the next three years. However, the LTSS will continue to support WebCT, among other applications, on the LTSS server until its current license expires in January 2002. We are keen for academics to take advantage of the facilities offered by a VLE and wish to encourage this by supporting a system that is easy to use for the non technically-minded.
Blackboard presents a much clearer and more intuitive interface for both students and instructors.
This is the first and most important issue. Document formats Blackboard enables materials to be uploaded and displayed on the course site in native format. All common formats are supported. Group working Blackboard has a facility to set up areas for sub groups, thus lending itself very well to collaborative small group working. Each group area has its own chat, discussion, whiteboard and file exchange tools.