This can be a living document of running questions – feel free to add!

Q: Will it replace Blackboard entirely as the single learning environment for the course, or will it augment Blackboard as a collaborative digital space, with Blackboard still around for keeping track of grades?

A: Just to give a (very) brief overview of some differences between the two platforms:

Blackboard & the Commons:

• Public/Private Writing
  • Blackboard
    • The Discussion forum on Blackboard is the writing space where students can see each other’s work. This forum is not public beyond the class.
  • Commons
    • Blog can be set to varying levels of visibility – from completely public to only viewable to people in the course
    • Blogs posts can be organized to go to different locations on the site (public blog vs. less public category areas)
    • Students can create private posts, only visible to them and the professor
• Document Hosting
  • Blackboard has content folders and files upload locations
  • On the Commons, you can link to articles and upload some* PDFs (*lets talk about Creative Commons licensing)
• Grading
  • Blackboard has a built in grade book
  • On the Commons, there are may be plugin options to help with grading depending on the sorts of feedback you would like to give students