Ashland University students came into this school year facing new things such as new classmates, a new president, a new Dean of Students, new professors and a new program replacing Angel; Blackboard Learn. 

It was decided at the end of last school year that AU would be switching to Blackboard Learn. 

Brandy Schaad is the LearnAU Team Director and has been very actively involved with the transition to Blackboard Learn. AU decided to switch programs because the university’s license renewal with Angel was upon them, making it time for a normal review period for the university’s Learning Management System (LMS). Around the same time, Blackboard Learn, who owns Angel, also released an announcement of the retirement of Angel.

Blackboard Learn contains some of the same features as Angel did. These features have the same concept, but are structured in a different way. Features include discussion boards, learning modules, and collaborate, just to name a few, which allows important interaction between faculty and students. 

Discussion boards are very similar to Angel’s discussion forums but do work a little differently. Learning modules were very difficult to use in Angel, so not many of AU instructors used them. Collaborate is a tool built right within Blackboard Learn that will be replacing WebEx. YouTube and other tools, such as lecture-capture tools, can be easily integrated into course content without clicking to outside URLs. 

Senior Myranda McAfee has some prior experience with Blackboard Learn. 

“I have been using Blackboard since last semester and I think it’s really convenient and has fewer complications than Angel,” said McAfee.

Blackboard Learn also has become an easier program to navigate when it comes to online and hybrid classes.  Professors are able to put more content for their course in one area so that it’s easily accessible to students. 

Like other pieces of technology there are some difficulties in programs. Schaad and the rest of her team have formed a partnership with Blackboard which allows the university to work through any bumps in the system so the process can continue to run smoothly. 

Schaad and her team have also had mostly positive feedback from students and staff. Junior Katherine Yurkowski was unsure about how she would react to using Blackboard Learn because she was so used to Angel, but so far her experience has been a positive one. 

“Personally, I liked Angel better because it was easy to navigate, but after using Blackboard, I realized that I like this program and the features Blackboard has as well,” said Yurkowski. “For example, I like how right when you logon to Blackboard, it shows you what assignments you have due that day or other upcoming assignments. It makes it easier to remember what work I need to do for that week.”  

Faculty at AU have also had to adjust to the switch from Angel to Blackboard Learn. Blackboard Learn has visited the campus many times and have worked with the LearnAU Team along with various groups of faculty and staff from the various colleges to develop and implement training and pilot programs. The LearnAU Team also held training sessions for faculty and staff that began April 2015 and will have more sessions as this transition continues. 

Blackboard Learn is one of the LMS industry standards and Blackboard, as a company, has shown a continued commitment to research, growth, and development of their products. 

Overall, the transition from Angel to Blackboard Learn has been a new but positive experience. Students and faculty are continuing to get used to the program and are learning new things every day. As a university, students and faculty are able to do more with Blackboard and will continue to do more as the school year goes on.