Blackboard Coursesites and You.

Shenandoah University and Blackboard go together like popcorn and a good movie, or a great university and a great learning management system.  We, as Shenandoah University student Blackboard users, use this software every day in our academic careers.  We take tests, we write blogs, we contribute to discussion boards, and we submit papers all within the framework that Blackboard provides.

Do you ever get the chance to teach what you are interested in though?  You, as a Shenandoah University Blackboard user, do not get the ability to create and teach classes the way you want to within our learn.su.edu Blackboard environment, but that does not mean you cannot use your specific knowledge to educate others!

Blackboard has made available, for free, a website called Coursesites where anybody can log in, and teach an online Blackboard class on any topic. 

As a practical example, let me share with you a story about my own personal life and why I am beginning to use Coursesites:

My little brother is 9, and lives in a remote region of a foreign country, and though the local teachers try as hard as anybody, they have limited resources and their school suffers subsequently. My Dad, knowing my older sister and I have both been educations for children around his age, has asked us if there was any way we could come up with, and administer, supplemental information that would allow our little brother to remain on track with kids roughly his age in areas where the schools are better.

My sister and I were stumped, and though we tried emailing instructions to our father for specific lessons, it never worked properly.  Something always got lost or botched, and we were not able to complete our objectives.

Now, with course sites, I can structure an online course, and populate it with information that is fun, organized, clean and concise.  It's free, easy to use, and available instantly when you sign up.  Basically, you have Blackboard at your disposal to use in any way you can think of. 

I hope you all enjoy, and use it to great lengths. Each and every one of you has something to teach another person, and using Coursesites could be a phenomenal
way to do just that.