BYU Introduces Blackboard Backpack

By Paul Tateoka

Confused and unorganized BYU students now have a new friend that helps organize class assignments and can be carried in a 'Backpack.'

BYU recently licensed the newest member of the Blackboard family, entitled 'Blackboard Backpack.'

'I like the interface on Backpack because it is easier than Blackboard to access classes,' said Brad Carter, a senior from Mantua, majoring in accounting.

Backpack, a web-based application, allows students to download course materials from Blackboard onto a personal computer or laptop and access it without an Internet connection, said Mark Calkins, vice president of product and corporate marketing for Agilix Labs.

BYU licensed Blackboard Backpack because it is user friendly and helpful to students, said Bud Wood, associate director for product management for CID.

Another perk of Blackboard Backpack is its ability to decrease traffic and maintenance issues to the Blackboard servers located in Maryland, Wood said.

Backpack''s features allow students to capture any image on the Internet or power-point presentations from course materials and type notes and highlight on the document.

'You can capture the document and write on it,' said Grant Sleight, a senior from Miles City, Mont., majoring in accounting. 'You can organize your notes in Backpack and keep all documents in specific places.'

Any document that can be printed from a computer can be stored in Backpack.

'There is a built in print driver that sends documents to Backpack as a digital note,' Calkins said. 'BYU subscribes to on-line journals and students can turn a 20-page journal article into a digital format to take notes on.'

Another feature on Backpack that is attractive to students is the calendar that can be viewed in a daily, weekly or monthly format, Calkins said.

Students can also schedule assignments and tests on the calendar, and since everything is color coded according to class, keeping track of everything is much easier, Calkins said.

Some students are not willing to change their methods of planning because they already have the syllabus for each class to use, said Dallin Palmer a freshman from Syracuse.

'I wouldn''t use it because the main reason why I use Blackboard is to take quizzes,' said Steele Kizerian, a senior from Yorba Linda, Calif., majoring in business.

Downloading Backpack takes one to two minutes per course and only takes 30 seconds to update.

The interface of Backpack is set up to cater to the individual student and it is free to BYU students, Calkins said.

'Backpack is a program that costs $49 but it is free to BYU students and can be used even after graduation,' Calkins said.