Students at today’s professional colleges and universities bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the classroom.  Because many of these students balance full-time careers or family life alongside their education, they have unique needs that must be met in order for them to reach academic and professional success. Blackboard Learn™ for Career Colleges is aimed at addressing these needs in a way that is engaging and at pace with the busy lifestyles of adult learners.  We recently developed four videos that highlight some of the key ways Blackboard Learn enables these adult learners to reach their highest potential:

• Engage students: By leveraging web 2.0 technologies, Blackboard Learn creates streamlined learning portals for easy and intuitive navigation to course information, while also providing the opportunity to connect with other students for social learning experiences.

Your professional college or university is already taking advantage of the latest technologies to create online classes and services for your students.  But how can you increase student engagement and persistence, and impact student success, all while taking your online learning programs to the next level? We’ll address these and other questions in a half hour Twitterchat on Thursday, April 19^th from 3:30 – 4:00pm EDT. Our chat will be led by Kevin Kuzma, the Online Editor of Career College Central Magazine.  Follow Kevin on Twitter at @CareerCollegeCT or read his biography here. Here are the rest of the details for our Twitterchat:

Who: Professional college and university deans of admissions, technology officers, and other administrators who are invested in online learning.

The tour bus is ready for yet another busy season of professional college and university events across the country!  These conferences and other gatherings present Blackboard with incredible opportunities to learn about trends in the professional and higher education industries, and also give us the chance to share the many ways Blackboard is having a significant impact on the way adult students collaborate and learn. Below is a list of just some of the events that Blackboard will participate in this summer.  Will we be seeing you at…?

Campus Management Users Conference (CampusInsight) April 26-27 Orlando, FL CampusInsight 2012 will provide those in the professional and career college space with the opportunity to connect with their peers to exchange knowledge on the latest in education technology.  The conference will give practitioners the opportunity to meet and discuss CRM solutions with experts in the field, and will also provide registrants the opportunity to participate in valuable pre-conference training sessions.

The Motley Fool, a financial analysis company, recently interviewed Blackboard CEO Michael Chasen as part of a series on the education industry.  In the first installment of this series, Chasen discusses the so-called education bubble that has formed with recent rises in both the cost of and demand for higher education. Chasen explains that technology can serve as a counterweight to the high costs and high demand that are putting pressure on the current education market.  Since technology lowers barriers to offering education, he argues, institutions are able to increase output to meet these surges in demand.

Interestingly, Chasen states that for-profit institutions play an important role in this education technology trend.  He believes that professional colleges and universities serve as an alternative to more traditional institutions for many of those who are seeking higher education.  Chasen then argues that for-profit institutions often adopt new technologies faster than their traditional counterparts, which helps them further meet the rising demand for education.

It isn’t surprising to learn that demand for online courses is rapidly increasing across institutions of higher education.  From my perspective, the business case is clear: professional colleges and universities that adopt online programs have the opportunity to greatly boost reach, enrollment and revenue- all without adding a square foot of real estate. But adopting an online program doesn’t come without risk.  Universities must assess whether an online program fits within their institution’s overall culture and goals.

The accreditation process can be complex and time-consuming, especially when new courses are launched solely through online programs.  Professors must transition from face-to-face instruction to online teaching, which requires a different skill set. How can your professional college or university maximize the potential of online learning while minimizing these inherent risks?  Our recent white paper entitled “Smart Steps to Online Learning” provides a comprehensive guide to developing a well-planned online learning strategy. Here are some top tips highlighted in the white paper:

• Get a full commitment—of both time and money—from senior administrators before delving into an online program: An online initiative is an enormous undertaking that can only be accomplished with full support from administrators. Show that online learning is viable by providing financial proof points as well as surveys that demonstrate student interest.