Challenge (Joey Lawrance): Using Blackboard for coding assignments

I’d like to use Blackboard the way I use Github, Bitbucket, or Gitlab: by using git, a version control system used widely in industry. Computer science students benefit from learning git and version control through experience, but since Blackboard does not support git or any other version control system (as Github, Bitbucket or Gitlab do), I avoid it.

Blackboard does have a content system that has versioning. At present, we have not implemented it widely. However, while we might be able to use it for this application,  it may make more sense to use Github, Bitbucket, or Gitlab. There is a benefit to students to use the tools used in the industry they will work in.

Blackboard assignments are geared toward text documents – MS Word and PDFs. For these assignments, Blackboard assignments work. For other types of assignments, video, audio, images, other tools work better. Some of these have tools that can be integrated into Blackboard – for example Turnitin has an integration that allows students to submit assignments that are plagiarism checked using the Turnitin tool. Instructors grade the assignment in the Turnitin interface within Blackboard and the grade is sent to the Blackboard Grade Center.

Could Github, Bitbucket, or Github be integrated into Blackboard? It’s possible. Submit a suggestion to Blackboard at: http://suggestions.blackboard.com. Tell Blackboard what tools you need integrated into the system to make it work for you and your students. Blackboard uses the frequency of suggestions to prioritize adding new features to the product. Input from faculty using Blackboard or who would use Blackboard if it had the needed features is given weight. So encourage other faculty in your subject area to submit suggestions for desired tools to increase the likelihood that the tools you need are incorporated into a future release.