How can Blackboard assist in Assessment and Facilitation of Knowledge Exchange?

In the age of Internet, students become acquainted with World Wide Web as an alternative information resource and method of displaying information, opposed to hardcopies of data. This paper examines the use of such an e-learning tool as an alternative approach to traditional support materials and assessment. The e-learning tool used in question is Blackboard. Blackboard is an electronic medium that enables academics to provide a fully and integrated electronic resource locally and remotely for students studying the course. Blackboard can be more than a tool for posting lecture notes and posting announcements. Blackboard has the potential to become an integrated component of a module both in terms of; disseminating and facilitating the learning of course material and theory, an alternative and novel method of assessment. In addition the tool provides the means for the academic to monitor the student learning outside the classroom. This paper presents the results of applying such an e-learning tool over a three academic cohorts to support learning, teaching and assessment of a network programming module. The results include the analysis of the summative results (pass rates) of the assessments and the students’ formative reflection and review of the module and Blackboard. The paper will finally conclude with the academics reflections of Blackboard and how Blackboard can form a pivotal role in a module in terms of learning, outcomes and analysis of academic performance of the students.