Blackboard: a Web-based resource in the teaching of a multi-disciplinary/multi-institutional computer ethics course

This paper will focus on the use of a commercially available collaborative learning management tool (CLMT), Blackboard and how it has been used to enhance the teaching of professional issues in a large cohort given at the University of Limerick in Ireland and a small writing-based senior ethics course given at Sacred Heart University. This study details the various facilities offered by Blackboard, some of the ways in which the tools were used to enhance learning and critical thinking and some reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of the tool. A prospective design and implementation of an international collaboration between the two classes will be explained along with the objectives and outcome assessment methods.