I feel your pain - both in terms of product features as well as the way Blackboard do business, which is exactly why we set about creating an alternative.
You might be interested in what we're doing with Lexim (http://www.lexim.com.au) - a new take on an old and outdated approach to delivering teaching online.
User enjoyment and efficiency are two of the main drivers in our design approach. In my (biased) opinion, I don't think it could be easier to get documents, links and your syllabus into the hands of students. We have randomised, auto-graded quizzes that update the gradebook (without destroying the previous marks) and a whole lot more.
Full disclosure: I am one of the founders of Lexim, and thus totally biassed in my view ;).
Thanks for mentioning your product; I signed up for Convergence using the sign up link at the top of the page. Is that the process to sign up for the trial? It looks as though your page is targeted towards University IT rather than individual professors (which is probably the right approach I suppose) but it makes me suspicious that I can't get the "5 professors, unlimited students" trial on my own.
Thanks for signing up, I appreciate it. The signup link is the correct way to get in at the moment; we're currently in closed beta, but once it opens up (soon) anyone can sign up and start using Convergence in minutes, without needing to involve IT (or anyone else).
We think individual teachers should be able to choose the best tools they use for their job, be it technological or otherwise. With this in mind individuals can signup and use Convergence without needing to wait for the institution.
Also worth noting the free plan isn't a trial - you could continue to use the free plan for ever. If you want to expand Convergence across your department or school, and bring in more teachers and courses then you need to upgrade to a paid plan, but for individuals you can use it for free without an expiry.
Thanks for the feedback on the page - we're definitely trying to attract individual educators, not their IT departments, so we'll take a look at how we're expressing that.
I feel your pain - both in terms of product features as well as the way Blackboard do business, which is exactly why we set about creating an alternative.
You might be interested in what we're doing with Lexim (http://www.lexim.com.au) - a new take on an old and outdated approach to delivering teaching online.
User enjoyment and efficiency are two of the main drivers in our design approach. In my (biased) opinion, I don't think it could be easier to get documents, links and your syllabus into the hands of students. We have randomised, auto-graded quizzes that update the gradebook (without destroying the previous marks) and a whole lot more.
Full disclosure: I am one of the founders of Lexim, and thus totally biassed in my view ;).
Cheers,
Michael