Welcome to the Blackboard Mailbag, where we feature a commonly asked question that has been hitting our mailbox recently: blackboard@fordham.edu. You’ll find an archive of all of the previous questions and answers on our fordham.edu/blackboard website.
Note: Features may change with future updates.
In today’s universities, learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom—it also happens online, through the tools we use to organize, assess, and communicate with students. For most faculty at Fordham, Blackboard is not only the primary vehicle used to organize, assess and communicate it also has become an essential part of the pedagogical process, and one that the university (and our department in particular) supports.
If you take the time to step back and look broadly at your time at Fordham (and forward, to your future time in the classroom) Blackboard and its role in your teaching impact may shift. While Blackboard is, for many of us, an indispensable tool, it’s just that—a tool. Your teaching legacy (both past and future) will be defined by what you teach, not by how polished your course site looks in Blackboard.
Here at Fordham, the EdTech team spends a significant amount of time in any given week, assisting you and your colleagues in navigating and employing Blackboard to work for you and your students.. Sometimes the assistance comes down to training, at other times it centers around problem-solving and more. Whatever the issue, Fordham faculty invariably want to present their students with a clear overview of the course’s structure, resources, and paths for success. However, as instructional technologists, it’s sometimes incumbent on us to encourage faculty to shift a focus away from fine-tuning Blackboard’s appearance toward the broader goals of the course. This typically occurs when an instructor’s concern regarding an aesthetic or functional component of Blackboard begins to absorb disproportionate amounts of both time and effort relative to the impact these features will have on student learning.
A decade from now, your students won’t likely remember how sleek your Blackboard course looked, but they will remember a challenge you presented them with, a project you assigned, a reading that struck them, some previously unknown aspect of your discipline, or simply the love of learning you conveyed. Keep your focus on what truly lasts and invest your time where it matters most—shaping minds, not menus.
For additional FAQs and resources about Blackboard, visit fordham.edu/blackboard, attend one of our workshops, sign up to meet with us on our EdTech Consultation Calendar via Zoom, or reach out to us with your availability and we will work with you to accommodate small groups and one-on-one sessions.
Have feedback or suggestions on features? Blackboard’s parent company Anthology hosts The Idea Exchange. This is a place specifically for Blackboard to track and manage enhancement requests. It allows for things like upvoting ideas and sharing development plans and statuses. You will need to create an account to access the Idea Exchange.