Experiencing Blackboard as an Educational and Communication Tool at University of Bahrain: A Student's Perspectives

This experimental study covers Black Board (BB) as an e-learning tool aiming to investigate its' usefulness and ease of use as reported by student users and the possibility of utilizing BB to support the collaboration environment. It surveyed 81 undergraduate students from Information Technology (IT) college at the University of Bahrain (UOB), using standard questionnaire which is divided under four main elements: demographic information, Usage and interests of BB, Attitude toward using BB, and the E-learning center support. A descriptive analysis is used to analyze data collected by means of using Google application tool (on-line Google form) and SPSS statistical package to calculate frequencies, means, percentages, and standard deviations, correlations, t-test and F-test for variables. The overall results indicated that the students found BB, as a useful tool for obtaining class materials, submitting homework and assignments, taking quizzes and tests, preparing a project, and a helpful tool in raising the productivity, and easy to use. It is indicated that students' experience will influence the students' perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness.