Miami University students can now view their schedules, class announcements, assignments and grades-all without ever having to leave their best friend's recently tagged photos page on Facebook.com.
Miami tested a new Blackboard program called "Blackboard Sync" during winter break before deciding to make it available to students Feb. 3, according to Kent Covert, manager of network applications for Miami's IT Services.
The program establishes a connection between Blackboard and Facebook that Covert and other Miami administrators are hoping will become a convenient resource for students.
"Students are using Facebook more and more and they obviously use Blackboard a lot as well," Covert said. "Now when they are on Facebook, they can easily see their class announcements without having to switch back and forth between the two."
Cathy McVey, director of customer relations and communications for IT Services, said Miami is always on the lookout for ways to make Blackboard work better for students and to better communicate with students.
McVey said finding a way to align Blackboard and Facebook seemed "really convenient" for all parties involved.
McVey noted that the new Facebook application would be a permanent addition to all the tools currently found on Blackboard.
"I hope that a lot of students will use it," McVey said. "(Miami) has no financial obligation in using this application. We will leave it up and running for as long as students seem to find it useful."
Junior accounting major Chelsea Peters recently considered adding the application to her Blackboard Web site.
"I first heard about the application from a friend," Peters said. "People have seen it on Blackboard and have been talking about it. I think that it could be helpful for organizing group projects, being able to see people's schedules."
Peters said she thinks that once more people activate this application it will become a lot more helpful.
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"I think that it will be a really good way to find out who is in your classes or who has taken some of the classes that you are taking," she said.
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