Sadly, we can no longer advocate for Blackboard
September 23, 2016
Sadly, we can no longer advocate for Blackboard
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Modules Used
- Blackboard Learn
Overall Satisfaction with Blackboard
Sadly, we finally left Blackboard this year. We used it at this institution successfully for many years, and I used it at my previous position for many years. At one time, I truly believed in the product, and was relatively happy with the support we received, and with the way the company itself was working on behalf of its customers, and education in general.
We became disheartened after the company was sold, people in key positions were let go or constantly moved around, and our support began to dwindle. Obviously we were not the only ones, as we saw a dramatic decrease in market share, and many institutions such as ours leaving Blackboard.
May I also say that I never missed a chance to attend and present at regional user group meetings, as well as all the Blackboard World conferences, and I even co-founded, and single-handedly managed the Virginia Blackboard Users Group for six years. That's how strongly I once believed in Blackboard.
We became disheartened after the company was sold, people in key positions were let go or constantly moved around, and our support began to dwindle. Obviously we were not the only ones, as we saw a dramatic decrease in market share, and many institutions such as ours leaving Blackboard.
May I also say that I never missed a chance to attend and present at regional user group meetings, as well as all the Blackboard World conferences, and I even co-founded, and single-handedly managed the Virginia Blackboard Users Group for six years. That's how strongly I once believed in Blackboard.
- While we were using Blackboard, I thought they, at one point, were very collaborative with their customer base, even to the point of creating product development panels...users who could help them develop and evolve the product.
- I am sad to say that Blackboard simply became a commodity to be sold around. Good people lost jobs. Support waned. Prices soared. And no one really cared.
- Toward the end of our Blackboard relationship, we felt that we were paying way too much for the products and service (or lack thereof) we were getting.
- Desire2Learn and Canvas
We did a Desire2Learn pilot, and there was no comparison. Blackboard won out, even in its declining state.
We did a Canvas pilot, and, weighing all things, price, product, support, ease of use, ease of transition, Canvas ultimately won.
We did a Canvas pilot, and, weighing all things, price, product, support, ease of use, ease of transition, Canvas ultimately won.