The continuing march of technology may one day make face-to-face classes obsolete as teachers continue to make more use of online course programs such as Blackboard and WebBoard.

Utilizing Blackboard

Blackboard is in use for more than 1,300 courses at NIU. The program allows students to log in to a server where instructors can post different kinds of files and information that pertain to their course, including all of the course documents as well as grades.

“Since we started using Blackboard in 2001, the number of users have grown exponentially,” said Carol Scheidenhelm, assistant director of Faculty Development. “It has a lot of features that we need to give our courses enough of a dynamic to make them viable.”

Sharon Smaldino, teacher of education innovation for the College of Education, has extensive experience with online course programs, having used WebCT for several years before using Blackboard at NIU.

“[Blackboard] simplifies my end of the deal,” Smaldino said. “It makes it easier for me to put the course together and allow students to access it.”

Blackboard is updated regularly and thoroughly tested by staff members at Faculty Development, Registration and Records and Information Technology Services before new program changes are implemented, Scheidenhelm said.

“We have a really good system and a good team that works together to support the software,” Scheidenhelm said. “That’s one of the reasons I think we have such success with it here at Northern.”

Many students who use Blackboard cite the convenience of being able to access course information at any time and from any place.

“I like that you have your course documents right there and can access them from a computer or from home,” said Andy Mitchell, a sophomore engineering major.

Getting to know WebBoard

WebBoard, a program similar to Blackboard in many respects, sees wider use among English and communication courses at NIU.

“Both [Blackboard and WebBoard] are good software programs that encourage faculty to engage students in writing online,” said Brad Peters, an English department writing coordinator. “I favor anything that leads to those ends.”

WebBoard, like Blackboard, allows students to remotely access course content. While Blackboard is a university service, WebBoard is bought and maintained by the departments that use it. WebBoard focuses on group and peer discussion, said Eric Hoffman, English department coordinator of Networked Writing and Research.

Hoffman handles a WebBoard server which serves the English, sociology and communication departments. These departments tend to assess students on compositions rather than multiple choice answers, and also require more user-to-user discussion, said Hoffman.

“WebBoard is a more focused program because all it does is peer collaboration,” Hoffman said. “Because it has a smaller scope, it is a lot easier to use.”

Hoffman’s WebBoard server now serves more than 6,000 students and recently needed an upgrade to handle the amount of traffic. Hoffman updates WebBoard as upgrades become available and submits his recommendations on updating the program to the English department.

With the emerging ability of online course tools to post wikis, podcasts and other types of files, students and faculty have only just begun to explore the potential of interacting with course materials outside the classroom.

“The improvements [in online course tools] over the past 10 years have been dramatic, and I’m grateful,” Smaldino said.