The general disdain for Blackboard among students and professors is well-known. Being the major player in the LMS world led many universities to select them by default. But the landscape has changed in recent years and forward-thinking universities are finally moving on.


It's easy to jump on the bandwagon and bash the company at the top, but sometimes the criticism is justified. In this case, Blackboard's product simply sucks and the people have spoken. Blackboard's reluctance to evolve presented a valuable opportunity for competitors -- one that several have capitalized on.

Browser compatibility issues
One of the biggest complaints for years was the lack of compatibility with Chrome. While Blackboard has done their best to remedy this, many users still report random bugs when taking quizzes in Chrome. You'd think they would be motivated to fix this by now, after all, Chrome is the most widely used web browser today.

A clunky interface
Ten years ago all interfaces were clunky. But we've come a long way since then and sadly, Blackboard hasn't. Despite being one of the most requested updates, Blackboard has yet to implement a drag n' drop feature.
Overall the system feels very slow and rigid, like an old PC. Users complain of too many warning screens and required steps to handle basic tasks, such as moving an item from a folder to subfolder. Newer LMS are smooth and operate like you would expect software in 2015 to run.

Blackboard isn't intuitive
Perhaps the best thing about every new software program and tech gadget that's been released in recent memory is their intuitive nature. Unfortunately, Blackboard never got the memo about this trend.
Changing available options for students requires a number of "switches" that are not intuitively laid out. If you don't get the right combination, that particular feature doesn't work at all. The process can be tedious to say the least.

Doesn't prevent cut/paste in quizzes
Alternative LMS wised up to this quickly. Counting on the honor system for not sharing quiz answers hasn't proved to be reliable, which is why other programs don't allow a student to cut and paste from within the quiz. Blackboard still hasn't figured this one out.

Dated grade center
Would you use an internet browser that didn't allow multiple tabs in this day and age? Of course not. Not allowing the grade center in Blackboard to be opened in its own browser tab is inconvenient and time-consuming for teachers who already spend hours grading assignments.

Blackboard is slow to adapt
Blackboard continually reminds shareholders that they are investing heavily in R&D, but the customers aren't buying it. Blackboard waited too long to start revamping their system and now they are struggling to keep up with the newer, more innovative companies in this space.
Perhaps they took their lead in the market for granted, or maybe they just don't have what it takes to deliver what consumers want. Either way, the damage is done and savvy universities are taking their business to companies that put usability first and marketing second. Is your university living in the past or looking ahead to the future?

False

Why Blackboard isn’t at the top of the class

There are a number of  incumbent corporate learning management system providers in the e-learning  industry that have received a significant amount of negative feedback from aggravated customers -- especially students. Some have taken it upon themselves to write articles or create social media pages dedicated to venting their frustrations.

Do people just hate e-learning, or is something else going on?

If you've ever had to use  some of the older systems that are out there whether it be for university or for corporate training, you can likely sympathize with those unhappy customers. We find their systems are difficult to use, and we're engineers!

Users don't complain because their LMS doesn't have enough features. They don't even complain  about price. What users complain about the absolute most is the ability to actually use the software. Something that many older or more established  LMS providers seem to be determined to make impossible.

Many LMS platforms have poor user experience (admin and student!)

User experience is the most valuable quality of learning software today. It doesn't matter how powerful your LMS is or how many features it has if no one can figure out how to use them.

How can a customer benefit from a product they can't use? How can educators and trainers expect their students to engage with material that is difficult to consume?

These are the problems that most LMS fail miserably to address.

User experience should be a top priority  for three reasons:

It's no coincidence that GO1 has been noted as  the number one online training system in Australia and the Asia-Pacific Region.

User experience increases customer satisfaction

If your system is easy to use, your customers will be happy. People are busy and don't want to spend their time reading user manuals and chatting with technical support. They want software that's easy to setup and intuitive to use right from the start.

Creating that user experience that customers desire makes them happy. And that's why our customers have been so good to us.

Happy customers turn into loyal customers. Take care of them by providing a great user experience, and they take care of you with repeat business. It's a win-win for everybody.

Increased engagement leads to positive ROI

When we say that our clients invest in our software, we take that seriously. And we expect them to earn a positive return on that investment.

A key measurement for determining the ROI is the engagement of users. Higher engagement means more effective training and better education.

GO1 LMS increases engagement by providing the best student interface of any online training system available. Better engagement leads to better training and that's what our customers are investing in.

Your LMS is supposed to save you time, not take up more of it. A poor user experience only creates more hassle.

On the other hand, a robust user experience helps users accomplish tasks quicker and make fewer mistakes. Thus allowing them to get more done in less time.

From a financial standpoint, this should be a primary concern for businesses looking to implement a training system. Using a LMS with a terrible user experience is only going to waste hours of labor on meaningless troubleshooting tasks that don't make your company any money.

Is your current LMS a liability or an asset?

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

Where LMS can fall short

Users don't complain because their LMS doesn't have enough features. They don't even complain  about price. What users complain about the absolute most is the ability to actually use the software.

At Go1, we believe in growth through learning. We view education as a life-long endeavour and not something that only happens in a classroom.
We've seen firsthand what continued learning can do for individuals and organizations alike. That's why we are proud to be a part of the industry of learning management systems.


While there are certainly other areas that someone can gain personal growth, the appreciation of ongoing education is a shared quality among the brightest minds and most successful businesses in the world.


Growth as an organization
Smart businesses realize that their employees are their number one asset. Not technology or marketing, but hard-working people who share their vision and commit to bringing that vision to life.
Businesses can't expand without developing systems for training new hires, preparing existing employees for promotions, and keeping everyone up-to-date with the latest information. Training and education systems that once took years to develop and implement can now be organized simply and intuitively with a learning management system.
Not only do organizations get smarter with continued learning, employees are happier. Employees are more likely to enjoy their job when they are well-trained, which keeps turnover rates down and helps develop a sense of community within the company.
Leading organizations strive for constant growth and improvement. If your company isn't growing -- they're falling behind.

Personal growth
No one person knows everything, despite what they might tell you. It would be impossible to ever achieve such a feat.
But there's nothing wrong with trying.
As a team within our own organization, and through observing clients, we have found that a dedication to learning improves all areas of a person's life. Everything you do and create is a product of your mind. Why wouldn't you want to improve your mind?
Constant exposure to new ideas expands your creativity and makes it easier to stay motivated in everything you do. A bored mind is a decaying mind. Most people confuse the effects of aging with the effects of refusing to learn. Your mind stays active and vibrant when presented with new challenges on a regular basis.
Dedication to learning expands your interests and tastes. Learning doesn't have to be so serious all the time, in fact it shouldn't be. Studying new hobbies is a great way to grow as a person and have a lot of fun in the process.
Learning increases your value to the world. Not only are you more valuable in the workforce, but you are more valuable to your friends and family. It never hurts to have someone smart around.
With so much to gain from learning it's no coincidence that the best companies in the world are focused on helping you do just that. It's a win-win for everyone involved.
The world is changing at an exponential rate and learning isn't an option to remain competitive, it's a necessity. Those dedicated to personal growth will always have the advantage. Are you growing or staying the same?

Growth through learning: the Go1 approach

So you've signed up to Go1 and now you're ready to put together your first course. Don't worry, we're here to help! Creating courses is very easy to do, and to make things even easier, I have put together a great tutorial to guide you through the process.

In this tutorial we will be covering the following topics:

You can also read through the steps mentioned in the video here:

When you first login you will be met with the student interface for the system. If you're an administrator, clicking on your name in the top right will display a dropdown with "Configure" as an option. Click this and it will load the Admin dashboard.

You can navigate to the courses page under LMS on the navigation on the left, or you can Click Add Course on the Courses tile.

Start off by naming your course. Give it a brief description if necessary.

Courses which are published will be viewable. If you check the PRIVATE box as well as published, then only users who are enrolled in the course will be able to see it (A good way to create your course over a number of days, and only unchecking the private box once it's ready for others to see). This is also useful if you want to enroll only specific users in the course. 

You can upload an image to be used for the course. Simply Click Choose file, select your jpeg, png, or gif, and click Open. 

You can also include an introductory or explainer video for the course if desired.

You can attach a certificate template to your course, much the same way as the image but using .pdf or .docx files. 

Under the Marketplace tab, you can define whether your course is to be published for My Company only, on the public Marketplace, or to share with a particular portal. 

The course structure goes Course, Module, Materials. Think of a Filing Cabinet. The cabinet is your course. To fill our Cabinet, we need to put in some drawers. The drawers are your modules. 

Click the modules on the inner navigation, and you'll see a button to Create Module or a bar to search for existing modules. 

Start off by Creating a module. Give it a name, description, and an image for the module and save the module. We've now got one drawer in our cabinet, now for a second. 

The great thing is, we can select an already existing module in the portal. We can use the search bar to find our existing module.

You can also easily set module dependency, making one module locked until the specified module has been completed. 

Under the notifications tab, you will be able to customize the enrollment email which users will receive, just modify the subject and body texts, and check the "Use this email content" box if you wish for it to overrule the system default. You're also able to upload documents and files to be attached to your enrollment email if you so desired.

We're done with our basic course setup, so click 'Save' at the bottom of the page.

One great part of the Go1 system is the ability to create customized reports and charts with the click of the button. This is perfect for tracking course enrollments, assessments, and pass rates within all of your courses. While we can provide some great charts and tables for you within our platform, some companies may want to export their data to import into their own databases.

This is a simple function in Go1 and will export a CSV file containing all of your data. In this post, we will be running through 'How to Export a Report as a CSV File'.

After logging in to your portal, you can follow these simple steps to export a report as a .csv file:

1 – After you have logged into to your portal, click “Administer” in the drop down option list on the top right corner of the screen (you can find this by clicking on your profile image)

2 – On the left hand side of your screen you will find your Admin menu. Under the “Reports” option, click on“Assessment Results”. You can choose to export any report that is in Go1 with this process. This means you can have custom reports under the 'My Reports' sections, or you can export all Assessment Results, Course Enrollment or Module Enrollment data. For this example we will be exporting Assessment Results. 

3 – On the upper right hand side at the top of your report there is a "Actions" button. Click on this button option followed by clicking“export”.

4 – You are now able to click the 'Download' which will then download all of the information in your report to a CSV file instantly. 

Congratulations! You have now successfully export reports in Go1. If you have any questions about exporting reports, please contact us at support@go1.com and we can help you out! 

Our system is designed to cater to the following programs that are most widely used for interactive content creation.

To keep file sizes small, the below guidelines can be followed;

Keep your files small and concise - You can make as many courses/modules as you like, try to spread the content out.

Move your videos to YouTube and directly embed them through the LMS – This will greatly reduce the stress caused by large files.

Try not to use the “flashy” features to excess – This can increase the size of the file drastically and increase the time it takes to load each slide.

Make sure the images you are using are reduced and not full sized – there is no need for a 1+ mb image if the image is going to be restricted in size. there is no need to have a 4000 x 2500 px image when it could be reduced to 1200 x 750 px

Depending on the software you are using to build your interactive learning content, the display may differ however when you are about to publish your content, you will be prompted with a few options.

1 - You should choose the LMS option when exporting your content.

2 - When choosing which LMS Output Options, Go1 accepts SCORM 1.2 and the Tin Can API options.

3 - Finally, the Go1 LMS will report completion status of the files into the Go1 platform based on the options you choose below


a. Track using number of slides – if this option was selected, then the interactive assessment file within Go1 will only be marked as completed if your student reaches a certain slide, for example the last slide.

b. Track using Quiz result – if this option was selected, then the interactive assessment file will only be completed when the user achieves the specified pass mark within the interactive assessment file.

Note: Go1 will not report if the SCORM file has been passed or not. If it has been passed, then the Module it is located in will have its Completion Status updated (ie. from In Progress to Complete).
For Tincan files, Go1 will report the following statuses 1) In Progress or 2) Passed as well as the user’s attempt duration.

To learning how to import files into Go1, click HERE for SCROM and HERE for TinCan

Configuring SCORM and TinCan files for Go1

Ethics aren’t optional anymore. A quarter of consumers and nearly as many investors refuse to support companies with questionable practices. And almost half of younger generations say ethics are a dealbreaker when choosing where to work.

This growing emphasis on values has made Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) a crucial part of business strategy, shaping everything from a business’ sustainability efforts to community outreach and diversity initiatives. But CSR alone isn’t enough. Organizations that wish to thrive today need to become purpose-driven — making social good central to their identity and operations.

Here’s how purpose-driven organizations stand out and how Learning and Development (L&D) teams can help build them.

Purpose-driven companies don’t just do good; they do better. Here’s how aligning your business with CSR can create a lasting advantage:

Employees want to work where their values align. Companies with strong CSR initiatives see 57% lower turnover rates and are top choices for Gen Z and millennials.

Consumers expect businesses to take a stand on social and environmental issues. When companies deliver, customers reward them with loyalty.

Companies with robust CSR practices outperform competitors financially. From employee engagement to consumer trust, the numbers speak for themselves.

Building a purpose-driven culture requires embedding social responsibility into the fabric of your organization, and that’s where L&D comes in. Through training and development, L&D teams can:

Use onboarding to introduce new hires to your company’s values, CSR commitments, and opportunities for involvement. Nearly 70% of employees wouldn’t work for a company without a strong purpose, so getting this right is critical.

Equip managers with tools to lead ethically, model your organization’s mission, and inspire their teams. Leadership development is essential to keeping purpose alive at every level.

Provide training on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues. When employees understand these topics, they can contribute meaningfully to your sustainability goals.

Comprehensive DEI training helps employees understand and embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion as central to your company’s purpose. Addressing biases and fostering inclusivity strengthens both culture and business outcomes.

Need inspiration? Here’s how some companies are turning CSR into action:

Patagonia: From using recycled materials to repairing and reselling used products, Patagonia’s environmental efforts set a high bar. They even encourage employees to take paid time off for activism.

Salesforce: Committing 1% of their product, profit, and time to charity, Salesforce leads by example. Employees also get 56 hours annually to volunteer.

Warby Parker: Their “Buy a Pair, Give a Pair” program ties every purchase to providing glasses for someone in need, making social impact a core part of their brand identity.

CSR programs and incentives to give back are just one piece of the puzzle. To create a truly purpose-driven organization, you need to make social impact part of your daily operations — and your employees’ education.

With Go1, you can take the complexity out of employee training. From custom learning paths to ready-made playlists, we make it simple to integrate purpose-driven training into everyday workflows. Whether it’s sustainability, DEI, or leadership, Go1 has the tools you need to build a culture that’s not just successful but meaningful.

Want to hear more? Discover how Go1 can help your organization thrive and speak to a solutions expert today.

Purpose-driven organizations thrive by aligning CSR with business strategy. Learn how L&D can help you get there successfully.

Building a purpose-driven organization

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