New Tech

Well, two days of blackboard training are over and I'm impressed. It's a very nice set up and seems to be a great way to go. While I'd say I'm far from proficient in its use, I'm done for now.
After the training we had a meet and greet with the super and ass't super. Our school has budgeted for 200 students to be enrolled, which doesn't cover much ground. Through the course of the Q n A I got the feeling that soul purpose was to recover the cyber-school $$s that are leaving the district and not really aimed at the regular classroom.
With the cost of this program, which was staggering to me, I can see why it would have limited use and understand that end of things. With my past experiences here, I'm not about to sink my time and effort into something that I might not be using. I'm a bit tired of doing things that I can't use in my classroom and wasting my time on things that aren't worth my time.
Throughout the training there were "download and install" times when I knew that this was doomed from a school-wide perspective. We're not permitted to do that, so I started thinking that I might just be involved in something that wouldn't materialize in a global format for all to use. Even so, I was impressed with the work and skill that went into the system being sold and all it had to offer. Even though there's only so much one can gain from two training days, it seemed like something worth the effort and potential for benefit.
The cost of the program is offset by all the features and conveniences, but when it comes to dollars and cents I can only hope that sense wins. I don't know what will happen, but I'd be happy if I could merely use my wiki in school. It's free and requires nothing from anyone but me. Baby steps. Baby steps.
I look forward to seeing how blackboard develops in this district and how the administration handles the possibilities...and how IT deals with it too. In a way it's kind of like a drug dealer. They give out a sample for free knowing that you'll like what you get and hope that you'll come up with money to continue to fuel the fix. It's just that in this case, someone else has to approve of our usage and pay for our continued multimedia/interactive Jonesing.
Ah, another chapter begins. Hopefully it will be a fairy-tale experience :)