Bibliography…………………………………....................................................................6
Terms of Reference
The terms of evaluation included strengths, weaknesses of the blackboard and opportunities and threats. It clearly identifies the mission and objectives of the blackboard and outlines major strategies and tactics followed by the university. This study is done in regard to:
SWOT Analysis
MOST Analysis
Introduction
In this coursework we have been asked to discuss the blackboard service provided by the University of Westminster. Before blackboard was introduced there were limited amount of communication between students lecturers. I will provide few examples which will show how difficult it was before the use of blackboard and how useful it became after it was introduced.
Blackboard is basically is a system that controls the electronic communication and gives access to sources and materials. Blackboard helps students and staff to;
- share learning resources
- communication
- undertake group work
- online tests
Before the introduction of the blackboard there were notice boards in the main entrance of the universities in order to give students updated information. But this was not a useful way of informing students because what if student was absent on that day? As a result blackboard is the best feature which has lots of advantages. After the introduction of blackboard even thou students didn’t attend their lectures or tutorials they have access to same source of data taught in the lectures. If a lecture is cancelled they will be informed by the announcement on the blackboard to prevent students from coming university for the cancelled lecture.
The key objective of the university is to develop and deliver information to around 22,000 students in all the campuses. Below I will discuss the aims and effectiveness of the blackboard by using strategist toolkits.
MOST Analysis of the University of Westminster Blackboard
Mission Statement
The mission of the University of Westminster is to provide high quality education and research in both national and international contexts for the intellectual, social and professional development of the individual and for the economic and cultural enrichment of London and wider communities.
The mission of the blackboard is “To provide opportunities for intellectual growth, individual enrichment, skill development, and meaningful career preparation.” The blackboard’s purpose is providing access to materials and information supporting the instructional, service, and research programs of the University. Blackboard addresses these services primarily to the students, faculty, and staff of the university.
Objectives
- Routinely update security procedures
- Provide updated information to students
- Access to sources and materials
- 24/7 service
- To share valuable learning resources
Strategy
- Increased communication between the faculty and the library.
- Special facilities to meet students need
- Culture of self service
- A good source of feedback
- Platform to discuss academic issues
Tactics
- Provide questionnaire to students to give feedback
- Have independent servers for each campus
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Add more features such as IM( Instant Messaging or Video Conferencing)
- Voice chat
SWOT Analysis of the University of Westminster Blackboard
A SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. A SWOT analysis can be an excellent, fast tool for exploring the possibilities for initiating new programs in the professional school. It can also be used for decision making within departments and committees or even by individuals.
Conclusion
As a conclusion from the study I have made from my researches, the blackboard is the best service provided from the university out of all and will always stay like that. It allows students to access resources without the need of attending the lectures or tutorials. They can submit coursework’s from the digital drop box provided by the blackboard, access their results, download resources, and send email, discussion with other students in the same course.
As well as good points made for blackboard it also has few problems such as servers being down for sometime. This affects students to submit their coursework’s (will lose marks if it was the last day for the coursework submission). But from my own knowledge I think the best of way of preventing or decreasing the server crash instead of having centralized system where only a server is used to provide access to all students of University of Westminster, each campus can have its own server which will reduce the risk because not a lot of student will access the blackboard at the same time.
Overall, blackboard will still be continued to be used no matter if the servers are down, because it eases the life of students and the staff.
References
- The Blackboard Book for Students 2006/2007
Bibliography
- The Blackboard Book for Students 2006/2007
