Conclusion

Blackboard has several features that have been of great use, including Course Information, Course Documents, Announcements, and email communication.

Blackboard's modular composition allows for additions of new features, and improvement of existing features.

The organization of the information in Blackboard, however, is often confusing, inconsistent, and illogical. A reexamination of the way that the modular pieces of Blackboard relate to one another and a reformation of the informational architecture would allow for a much improved user experience.

One challenge that Blackboard faces to find new and more effective ways to integrate with existing UAA resources (even when these resources are sorely lacking), such as the UAA email. In this instance, part of the challenge is to lobby to improve the UAA technological infrastructure to support a better Blackboard experience.

Another challenge that Blackboard faces will be to respond to ever evolving digital literacies and find ways to integrate them into the Blackboard world. The modular construction of Blackboard lends itself to this process, and should serve it well.

Some of these evolving digital literacies are worth mentioning here. First of all, the email system could be significantly improved - with much more storage; dependable deliveries; larger attachment capacities; and improved and integrated calendar, task, and address book functions.

An effective chat program could be developed and integrated. It might be worth researching to see if there are ways that existing chat programs (and even email programs) could be integrated into the UAA system.

A social networking site would also be useful, similar to myspace or facebook.

A section for the storage and sharing of digital photos and videos would be a nice addition, along the lines of Flickr and YouTube.

An improved discussion board feature that utilized Bulletin Board technology would be useful for each course.

Finally, an expanded Help section would be a great benefit. This section could include the User Manual, and the Student resources on the Blackboard Login Page. Furthermore, some dedicated IT staff could provide phone assistance and chat assistance to faculty and students with Blackboard questions. A more expansive FAQ section could be added and maintained. Additionally, a bulletin board could be formed for Blackboard questions, so that students and faculty would have another resource to research for support.

The evolving and emerging technologies continue to create new challenges and opportunities. Blackboard has been at the center of many related tensions at UAA and will continue to be a site where these tensions are contested, reconciled, and recontested. Hopefully Blackboard will continue to be an invaluable support to Faculty and Students and will also adapt and evolve along with the changing digital world.