Missed BbWorld? Or made it but want to recall some of the key moments that took place in Orlando a few weeks ago? Check out the newly updated BbWorld.com which now includes lots of information and resources from the event.

Lots of you have been asking for this information, so we’ve pulled it all together in one place. New on the site this week is a gallery of our favorite photos from the week, contents from over 100 session presentations and listening notes, and even a video of the keynote delivered by Michael Chasen and Ray Henderson. In the keynote, Michael and Ray covered lots of updates and news from Blackboard including Ray’s Report Card for Blackboard Learn (you can read more in Ray’s latest blog post). The video, produced by Blackboard partner Echo360, features the full length keynote complete with presentation slides used by Michael and Ray. 

We’ll be adding more resources to this site over time so bookmark BbWorld.com and check back for additional materials from this year’s BbWorld, as well as some details on BbWorld 2011 in Las Vegas. If there’s something else you’re looking to see, please leave your comments below.

 

Yesterday, we announced that Blackboard Mobile Learn is now available to K-12 institutions in North America as well as institutions outside the United States. For more information, check out this blog post from Kayvon, originally posted on the Mobile Garage: 

About two months ago, we launched Blackboard Mobile Learn on the Android, iPhone, and Blackberry, adding to our already available iPad application. Our team is very proud of this new platform– we think it offers an engaging, intuitive experience for interacting with course content. And we’ve been hearing positive feedback from some of the institutions that have been using it so far, including at BbWorld in Orlando a couple weeks ago.  They’ve shared with us their thoughts on the application’s simplicity, convenience, and elegance, and it’s great to hear their positive input, especially given how much we’ve put into this effort.

Until now, Mobile Learn has been available only for higher-ed institutions in North America. But starting today, Blackboard Mobile Learn is available through an annual license to K-12 institutions in North America as well as all institutions outside the United States. We’re excited to finally make this platform available to our existing K-12 and global customers – and to prospective clients who are interested in comprehensive mobile integration for their learning platform.

Our whole team is excited about being at the forefront of the rapidly evolving field of Mobile Learning.  We live and breathe mobile– and we hope our apps reflect that. Still, we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible in this field. Our goal is to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with mobile learning, and to bring our innovations to as many institutions (and ultimately, students) as possible.

We’re also keen to start talking about our mobile development and direction with more clients around the world. Some of our best use cases and ideas come from the community we’re a part of, and BbWorld Orlando was a great forum for us to swap stories and experiences with clients. As it happens, I’ll be visiting Cairns, Australia in a few weeks for BbSummit Australasia where we’ll be talking mobile with lots of clients down under.  Hope to see some of you there.

Until then, we’d love to hear from you here on the blog.  Chime in with questions and comments!

Best,

Kayvon

 

It’s hard to believe that BbWorld is now behind us and the summer is half way over. But, hopefully you are looking ahead to the start of your school year and are better prepared, putting the best practices and lessons learned from BbWorld 2010 into action.

If you were with us in Orlando, you know that this year’s event was jam packed with exciting keynotes and announcements, client and Bb-led sessions, a bustling show floor and a TON of conversations. More than ever before, the “Twitterverse” proved to be an invaluable back channel for communication for those attending the show as well as those following along virtually. You can still check out some of the chatter here.

I also want to highlight some great resources, connecting you to the sessions in case you missed them or want to revisit. More than 60 client and Bb-led presentations have been uploaded to our Connections site. Check here and check as more presentations are still coming online. Additionally, check out the videos that were created by the roving client reporters. Clips include interviews with other clients and sights and sounds from the week.

And, here is a sample of blog posts from client bloggers. I know that many of you were blogging throughout the week or have general thoughts about the conference, so please speak up and post a comment below. 

NUAMPS Blog: @BbWorld 2010 from @HarlanWallach, Northwestern

Laura Gekeler Speaks Her Mind from @lgekeler, University of Notre Dame

BbWorld Conference Blog (unofficial) from @ekunnen, Grand Rapids Community College

Katie Lou Blog City from @kateboardman, Teesside University

Of course, we’re always looking to improve our implementation of social media at BbWorld, so if you have thoughts and recommendations for things you would like to see next year, please leave those comments below, too.

Thanks to everyone who joined the conversation and helped make this year’s conference our best yet.

For those of you unable to attend BbWorld, we wanted to pass along some details around an exciting initiative launched today.

Our keynote speaker, Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and the founder of the Central Asia Institute (CAI), shared his story about the work he is doing to promote community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

To support CAI’s mission and Greg’s commitment, Blackboard will donate $10,000 to CAI.

We also wanted to create an easy way for members of the community to get involved if they were so inclined. So we have created a text campaign that can be used by anyone who wants to donate.

Do donate:

• Text to 50555 and enter “CAI” for each $10 donation.
• Confirm each $10 donation to CAI with the word YES.
• Each $10 donation will be added to your mobile phone bill.

A full 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the Institute and Blackboard will match up those funds up to another $10,000.

Your donation will make a difference:

• $2 or $3 = one teacher’s salary for one day
• $20 = one student’s school supplies for one year
• $600 = one teacher’s annual salary
• $5,000 = support for existing school for one year
• $50,000 = one school building and support for up to five years

To further the impact we can have, share this widget on your Facebook page. This will allow your friends to donate as well. For more information about Central Asia Institute or Pennies for Peace, please call 406-585-7841 or visit www.ikat.org.

$10 will be added to your mobile phone bill/deducted from your prepaid account. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Reply STOP to 50555 to stop. Full Terms: mGive.org/T. Available only on US carriers. The Central Asia Institute name is used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, expressed or implied, of any product, service, company or individual.

Today, Blackboard announced the acquisition of Elluminate and Wimba to form a new Blackboard platform – Blackboard Collaborate. There’s lots of information and detail on this news at www.blackboard.com/collaborate (client letter, FAQ document, etc.) and much more to come next week at BbWorld in Orlando for those of you who will be there. 

In the meantime, check out Ray’s blog for some initial thoughts: 

ELLUMINATE AND WIMBA TOGETHER: Both are leaders in applying synchronous learning and collaboration technology to the education context. Both have very strong technical proficiency and service levels, and enjoy high client satisfaction as a result. They’ve built strong teams and great thought leadership about the application of real-time collaboration technology to many forms of educational collaboration. And our clients have chosen both in good number so we wanted to invest in both to serve our whole community, not just a portion of it. To us it’s a potent combination, and one that provides a strong signal about our beliefs about the educational value and need for further innovation to support social learning and collaboration.  To read more click here….