BlackBoard Online Learning Environment - Essay Example

It is said that other universities have already implemented it making it necessary for us to follow suit. I say that this matter should not take on a fashionable nature. You don't just go on changing an online learning environment because others are doing so. I believe that we are free to decide for ourselves what course of action we should take.If, however, the administration still pushes thru with the project then they must charge it to the students at a lower price tag. I personally think that the $150 tag is way beyond what we expect of the price of an upgrade.

One must remember that even upgrades for legitimately acquired software can be downloaded free from the manufacturer's website. How come that the upgrade could cost so much Furthermore, considering the number of students availing of Blackboard, we find that the price tag is quite high leading us to speculate that it is becoming more of an income-generating measure.Since I am talking about costs and the inappropriateness of the additional fee, let us discuss the costs that the school will incur in availing of the upgrade.

The cost associated with the upgrading will not only be the purchase but also the maintenance of the system after it has been installed. I agree that the purchasing cost could be considerable but as I said, the mere number of students using the system tells us that the divisor for the price is largely resulting in a lower per-student charge.The maintenance cost for servicing the current system has already been incorporated into the tuition fee. For sure, an upgrade of the Blackboard would necessitate a dedicated team of debuggers and service personnel to fix glitches and incompatibilities.

I believe there is no need to acquire new employees for such a task since the people who are maintaining the current system can serve this position. Additional expertise is not needed since the upgrade should come with an operating manual and customer support information. Therefore, the cost should not be that large.Furthermore, the occurrence of glitches and incompatibilities is only a short period after installation. After these have been addressed, the operators resume their normal routine.

What I am trying to say in this statement is that the school should distribute the costs across a wider time span since, in the long run, the operational and maintenance costs would be lower. Again, this leads to a lower charge to the student.