Blackboard Learn by Anthology

Score8.4 out of 10

207 Reviews and Ratings

What is Blackboard Learn by Anthology?

Blackboard Inc. is an enterprise learning management systems vendor. Blackboard was founded in 1997 and became a public company in 2004. The company provides education, mobile, communication, and commerce software and related services to clients including education providers, corporations and government organizations. As of December 2010, Blackboard software and services are used by over 9,300 institutions in more than 60 countries. Blackboard Learn is the company's flagship LMS, supporting course management, test & assessment design and administration, and is extensible via Blackboard's suite of addable modules.

Categories & Use Cases

Media

A modern and intuitive learning management system (LMS) designed in collaboration with the global education community, providing students and faculty with a more inclusive, flexible, and insightful experience.

Fostering a sense of belonging is essential to student success. To truly create an inclusive learning environment requires a holistic approach, and Blackboard Learn leads the market in many critical areas which allow your institution to meet students of all backgrounds where they are. Built to be mobile-first, Blackboard Learn is the only LMS that provides the same great experience on PC, tablet, and smartphone. And we're proud that Blackboard Learn was the First LMS to achieve accessibility Certification from the National Federation of the Blind and all of our interfaces undergo rigorous accessibility testing. Learn also has the best integration with our market-leading accessibility product, Ally, of any LMS. Learn also ensures that every user has an experience which reflects – and celebrates – their unique identity. To take just one example, users can record their name pronunciation, and choose their preferred pronouns.

Blackboard Learn supports instructors with multiple formative and summative assessment methods, and features capabilities that reduce stress for students. For example, we’ve recently released features that allow students to use different test-taking strategies and understand their progress through assessments – including a timer that can be hidden – to maximize their result and minimize anxiety. Grading workflows have been designed to increase efficiency for instructors and give more insightful feedback to students. For instance, we’ve recently revamped the overall grade functionality to make it easier for instructors to change weightings between tasks and tailor to individual students. Blackboard Learn also offers deep integrations with hundreds of partners to create even more interactive and engaging courses, including the deepest interaction of any LMS with Microsoft Teams.

Blackboard Learn presents insights embedded right into instructor and student workflows - making useful information readily available, and making it easier for instructors to help students where and when they need it most. Learn's progress tracking tools help students and instructors always know how they're tracking to achieve their goals - and where there is opportunity for improvement. Quick actions are tied to these insights, like following up with students in groups or individually. Blackboard Learn also provides built-in value with Blackboard Data Reporting to help leaders understand how the LMS is being used, student performance, and surfacing opportunities for continuous improvement.

1 / 4

Learning administration
Administrators can manage the content and people (students/employees, course authors, instructors, etc.) on the platform.
Category average: 7.6
Course authoring
Users can develop and assemble online learning content.
Category average: 7.9
Course catalog or library
Learning content is organized into a course catalog or browsable library.
Category average: 7.9

Player/Portal
Students or employees can engage with content and take courses using this interface, which may be called a player or portal.
Category average: 8.2
Progress tracking & certifications
The system tracks individuals’ progress on courses, scores, transcripts, certificates, etc.
Category average: 8.2
Learning content
The vendor offers high quality pre-made courses or assets. These may be specific to certain industries or technologies.
Category average: 7.6

Sherby Gully View profile

Teacher at Kemper County High School (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I used it as an alternative to our learning website during our COVID year of school. Some of our students understood how to use Blackboard better than they did Google Classroom. It helped me to better reach out to our students and gave them an alternative to Google Classroom. Some of my students even chose Blackboard over Google Classroom.

Pros

Easier setup
easier to upload materials
easier to communicate with individual students

Cons

I cannot think of an area where Blackboard Learn needs to improve.

Most Important Features

Very organized
User-friendly
Worth every penny

Return on Investment

Helps to get organized with classes
Very user-friendly for me and my students
Very well maintained by the organization

Alternatives Considered

Google Classroom

Meena B View profile

Information Technology Project Manager in Information Technology at Binghamton University (5001-10,000 employees employees)

Pros

Hosting of courses associated with a particular semester
Integration with zoom and panopto
Grading of the respecitive courses and also hosts the submission of student work related to the particular home work assignments, quizzes etc.,

Cons

Blackboard Learn has some limitations when it comes to submissions
It is not that user friendly, I had to spend some time to get a hang of it in the beginning
I have been struggling a bit with deletion of manually added courses

Most Important Features

Tools
Notification dashboard
Announcements
Goals

Return on Investment

It has answered all my needs for distance learning and met most of the objectives
The only negative I can think of is not having access to the past course material and not being able to download the lectures
Another positive is the zoom integration feature

Alternatives Considered

Brightspace

Other Software Used

Brightspace, Panopto

Craig Smallish View profile

Instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College (1001-5000 employees employees)

Pros

Good for organizing content

Cons

The content formatting features are, well, how should I say this, terrible.

Return on Investment

I do not have direct knowledge of what the annual cost for implementation of this resource is, so i cannot speak to the ROI.

Other Software Used

Google Classroom, Adobe After Effects, Adobe InDesign

Quincy Tamaribuchi

Student at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama (5001-10,000 employees employees)

Pros

It does what it is intended to do such as connecting students and teachers alike.
It allows teachers to upload assignments online to eliminate the use of paper.
Good platform to take tests and quizzes.

Cons

Sign-on errors are common and it may inhibit the students' ability to submit and receive assignments as directed.
It is hard to navigate at times if you are unfamiliar.
Not exactly user friendly.
Sometimes locations of assignments are not clear, very obscure.
Not a very appealing layout.

Return on Investment

I can say it has allowed me to stay in touch with teachers and so can the 17,000 other institutions who currently use Blackboard.

Alternatives Considered

Google Classroom

Other Software Used

Google Classroom

Becca Guler View profile

Learning Specialist at University of Houston- Clear Lake, UT-Medical Branch (10,001+ employees employees)

Pros

Accepts wide variety of file types.
Choice of layout options to fit different styles of courses.

Cons

Interface isn't very modern.
Low use of icons and heavy text make it tricky to navigate.

Return on Investment

Simple distribution and repository of information, so helps efficiency and equal access: +
Students and staff aren't fans of the low navigability (grumbling): -

Alternatives Considered

Zoom and Moodle

Other Software Used

Zoom, Canva, Prezi, Titanium Cloud, Kronos Workforce Central

Blackboard Learn by Anthology

What is Blackboard Learn by Anthology?

Categories & Use Cases

Media

Key Features

Top Performing Features

Learning administration

Course authoring

Course catalog or library

Areas for Improvement

Player/Portal

Progress tracking & certifications

Learning content

Reviews

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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Cons

Most Important Features

Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Pros

Cons

Most Important Features

Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Other Software Used

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Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

Pros

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Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

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