2008 Woodie Awards
After Connections, we question the merits of Blackboard Vista
Issue date: 9/20/07 Section: Opinion/Editorial
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Hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless man hours later, the university has given up its sordid love affair with WebCT Vista platform of Connections, opting instead to flirt with Blackboard Vista.
Connections, a Web portal that would have merged the various online services of the university - such as e-mail and class registration - had a rocky start. As reported by The Journal, although Information Technology launched Connections September 2005, it was supposed to be ready by the beginning of the 2003 fall semester. The delay was the result of the unforeseen complexities of merging several systems together. However, Connections was still incomplete when it was launched and remains so to this day.
Since its shaky beginnings, Connections has cost the university an initial $500,000 for the software and a continuing $50,000 - 70,000 in annual maintenance costs. Still, Connections is plagued with problems. Not only is it incomplete - registration was never integrated into the system - but students have trouble accessing their e-mails through Connections, if they can log into the system at all. Connections has become increasingly problematic as more and more professors use the portal as part of their classes. Fed up and unwilling to play with the beleaguered system, many students used personal e-mails and ignore Connections altogether.
Now, IT is working to replace the old WebCT platform with Blackboard. IT Director Larry Haffner said the change was a response to an increase in the enrollment of online courses. He also touts Blackboard's efficiency and additional capabilities over that of WebCT.
However, Blackboard comes at a hefty price with a $100,000 - $125,000 annual maintenance cost - almost double that of WebCT. Additionally, faculty must be trained to use the new platform, a task IT has already begun, Haffner said.
With nearly double the money being spent on Blackboard every year - not to mention any startup costs such as the half million-dollar price of WebCT - we at The Journal believe that students are entitled to certain expectations.
While it is reasonable to expect bugs in the first few weeks after implementing Blackboard - indeed, it seems as if WebCT bugs never left - it would be nice if the bugs were worked out quickly. Hopefully, there will be no inconvenient and occasionally disastrous e-mail failures this time around.
We would greatly appreciate Blackboard's Connections being brought to its full potential as well. Perhaps online registration can finally be fully integrated into Connections - a feat for which students have been waiting for more than two years.
Though we at The Journal applaud the university's desire for a better Web portal and its efforts to procure one, we must also admit a bit of trepidation over the unknown. After all, we did expect a neat, modern system that would truly be an excellent resource for students and professors alike.
Instead, we got WebCT Connections.
Connections, a Web portal that would have merged the various online services of the university - such as e-mail and class registration - had a rocky start. As reported by The Journal, although Information Technology launched Connections September 2005, it was supposed to be ready by the beginning of the 2003 fall semester. The delay was the result of the unforeseen complexities of merging several systems together. However, Connections was still incomplete when it was launched and remains so to this day.
Since its shaky beginnings, Connections has cost the university an initial $500,000 for the software and a continuing $50,000 - 70,000 in annual maintenance costs. Still, Connections is plagued with problems. Not only is it incomplete - registration was never integrated into the system - but students have trouble accessing their e-mails through Connections, if they can log into the system at all. Connections has become increasingly problematic as more and more professors use the portal as part of their classes. Fed up and unwilling to play with the beleaguered system, many students used personal e-mails and ignore Connections altogether.
Now, IT is working to replace the old WebCT platform with Blackboard. IT Director Larry Haffner said the change was a response to an increase in the enrollment of online courses. He also touts Blackboard's efficiency and additional capabilities over that of WebCT.
However, Blackboard comes at a hefty price with a $100,000 - $125,000 annual maintenance cost - almost double that of WebCT. Additionally, faculty must be trained to use the new platform, a task IT has already begun, Haffner said.
With nearly double the money being spent on Blackboard every year - not to mention any startup costs such as the half million-dollar price of WebCT - we at The Journal believe that students are entitled to certain expectations.
While it is reasonable to expect bugs in the first few weeks after implementing Blackboard - indeed, it seems as if WebCT bugs never left - it would be nice if the bugs were worked out quickly. Hopefully, there will be no inconvenient and occasionally disastrous e-mail failures this time around.
We would greatly appreciate Blackboard's Connections being brought to its full potential as well. Perhaps online registration can finally be fully integrated into Connections - a feat for which students have been waiting for more than two years.
Though we at The Journal applaud the university's desire for a better Web portal and its efforts to procure one, we must also admit a bit of trepidation over the unknown. After all, we did expect a neat, modern system that would truly be an excellent resource for students and professors alike.
Instead, we got WebCT Connections.
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