Conclusions

blackboard > about blackboard > fall 2000 student survey > conclusions

This survey was designed to obtain information relevant to three areas: 1) computer use and Internet connectivity, 2) expertise, importance and use ratings of various courseware features and technologies, and 3) use of UT Direct.

Computer use and Internet connectivity

The vast majority of students responding to the survey (85%) not only had their own Internet accessible computer, but two-thirds of the respondents were connecting at a minimum 56kps. Windows was the dominant operating system, used by over 90% of the students. E-mail, WWW browsers, and "chat" were the areas in which the respondents self-rated themselves as being most skilled.

Expertise, importance and use ratings of various courseware features and technologies

The students most wanted to access to grades, course materials, e-mail and threaded discussion capabilities, but they also expressed a strong interest in chat and audio and video. The features that were most often accessed by the students were announcements, syllabi and course materials. On the other hand, what was most important to them was having access to grades, obtaining contact information, accessing syllabi, viewing content, and class announcements.

Open-ended comments ranged from requests for all courses to use Blackboard to complaints about difficulties accessing the site. In particular, some students suggested that the chat capability be used for online office hours while others expressed a desire to maintain face-to-face communications at all levels.

Use of UT Direct

Twenty percent of the students (N = 35) responded that they accessed their course sites both through UT Direct and http://courses.utexas.edu.

Over fifty percent of the respondents stated that they visited UT Direct on a weekly or more frequent basis. Only twelve percent stated that they had never visited UT Direct.