Based on the situation, I would suggest that Benoît asks himself which of the two platforms will adapt the best to his needs and those of his students?
In reality this is a very loaded question, for it encompasses many smaller questions. It also requires Benoît to sit down, consider and reflect upon his context, needs, options and ultimately what he desires to get out of the LMS platform. It also might guide him through a reflection similar to the one create by (Bates, 2014) framework SECTIONS. If Benoît fails to ask himself such a question and participate in the necessary reflection, the technology might not be used by the students and therefore the online format of the course will have much difficult to launch off the ground.
Total time to prepare the online course – 12-15 weeks (at least)
Regardless of the selected LMS, rethinking and adjusting his course will take time (approximately 5-6 weeks). Although Benoît has created online material for his business writing class, this was designed to help support a face-to-face learning environment. Benoît will need to carefully consider how he will construct his class, which media to use and how to properly incorporate student collaboration and participation. The course will need to be redesigned in accordance to the needs of this entirely online context. As Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2002) states to ensure effective use of technology involves many decisions from the art of the instructor and teacher environment.
I believe that the time it would take him to truly establish a course would depend on which platform he chooses to use. BlackboardLearn, as it has templates and therefore might be faster to set up. Also I would assume that it might be easier to transfer the data from WebCT vista to Blackboard. Based on his already existing bias regarding Blackboard, it is very possible that the actual implementation of the on-line course might be more time consuming/frustrating due to his opinion. According to Puckett (2013) the manner educational technology is viewed affects its implementation in the classroom (Puckett, 2013). I would grant about 4 weeks to fully familiarize yourself with the product and assess each of the components to your needs. This number comes from the suggested Moodle MOOC for new users that lasts 4 weeks and requires about 3-4 hours a week. Uploading the material and designing the LMS as desired could take an additional 2-3 weeks. Benoît will also need to troubleshoot the entire system as well.
In reality it will take a long time to properly design, select and implement the new-course. The time that Benoît will give to the creation of his site, the more the students and himself will benefit from the on-line course.
References:
Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in a digital age. Open Textbook.
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2002). How people learn: Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Puckett, R. (2013). Educational Technology and Its Effective Use. i-Manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, 10(3), 6.
https://learn.moodle.net/