Review of Functionality Improvements over WebCT 4.1     

	Blackboard/Webct 8.0	Sakai 2.5 (Native and rSmart)
Navigation; Ease of use	√ more efficient than 4.1	√√ consistent design; Plain English
Faculty Control		√√√ o able to set permission to access the course materials o able to add guests, test students (can add non-URI members via their email addresses) o able to create course and project sites o OPEN SOURCE – community contributions of tools
Adding tools	√ by simple clicking check boxes	√ by simple clicking check boxes
Course Organization on the homepage	√ easy hide or show	√√ easy hide or show or move up and down
Test student	√ “Student View” available	√ easy add test students, not affecting grade statistics
Co-designer	√ has his/her own identity	√ ditto
Upload multiple files	√√ able to select multiple files and upload, to zip and unzip and to WebDAV	√ able to WebDAV

Discussions	√√ gradable discussions, anonymous author allowed and 5 point scale peer review	√ gradable discussions in ‘Forums’ only, not in “Discussion Forums”
Quiz	√√ 9 quiz types (multiple choice, T/F, short answer, fill in the blank, calculated, combination, jumbled sentence, matching, paragraph) and anonymous survey	√ 9 quiz types (multiple choice, T/F, short answer, fill in the blank, survey, numeric response, matching, audio recording, file upload)
Gradebook	√ columns of student names are in fixed position, the other columns are scrollable	√√ ditto in column manipulation; easy calculation of final grades
Gradebook – history of overrides	√ able to view the full history of any overrides made to any Student grades	unavailable
Rubric-based Assessment	√ available in assignments and gradable discussions	unavailable
Calendar – Date Rollover (in Manage Course)	√ available for easy change of semester dates	unavailable
Calendar –	√ recurrences; show entries from all courses; attachment; WYSIWYG	√√ import from MS Outlook, Meeting Maker and generic calendar in csv format (e.g., Oracle calendar); recurrences; show entries from all courses; attachment; WYSIWYG; legend icons
Chat	√ interface with whiteboard; ‘traffic’ control by instructor; allowing anonymous chat	plain chat

Synchronous real time tool with audio, video	unavailable, no change	√ podcasting available
“Selective Release” of files	√ easier	√√ easier; clear display
Communication outside of WebCT	√√ send/forward WebCt messages to student’s email; interface with Facebook	√ send/forward WebCt messages to student’s email
Resources – Citation List	unavailable, no change	√ import from google scholar or RefWorks

Decrease in functionality

Quiz - graphic presentation to show students which questions are saved

√ continue available as in CE 4.1

Unavailable

	Blackboard/Webct 8.0	Sakai 2.5 (Native and rSmart)
Migration	√√√ almost effortless for faculty	able to import IMS-formatted materials, BUT, failed to import exported CE 4.1 content module good opportunity for faculty to re-design and re-align to the LMS features; ITS will set up workshops and arrange staff and student to help migration
Open Source -Community Contributions		√ integration with new technologies, such as portfolio system, podcasting, wiki…etc. is faster than Blackboard. However, with contributions from around the world, there are tools that are similar, but not the same. For example, there are more than 2 discussion tools, more than 2 grade centers…etc. This will be somewhat confusing for support
Publisher’s Course Cartridges	√√ available	will be available when the new standard is released (soon)
Global Market and Languages	√√	√

Support Reponsiveness	emergency support + back office tech support - community support + support vendor Blackboard only	emergency support unknown back office tech support unknown community support + support vendor more than one to choose from
ePortfolio; Interface with TrueOutcomes	§ ePortfolio available in the next release; reporting capability is yet to see § API available to interface with TrueOutcomes	§ available, but reporting capability is not as extensive as TrueOutcomes § API available to interface with TrueOutcomes
Cost	§ annual license fee YES § fee is based on the selected modules of (core Learning System, Community System, Content System, Portfolio System, Outcomes System) § support is included in the annual license fee by Blackboard	§ √annual license fee NO § multiple support/maintenance vendors available to choose from with a fee § lower ongoing cost than Blackboard, but there is an overlap cost to run two systems concurrently in year one