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The 2004-2005 academic year was my first at Wentworth and, as with any new position, I myself had much to learn while simultaneously teaching my students. One bit of technology that made these challenges easier was a course management system (in this case, Blackboard). I had posted items to a shared Blackboard site at my previous school, but I didn’t really know its full capabilities or how to take advantage of them. At Wentworth, that needed to change—and quickly.

In the fall semester of 2004, the freshman architecture class totaled over 280 students. Within the architecture curriculum, these students took two separate but strongly interrelated courses: Survey of Architecture I, an architecture history and computer lecture class divided into two, 140-student groups, and Design Principles I, a foundation drawing class comprised of 17 separate sections. The two courses were tightly woven together and their coursework included a number of very different components: time-management skills, a history text and lectures with exams, research and writing projects, the development of an e-portfolio (individual website) as well as weekly drawing assignments both in-class and on-site. Managing such a large group of students and coordinating this diverse coursework among all the involved instructors would have been impossible—or at least exceedingly painful—without the help of a course management system.

With the help of LTS, one Blackboard site was formed that was shared by the two courses and which could be accessed by all of the first-year students and instructors. Not only did the site hold lecture slides and outlines, assignments, and syllabus information but also helpful internet links, text resources, and assignment examples for the students to review. Blackboard was also used to give both the mid-term and final exams for the course. Though giving an online exam to 140 students at a time certainly had some kinks to work out, it was incredible to have all the results immediately upon the completion of the exams. Given the size and complexity of the course, the Blackboard site was organized to allow input by many different contributors to the class. Each section instructor received his or her own folder on the site. This allowed them to post information intended specifically for their students. Since the courses also included a research component, the Alumni Library created and maintained a folder on the site that provided students with guidance and information while working on their projects.

This fall, I, with the other first-year instructors, am hoping to utilize the new course management system, WebCT, to an even greater extent in the freshman courses, where coordination remains so critical. Additional ideas for utilizing this technology include weekly online (but ungraded) quizzes to allow students to test their knowledge of the course material, revealing to them what they need to study more carefully and thus better preparing them for the exams. Bulletin/message boards could be a means for students to post questions in order to get out-of-classroom help from other students as well as from instructors. Given that this year’s freshman class looks to be well over 300, I am very much looking forward to seeing how much WebCT can do for the first-year program this year.