Blackboard Collaborate Reviews

Pros

A feature that I absolutely love about this software is the breakout rooms for group projects. I love that professors can break us into groups and it is not difficult to see in Blackboard. I love how easy it is to use this software. I also love that I get to see my professors feedback on any assignments that have been graded. I love seeing the exact percentage as well instead of it saying "B+". I absolutely love Blackboard!

Cons

One feature that I hope that this software improves is sharing the computer audio. It would be really helpful to get audio instead of text because I feel like it is easier to communicate faster and a lot more easier than text. Either way I highly recommend this software because It has helped me be more organized. There are no features that are difficult.

Pros

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

Cons

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

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Pros

Easy to Use
Facilitates large groups
Indicates each participant's strength of connectivity
Features to indicate understanding of the concepts being taught
Feature to indicate when you are away from your device during the session
Ability to break out into small focus groups for classroom activities
Poll for student engagement
Document sharing features
Screenshare feature
Facilitates multiple presenters that can each manipulate the slides being presented
Ability to record lectures for asynchronous learning
Mic and Video features available to all participants
Moderators can mute the mics of persons who have accidentally left their mics on
"Hand up" feature useful for asking questions without major interruption of the session

Cons

The only problem i've faced is the compression of power point screens when uploaded to blackboard. Items that were previously well spaced out often overlap. However this issue can be overcome by simply screensharing the document instead of uploading it and converting it on blackboard

Pros

Easy to use, worked everytime we used it

Cons

it cost much more than our other webinar software

Pros

As background information, this was used for online classes - so my experiences is limited and based only on that. With that said, though, I was pleased with my interactions with Blackboard Collaborate. Here are the pros:
- It has an Interactive Whiteboard feature that is quite helpful. Teachers can add their slide deck or presentation here. The students can then "interact" with the presentation using some nice features (type words, underline texts, even highlight).
- Similar to other programs, you can share your device's screen with the class or you can allow other students to share their screen if they need to show a presentation or something. This comes in very handy if used well.
- If you've never used Blackboard before, I think it's pretty easy to get the hang of. It's well organized and has a nice user interface.
- Without Blackboard, managing the workflow in an online class would be extremely difficult. However, Blackboard does a phenomenal job of allowing information, assignments, quizzes, etc. to be assigned and returned/collected in an organized fashion.
- If a student is unable to attend a live session, Blackboard includes a record option so they can go back and watch the lesson whenever possible. This can also be used for remediation and review.
- They have some nice little features that often go overlooked, like the quick response or thumbs up/thumbs down features. It's helpful when quickly checking for understanding.
- Breakout/small group feature.

Cons

Here are some concerns:
- While it works well with Chrome, this platform does not seem to work with Safari or Edge. (This could be user error, though.)
- This may be user error, too, but I found the audio to be a little off. It seems like they could do some updates here to help it sound a little more smooth and less choppy. Sometimes you don't always hear everything.
- Even though the record feature is awesome - it can be annoying because the video and the audio are sometimes off.
- I guess this could be based on the WiFi connectivity, but video quality is inconsistent.

Pros

Blackboard is so easy to use in comparison to other whiteboard applications I have used throughout my work career. It has a slew of features to it including video and voice chats, typing chats, whiteboards with multiple different tools available to use with it, file sharing, and weblink sharing among many other features.

Cons

The biggest and most frequent issue I have run into with the Blackboard program would be the freezing. At least two or three time's a day the program would freeze and you'd have to exit and reload the Blackboard room in order to continue using the program. Sometimes the sound would cut out or the video would be grainy and sometimes attachments and files would not send through on the first go around and you'd have to resend them.

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Pros

I like that blackboard works well with Microsoft Power Point slides and that allows users to collaborate with chat, microphone, and board tools. I also like that it allows recordings to be made.

Cons

This software is difficult to learn to use well and is NOT intuitive. It frequently crashes at our organization, which impacts student learning. You cannot record in breakout rooms which makes small group work a challenge. It does not load Google Slides well which limits the other software one can use to create the slides.

Pros

I used Blackboard Collaborate for several years in graduate school. What I liked most about this software was the simplicity of utilizing the conversation threads. There was nothing too "fancy" and the layout provided simple 'reply' and 'reply all' buttons. Each week we were required to answer questions about a scenario, and reply to other students' remarks as well. It was easy to see which posts did not have replies yet so that we each student got a change to have a reply. I think if this information wasn't provided on the main screen many posts would be overlooked, and I liked that the layout was clear on who posted and who replied, especially when professors emphasized replying to posts that had fewer or no replies already. I also liked that there was a messaging system built in, so we could communicate with our fellow students and professor within the website while working on assignments.

Cons

What I liked least about Blackboard Collaborate was that if I wanted to message my entire class, I would have to individually click every student's name, and then click the "To" button in order to add them as recipients. It was honestly time consuming and extremely frustrating as a graduate student because it wasted so many minutes every time, especially because I would often forget to actually click "To" after I manually clicked a student's name, so I wouldn't realize they weren't added into the message and would have to start over. This was unfriendly for users, especially for graduate students who need to focus on their assignments and communicating to their peers rather than trying to remember if they did the two-step clicking process for every single student rather than having a simple "select all" option! I don't know why there was no select all option to add the entire class when this is a platform universities often use for online classes and assignments. One more thing I did not like about Blackboard was that the layout was a bit confusing and not user friendly. It took me a while to get used to the flow of the website which felt unorganized and a bit scattered. I could see this being more of a problem for older graduate students who aren't used to adapting to various website layouts with many links to each class and each assignment stacked upon each other in an overwhelming way.

Pros

Blackboard Collaborate is such a great option for online teachers. We use it to meet with students and present lessons live on the computer. I use it weekly. It is seamlessly integrated with PowerPoint.

The features are neat - you have lots of controls as a moderator. You can allow students to speak, use video cameras, type, draw, add pictures to the whiteboard, etc. You can set how many students can be speaking at once. You can mute them by taking away tools. You can create breakout rooms. You can play all sorts of media. You can remove students who are not behaving. You can lock the room or allow attendees in late. I've met with anywhere from 1 to 700 participants.

You can make permanent forcing slides and make sure that students can't do anything without a teacher being present, but there are downsides to those functionalities as well.

The app is really great. It is limited, and simple, but I've never had a problem with it.

Cons

The major thing I dislike is the "exception error" that I get CONSTANTLY. Basically, BBC can only handle so much data. Because it can't tell which participant needs what, it actually has to save and stream anything within a certain time period and send that out to everyone in the room. So, it really bogs the room down. It is just saving a TON of data at any given time. We've had to create separate rooms for back to back sessions instead of hosting them in the same room for this reason. It'll give an exception error if you try to do too much with too many people in too small a timeframe.

Don't try to host a session over a wireless hotspot unless you have unlimited data. One session cost me like 2 gigs of data.

Recording can only be done in the main room. If you need to record in a breakout session, you'll have to figure something else out. We use Snagit for breakout room recordings.

The administrator panel is very confusing. I'm really tech savvy and I have a hard time navigating. It is definitely not intuitive when it comes to setting up new rooms and adding moderators.

The permanent forcing slides are good. No issues there. However, what a pain to set up -- it just makes no sense. I wish it was easier to figure out how to do that.

Pros

As a student the software is easy to use and has an easy to use dashboard. It is nice to be able to email other students or teachers, especially when you get to the university level. I like how there are different options to view your grades and when you submit your assignments there is a confirmation code that is generated. There is also a variety of tools besides email in which communication can take place, like discussion boards, videos, or links to other websites. I also found it handy to keep track of important announcements from campus organizations and professors. As an Administrator I like how the software can keep me organized and track the progress of the students.

Cons

I did not have many issues as a student, but as an administrator I found a few places with room for improvement. At times it was difficult to upload assignments, I would always get an error message. I know I am completing the correct steps because I have uploaded many assignments. Another issue I had was that this software always seemed to go down at the most in opportune times, like right before finals and then an extension had to be given to the students to be fair. I can't say if it was the fault of the school or the software, all I know is it is frustrating.

Pros

I mostly used Blackboard prior to the virtual first environment, using it specifically for university classes that usually took place in the summer. Summer classes were often in an online or hybrid (online and in-person) format, incorporating significant amounts of virtual learning. Blackboard provides effective resources to collaborate virtually both professors to students and students with fellow peers. It has several features to assist with collaboration such as live video chat capability, the ability to record lectures or view previously recorded lectures, and host discussions. My favorite feature is the recorded lecture. Working individually at home, without the convenience of having the professor and peers around to ask immediate questions, it is an effective tool to have the ability to pause a lecture to take notes or even rewatch a lecture entirely.

Cons

Blackboard has a mobile app to provide convenience to its users, which becomes even more important in the virtual first environment. Previously I did not put a lot of weight in my opinion on the app but I think in the virtual first environment it is more important than ever for the software tools to be easy and usable especially the mobile applications. Blackboard's app is not that. It is harder to operate, not as user friendly, and does not provide the same at home peer social environment that other educational platform apps provide -- such as the ability to have live chats and create "rooms" for students to easily break into groups.

Pros

Blackboard Collaborate is an efficient tool to use for online meetings. Meeting hosts can load presentations into a whiteboard space and navigate as the meeting progresses. Participants have a variety of tools available to participate in the meeting including a chat box, emoticons, raise hand, step away and other features. Video for both the host and the participants can be enabled. Whiteboard tools can be activated to allow users to write on the whiteboard space using a variety of writing tools. Meetings can be recorded, downloaded, and saved for users to view at other time.

Cons

This software can have a high learning curve. Very intimidating for non-technical users. Proper customer and technical training is highly recommended. Large groups (100 plus) will lag in Blackboard Collaborate.

Pros

Blackboard Collaborate (Ultra) has improved and now I can share my entire screen with my students without the image erroring out or showing repeated screens that trail off into infinity, which means I no longer have to switch from application to application and can seamlessly share any program or document as soon as it is opened.

Cons

The ability to detach or un-dock the text chat box and move it around to a different location while sharing my screen during a live chat would be most helpful. When you are using two monitors and focusing on one it would be great if the text box could be shown in a more convenient spot so I could see it at the same time.

Pros

Everything you needed for the course could be found under its heading, so you always had access to your syllabus and course requirements. It allows the unconventional student to be equipped with everything they need to still learn outside of the classroom - at the convenience of their own time.

Cons

Just because all the information is provided does not mean you are automatically organized - toggling between tabs creates the possibility of potentially missing an assignment, as blackboard does not alert you when something is due. therefore, if you happen to skip over a tab in the class you may also be skipping over an assignment.

Pros

I enjoyed using Blackboard as a student of a local community college. I found that it was really easy to use and one of the best programs I had ever encountered! It was so important to me to be able to learn not only in class, but also at home. Being that I had not been in classes in some time it sometimes took me longer than my classmates to understand, and learn things. I was able to use Blackboard at home and they had many different activities that would help you get extra practice from flashcards, quizzes and labs that you could use to help you better understand the curriculum that was being taught that day!

Cons

Sometimes down for scheduled banner maintenance so was not able to access my grades or assignments when I needed to. Thankfully I was always informed of any maintenance beforehand so I was able to see the information needed before it was down! (Not usually very long at all though!)

Pros

I used this platform while in college. All of our classes were accessible in one place and we had access to teachers/classmates at all times. Could ask questions and get immediate responses. Could submit papers/assignments so you never had to worry about your dog eating it (😁). Calendar kept you organized on due dates and class material. Grades on classwork/tests were easily accessible at all times.

Cons

From a student perspective it was a great program. There were only a couple of things that I found difficult but I think it had more to do with the teacher who set up the class on Blackboard. Some material was hard to find. Too many options to put assignments. They should all go in one place. Didn't like the fact that I had to open up 5 folders to find reading assignment or questions to be answered. Discussion board could get overwhelming and looked very disorganized

Pros

Blackboard has the ability to include many different types of media like powerpoints, spreadsheets, pdfs, and work documents all in one place

Cons

The interface is very outdated and could use a redesign. There is a lot of unnecessary links and pages that you need to go through in order to access something as simple as homework. I also wish the login page was easier and actually didn't require me to log in every time.

Pros

I love the overall functionality of this software as you can post grades, assignments, video tutorials, and various educational-based resources. The ease of usage with this software is comfortable as it is easy to comprehend.

Cons

I honestly don't have any cons from usage associated with this product. The overall learning curve and navigation of this product are easy to comprehend.

Pros

The thing I like about blackboard is the ability to download app onto phone and easily navigate through messages, discussion post, new grades submitted.. the list goes on. Blackboard has taken in the evolving approach in technology implemented into this software. You can modify, add or dismiss what you don't want shown. Blackboard if your platform and can customise it as you wish to fit your need. It is very user friendly.

Cons

I don't think there's anything I dislike about this software. Perhaps the one thing I like least about this software is not being able to view attempted assessments via the phone application. It will direct you to use your desktop browser to view details.

Pros

It was easy to set up a virtual classroom within my Blackboard classroom. It is easy to upload your power point presentations to present lectures, it has a polling feature where you can ask live questions and get immediate feedback as the students answer the question. It has a whiteboard feature that you can write and draw on for equations or flow charts.

Cons

The product works only through google chrome so if a student does not open it in Chrome then they will not be able to get into the virtual classroom.

Pros

I like the ease and setup of the course in blackboard. The layout is super-friendly in terms of finding your course materials, your email, instructor information, or accessing discussion boards. As a student in different schools, I found blackboard worked pretty much the same way, no issues in attending my live class sessions or taking my tests.

Cons

No cons regarding blackboard from a student's stance. It is really laid out where anyone can log in and find their way around after a brief tutorial.

Pros

I like that blackboard has every piece of information that I need in regards to my school assignments. Not having to go to the site and login is a plus when it comes to doing my task. I can also and question and get answers right away with this software.

Cons

I see that they have take the virtual assistant off of the blackboard. Many of us depended on this to help us when the school wasn't open. I am sure if you put Iven back on that we would use him he was such a help.