Blackboard Remembered

In memoriam of Blackboard... The cluster-expletive software suite used by Tulane and other institutions across the country for what seems like an eternity (probably closer to a decade) seems to have finally been retired --- at least to some extent, and perhaps even permanently.

While Blackboard served its purpose at a serviceable level for many, many years, it can't even begin to compare to Canvas, the new software suite on which this page is being created.

So as to ensure we as a school and a society never forget Blackboard, nor our memories of struggling to use it, below are some screenshots that at least attempt to capture the essence of what Blackboard was all about.

Above is the basic navigation menu for Blackboard. Where in the portal you went depended upon which of the links you clicked.

Above is the red-texted message warning students and faculty to avoid using blackboard for the Spring of 2017.

My favorite blackboard memory though has to be this one. Those who understand the intricacies of what I, Peter Egan, do for a living will understand why that is my favorite Blackboard memory and my hope is that the page stays online at its present destination eternally (hint: scroll down to the bottom of the page and read what you see, then ask yourself why I might be fond of that page).

One feature of both Blackboard and Canvas I am quite fond of is the student's ability to publish documents to the web at will. Unlike Blackboard, however, unfortunately Canvas does not reside within Tulane's .edu domain. If it did it would be perfect. Still, all-in-all Canvas is a big upgrade from Blackboard. The edu part was the only part of Blackboard that I think was superior to Canvas, at least as it relates to my purposes and agenda (on which I won't publicly elaborate).