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Blackboard Learn by Anthology

Blackboard Learn by Anthology

Overview

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…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Smooth User Experience: Many users have praised the smooth user experience of the product. They have mentioned that the interface is …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

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  • Assignments (30)
    9.0
    90%
  • Learning reporting & analytics (26)
    8.9
    89%
  • Mobile friendly (30)
    8.8
    88%
  • Learning content (27)
    6.1
    61%
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Pricing

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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…

Entry-level set up fee?

  • Setup fee optional

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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What is Open LMS?

Open LMS (formerly Moodlerooms) is an open source learning management system for educational institutions, formerly supported by Blackboard, and now part of the Learning Technologies Group.

What is iSpring Learn?

iSpring Learn is an LMS for automating corporate training and improving employee performance.The system aims to enable users without technical skills to launch eLearning in one day without training. To start training with the platform, administrators upload learning content, assign courses, and…

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Product Demos

Navigating Your Course in Blackboard Learn

YouTube
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Features

Learning Management

Features of LMS and LCMS systems, related to designing, administering, and consuming learning content in an educational, corporate, or on-the-job context.

8.5
Avg 8.2
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Product Details

What is Blackboard Learn by Anthology?

Blackboard Learn enables educators to deliver the inclusive, consistent educational experiences learners design, while operating alongside current tools and integrations. Backed by a community of millions of students, instructors, and administrators across more than 70 countries, Blackboard Learn has supports collaboration with educators.

With hundreds of SaaS based features that foster collaboration, personalize the learning experience, extend accessibility, and keep learners engaged, Blackboard Learn provides collaborative workflows for students and instructors alike. Some key benefits include:

Mobile-friendly course experience
Blackboard Learn encourages a more consistent experience across a student’s courses, allowing them to more easily locate what they need, even on-the-go.

The best test taking experience for learners
Flexible assessment types and customizable feedback options allow instructors to support unique learning needs.

An inclusive learning environment
Every learner is unique and expects a personalized learning experience. Blackboard Learn empowers students to express their identity and present themselves as they want to.

No charge for crucial data
Institutions, instructors and learners need access to actionable data insights to create engaging learning experiences. This is part of a Blackboard Learn license, enabling learners to keep track of their own progress and get the support they need, and empowering instructors identify struggling students early on.

An LMS built in collaboration with educators
Built in collaboration with instructors and learners from all over the world, Anthology states they focus their product roadmap based on user needs. Its users help guide the direction of Learn through the insider program, weekly focus groups, Anthology Idea Exchange, and a community site.

Blackboard Learn by Anthology Features

Learning Management Features

  • Supported: Course authoring
  • Supported: Course catalog or library
  • Supported: Player/Portal
  • Supported: Mobile friendly
  • Supported: Progress tracking & certifications
  • Supported: Assignments
  • Supported: Compliance management
  • Supported: Learning administration
  • Supported: Learning reporting & analytics
  • Supported: eLearning
  • Supported: Assessments
  • Supported: Live online learning
  • Supported: In-person learning
  • Supported: Video learning
  • Supported: SCORM-compliant
  • Supported: Social learning
  • Supported: Gamification
  • Supported: GDPR Compliant Learning
  • Supported: Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning

Blackboard Learn by Anthology Screenshots

Screenshot of 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.Screenshot of 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.Screenshot of 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.Screenshot of 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.

Blackboard Learn by Anthology Videos

Blackboard Learn by Anthology - Product Overview
An overview of Blackboard Learn Ultra presented by Anthology's VP of Product, Jim Chalex.

Blackboard Learn by Anthology Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android, Mobile Web
Supported LanguagesArabic, Chinese- Simplified, Chinese- Traditional, Danish, Dutch, English- Australia, English- United Kingdom, English- United States, French- Canada, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese- Brazilian, Portuguese- Portugal, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Welsh, Czech, Polish, Malay, Thai,

Blackboard Learn by Anthology Downloadables

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

Canvas, Infor Learning Management (LMS), and D2L Brightspace are common alternatives for Blackboard Learn by Anthology.

Reviewers rate Learning administration highest, with a score of 9.9.

The most common users of Blackboard Learn by Anthology are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(204)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Based on user reviews, here are the three most common recommendations for Blackboard Learn:

  1. Consider Blackboard Learn for higher education and communication with parents. Users recommend it as the learning management system of choice, especially for higher education institutions. It is also recommended for effective communication with parents.

  2. Explore and utilize interactive functions. Many users find Blackboard Learn easy to manage and recommend taking the time to explore and utilize its interactive functions. The platform is considered convenient for classes and easy to use.

  3. Take advantage of Blackboard's tools for education. Users believe that Blackboard Learn offers a complete and effective educational forum. It is recommended for institutions with a large number of students, as it allows for uploading assignments, having timed tests, and recording live videos. Expert guidance is suggested during implementation.

While these are the most common recommendations, it is also advised to do research and consider the return on investment before choosing a learning management system. Additionally, some users suggest exploring alternative options and trying trials of other systems before making a final decision.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 58)
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Sherby Gully | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
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.
  • Easier setup
  • easier to upload materials
  • easier to communicate with individual students
  • I cannot think of an area where Blackboard Learn needs to improve.
I have used Blackboard in a class that I took recently. It was very user-friendly. Would definitely recommend it to anyone who is teaching a a class.
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is the learning management system at the private Catholic college-prep high school where I work. We use it for classes as well as for clubs/organizations. All classes are required to use Blackboard Learn while clubs and organizations are encouraged but not required. We treat Blackboard Learn as an extension of the physical classroom. Only students have access to Blackboard Learn, not parents/guardians. Some teachers give tests or quizzes on Blackboard Learn while others use it primarily as a communication vehicle and to distribute/collect assignments. Obviously during the spring semester of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Blackboard Learn became the primary vehicle for education at the school.
  • The import tool is fairly robust
  • Online tasks/quizzes are straightforward to administer and grade
  • If consistently applied across the organization, navigation can be streamlined and students know what to expect where
  • The mobile app/platform is seriously lacking in stability and feature set
  • Interoperability with other systems, such as school information systems, is limited (data are relatively easy to import but virtually impossible to export from Blackboard Learn)
  • [In my opinion] the arrogance and intransigence of the sales force are quite disconcerting. They are no longer the only game in town and don't yet realize it.
A school with a well-established technology imprint with their students (for example, ours is a BYOB school where every student has their own laptop and must bring it to school every day and where over 99% of our families have reliable broadband at home) is a reasonable scenario for using The arrogance and intransigence of the sales force is quite disconcerting… They are no longer the only game in town and don't yet realize it. Less well-off schools/families may find it a challenge if students must be on campus or at a public library in order to use the technology. Obviously, during the pandemic, this became problematic for some districts.
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is used across the entire organization. It is used by professors for classes and by the administration to provide information for new employees on how to use certain solutions or procedures that are currently in place for various software solutions.
  • Easy maintenance
  • Good support
  • Friendly people
  • Bad UI (unless you migrate to BB Ultra)
  • Does not integrate well with other software solutions
  • It is not very user-friendly
  • It could be pricey
It is hard to say what scenarios are good to use Blackboard Learn because UI is not very flexible or mobile-friendly, and if you are looking to integrate with other solutions, that would be hard. They have companies that create "building blocks" to integrate with Blackboard, but that would require other companies to develop specifically for Blackboard Learn platform, which in higher education is hard. They should focus on delivering solutions that can easily integrate Blackboard Learn, and they should work on UI. It is a terrible user experience.
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Blackboard Learn as a course management system for providing learning content to our students, facilitating collaboration, and streamlining communications between faculty and students. We use it institution wide. Blackboard Learn allows us to deliver courses to our students 100% online, hybrid or as a means to organize and disseminate materials for in person courses.
  • Blackboard Learn makes submitting assignments electronically simple and provides a variety of built-in Web-based tools like e-portfolios, wikis, and blogs that our students use to create their own content.
  • Blackboard Learn is intuitive and easy to navigate from a students perspective
  • Blackboard Learn has many integrations available for connecting this LMS to other tools we use at our institution.
  • Blackboard Learn requires cloud-based SaaS configuration which we were not set up for initially. This was an additional step for us before deployment
  • Some new release courses lack features available in legacy courses, this tends to be a problem when we roll out upgrades, as we need to extend our testing phase to ensure all courses are functional
  • Blackboard Learn is expensive. In comparison to its competition, there really isn't a reason (other than name recognition) that the software should be as much higher priced from it's competition as it is.
Blackboard Learn is well suited for institutions with moderate to complex training needs. Since it is quite costly, an institution or business that has simple training/educational needs, there are more cost effective solutions available. Blackboard Learn does not support e-commerce, so it may not be the best choice for companies that desire to sell courses online or accept payments for training. It works well for institutions of education when paired with a student information system for enrollment purposes.

Blackboard Learn is not the easiest platform to use but has ample training available. If start up time does not allow for a lot of training hours, there are less complex LMS's out there.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I've used Blackboard Learn in my own area (Work Force), we use this to take Excel Courses so that our team lead keeps a track of our learning process. We started using this product because there wasn't a way of keeping a track of the new thing we were learning at the time, this has allowed everyone across my area to know which courses are still missing and which courses have already been taken.
  • Easy access to modules
  • Easy access to documents
  • Tracking progesss
  • Mobile version view
  • Document sharing
  • Document uploading
[Blackboard Learn] is well suited when a group of people needs to learn new things but there isn't a product that allows a team lead to keep a track of all the progress, it's also resourceful when several modules have to be published.

[Blackboard Learn] is not suited for small groups of people that will only learn a few courses since [Blackboard Learn] is oriented on publishing several courses at the same time.
April 20, 2021

Learning Made easy

Meena B | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is currently being used as the learning management software to host courses that a student enrolls for a certain semester. Almost all the activities such as quizzes, classes, assignments and more are hosted on Blackboard Learn. I have used the mobile version as well. It is the perfect answer for students pursuing distance learning education along with their respective jobs. The best part is the Panopto video integration that allows students to listen to lectures at their convenience.
  • 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.,
  • 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
It is hard to think of scenarios that Blackboard Learn is not appropriate, I think it is one stop for all the learning management solutions and is well suited especially for distance learning students. It works the best for:
  1. Hosting quizzes, assignments, powerpoints related to course content
  2. Grading
  3. Surveys related to course progress etc,.
The only area where I did notice (probably a bug) is the submission of word documents. To be more elaborate the word documents submitted for assignments etc,. sometimes get messed up especially from a formatting perspective. Hence I always convert my word documents to pdf to submit them.
Craig Smallish | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Blackboard is used college wide.
  • Good for organizing content
  • The content formatting features are, well, how should I say this, terrible.
I've used Blackboard for many, many years. With each version I remain hopeful that the formatting tools will improve. Battling simple text formatting considerations have looong been a struggle, with the most recent "upgrade" leaving me in total and complete exasperation. No, that's not an exaggeration.

Yes, I do understand that importing text, and the process of copying and pasting can often include residual coding which can sometimes create havoc. Sadly however, I'm referring to the direct keystroke entry of content, directly within the Blackboard pane. Plain and simple, it's an absolute buggy nightmare.

Even the limited formatting tools that I found here on TrustRadius are:
  • Fabulous by comparison to Blackboard
  • Easy to use
  • Intuitive for the first time user
  • Don't result in a wonky, embarrassing presentation
  • All of the above
Wow, look, even the bullet points and indents worked!
Honestly Blackboard, this is getting really, really old. Two words of advise, beta testing.
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Blackboard is used as a platform for students to send and receive school work. This program is operated by teachers as a web-based user software device to connect them to their students. It is incredibly important now due to the current world events regarding distancing.
  • 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.
  • 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.
It is definitely something to use during a time of separation and "social distancing" but mainly because there are not that many options to begin with.
Becca Guler | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is used primarily as an online classroom. Blackboard Collaborate can be utilized to facilitate and record real-time lectures and discussions, but the main function of Blackboard is to provide a secure online space for professors to load course guidelines, content and student grades, as well as host non-synchronous discussion boards. It is also used by academic support programs such as mentoring and tutoring to post content and planning support for student access.
  • Accepts wide variety of file types.
  • Choice of layout options to fit different styles of courses.
  • Interface isn't very modern.
  • Low use of icons and heavy text make it tricky to navigate.
It works well for situations where lots of content needs to be posted and made available to students. The ability to make subfolders means that with just a little work, you can really make a LOT of resources readily available. It is not well-suited to resource CREATION, only posting/uploads, as it lacks capabilities to design and manipulate information in anything other than basic text forms and hyperlinks.
Brandon Cluff | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is being used by my organization primarily for e-learning for a variety of courses. It is used for reading, submitting, and tracking assignments as well as real-time feedback during assignments. Blackboard Learn "solves the problem" of holding classrooms electronically while giving students the flexibility to engage with the class on their own time with their varying schedules.
  • Asynchronous classrooms.
  • Clear communication of assignments.
  • Semi-clunky UX.
  • Slow page load times (depending on content).
Blackboard Learn is great for universities with courses that are offered online. Reading, submitting, and tracking assignments is straightforward in functionality and provides the ability to synchronously teach classrooms with a variety of types of content. I wouldn't recommend Blackboard Learn for anything outside of university education -- even private courses would be more appropriate for Udemy or similar sites.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is a learning management system which allows instructors the ability to host course content, discussion boards, quizzes, and assignments in an easy-to-use interactive online system. Students access Blackboard Learn to review course materials that have been organized into sections and folders in a logical organizational structure. Each section inside a Blackboard Learn course can contain readings, assignments, discussions, and anything needed by students for that particular course module.
  • Easy to use course navigation.
  • Icons make it easy to distinguish content types.
  • System announcements remain for months or years.
  • Confusion can exist between the top-level navigation and course navigation.
Blackboard Learn is excellent for faculty who want an easy way to post course materials. It takes a bit more work for faculty who wish to use it for grading, hosting online discussions, or to use other advanced tools. While it isn't complicated to figure out on your own, it does require a bit of assistance and basic training to use effectively.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is used by our students and faculty to submit assignments, keep reading articles, and to get grades.
  • Keep classes organized
  • Keep grades and assignments in one place
  • I think it does everything it should.
  • Not missing any functionalities
  • Perfect for universities or places that have multiple classes that students have to track.
  • Perfect especially for universities that have colleges and departments that are very decentralized
January 21, 2020

An excellent product

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is one of the tools used by my school district for sending out various types of communications to our families. We have two different communication platforms that we are able to choose from when sending out information and Blackboard is always the one that I prefer to use.
  • It is really easy to create and save lists.
  • Multiple types of communications can be sent at one time.
  • It is not the easiest tool for people not as technology savvy to navigate.
  • Training is needed to master all the features.
I like Blackboard Learn best for sending out quick communications to a previously prepared list. Importing and creating custom lists can take a little more time. It is a good tool for people who like using technology. The availability of pre-loaded lists is a great time saver that helps streamline communications.
January 12, 2020

User-friendly LMS

Nicolas Hanhan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Blackboard Learn as our main learning management system to offer online and hybrid courses. Blackboard Learn is used across the whole organization. Blackboard makes learning online simpler for students.
  • Creating effective assessments such as quizzes and assignments.
  • Make collaboration easier through group work and discuss board posts.
  • Online grading may need improvement through adding new features.
  • In the grade center instructors need to go into manage organization in order to arrange and reorder columns. It would be nice to be able to move columns around as in an Excel sheet.
Blackboard Learn is well suited for an online course with several modules. Each module contains learning objectives, readings, assignments, a discussion board, and assessments.
Amy Westby | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Blackboard Learn to create and manage online classrooms and course content. It's been really helpful to stay connected to students, use Google to create assignments, and coordinate with other teachers and easily communicate with students.
  • Course content management.
  • Communication with students.
  • Scheduling assignments and class discussions.
  • More third party features, beyond Google Suite.
  • Connecting to our SIS can be tricky at times.
  • The mobile app could use some smoothing out.
Blackboard is well suited for creating simple, easy-to-structure course content.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard is being incorporated as the entire industry, that is the college. Professors are in charge in terms of how often it gets used. It solves many problems including being able to easily manage and view class grades as well as assignments and/or tasks.
  • Blackboard does a great job at displaying grades. I have the app and it is so simply to view one's class grades.
  • Blackboard also does a good job at providing a place where students and professors are able to easily upload work documents.
  • Another place where Blackboard thrives in is being accessible. That is, being able to access it anywhere an internet connection is available. No need to download an application and once you're logged in, you're good to go.
  • .
  • .
Sbs
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The University is using blackboard Learn I study to facilitate my doctoral coursework. The Blackboard Learn system allows the professor to share documents with students. Through Blackboard Learn, there are also forums and VoiceThread options to facilitate student learning if there are online modules. Additionally, work is uploaded to Blackboard Learn for the professor to grade so the student can receive useful and meaningful feedback.
  • Document retrieval.
  • Uploading work.
  • Forums with other students.
  • VoiceThread is cumbersome.
  • I would appreciate the ability to access suggested resources beyond those provided by the professor.
  • It would be good if we could see our classmates' submissions to learn from them.
Blackboard Learn is a high Learning Management System because it is easy to navigate and replete with many features. Blackboard Learn is excellent for University learning, but I don't think it's appropriate for secondary education because it might be too difficult for younger people to navigate and self manage their knowledge.
Anissa Harris | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is used as a classroom portal for the courses that I teach. It is how I share information, course content, messages, announcements, and threaded discussions with my students. It additionally includes a submission/extraction component for submitting assignments and a direct way to privately or group email any enrollee in the course.
  • Provides HTML quality course content that is easily retrievable and viewable.
  • Provides multiple methods of communication: email, threaded discussions, real-time "live" online discussions, as well as grade portal.
  • Allows facilitators multiple methods of grading or providing feedback: threaded discussions, rubric scoring, personal comments, inline viewer, or download/upload attachments.
  • Mobile access to Blackboard Learn is rudimentary and inconsistent. I can open the website in any browser but I cannot always click on the right control column--it sometimes moves around or buttons jump so that I cannot actually complete basic functions like posting a DQ. With asynchronous teaching, it is imperative that I have function-able mobile access to Blackboard in order to be successful.
  • The existing Blackboard Learn app for instructors is completely BASIC and needs much improvement. There is no ability to enhance text or use bold or italics. I can provide inline grading comments but cannot use a bank of grading comments--no copy/paste works in the inline grading of the app. I cannot grade discussion questions AT ALL in the app--only papers.
  • The Blackboard Learn instructor app needs to be compatible with voice commands so that I can use voice-to-text rather than typing everything on a mobile device. There is a lot of room for improvement but the app is crucial to my ability to teach effectively with Blackboard.
Blackboard Learn does a great job of integrating collaborative technology for teaching or community discussion. It encourages me to use other tools to innovate my instruction and to engage students differently--aspects that always improve learning as well as satisfaction with the learning and achieving process.

The most negative or inappropriate experience I have with Blackboard is when I use mobile access--using my iPad or iPhone or other device is a sketchy way to access Blackboard. I can easily get on it with my computer/laptop, but using mobile devices is quite frustrating b/c the typing blocks and buttons bounce around and do not properly populate on the device. In HTML language, the iFrames are not set up to function well on mobile devices.
Rick Lupton | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is our primary Learning Management System and is used both by our distance education program and for supplemental materials to in class instruction. It is used by faculty across campus in various colleges and departments as well as for staff training. The software has a portal which allows students to access their classes, each with its own web page, to view lessons, download files, access external links, take tests, and submit assignments.
  • Lesson Managment
  • Discussion Board
  • Quizes
  • File Submission
  • Class interaction
  • Comments on assignments
  • Grade-book automation
Blackboard does a great job allowing an instructor to submit lessons, assignment, videos, links, and other materials. It also allows students to complete quizzes and exams all in the same web portal. Assignments can be submitted for grading by the professor and with add-in modules can also be automatically graded. The biggest fault with the application is the need for online access; if your connection is not stable, you cannot complete a test.
Katherine Moore | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
All of Stony Brook University uses Blackboard Learn to maintain communication between students and educators in and out of the classroom. Assignments are posted and submitted, announcements are made to students, and discussion threads are used. Using Blackboard eliminates communication issues and encourages students to be involved outside of the classroom.
  • Easy to use tabs to get to different sections of the courses
  • Easy to communicate directly with the educator and other students through messaging.
  • Easy to submit assignments directly by uploading.
  • The mobile Blackboard app is not easy to use on my Android phone as the sizing is off and some functions do not work.
  • The discussion threads are a little more difficult to navigate, between replying to the current thread or needing to start a new one.
  • The grades section is not always correctly updated on my end even though the educator has posted them.
It is very well suited for a school setting and is appropriate for my graduate level classes where there are constant discussions outside of class. I'm not sure how it would work for an employment setting.
February 23, 2019

Performs as expected

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Blackboard to manage my courses, access documents, take quizzes, view grades, and communicate with peers and faculty. It is used across the entire institution, excluding one school.
  • Clear, consistent organization/menus.
  • Communication tools within Blackboard and email.
  • The tools section is overwhelming and a lot of them don't seem useful.
  • Limited functionality of the mobile app.
Works well for medium-large classes for communication and the posting of readings/slides/assignments.
Matthew Deakyne | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is the supported Learning Management system at the University of Kansas. It is used across the organization, with a focus on academic courses. All courses in our PeopleSoft Student Information System automatically receive a corresponding Blackboard class. It allows students and instructors to coordinate assignments and grades for academic classes, and is sometimes used as a communication tool for non-academic use.
  • Number of Integrations. Up until fairly recently, Blackboard Learn was the only option that scaled well for an institution of our size. They purchased competitors, and dominated marketshare. Due to this, most integrations from publishers or other educational technologies had to create a Blackboard integration.
  • Adapting to Web Standards. Blackboard is currently releasing REST APIs and LTI integrations, and encouraging these as the standards moving forward. This is an excellent direction, and will allow Blackboard to be more competitive in the future.
  • Customization. Each Blackboard course can be fully customized by the Instructor, using as much or as little as each individual instructor would like. For those that enjoy complete control - this is really useful.
  • Self-Hosted Option. I anticipate this to eventually be depreciated, but currently we can host our Blackboard instance - which grants full flexibility and data analysis capabilities that are not available in the managed or cloud hosted options.
  • Lack of APIs. Blackboard is catching up, but other competitors are much further along since those competitors started as a web-based company. The other factor holding these back is the different hosting options. All APIs are available for cloud-hosted, but not for managed-hosted or self-hosted.
  • Lack of defaults. While highly configurable, Blackboard is really intimidating for instructors used to default course structures. You can lock this down, but our users enjoy the customizability - which causes issues providing for both values. Instructors have multiple ways to do tasks - and often there isn't a clear pathway.
  • Lack of focus on core. Blackboard keeps releasing new products : Analytics (usage), Transact (purchase / card system), Ally (accessibility), Predict (early warning)... while the core experience lags behind. Blackboard is trying to sell the idea that their stuff works well with their stuff... while competitors keep improving the core system and make integrations easier. Personally, I believe Blackboard needs to refocus on the core competencies.
  • Lack of communication / proactivity. Blackboard relied on an integration with Crocodoc for assignment markup. Crocodoc was purchased and shuttered by Box, who had a general press release a year out. Blackboard worked with Box to replace this functionality - but DID NOT DO A GOOD JOB. Communication on progress was non-existant, it required an unplanned restart, and there was a massive feature loss. We still experience some performance issues, and it's been over a year since the switch.
  • Lack of migration pathway. There are distinct differences between self-hosted and cloud-hosted. The migration path from self hosted to cloud hosted is just as complex as migrating to another LMS. Blackboard has been really pushing cloud-hosted as a better experience, but many institutions of our size have had extreme difficulty migrating and some have ultimately switched to a competitor and had an easier time migrating. If you are considering going to the cloud, Blackboard SaaS will probably be as big of a change as a competitor.
  • Poor Branding. Ultra is a ubiquitous term that Blackboard has settled on, but there are too many Ultras. Ultra was originally the branding for SaaS, a technology that was Vaporware for two years and then ultimately came out half-completed. Then they started offering Collaborate Ultra, Ultra Course View and Ultra Experience. I think there is even now an Ultra theme that is available for Learn Original. They need to find another word, because it's extremely confusing for administrators - let alone instructors.
Blackboard Learn does the basics really well - but it's not pretty. It has a lot of options, and may be customized to meet specific needs better than the default options available with competing software. It's getting better, slowly, and adapting to a web-first / mobile-first strategy. It's a great option if you are already investing in the Blackboard ecosystem and have been impressed by any of Blackboard other products.
February 10, 2019

Great Tool for Learning

Mounika Chirasani | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I've used Blackboard both as a teaching assistant and a student.
  • As a student, I get mobile access and notifications about grades, announcements, and course changes that help me manage my learning.
  • As an instructor, Blackboard lets me integrate a lot of different types of media, structure time released content, vary assessments, and deliver individualized learning opportunities.
  • I also like the Best Practice parts of the help site -- it helps you to get ideas of how you can use the tools.
  • In terms of support from Blackboard.
  • I find it difficult to transfer information from one semester to another.
  • Slow (even when on the same network node or high-speed cable connection) -- needs a code rewrite/optimization.
Blackboard is one of the pinnacle learning suites out there. I've had the privilege of being a student and a teacher with BlackBoard and have to say that I have never been let down by the number of plugins that teachers can use and the ease of navigation for students. This tool really does check all of the boxes and makes remote learning a little bit easier.
Mark Fitzgerald | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is used for the majority of courses at our university. Each class uses it differently from just posting a syllabus to a grade book, to robust use of Collaborate, discussion boards, and content submission. It is up to each professor how deep they choose to use the tool in aiding instruction.
  • It can be configured to do anything you want.
  • It makes it easier for the students have a common destination for information.
  • I like that I can do all of my assessments and grading in one place.
  • It can be configured to do anything you want. Be careful.
  • Its architecture feels old, but because they support so many schools that are change adverse, it is hard to update.
I really think that Blackboard gets a bad rap. It is a solid tool with years of experience behind it. It can do all that you need it to do and you can configure it to look the way you want it to be - if your global administers allow it. An institution needs to decide how much and what type of flexibility it is going to allow. But the tool can do it.
Lori Riegel | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Learn is used by multiple users, to access information, share information and access features across multiple devices and platforms. Users can access modules and other necessary information sources from any device, from anywhere, at their own convenience. It is perfect for organizations that have users who are global or not necessarily meeting at the same time in the same place, and need access to massive amounts of information that is stored in an organized format. It is quite useful for academic settings, but I can also see applicable uses for nonprofit or other environments.
  • Organized modules
  • Easy to use on various devices
  • Easy to customize
  • Chat feature could be improved
  • Doesn't load quite as well on a mobile (phone) device consistently
  • Better integration to a mobile app
Blackboard Learn is an excellent application for academic (college or university) settings. It would also work well in large school districts. I have used it in a university setting, and like that I can access current and past course materials. I did not receive an orientation to use it, or other sort of training, but it was intuitive and easy to jump right in and start using it.
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