Blackboard/Facebook interface

I like this idea. I am interested in teaching leadership and service-learning using this tool. I see a variety of possibilities in setting up diverse teams or “social network communities” using these two web based packages. Thank you.

J. Marshall, at 8:20 am EDT on May 14, 2008

this is creepy treehouse

http://flexknowlogy.learningfield...08/04/09/defining-creepy-tree-house/

ben reynolds, sr. program manager at ctyonline johns hopkins university, at 10:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008

How they enter the world...

I say it over and over on this campus and to The University of Arizona’s credit, “they get it": this is the way our students enter the world. When students are in the library, as a previous poster says, they are using the University’s fancy new WiFi system to get on facebook, myspace, flicker, twitter, and Blackboard.

They are getting on with their desktops, laptops, Blackberries, iPhones, iPod Touches, RAZRs and the like. It isn’t just entertainment either. Blackboard (I readily admit that I’ve not used the system; we have D2L) has recognized that students are not just wasting time, but building community and organizing thier lives, academic and social, through these important systems.

Rather than lose touch and communication skills, they are increasing their reach and tightening their connection to the world around separate from time and space. In a place where this is possible the educational, and yes...commerical, possibilities are endless.

Go Blackboard!

Steve Harrison, Complex Director at The University of Arizona, at 11:25 am EDT on May 14, 2008

Blackboard and facebook

Yes social networking should be linked to an LMS delivery system; but proprietary systems should not be part of the picture — student privacy, security and the integrity of data — are jeopardized under proprietary systems like facebook. If we want a social networking sp[ace aligned with a course delivery system, then look at using elgg (free, open source)that can be hotlionked to Blackboard or better yet Moodle (free, open source). Facebook could shut down at anytime, can use your data (they own it) and can decide to delete your account, no recourse available. Education providers should be looking at providing safe, secure and permananet lifelong, personal learning environments for their students that can include formal and informal learning, allow for social networking and allow for collaboration — we’re doing that with elgg and our LMS.

A student uses an LMS for the duration of the course loses their artefacts and connections at course end — linking to a personal learning environment allows the student to continue learning informally, and provides a safe repository for the storage and demonstration of their portfolio.

Michael Hotrum, University of Alberta, at 11:05 am EDT on May 16, 2008

Can’t see it helping

As a college student, I know I would not put the Blackboard application on my Facebook. There are too many applications already, and one that works for school is not going to appeal to me. I go on facebook to get away from my studies. There is nothing that is forcing me to use blackboard on my facebook, so I’m not going to. I’ll keep Blackboard for when I really need it.

College Student, at 8:30 am EDT on May 23, 2008

Facebook in the classroom?

Last fall, faced with rapid growth in enrollment, I needed a way to reach our to my larger-than-usual First Year Experience course that met at 8:00 in the morning. These students seemed comotose but I suspected they were sharper than they appeared. Mid-course, I decided to use the “Group” application on Facebook to relocate the action of our class to their turf. Some of the freshmen had not even discovered Facebook yet, but soon they were investigating posted links and responding enthusiastically to “Events” —in this case, class sessions—that asked for special web investigations or posting (they each contributed and essay to “This I Believe"—an essay publication site. I eventually moved our classroom into the computer lab and my previously dull students were able to type and react amazingly well when given a keyboard as opposed to traditional class discussion.

I am still chewing over the pros and cons, but I am more interested in using user-friendly Facebook in its own structure than Blackboard applications.

Beth Myers, Professor at Adrian College, at 10:05 am EDT on June 11, 2008

What does the college get out of it?

Colleges need revenue generation. Where’s the revenue generation for the university. This is just two companies getting paid from the universities. Soon colleges are going to get hip and realise that not only Facebook and Blackboard should be making the money from the ads and such.

Patrick, at 7:35 pm EDT on July 12, 2008