ETSU will be switching from Blackboard to Design2Learn this July, a program with more interactive features, according to Myra Jones, coordinator of information technology.
The Tennessee Board of Regents made a statewide decision to go with D2L after representatives from ETSU, Northeast State, Middle Tennessee State University and other TBR schools viewed three computer systems in a road show where the vendors, including D2L, held informational meetings at separate locations throughout Tennessee.
Committee members from the TBR schools participated in the decision to use D2L, which will look like a typical Web page, but with more features.
“It’s not just us who like it,” Jones said. Student input was considered for each program on display. “We got really positive feedback from the students who went with us.”
Senior Stephen Fields, a computer science major, thinks switching from Blackboard to D2L is a good idea.
“Blackboard is an OK system but I feel like there are holes in it,” Fields said. “There’s been times I’ve had questions for a professor and I’ve had to wait around and e-mail them.” Fields thinks there should be a better avenue for communication between students and professors.
D2L tool options include an online chat, speeding up communication between students and professors, a migration tool, which will allow students to move their courses from Blackboard to D2L, and a search option so students can search within the system instead of manually clicking through every document, said Mark Bragg, assistant vice president of information technology. Overall, the new features will be significantly different than Blackboard, Bragg said.
Students and faculty at ETSU haven’t used D2L, but training begins around Feb. 8, before doing a schoolwide switch in July.
Most students won’t use the new system until returning to ETSU for fall 2007.
“We think it’s going to benefit everybody, students and professors,” Jones said.
TBR usually estimates the cost based on student enrollment, but in this case Bragg said the cost will be based on the number of courses offered, and ETSU has the largest course management of all TBR schools.
“It’s expensive, but it’s worth it,” Bragg said.

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