What is an LMS? And what is its role in education? With the rise in online education there has also been the rise in a new technology called a Learning Management System or a LMS. According to Mindflash, “The LMS has become a powerful tool for consulting companies that specialize in staffing and training, extension schools, and any organization looking to obtain a better grasp on the continuing education of its workforce. Its impact has been felt mostly outside traditional education institutions, though the same technological and market forces are dramatically changing today’s classroom as well.

Blackboard Learn Blackboard Learn is one of the more popular LMS software available today. It is a commercial paid LMS and it is frequently used in online education. According to the Blackboard Learn website, “Blackboard Learn LMS technology helps you make learning more effective in and beyond the traditional walls. Breathing life into educational content.” The purpose of Blackboard is to provide educators an easy way to clearly connect with students. And also to allow teachers to design courses and add material.

Communication Methods Students and teachers are able to connect using both asynchronous and synchronous methods. Students can participate in discussion boards which are done at any time if the student completes them be the assigned date. Students can also watch video lectures and audio recordings. Finally, students and teachers can participate in synchronous web conferences.

Layout of Blackboard Teachers have the ability to customize the layout of their courses on Blackboard. The standard layout uses tabs to direct the user to the correct location. Teachers can modify these tabs to fit their needs. This layout makes it easy for students to access different courses and the information within the courses. The fact the the layout is easy to modify allows teachers to truly customize their courses.

Layout of Blackboard The layout of an LMS can effect the usability of the software and its features. According to Rangin (2014) “Learning Management Systems are becoming richer and more complex applications, and if they are not designed with accessibility in mind, it can be next to impossible to make them accessible and usable to users with various needs.” If a course is not easy to use that students will not be able to use the different tools and features that are provided for them.

Layout of Blackboard The strongest organizational feature for Blackboard is the course menu which is designed with tabs. Blackboards menus are designed to be user friendly and visually appealing. According to Blackboards website, “Portal functionality leverages flexible modules and tabs to provide a one-stop shop for all academic and campus information.” The weakest organizational feature in Blackboard is that there is not a standard format for Blackboard because it is so customizable. That means that some courses are designed differently from others and students need to learn the individual course layout. According to Chawdhry (2010), “The university can adopt standardized procedures and institutionalize a standard Blackboard course shell for all instructors.”

Student Responses to Blackboard Online education has been greatly improved by the use of LMS software. There are many different LMS’s available today and how a student responds to the software effects a schools decision when choosing an LMS. In a study by the University of Denver 1800 students participated in a survey about their experiences with Blackboard. According to Chawdhry (2010), “Nearly 90 percent of students attested that Blackboard was an excellent web-based tool. Fewer than two percent of the students reported having had a bad experience with Blackboard.”

Student Responses to Blackboard Students respond well to Blackboard because it is user friendly, easy to use, easy to understand and visually appealing. Students enjoy the freedom that online education provides for them. With an LMS students are able to access course information at any time and from anywhere. Blackboards ability to be accessed on a mobile device or I Pad enhances the student experience. According to And one (2009), “The dominant discourse of mobile learning is as revolutionary and/or necessitated by demand of the 21st century student.”

What do students like and dislike about Blackboard? Students enjoy the how easy Blackboard is to use and understand. The easy layout is one of its key features for student enjoyment. There are some things that students dislike about Blackboard. In a Blackboard satisfaction survey 246 students where asked about their experiences with the LMS. According to Gray (2011), “A good many comments involved frustration at how Blackboard is not fully functional with some versions of some browsers.”

Benefits for Teachers and Students There are many benefits for students. Blackboard allows students to access important course information at anytime form anywhere. This allows students to participate in courses during their busy lives. There also many benefits for teachers. Blackboard allows teachers to fully customize their courses. According to the Blackboard website, “Blackboard is a course management system that allows you to provided content to students in a central location, communicate with students quickly, and provide grades in an electronic format to students. Students can submit assignments electronically and work with a variety of built-in Web-based tools such as e-portfolios, wikis, and blogs” Blackboard also makes it easy for teachers to communicate with students, to grade and create assessments, to evaluate these grades, and to save course information from year to year.

Blackboards Role in Schools Blackboard plays in important role in online schools and brick and mortar schools. It allows students to access course information from any where and at any time. This is essential technology for online schools. For traditional schools Blackboard provides students with the ability to check assignments if they miss school, it makes it easy for students and parents to check grades and it makes it easy for students to work in groups. This technology works in my high school environment because it provides teachers another way to connect with students. Also it makes it easier for students to stay connected with the course work from home.

Blackboard Benefits Blackboard has many benefits. One benefit is that it allows students to connect with the course on the go. The mobile app for Blackboard takes this ability to the next level and lets students participate in their course work from any mobile device. There are many different LMS software's available today but Blackboard is one of the most frequently chosen. Students enjoy using Blackboard because it is user friendly, the layout is clean and easy to understand, and there are many different tools. Blackboard also has benefits for teachers. It allows teachers to create courses and save them from year to year. Also it provides many different tools for student education, it lets teachers create assessment and it provides details about assessment results.

References Andone, D., Dron, J. & Pemberton, L. (2009). Developing a desirable learning environment for digital students. Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning, 6(4), [verified 27 Apr 2012] environment-for-digital-students.pdf environment-for-digital-students.pdf Chawdhry, A. (2010). Assessing blackboard: Improving online instructional delivery. System Educators, 27, Retrieved from Gray, D. (2011, 05 13). Blackboard satisfaction survey results-dislikes [Web log message]. Retrieved from survey-results-dislikes/ Learning management systems to create online training courses. (2013). Retrieved from systems/what-is-lmshttp:// systems/what-is-lms Take online engagement and interaction to a new level. (2013). Retrieved from Collaborate/Enterprise-Instant-Messaging.aspx Collaborate/Enterprise-Instant-Messaging.aspx Rangin, H. (2014). Comparison of learning management system accessibility. Retrieved from