Blackboard Blogs

Francisco Hernandez: K-12 Co-Host Bb World

K-16 Champion – University of California and California’s High School Safety Net

Francisco Hernandez wears two hats at the University of California.  First, he is Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at UC Santa Cruz.  In that job, he overseeas much of the campus footprint and all of the student-facing issues.  Second, he is Executive Director of the UCCP, the UC’s online high school and middle school operation, which also services teachers and administrators. 

Blackboard Inc. Completes Merger With WebCT

It's official. Blackboard and WebCT are one as of today -- ahead of the previously announced schedule, I might add. From the press release:

The combination of Blackboard and WebCT establishes one of the most innovative global software companies serving the education industry. Currently, more than 3,700 world-wide higher education, K-12, corporate, government and commercial academic institutions enhance their learning environments with solutions offered by the two organizations. The transaction brings together two of the industry's premier software brands and most widely used technologies for creating, managing and delivering course content and materials online.

Welcome to all our new colleagues joining from WebCT! It's an exciting time!

iPods In Education At El Centro Community College

My co-blogger, Jan Poston Day, was interviewed as part of a story by KERA, a Texas public radio station, on the use of iPods in the classrooms of El Centro Community College in Dallas. El Centro, part of the Dallas County Community College District, uses the the Tegrity Campus Building Block with their Blackboard Learning System to provide enhanced podcasts to the students. Enhanced podcasts include images or video synchronized to the audio so both the visual and audio components can be played back on a photo- or video-capable iPod.

What's the draw? Talking about El Centro echocardiology professor Catherine Carolan's experience, reporter Bill Zeeble says:

These days, Carolan's sold on Ipods and the portability they permit. Many students come from full-time nursing jobs, & have families, homes, & other responsibilities. For Sharla Scovel, who's 52 and lives 30 miles away, the Ipod lets her study diagrams in the grocery store line, or listen to lectures while commuting to work.

You can read the entire transcript of KERA's  story or listen to the MP3 version.