Vista 8 to Blackboard 9.1 Comparison Chart
last update March 25, 2011

This chart has been created by the request those who wanted to see the comparison from CE/Vista 8 to Learn 9.1
If you wish to review the progression from CE/Vista 8 to Learn 9 to Learn 9.1 please click here.

This document is a work in progress.
It is designed to assist instructors at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia and we are happy to share with others.
We welcome all comments, additions, and corrections. Please feel free to share those with Kathy Saville at savillek@marshall.edu

Blackboard Learn 9, first iteration of Next Generation and 9.1 is the second. Learn 9x, uses the Blackboard architecture.

The Next Generation includes a series of products which include:
- Bb Learn 9 - learning management system
- Content System - file repository - is bundled with Learn 9x if your institution is a Vista client
- Community System - user interface outside a course and community outreach - separate license, is bundled with Learn 9x if your institution is a Vista client
- Outcomes - assessment - separate license (cannot license Outcomes without licensing Communities and Content)

Institutions using CE and Vista 8 may find it beneficial to run both environments until all WebCT legacy courses can be migrated or rebuilt into Bb Learn 9x.

A migration tool is available to convert CE/Vista 8 courses into Learn 9. This tool may be of help to those who wish to use it.

It is understood the basic architecture of Blackboard will not change. The basic functions of tools currently in Bb Learn 9 may be enhanced but not structurally redesigned. The changes to the product will be new tools and enhancement features in current tools.

This document includes 5 charts.

1. The 1st chart is in alphabetically order by tool names in CE/Vista 8, with comparable tool names in Learn 9.1 along with a list of enhancements and losses for each.

2. The 2nd chart lists the new tools in Learn 9.1.

3. The 3th chart, Tests, Surveys, and Pools is a detailed review of the enhancements and losses from CE/Vista 8 to Learn 9.1

4. The 4th chart is a comparison of the 2 types of Assessment Reports in CE/Vista 8 to the 4 types of Test Results in Learn 9.1.

5. The 5th chart is a .PDF file is a report of the Assessments and Tests Reports that can be downloaded and printed for use.

Stats for charts listed below:

Feature Notes include:

• Crosslisting - is available and called section merge tool
• Submit button available both top & bottom of window
• Course hierarchy - no hierarchy, course, templates, sections. Sections migrate into courses.
• Multi-institution - no multi-institution capability is available
• Terms - not available
• Once a section is migrated to a Bb course, its existence as a section disappears so all sections should be backed up and archived at another location before attempting a migration.

For access to the Instructor's manual on Blackboard Learn 9.1 click here

Other important Blackboard Resources include:

Enhancements:
- Default is to display to all roles
- Link to another file or tool in the course
- Email notifications is available

Lost:
- Pop-ups
- Targeted roles.

Enhancements -26

Lost - 17

Click here for details

Enhancements:
- Specify number of attempts
- Additional attempts allowed for specific student
- Multiple submissions - each allowed to be tracked & graded
- Submission history
- Set date/time availability (beginning/ending)

Lost:
- Artifacts
- Attachments - multiple
- Calendar indication of assignments
- Cut-off dates
(Check Enhancements - Dates availability should cover this option)
- Goals
- Grade Settings
- Grading forms
- Iterations - taking back and resubmission of work
(Check Enhancements - Specify number of attempts should cover this option)
- Non-gradable submission
- Publishing

Review of assignments are performed through the Grading Center and can be filtered by assignments

banner sizes must be 480 x 80 pixels

Enhancement: Banner placeholder from a screen real estate prospective

Enhancement:
- No need for switching to view all available tools

Enhancement:
- Visual view of scheduling conflicts
- Quicker navigation from date to date
- Save item as reusable object option (if Content is available)
- Year View
- Save item as reusable object option will load into the Content Collection with the option to select desired folder

Lost:
- All day events
- Flexible Creation of Events
- Flexible Filtering
- Importing Dates
- Integration with course activities
- Multiple entry deletions
- Printable view
- Recurring events
- Students cannot add entries

Enhancements:
- Breakout sessions
- Set Availability
- Web page sharing

Lost:
- Aliases
- External images
- Goals
- Limit number of users
- Magnify whiteboard
- Session descriptions
- Slide show
- Undo

Structure includes:
- Build Content
- Create Assessment
- Add Interactive Tool
- Assign Textbook

Enhancements:

- Build Content

• Create
  • Item
  • File
  • Audio
  • Image
  • Video
  • URL
  • Learning Module
  • Syllabus
  • Course Link
• New Page
  • Content Folder
  • Blank Page
  • Module Page
  • Tool Area
• Mashups
  • Flickr Photo
  • SlideShare Presentation
  • YouTube Video
  • Scholar Stream
  • Scholar Bookmark
  • NBC Content

- Create Assessment

• Test
• Survey
• Assignment
• Safe Assignment
• Self & Peer Assessment

- Add Interactive Tool

• Discussion Board
• Blog
• Journals
• Wiki
• Chat
• Virtual Classroom
• Group
• Echo Content

- Assign Textbook

Note new terminology:
CE/Vista 8 - Discussions > Topics > Reply
Bb Learn 9 - Discussions > Forums > Threads > Reply

Blogs and Journals separate tools (see below)

Enhancements:
- Breakout sessions
- Copy a forum
- Disabling the ability to attach a file
- Email subscription to new posts
- Grade by forum or by thread
(Grading location is different in forum and thread, one will need to understand the new terminology see above and be aware of what is being graded.)
- Hide Threads
- Individual role assignment available (manager, moderator, grader, participant, reader)
- Moderated forums
- Notifications of New Posts
-Tagging
- View drafts in thread context
- Web page sharing
- Grade entries within the tool or in the Grading Center
- Grade individuals and/or groups
- Group grades can be recorded for all group members or for each member of the group
- Feedback to students
- Grading notes
- Students can view their grades and feedback with the tool or under My Grades
- Anonymous Grading is available

Lost:
- Anonymous posts are anonymous
- Artifacts
- Categories
- Custom peer rating
- Forwarding to email
- Moving posts between threads
- Quickly viewing own postings and replies to own posts.
- Setting release criteria to a forum

Enhancements:
- Entry indexing
- Grade entries within the tool or in the Grading Center
- Grade individuals and/or groups
- Group grades can be recorded for all group members or for each member of the group
- Feedback to students
- Grading notes
- Students can view their grades and feedback with the tool or under My Grades
- Anonymous Grading is available

Lost:
- Artifacts
- Categories
- Copy & move posts
- Lock topic
- Move posts to another topic
- Peer rating
- Printable view

Enhancements:
- Entry indexing
- Grade entries within the tool or in the Grading Center
- Grade individuals and/or groups
- Group grades can be recorded for all group members or for each member of the group
- Feedback to students
- Grading notes
- Students can view their grades and feedback with the tool or under My Grades
- Anonymous Grading is available

Lost:
- Artifacts
- Categories
- Copy & move posts
- Lock topic
- Move posts to another topic
- Peer rating
- Printable view

Enhancements:
- Course folder
- Thumbnail view for image files
- Recycle Bins

For Content System licenses:
- User folder
- All courses folder
- Organizations Content access
- Institution Content access

Lost:
- Cannot edit files
(workaround is to copy the file and paste into the HTML Object editor)
- Cannot sort files by type

Will require minor retraining

Enhancements:
- Exemptions
- Flexible management
- Inline edits
- Multiple grade views
- Printable reports
- SCROM integration
- Simplified calculations
- Tracking
- "Smart Views" sub directory sorting of Needs Grading, Tests, Assignments, Discussion Boards, Blogs, and Journals
- Anonymous Grading
- Rubrics can be created and associated with a specific column. The rubric can be viewed as a guide in grading but is not interactive.
- Update interface for calculated columns

Lost:
- Alignment
- Decimal display
- Grade from specific tool
- Grading forms
- Student view

Enhancement:
- A tool called Rubrics is available but cannot be associated with any activity. It can be used as a guide in grading in the Grading Center

Lost:
- interactivity with the Grading Center
- student view of the rubric

Enhancements:
- Link to Blackboard Support
- Direct contact to System Administration
- Tutorials

Lost:
- Direct documents to specific tools

Enhancements:
- Can be set to be automatically open when launching any tool using it
- Media Bar added - link to Media files (ie Flash)
- typing area can be expanded by click/drag the bottom gray box.
- Spell Check works in Name (title) boxes

Icons
(customized)

Lost:
- Icons for the course page display are pre-determine and not customizable

NOTE: Customized icons can be added to posted files, pages, and items by using the Visual Editor

Will require retraining

Enhancements:
- Drag & drop
- Forced navigation path
- moved to Content
- Table of Contents
- options for hierarchy display
- sub folders

Lost:
- Goals
- Page links availability
- Title editing all at once
- View all links to a specific content item

Lost:
tool no longer available

Not a "stand-alone" tool within the LMS. The Email tool transmits messages to individual email accounts outside of the LMS.

Lost:
- Auto refresh
- Drafts
- Folders (In/Sent/Drafts/Deleted)
- Unread filter
- View profiles of recipients

Enhancements:
- specific what is the entry point into the course:

• HomePage
• Content
• Discussions
• Groups
• Tools
• Help

- specific what notifications appear on the Home Page

Enhancements:
- Course content

For Content System clients
Enhancements:
- User content
- Organization content
- Institution content
- Multiple folders with content can be uploaded
- Multiple files can up uploaded

Enhancements:
- view all submissions from all tools, status, & dates due

Lost:
- Artifacts
- Notification of new grades

Enhancements:
- Avatar or image upload
- CD Rom Windows/Mac
- Control what information is revealed
- Customizable list creation
- Display links: My Courses, My Organizations
- Education level
- Mailing address, city, state/province, zip, country
- Telephone #s home, work, fax, mobile
- Web link

Lost:
- Academic Major
- Areas of Interest
- Extra-Curricular Activities
- Name prefix/suffix
- Other Name

available under Modules

Lost:
- cannot create more than one text

Adaptive Release available only on Enterprise licenses

Enhancements:
- feature in each tool, not a separate tool
- students are notified of release

Lost:
- criteria based on

• before
• after
• blank
• note blank
• starts with
• ends with
• contains

- and/or

Tests, Surveys, Assignments, etc. can be completed by the instructor with Edit either On or Off but the results will not be recorded in the Grade Center.

Tools

(Manage Course)

Enhancements:
-Each tool allows for adjustable access depending on role
- Available – tool is available throughout the course and open to all users having a role permitting use of the tool.
- Visible to Guests or Observers – tool is visible (read-only), but not usable to Guests or Observers, when they are permitted into the course.
- Available in Content Areas – instructor can place a link to the tool in one or more Content Areas.

Enhancements:
- Groups

Lost:
- Assessment started/finished & time spent
- Discussion messages read & post
- Email read & post
- Number of artifacts made
- Number of calendar entries viewed and added
- Session length & activated
- Time spent in each tool

Enhancements:
- Scholar can be incorporated
- Link to specific file in content collection
- Link to specific file in course files.

Lost:
- Categories
- Goal
- Student created link

to display information about the instructor(s) including:

• Title
• First Name
• Last Name
• Email
• Work Phone Number
• Office Location
• Office Hours
• Notes
• attach an Image
• Website
  

available in Content Area under Mashups

• available in Visual Editor
• Photo available in Content Area

available in Content Area for Enterprise license clients and includes:

• Flickr
  
• NBC
• Slideshare
• YouTube

New Notification tool - Messaging tool from instructor to student via:

• Email

available in Content Area under Mashups

• presentation
  
• available in Visual Editor

available in Content Area under Mashups

• available in Visual Editor
• available in Content Area

Will require retraining

- Question database migrates

- Test header displays

• Name
  
• Description
  
• Instructions
  
• Total Questions
  
• Total Points
  
• Alignments

- Questions Settings

- Reuse Questions > Find Questions

Enhancements:
- More options for types of questions including:

• Calculated Formula
• Calculated Numeric
• Either/Or
• File Response
• Fill in Multiple Blanks
• Hot Spot
• Multiple Answers
• Opinion Scale/Likert
• Ordering
• Quiz Bowl

- Jumbled type questions - partial credit option available

- Matching type questions

• options for answer identifiers
• option to show answers in random order
• visual editor available for each question and answer

- Multiple Choice type questions

• Arabic or Roman numerals or upper or lower case letters available for answer options
• Visual Editor available for every answer item

- True/False type questons - can select answer display orientation

- Instructions written at the beginning of test creation

- Mark keywords in individual questions

- Mark levels of difficulty

- Calculated formula

• formula buttons in answer formula box labeled
• Answer formulas can be titled
  

-Under Reuse Question

• Option to Copy selected questions
• Link to original questions.
• A "linked" question means if the question is modified then all appears of that question in any test/survey will be modified.
  

- Under Questions Settings > Scoring > Specify default points when creating questions.

- Use the currently assigned points when finding and adding questions.

- Use default points when finding and adding questions.

- Modify point value for multiple questions.

- Question creation - more extentive question examples given

- Each question type includes Instructor Notes

- Statistics and analysis - 4 reports now available

Click here for details of test reports

Lost:
- Types of questions and functions including:

• Calculated questions - fewer functions
• Combination type
• Essay (paragraph) - no pre-filled answer field
• Fill in the Blank -
  • no option for case sensitivity
  • cannot select answer box width
  • cannot select schemes of contains, equals, or regular expression
• Multiple Answer - limit to only 20 possible answers
• Short Answer
  • cannot indicate case sensitive
  • no option for equal, contains, & regular expressions
  • cannot be automatically graded

- No Save as New option

- Calendar indication of assessment

- Disallowing students to answer questions when time has expired and

- Determining which questions were answered when time expired

- Goals

- If an instructor incorrectly selects the wrong answer for a question, the test then has submissions, there is no tool to assist in mass regrading

- IP maskings

- Percentage value for Fill-in-the-blank or Jumbled sentence

- Preview

- Releasing test scores - fewer options of when to release & and what is released

- Submissions emailed to specific email address

- Submission message

- Set time period between quiz attempts

Percent Answering Correctly

• Whole Group
• Upper 25%
• Lower 25%

Percent Answering Correctly

• Whole Group
• Upper 25%
• Lower 25%
  

Response Summary (charted)

• Answer
• Value
• Frequency Distribution