Selecting Features Of A Web Platform To Enhance Course Delivery

Abstract

This paper reviews key features of popular Web platforms used for course delivery.  Institutions of higher education have rushed to adopt these platforms for several reasons. From the point of view of the educator, the most important reason is to enhance the classroom experience (real or virtual).  “Classroom” experiences can benefit from a continuous stream of discourse made possible by the communications tools available in the web platforms designed for educational application.  In addition, web platforms can serve as a means of collecting and distributing content from various sources – including all class participants.   A review of studies from current business education literature conducted to assess the pedagogical impact of the use of some of these features is included. The authors’ also provide excerpts from their pages and classroom experiences in a traditional classroom and in distance learning with asynchronous communication, including email and bulletin boards, synchronous communication, content creation that includes course outlines and handouts, online surveys and exams and the digital dropbox. Platforms which are reviewed include Blackboard v. 5.5, WebCT v. 3.0 and WebBoard v. 4.0.