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Tyana V.
senior aba therapist
Individual & Family Services, 501-1,000 employees
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Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Tiana. I am a senior ABA therapist. I give Blackboard Collaborate a five out of five....
Nehemiah K.
Videographer
Media Production, 51-200 employees
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Nehemiah K.: Hi, my name is Nehemiah. I'm a graduate student, and I give Blackboard Collaborate a five...
Chad A.
Verified reviewer
Hospital & Health Care, 5,001-10,000 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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The interface is very intuitive and allows persons to learn remotely. Also allows for recording and playback of the lessons or conferences which is a major bonus. It also allows persons to write notes on presentations or highlight topics.
May be a bit bandwidth intensive. Does not allow you to download recorded videos.
Minh Phong L.
Hospitality, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for less than 6 months
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I have used Blackboard for roughly 6 months since I first began my academic year at college. Then in late March, the pandemic of COVID 19 took place leading to all in-class courses were canceled. I had to get familiar which Blackboard Collaborate because my professors delivered courses on the software. I quickly got used to it and Blackboard turned out to be absolutely useful to teaching classes online during this time of difficulty.
the features are very user-friendly and it is very easy to navigate for beginners. The most favorite part of it is the ability to offer remote sessions such as online course room, online join room, and online discussion between the professor and the students. Blackboard Collaborate is absolutely the best option for schools, businesses, or even government meetings during this pandemic when social distancing must be kept.
Well, I have to say that the connection is quite bad if you are using a cellphone in remote sessions because you would be sometimes cut off in the middle of the lecture with your professor and online classmates. Therefore, I would highly recommend using your desktop computer or laptops for a strong connection. After all, Blackboard is still the best option for delivering online courses.
Dionne W.
Education Management, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Blackboard allows me to meet with my students in a virtual setting.
I like that the software was easy to use. I was able to learn the functions of the software on my own without any extensive training. I also like that when I invite students to meet me in the "blackboard room", that it is simply one click for them, type their name and they are in.
It may have been technical issues on my end, but sometimes Blackboard would timeout in the middle of a session with a student.
Diego G.
Media Production, 11-50 employees
Used weekly for 6-12 months
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Great for large groups, has enough features to keep up with the competition including: breakout rooms which work great, screen sharing, whiteboard for demonstrations, moderating for a smooth meeting flow. It's somewhat easy to use, so that's always a plus.
My biggest problem is reliability and stability. The software has crashed on me quite often, even with a robust and very capable laptop. For a software that's supposed to make collaboration easy, these issues are big drawbacks for me, and it's why we switched back to our original software.
Anonymous Reviewer
Verified reviewer
Information Technology and Services, 11-50 employees
Used other for less than 6 months
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my overall experience of Blackboard Collaborate is good
As opposed to web casting and video conferencing software, Blackboard Collaborate has interrogations and features that are specifically designed for engagement with the learners/audience
I am a new user of the Blackboard Collaborate's license so far nothing to complain about. Although the budget for this product is more expensive than our previous option
Carly P.
E-Learning, 501-1,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Overall, Blackboard was a good resource to use to collaborate. I think with some minor updates, this software would improve tremendously.
I like that there was also an app for this software that was easy to use on cell phones and iPads. I also liked how the feedback was shown on assignments.
The software was very slow at times and there was a due date tab where due dates we never listed. The calendar view needs to be updated along with the links within Blackboard.
Whitney C.
Education Management, 201-500 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Pretty good! It's easy to teach in and learn. Great features to keep my students engaged.
I like how easy it is to upload my Powerpoints to use to teach with. The Blackboard tools are engaging for the students. The chat is easy to see while I teach.
I wish that chat could be on for the whole class, but private chat from student to student would be off. It's hard to keep track of private chats with students while class is going on and I need the chat on. BBC as a whole looks a bit dated too. Sometimes my powerpoints mess up or some slides get deleted during my presentations. Not often, but a few times in the past two years.
Libby K.
Used daily for 2+ years
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I used blackboard as a student. I always liked when a teacher would use blackboard to upload assignment, post grades, have PowerPoints available, and even when test and quizzes there.
Seeing grades posted throughout the semester, referencing resources that teachers posted, and taking quizzes and tests on it. I also appreciated that they worked with group projects to connect with other students in the class and to upload assignments.
It would crash every so often, not enough to make a huge deal about it.
Deborah E.
Verified reviewer
Computer Software, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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The most important part of this program is its web conferencing feature ,which gives us access to functionalities needed to support a modern teaching and learning work environment, such as 2 way VoIP, built-in phone conferencing,multi-point video,rich media ,mobile collaboration , interactive whiteboard, application and desktop sharing, breakout rooms, and session recording.
Blackboard is restrictive in terms of the file formats, we are able to play. Also there is the tendency for text boxes and some dialogue components within the Blackboard framework to suddenly malfunction.
Cassandra E.
E-Learning, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Overall Blackboard Collaborate has been useful. It allows all of my students to attend class. The chat box is the best way for participants to participate when there is a larger group of participants.
It is easily integrated into our LMS. That makes it easy to get recordings and for our students to access.
Only 6 cameras can be shared at a time. There is also a limited number of microphones that can be used simultaneously. The whiteboard tools could also be updated.
laina m.
Education Management, 5,001-10,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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The software is very detailed. There are many part to one action, you can control everything you need to. It is easy to learn, which i have had to do. But also it is easy to learn and study on your own. The outcome results for example as on a register, is also detailed and self explanatory.
It is an older system. I think it needs to be updated where there is not so much room for error. It is very 90s set up.
Ron A.
Construction, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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- I used Blackboard as a student for both local college and distance learning programs. It is so easy to use and all of the course resources (outlines, notes, etc.) were easy to locate for each lesson. - Contacting the course professor was simple through the interface, and the live chat was great! - The interactive whiteboard is amazing during lessons
- File formats were limited in terms of what types of files could be hosted/played. - Blackboard would, on occasion, crash and cause me to relaunch the site. Not a huge deal as it didn't happen that often.
Kahlil H.
Education Management, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used weekly for 1-2 years
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The overall experience is good as the demands form the software are being met
The software is suited for online classes. The software has what is described as two factors authentication prior to sharing sound and video
The bandwidth needed to participate on this platform is high therefore a strong network connection is needed to actively participate.
Kylee C.
Higher Education, 5,001-10,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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It took a while to get accustomed to using Blackboard but after a while I could do it in my sleep. It makes accessing my course information simple and fast.
It is simple to use. I can easily view my grades and assignments whenever I need to. If I ever need to get in contact with my professors, blackboard makes it convenient and easy to find their information.
The iOS app often crashes or logs you out automatically very frequently
Diego T.
Verified reviewer
Computer Software, 51-200 employees
Used weekly for 1-2 years
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I can't complain about Blackboard. It has helped me have a constant communication with my students and share content for my courses,
Definitely Blackboard has everything a teacher needs, it can help you check plagiarism, need to do a video conference, you don't need to use zoom or any other tool, Blackboard has it. But learn to use it takes some time. I'm a professor at college and using this the first semester was a little complex. "Easy stuffs" take time to learn, but when you're use to it, you really take advantage of it. Specially these days with Covid19 pandemic.
You need to take some time to become an OK user of Blackboard. It has so many options that cause you to get lost in what you want to learn. So the learning curve is high. But it's worth it. Something I don't really like is the grading system, I think it has areas of improvements. It's current standard way of showing grades, doesn't works in other places.
Anonymous Reviewer
Verified reviewer
Computer Software, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Blackboard is a great tool for school use. It allows you to stay organized and ahead of schedule. It is also a great way to stay in communication with professors and classmates to ask for help.
Blackboard was a great tool that I used when I was a student in order to keep in contact with my professor and classmates. It also allowed me to view assignment, past and upcoming. It helped me stay organized and on time with all of my assignments.
Not a con towards Blackboard, the school I was attending just switched from Blackboard to Canvas. At this time, I don't dislike anything about Blackboard.
Regina H.
Higher Education, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Overall, I think Blackboard is an adequate software for classes to use as far as the basics go (e.g. putting syllabi and class readings online, administering quizzes and tests, grading). The look and feel of the software can be improved upon and it can be made more user-friendly, but overall, it does an okay job.
I like that it has the basic features needed for this type of software, such as the ability to administer and grade quizzes online. It is pretty intuitive to use, but it could be better.
The whole program looks and feels very dated. Because it looks so dated, it feels like it has not been upgraded in a while and could be difficult to use. It surprisingly is pretty intuitive to use however, but there are still ways that it could be improved upon. For example, grading assignments can be made an easier task that does not need to be featured on a separate page.
Becca G.
Verified reviewer
Higher Education, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used weekly for 1-2 years
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We use this program in the Student Success Center for hosting online sessions (including live video interaction) for our tutoring and academic coaching services. We sometimes record a session for later use in training or for student reference. I have used it to conduct and record interviews for research purposes, as well.
I love that the "receiver" (in our case, the student who is meeting a tutor or academic coach online for a video session) doesn't have to download an app or program or even create an account or log-in. They can access a session through their browser using the link we send. This saves a lot of tech issues or the student having to make an account to access other options like Hangouts, Skype, FaceTime, etc.
Some of the features aren't easy to find. It could be more intuitively designed. There are help guides, but I have often thought that many features should be obvious and easy to find and not require the use of the Help section.
Joseph Z.
Verified reviewer
Higher Education, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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I was able to solve a major business problem in that after Spring Break I had to transition from a face-to-face class to a totally online class and Blackboard Collaborate allowed me to work with my students remotely.
I like that it is integrated into Blackboard so it is easy to create sessions in advance or on the fly. I like the recording option that allows me to video myself and my presentations and then instantly share them with the class when they are over.
The reporting feature could be better. The report is a static list online that you cannot filter or sort by any particular column such as last name or time logged in. While a .csv file is avaialble, it would be nice to slice and dice the data within the platform.
Michelle T.
Verified reviewer
Education Management, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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I used this software when I taught business courses for Ashford University. It was incredibly easy to use and I was able to upload video as well as the text for each chapter of the book. Once you have put all the work into setting up your course it is super simple to duplicate.
Every once in a while a student would have trouble uploading their paper or assignment to blackboard, however this was an easy fix with a call to support. Every time I called support they were able to quickly resolve the issue the first time I called.
Peter B.
Education Management, 5,001-10,000 employees
Used other for 2+ years
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Collaborate offers a nice platform for real-time text and video conferencing. For those who already use Blackboard, there's no reason to choose any other software.
Collaborate isn't as user-friendly as some of the alternative programs. It offers plenty of features, but the learning curve is steeper.
Richard S.
Higher Education, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used weekly for 2+ years
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The ability to hold virtual meetings for business as well as academics is great. Our instructors love using Collaborate for virtual office hours and our HR department uses it for job interviews and board meetings. Great program.
Ease of use and integration into Blackboard courses with the additional capability of use outside of the LMS. The ability to hold virtual meetings for business as well as academics is great. Our instructors love using Collaborate for virtual office hours and our HR department uses it for job interviews and board meetings. Great program.
The compatibility with browsers other than Chrome has caused issues for faculty in the past. It is our understanding that Collaborate is made specifically for Chrome, which is not everyone's browser of choice.
Anonymous Reviewer
Verified reviewer
Hospital & Health Care, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Overall, have had a good experience. Have also used Canvas and that was slightly better than Blackboard for us.
Great platform for student/instructors to have all the information necessary in one place. Many features to allow seamless learning experience for students.
Sometimes screensharing will throttle speeds it seems and sometimes audio is not clear.
Kyle H.
Construction, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used weekly for 6-12 months
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My overall experience was great. As a virtual environment was not the most popular means for schools, Blackboard Collaborate made this transition smooth during the pandemic. It is a great tool for learning either as a student or a teacher.
It is a secure and safe video conferencing application, which makes learning in a virtual environment easy and accessible. I find the whiteboard option that gives all users the opportunity to write simultaneously particularly useful for groups to share and collaborate. I also like chat feature with the ability to speak publicly and privately. It has bridged the gap between the physical and virtual classroom allowing students to learn remotely and be able to review lesson which was not possible in a physical environment.
The problem I had with this software was sometimes i had an issue connecting my microphone and camera. It's user interface could be improved, making tasks such as playing videos and sharing images easier as it takes a long period to upload content on the platform
Anonymous Reviewer
Verified reviewer
Online Media, 201-500 employees
Used monthly for 2+ years
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Overall my experience has been nothing but positive. As a grad student as well as a Teachers's Assistant, Blackboard Collaborate has been truly amazing, and more people should considering engaging with tall the possibilities the software has to offer.
Blackboard Collaborate was a lifesaver for our school. While many teachers opted to use zoom for class meetings, we however were able to utilize Collaborate as part of or program. With minimal training and several tools for the teachers to use, Collaborate made the Covid semesters a breeze for our university. Students were able to easily log in and ask questions and listen to lectures with high-quality video and audio. Slides/Video/Documents were easily added to Collaborate for lectures and reviews. Not only were quarantine students able to utilize this software. Students who were able to join in class could follow along and communicate witht their peers as well.
The only downside is that blackboard is indeed a blackboard. Perhaps a more colorful layout could make the software more friendly.