The GWU Bb@GWU system uses the BlackBoard Learning Systems package to provide access to information for a specific course which the student is registered in. Course information can be published by the instructor and students can submit assignment files. Apparently the system is not designed for shared archival of activities and notes, as access is cut off a month after the class ends. So the discussion forum is intended to be ethereal and only be temporarily useful to the current class.

The online discussion tool used by GW courses requires a Java plugin, supports moderated discussions and shared browsing of a web site. Apparently both the Virtual Classroom and lightweight text-only chatting require the Java plugin.

With a couple of thousand active courses in the system each semester, it is curious that there are so few FAQs accumulated. Either there are few problems, the documentation inside the applications is quite good, or someone's not updating the FAQs.