Head in the Clouds

Blackboard is the worst piece of academic software I’ve ever seen and a perfect case for standards based design and procedural enhancement. The software as it stands is a monolithic mess of tacked on features and different methodologies. The discussion boards are constructed in such a way to raise a wall against true dialogue. They, of course, are programmed in obtrusive javascript and relying on long obscure URLs that cannot be used as permalinks outside a user’s session. The software hides important functions inside cryptically named sub-menus and most teachers just avoid the steamy pile anyways. Building something better is possible but meeting the standards (read: feature & compatibility checklist) of an educational organization is enough to put off the better web developers.