Over the winter break, WebCT received an upgrade.  While students refer to it as Blackboard, Instructional Technology Specialist Raquel Moncado prefers to call it “The Lake Online.” 

Many returning students asked, “Why change the system?” For starters, Blackboard and WebCT merged a year ago and the Blackboard label was kept.  Moncado explained that over the past year and a half, changes have been slowly made to bring the new version of WebCT online.  When asked what the biggest challenge to the upgrade was, the answer was simple.

“Time,” Moncado said. “It’s the year-round nature of our university.”

Moncado says that there are several advantages to having the new WebCT, including that it is more user-friendly for everyone, but in particular the faculty.  Highlights include the ability for instructors to automatically publish papers of students, create blogs, and view which students have been online. For students, they can see who else is also logged onto WebCT. 

However, some complaints with the system seem more focused on a lack of familiarity, as opposed to issues with the actual system.  Indeed, familiarity is probably the biggest issue, according to students.  Sophomore Elizabeth Ceballos said she believes it was too early to see how the system would go over.
“I’ve been experiencing some technical difficulties, but it’s a nice idea on expanding, it just takes some getting used to,” Ceballos said.

Senior Nadia Carmona sees it differently.

“I don’t like it,” Carmona said. “Everything seems more confusing in the layout than it used to be.  Hopefully, we’ll just get used to it.”

However, the new system already has fans in the Teaching Learning Technology Center team who work to implement new software and hardware.

“I really like the new system.  It is a lot easier for faculty to use than the previous version,” Moncado said.

While the new software has gotten mixed reviews from students, Moncado is optimistic and assures that its future will be bright.

“We have absolute confidence this new system will be ultimately good for students and faculty,” Moncado said. “We have only touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the actual potential this system will ultimately bring.”