So when I arrived at NYU, we had this TERRIBLE online platform called Blackboard. It wasn't techno-advanced, so I felt like I could figure it out pretty quickly. It was simple, if stupid and unnecessarily useless, but I adapted. I'm pretty accustomed to NYU being behind the times in terms of technology.
And then, fellow members of Team Technology-Inept, they did something terrible. They CHANGED THE SYSTEM. NYU classes is the Google-based (at least I think it is) host of all of my school stuff. So here are the pros and cons of this new system, from the voice of the Technology-Inept:
Con 1- all of my old stuff is elsewhere.
I don't know why things didn't transfer from Blackboard to NYU, but everything that was uploaded onto Blackboard is gone from me now. All the syllabi, all the supporting docs and readings....gone. And of course they posted something about "get your stuff, blah blah techno-speak" but really? Did they think I was going to know what that meant? Apparently they did, and all of my class stuff is gone. This is not detrimental to my life, but I would have liked to have all of those things available to me and I don't.
Con 2- what do the icons mean?
Specifically, there is a double-arrowed icon next to the different headings that made me confused for the longest time, and when you mouse over it, no explanation pops up. It took me forever to figure it out! And that's not the only one. Of course, I don't have any other examples now of anything, but in general the icons aren't obvious pictures that tell you what is happening. There's no back and forward arrows anywhere...it's just not intuitive. And if you know anything about this Technology-Inept person, I like things that are intuitive.
Con 3- Double Login
You have to log in to NYU home, then click the "classes" button, and then log in again. Something stupid, but REALLY annoying, especially when you're logging in from a mobile device OR when you're logging in multiple times per day.
Con 4- Downloading PDFs
Before, when downloading a PDF, a new window would pop up. And on my iPad, I'd get a little button option to open said PDF in an app, somewhere that I could save it, and whatever. Now, that doesn't happen because all of the information isn't one page, it's a page that's living inside of a bigger page with tabs. I don't know how to explain that in technical speak, but the point is, my iPad doesn't ask me if I want to open the PDF in an app, so I can't save any of the plays I have to read for playwriting. Which is lame.
Pro 1- Tabs!
There are tabs between each class, which makes toggling back and forth really fantastic. Everything feels so accessible. Hooray!
Pro 2- Calendar!
There is a calendar. It's sweet. In my mind, I imagine that I would be able to sync the calendars so that all of the assignments for each class would be on one calendar, and I could see where everything was due all on one page. Of course that doesn't happen in real life, and I don't know if that's because it's not possible, or because I'm Inept and don't know how to do it. Also, none of my teachers use the calendar function, so it makes no difference.
Pro 3- Online Submissions Made Easy!
It's way easier to submit assignments via dropbox. That makes me happy.
So there you have it, pros and cons from the voice of Team Technology-Inept.
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