Eric Kunnen’s GRCC Blog

We just finished gathering some of the results from our Blackboard Survey from the Winter semester 2008. Here is a brief review:

Student Survey
N=1098

• 47% use a desktop system, while 48% use a laptop when accessing Blackboard.
• 71% of students access Bb from home, and 23% from campus.
• 96% access Blackboard on a high speed/broadband connection.
• 65% have used the Facebook Coursefeed Application, 25% have used Wimba Pronto, 13% have used Blackboard Backpack, and 11% have used Blackboard Scholar.
• 96% of students say that using Bb provided a better learning experience.
• 92% would like more of their instructors to use Blackboard to deliver their course materials, grades, and announcements.
• 61% of students would like to see more hybrid courses offered.

Selected open ended responses:

1. Several responses wanting to see faculty absences delivered through Blackboard.
2. “I love Blackboard! I wish we would’ve had it 20 years ago when I received my first degree.”
3. “Blackboard is great. I just wish all of the instructors used it.”
4. “I love blackboard, please never get rid of it.”
5. “I think using blackboard has actually made me interact more with my instructors because maybe I don’t have to see them face to face?”
6. “I think BB is a wonderful tool for all students it really helped me to go farther in my first semester here at GRCC!”
7. “I like that the school is genuinely concerned about how easily accessible blackboard is and how the majority of students would like their class settings.”

Faculty Survey
N=158

• 59% of faculty access Blackboard primarily from home, followed by 31% from campus.
• 83% use the gradebook, 80% use announcements, 54% use the content areas, 53% use email, 33% use assignments, and 21% use discussion boards.
• 85% use the Photo Roster Building Block, followed by SafeAssignment at 15%.
• 89% of faculty say that it would improve the student learning experience here at GRCC if more instructors would use Blackboard to deliver their course materials, grades, and announcements.

Selected open ended responses:

1. “Easy to keep organized. Student accountability–they know where to find grades, missed assignments, course documents…without asking me repeatedly.”
2. “My class only meets once a week and this is an invaluable communication tool for me to reach my students. I can post readings and assignments at any day of the week. It was also great for journaling. It has inabled me to almost completely reduce paper assignments. And Finally, the class was an ASL class so I was able to connect the students with the community partners thorough Blackboard.”
3. “I wouldn’t be interested in teaching without Blackboard. This tool allows me to stay organized, and keeps the students organized for success!”
4. “I think that it’s not about changing the technology, it is about changing the attitudes. I hear a lot of professors talk about how if they put their notes up on bb that students would not show up for class. While that is very true, it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Class time can be a time to encourage critical thinking. We need to change the professors ideas about what happens in the classroom. Offer more ideas of ways to promote critical thinking. Offer workshops on active learning in the classroom. Not just one session on the learning day, but all of the sessions dealing with various ways of implementing active learning.