The Use of Blackboard by Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By using the Blackboard (BB) system in the education sector, the educational process for both academics and students is facilitated. Two data resources were used to evaluate the use of the BB system by students of Umm Al-Qura University: statistical reports issued by the university and an online questionnaire. A total of 989 students from all colleges and different programmes provided by the university responded to the questionnaire survey. According to our findings, most students did not use the BB before the pandemic. Therefore, the sudden conversion to the BB system required intensive training courses. After the data analysis, the relationship between the use of the BB system before the pandemic and the problems students faced during the lockdown was revealed. The most critical issues raised by the respondents were: (1) "The voice of the lecturer went on and off during BB collaborate class", (2) "internet connection of the lecturer went on and off during BB collaborate class" and (3) "High possibility of IT problems during exams".