2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 5/29/08 Section: Opinion
Simeon McMillan | Making class a social affair
In a marriage of online learning and social networking, Blackboard creates the first academic Facebook application
Simeon McMillan
"Imagine a world where you could manage your entire life from Facebook - it's not that far off!"
While you were home recuperating from the intellectual hazing that was Finals Week, an academic juggernaut other than Penn was "Making History".
Blackboard, a premier course management website, announced the release of the Blackboard Sync - its first ever Facebook application.
This marriage of social networking and online learning has the potential to be a crucial step in revolutionizing the classroom experience. Penn should get with the program and seriously consider integrating its online curriculum with this application.
"This is specifically to take advantage of the fact that college students spend a tremendous amount of time on Facebook," said Karen Gage, Blackboard's vice president of product strategy, in an interview for the website Inside Higher Ed.
Downloadable to individual profiles, the application give its users the ability to "find out if you have a new assignment, grade, new forum post…without having to leave Facebook," according to the application's welcome address.
Granted, most Facebook applications are mere whimsical widgets; little more than eye candy for even the most perpetual procrastinator.
Indented to add a touch of flair to users' personal profiles, they rarely provide any real functionality.
One need only see the names of some of Facebook's current third-party applications to illustrate this point. There are scholarly gems such as "Pirates vs. Ninjas", "R U CUTE!" (yes, that is the stated spelling), and Slate Magazine's very own "Hillary Clinton Deathwatch" (which, after her recent RFK gaffe, projects her chances of winning the Democratic nomination at 0.5 percent, in case you were wondering).
To take the temperature of the Penn student community on the subject of a Blackboard application, I conducted my usual slate of a dozen interviews. I decided however, to follow Blackboard's lead and communicate with students exclusively through Facebook instant messaging application - Facebook Chat.
While you were home recuperating from the intellectual hazing that was Finals Week, an academic juggernaut other than Penn was "Making History".
Blackboard, a premier course management website, announced the release of the Blackboard Sync - its first ever Facebook application.
This marriage of social networking and online learning has the potential to be a crucial step in revolutionizing the classroom experience. Penn should get with the program and seriously consider integrating its online curriculum with this application.
"This is specifically to take advantage of the fact that college students spend a tremendous amount of time on Facebook," said Karen Gage, Blackboard's vice president of product strategy, in an interview for the website Inside Higher Ed.
Downloadable to individual profiles, the application give its users the ability to "find out if you have a new assignment, grade, new forum post…without having to leave Facebook," according to the application's welcome address.
Granted, most Facebook applications are mere whimsical widgets; little more than eye candy for even the most perpetual procrastinator.
Indented to add a touch of flair to users' personal profiles, they rarely provide any real functionality.
One need only see the names of some of Facebook's current third-party applications to illustrate this point. There are scholarly gems such as "Pirates vs. Ninjas", "R U CUTE!" (yes, that is the stated spelling), and Slate Magazine's very own "Hillary Clinton Deathwatch" (which, after her recent RFK gaffe, projects her chances of winning the Democratic nomination at 0.5 percent, in case you were wondering).
To take the temperature of the Penn student community on the subject of a Blackboard application, I conducted my usual slate of a dozen interviews. I decided however, to follow Blackboard's lead and communicate with students exclusively through Facebook instant messaging application - Facebook Chat.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
J
posted 5/29/08 @ 12:54 PM EST
It's Thursday morning and I'm reading a column from Mr. McMillan. Nice to see you back! This new application, unlike many on Facebook, looks like it could be very useful and efficient and I hope Penn looks into it. (Continued…)
X
posted 5/30/08 @ 11:56 AM EST
another amazing column from mr. mcmillan. what a man.
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