A Study of the Effectiveness of Blackboard Collaborate for Conducting Synchronous Courses at Multiple Locations

Abstract

This paper will analyze the experience the author had in teaching Discrete Mathematics using Blackboard Collaborate, videoconferencing software that allowed students at various locations in the United States to take part in live regular class sessions. The course was designed to test the feasibility of carrying out a course using only remote synchronous connections between instructor and students, and to gain firsthand experience in the process. Park University, the author’s institution, currently delivers asynchronous distance education to more than 20,000 students worldwide. The University currently uses eCollege and eCompanion as its main software platform for course delivery. Park University has also more than 40 campus centers at various locations in the United States where face-to-face instruction is offered in various disciplines. Blackboard Collaborate software was recently acquired to be used as an administrative tool. Given this context, the main motivations for the development of this course were: • The desire to increase student enrollment by fighting fragmentation of student population. This condition appears when sections of the same course are cancelled due to low enrollment at various campus centers. Linking students from various campus centers in a synchronous course would avoid eliminating these sections and satisfy course loads. • The desire to provide added sections of courses that may not be offered regularly at campus centers due to unavailability of credentialed faculty for the specific disciplines. • The low appeal for online offerings amongst a significant number of campus center students. • The desire to increase the quantity of course offerings at campus centers and limit the number of cancellations to improve customer service.