On May 9, Mississippi State University will implement a new software called BlackBoard for students and faculty of MSU to keep up with classes and post information.
According to Linda Morse, director for the Center for Teaching and Learning, myCourses is the label MSU gave to its learning or course management system.
“Its the software that allows a faculty member to post information about courses, give tests and so forth. Most students have had experience with it, and instructors use it at different levels,” Morse said.
The software currently in use is powered by Campus Edition Vista and will be discontinued this year. After almost a year and a half of research and field test, the decision was made to switch to BlackBoard.
According to Morse, BlackBoard has been used at all the junior and community colleges in the state, as well as all the universities besides MSU.
She compared the switch to changing email systems, and said navigation may be a challenge at first, but with use, students will become more comfortable with the new system.
She said there are a couple of different steps students can take if they have questions about BlackBoard, such as review materials within BlackBoard that will teach students about new features or call the help desk.
Before making the decision to switch to BlackBoard, a committee of faculty and staff did a great deal of research about this new software. This past semester, there was a group of 30 faculty members and about 2,000 students who participated in a field test.
Students have also expressed their excitement about the switch to BlackBoard.
Kayla McKissack, junior elementary education major, said she looks forward to the change and believes BlackBoard will be easier to use, as well as more efficient than myCourses currently is.
“I used BlackBoard in high school in one of my classes and just thought that it was really easy to use, and I liked the features, and I am just really excited to see how it improves upon myCourses right now,” McKissack said.
Shelby Steede, junior agribusiness major, recently transferred to MSU from Jones County Junior College where BlackBoard is currently in use. She said the switch from BlackBoard to myCourses was fairly simple and sees many similarities between the two.
“I am excited to switch back to BlackBoard because that’s what we used at JCJC, and I think it will be easy to transition back to using it again,” Steede said.
Morse said students need to be aware of the change and the difference in look of the website. She also wanted to remind students that after May 9, anyone taking courses will use BlackBoard. BlackBoard will also come with new features and will look a little different.