Each of our lives has been forever changed by the introduction of new electronic technoligies that help us communicate on a global, instantaneous scale. Nowhere has that change been more felt than in education. College campuses are now wired, and more and more classes are using computers for communicating. One of the most widely used computer programs on the college campus today is Blackboard. But, do students and instructors view it as a helpful tool? Are they well-motivated to use it? If not, how can it be successfully used in the classroom? One would expect to find that students and instructors who perceive Blackboard as a valuable learning tool will be more likely to utilize it, and will do so in more in-depth and complex ways. This case-study conducted on the campus of Wichita State University looks at these questions through the use of instructor and student questionnaires. These are designed to guage their perceptions of Blackboard. Analysis of questionnaire responses finds that students perceptions of Blackboard are generally positive, and that frequent users are more likely to have these positive perceptions than are those who are infrequent users. However, most features of Blackboard are rarely used by these students. Instructors also show a generally positive perception of Blackboard. Their patterns of use also show that most features are utilized only rarely.

Paper presented to the 3rd Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, Wichita State University, April 27, 2007.Research completed at the Elliott School of Communication, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences